Advent Day 8

The Advent Box today arrives with its lid slightly askew.

Daisy apologises. 'Bit of a big Advent to-do today,' she says. 'But it's something you'll like.'

She is right. It's the Christmas Tree! I love Christmas trees. They have to be just the right shape to fit into the corner of the living against the wall where the sideboard usually sits, which in turn moves to sit against the wall bearing the cartoon hippo picture, and the sofa moves towards the door to accommodate the sideboard and it all gets a bit crowded but never mind because the Christmas tree is in residence for a good two weeks and I get to sit on the sofa with all the lights off except the fairy lights and go 'aaahh!'

And Andy gets to develop a rash up his arms from the sap of the tree when he brings it inside, and Tybalt gets to climb the tree in pursuit of Gonzo the Christmas Fairy, and Pandora gets to knock baubles off branches and run off with them and hide them behind the shoe cupboard in the hallway for me to find in April when I do a spring clean, and Phoebe gets to wrestle herself under the tree and as far out of arm reach as she can go, knocking pine needles hither and thither as she goes.

All in all, Christmas trees offer great value for money, entertainment-wise.

We were on a Christmas role today, me and Andy. Posted the cards and two parcels this morning, then went food shopping, then Andy took me to the nature reserve near his work place for us to forage for some holly, ivy and old man's beard to add to the willow wreath for the front door. Then we stopped at a garden centre for tea and a bun, and I bought a Salvation Army brass band carol CD because another delight of the run up to Christmas is the sound of the Salvation Army band playing in our town centre.

Back home for soup and toast, it being soup and toast type weather today, and then out into town again for a wander and pick up some festive bits for our 'At Home' do in 2 weekends' time. We've already had acceptances from many people and Andy has gone into mild panic mode that a) we will run out of food or b) everyone will turn up in the same half hour.

I am feeling remarkably relaxed about the whole thing but I think it is because I am almost out of hormones and am rarely feeling tetchy about anything these days except for the moment in Sainsbugs car park this morning when, despite it being almost empty, some moron decided to park two inches off my bumper, thereby preventing me access to my boot space. I made loud grumpy noises and went to buy some festive biscuits and stock up on toilet rolls in case it snows this week.

Oh, and there was a second egg this morning! I had forgotten how exciting it is to open the pod and find an egg nestled in the straw.

It really is beginning to look, and feel, a lot like Christmas.