Yesterday we visited the town that Elder Daughter now lives in, and after a trot around the delightful shops in & around the pretty medieval High Street, we walked down to the Castle Garden Centre, which boasted the Christmas Display that’s been voted the best in the UK. It was indeed glorious! Much bigger than we’d expected and brilliantly done. There was a smashing big working model railway layout, animated animals, & assorted little dioramas amongst the acres of lovely and very reasonably-priced decorations on sale, in all sorts of styles, from the traditional glass & tissue paper decs, the down-home American ones in gingham & string, through highly individual illuminated ceramic cottages, to the intricate & beautifully-made German wooden woodland scenarios, many of which lit up or were animated. And the whole space was also beautifully lit, with miles of different LED chains, that you could also find to buy. Absolutely magical, free to enter – and not even a hint of a hard sell, which instantly made it necessary to find something to buy!

As we went in, the very first diorama was a lovely Nativity scene. Quite big, and absolutely traditional, complete with the new parents, the baby in the manger, shepherds & sheep, gently lit with flickering candles & elegant mirrors. The lady of the couple who had entered alongside us looked at her husband and said, in loud disappointed tones, “Well, that’s not very Christmassy, is it?”

Oh dear… I think they may have kind of missed the point!

With a bit of luck & a following wind, in the next few days I’ll be posting a top-level page showing this year’s Christmas “makes” which were inspired by an earlier visit to the National Trust’s Stourhead. But just in case life gets in the way once again, I’m wishing you all an utterly enchanted Christmas and a happy & prosperous New Year!