We were really lucky with the Holly hunt this year – our first stop gave us all we needed, as opposed to last year’s 2-hr hunt for some berry-full prickles.

car full of holly for Christmas

We decided to decorate the house same day – though this turned out to be not the wisest decision. The trees were excessively tall this year, and need some stump-sawing before we could even get them inside. The treee base broke, necessitating emergency bucket & bricks replacmenet. Oh and it also poured with rain, so we got soaked doing it…

putting up big christmas tree

But there was a visitor early evening who made it all just that bit more festive…

lions club father christmas

lions club father christmas 2

Adore the fact that No.1, at 13, is slightly awkward – but still wants to go see Father Christmas and get his chocolate. I wonder how many more Chrsitmas’ we have before he hangs back and just watches his siblings… And do note Bear’s face. Juts priceless.

Oh, and the house? We finished finally at 10.30.
But it was pretty.

That tree we were battling up above? Turned out like this…

beautifully decorated red and silver real christmas tree

And the other one? Like this:

beautifully decorated coloured real christmas tree