a christmas deer

When I saw this shiny gold stamp pad in the stationery shop I knew I needed it and I was right, as it is just right for the Christmas card production line, along with this antique French bird stamp and some trusty potatoes.


























We don't 'do' Christmas in the usual sense in the Molebags household- we don't do stupid amounts of food shopping, or squeeze a massive turkey into the oven, or feel the need to join the crowds in the high street. We have an agreement with friends and family to refrain from present buying, and usually treat ourselves to our own gift after the madness is over and the sales are on.

(I should say that we have no children, grandchildren or religious convictions, which might alter the case).

Maybe this sounds grumpy but the older I get the less I care what people think. So many people say 'oh Christmas is all so commercialised' and then go ahead and participate by spending a fortune they might not be able to afford, on people they might not like very much. Mad! I really think a gift should be something original and hopefully hand made, given with thought, and not necessarily expensive.

But I feel the least I can do is make our Christmas cards, to send to people we love, and then we will be off to our local pub on Christmas day, followed by a country walk and back home for lunch and the log fire.

























Looking out of the window whilst taking the photo above, I found this seasonal visitor having a feast of fallen apples. She (or he?) is welcome to them at this time of year, but I hope she and her friends are back in the woods before I put my runner bean plants out in the spring- one year they munched their way through three successive plantings of them!