Unexpected

 

Why did I not notice before? I have been walking down our road all week and now suddenly it is lit up. It started with lights in a window, then a shining tree appeared on a lawn and all at once the whole street is twinkling and flashing. Everyone’s garden is full of brightness, except ours. It never occurred to me to decorate outside as well as inside. When we lived at the cottage there was no one to see and we did what we pleased. But now we have moved house it is very different. We are dark and gloomy and letting the side down.

To tell the truth we have been letting the side down indoors too, but no one sees this. I decided that I had better try a bit harder, so when I visited a local supermarket, I was on the lookout. It is not as if we have not got any decorations, we have a lot, but they are all packed up in boxes, not yet opened from our move.

Much better to get a few bits and pieces from the shop I thought. I had success immediately. I saw a tub of fir cones and each cone had been attached to a rod so that it stood up like a tulip in a vase. I bought a bunch. But it was not as easy as that – the rods holding the cones were slippery and soon they had fallen from their ‘bouquet’ packaging and were all over the shop floor. They did not look so jolly as they rolled and bounced with people chasing after them. It was not a good feeling.

My sister in Yorkshire feels good as she has just had an email to say, ‘Great news the hosepipe restrictions have been lifted!’. They put restrictions on in the hot summer and we were lucky that Shropshire used underground reserves to help. It seems strange in all this rain and flooding that there has been a hosepipe ban. I do not suppose it was difficult to comply with the rules, my sister was certainly not thinking, ‘I can’t wait for the hosepipe ban to end,’ when she was looking out onto her water-logged garden.

One of the joys of winter is the chance to watch birds as they feed in the garden. We have a little pond and yesterday I saw a wagtail there on the bank. But it was not the usual black and white wagtail. It was a grey wagtail and worked its way round the banks eating creatures and when it flew away, I saw its bright yellow underwing. It was enough of a jewel to light our whole village.