Done and dusted...

The Christmas decorations are down, and waiting to go into boxes and up into the loft for another year. Lots of gold baubles this time, and the slightly full of herself angel for the top of the tree (just have to pick her up and she gets a bit flouncy with her hair), as well as the old favourites, like the 'icicle' garlands for the tree.

We always put up the home-made ones from friends, and the one that reminds me of my mum. She'd have enjoyed Christmas in this house, I'm sure. Then there are the matryoshka dolls my brother brought over from Russia (I now have the ones he gave my mum, too).

The stairs, in particular, look very dowdy without the lights - Mr Drookit is always up and about before I am, so I'd got used to getting up and being guided down the stairs by the lights, and into the kitchen past the tree, this last few weeks. It was very dull, in both senses of the word, when I got up this morning... Ah well!