Festooning woe

it's too soon and not soon enough

This morning I leapt out of bed seized with the urgent desire to Christmas-decorate. I sat in the kitchen with a cup of tea thinking about it, but whichever way you cut it, 23 November does seem on the early side. I could picture exactly what I was going to do and I was - I am - itching to do it.

But it IS early. It was driving me mad - I was looking out at a howling gale (and at oblivious sheep - it must be so cosy to be made of wool). Christmas decorating seemed a perfect use of my Saturday. Decorating with a cheesy romcom in the background, even, with my daughter and the dogs watching from a nest on the sofa. What could be nicer?

In the end I talked myself down and made a mushroom tree instead. I really love toadstools, poisonous in real life but deeply appealing nonetheless. I don’t know why I like them so much - I think possibly because I had a toadstool Smurf house when I was a child (Brussels - Smurfs, or Schtroumpfs, are Belgian). It was made of heavy matte rubber with a really nice texture, soft and tactile and slightly vanilla-smelling. The lid came off and you made your Smurfs lead busy domestic lives inside.

I basically spent my child life playing with houses or making houses out of things. I mentioned before that I liked making rooms for my Sindy out of old wine crates - I found a picture the other day. Look! (that’s my infant sister peering inside). The photo is faded but both tables are absolutely laden with food - I BAKED every single item in there out of salt dough, and then lovingly painted it. I also made that tiny cushion in Sewing, from an offcut from the rag dolls we had to make. Mine was orange and wore a green and white daisy dress made out of fabric we bought in Peter Jones. I didn't love her because the teacher told me I had to put sticks down the neck and legs so they wouldn’t flop about.