Friday 12 December - the crib

Not much evidence of the crib and the Christmas story amidst all the commercialisation. There was a single Nativity Scene for sale in John Lewis today but I see from their web site that it's reduced from £25 to £16. I've just looked at a random set of Christmas cards: two have nativity scenes, three have rather vague Eastern scenes with a star - one with Mary on a donkey and Joseph, one with the shepherds and one with an apparently abandoned baby in a manger. Fourteen cards have no evidence of the Christmas story at all. At least we haven't resorted to wishing everyone 'Happy Holidays'


Here, as promised, is our Advent calendar: it's a Danish design with felt shapes to be stuck on each day - the last being the star. Not many of the shapes are connected to the Christmas story - but at least it's not full of chocolate and it's reusable every year.


Tomorrow: food for Christmas