Saturday Dec 5 in The View from the Terrace

Another wild blustery day, at least it’s good for drying the washing. It’s still quite mild and there are still some calendula and cape daisies in bloom in the garden. There was a giant orange poppy in bloom on Tuesday which felt like a gift as it was the anniversary of my mother’s passing. Her name was Mildred but she hated that and everyone called her Poppy. She told me her father called her his poppy as a child and it stuck. Today is the anniversary of my father’s passing. It’s 53 years but I still think of him often.

Yesterday we braved the wind to go out and buy a Christmas tree. This year we got a Douglas fir. I liked the blue tinge to the needles and apparently they don’t drop but it still has a lovely scent unlike like the Nordmann pine whose needles also don’t drop but which has no scent. The tree isn’t up yet, it’s in the yard in a bucket of water. Today I will clean the living room and hopefully it can go up soon.

Chris called yesterday. He’s asked us round for lunch on Sunday. I haven’t seen his house yet. He is buying it with a friend who will be away for the weekend. I have a duty at the telephone line at 4 o’clock but that is fine as he only lives 10 minutes away. Next week I have very little on so I can get on with Christmas cards and presents.