I made my life much easier last week by carefully not promising any new blog post till the New Year. Still, it would be a shame, I think, not to share with you the current appearance of my front door.
Some years ago all the front doors in our block of flats were replaced with fake woodgrain steel security doors. This means I can tell an advent story for my neighbours using fridge magnets. The star (actually a different, less ostentatious star) appears first. The next day the donkey shows up, gazing at the star. On the third day of advent the donkey is joined by the robin. The robin flits about a bit till the three kings put in an appearance. The kings are followed by one of the pandas doing duty as an angel.
As advent progresses, the Father Christmases show up one by one and form a procession. On the 24th, the holy family (in a set with the three kings and the donkey) appears and everyone else gathers around. (Some years I’ve added a few gingerbread figures too, hanging on threads from magnetic hooks, but this year I decided that was overkill.)
After Christmas, the different characters continue their journey, disappearing off the door in different directions, one by one, till only a last panda and the robin are left. And that’s that for another year.
If you are desperate for another blog post from me, and can’t wait till January, I suggest you hop over to Pens Around The World. PATW is the homepage of my international writers’ group, where I published a post on Monday.
