A brass band is playing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” in the background of the Archers this evening. I wasn’t listening properly, but I think Ambridge has just switched on its Christmas lights.
Nottingham, however, turned its Christmas lights on weeks ago.
Last week we went and gawped at awful Christmas decorations in front someone’s house in Burton Joyce. There was the full Monty, right down to several different Santas equipped with planes and helicopters as well as the more traditional magic-reindeer drawn sleigh. And, FFS! it was only November.
I will come clean: I don’t particularly like Christmas. I do miss singing Christmas carols, and I find myself singing the bass line to Hark the Herald right now; but the singing aside, I’m not fussed by the festivities. I could do without the whole damn lot.
But — and this is a very big but — we have our Christmas tree up already.
In my defence, we did at least wait til Advent Sunday.
Paul had seen trees in B&Q, and snaffled one (before ran out, like), and so it fell to me to go mad, and spend a fortune on baubles in John Lewis. I plumped for a colour theme, and have lots of lovely purple baubles. I figured (wrongly) that since baubles-only looked super in JL, they would at home too. I’m actually yearning for tinsel.
I should really have checked with P first since purple turns out to be a colour he can’t really see, (he’s red/green colourblind). And he would prefer a tree that’s a riot of colours rather than something that looks like a department store window-dresser came round and did it for you.
Just to show I’m not a complete bah-humbugger, I’ve recorded this for your amusement and delectation. The advantage of having a network on my desk is that I can double track myself using only Sound Recorder and WinAmp. I suspect if I ask Paul nicely, he has a lot more sophisticated equipment for cleaning it up and making it work better.