Should anyone ever suffer from loneliness in the middle of the Christmas season, I have accidentally found the most perfect of cures.

Carry around a model of Rudolf the Reindeer and you’ll have more friends than you know what to do with.

Rudolf and I started our adventure together outside the greengrocers in the square, when after much consideration I chose him as my new best friend to come home with me. And we went to meet Mum and Dad for a coffee.  On the way we were met with giggles from middle aged women doing their shopping but at the time had no idea of the treat in store for us both. While enjoying our coffee men, women and children of all ages stopped and asked us how Rudolf was getting on, what was his name, what he liked to eat, would he be stabled in the garden or in the house and remark after remark came about just how gorgeous he was.

Next we had to go to Waitress to pick up a few bits and bobs for lunch and decided there was only one sensible route to take, to pop him in a trolly. Well, you’d think Santa with all his Elves had turned up everytime I turned a corner.  I was met with gasps and squeals of glee about just how wonderful he was – all the way around the shop. Rudolf often likes an olive to nibble during the evening. Eventually after lots of children laughing, old people laughing, shop assistants laughing and even some impromptu clapping and lots of gasps of glee, we made our way out of the store.

I must tell you I went to my knitting group the next morning and one of the ladies was telling me about how a wonderful reindeer had been pushed around the store of Waitrose, her friend had told her and she was sad she’d missed it, it was the talk of the town!  I said that was ‘me’.  She looked as though she didn’t quite believe me, until I got my piccies out.

So, should you be feeling a bit glum, grab your nearest reindeer and go for a spin around town, trust me, it will really cheer you up.

I often ponder, as I gently meander down an alley or two of a favoured hobby, that I have a lot to learn. Never has this been crystallised as clearly as when hubby and I went to a Clubman competition at our new to us photography club. I absolutely loved seeing all the photographs and the critique of the independent judge on every single one was just spellbinding. We all sat riveted to our seats, barely daring to breath, lest we miss a comment that one could learn from.  A very memorable evening indeed, especially for one who learns very visually, but also one that left me filled with a touch of anxiety.  I look at my photographs and I think, crap, crap, crap as I toss them mentally into the bin, and really I only have a couple of snaps that I am particularly proud of.  But I just have to take a deep breath, pull myself up by my bootstraps and say to myself, ‘that is the reason we are going, to learn’.

We have a Christmas competition next week, it’s meant to be a friendly and fun.., but by the steely look in some of my new found friends eyes, I can tell, it is going to be fierce, in a Christmassy humorous kind of way, but fierce nonetheless. Only eased by the free wine and nibbles – which might be good, its a mostly male group and I’ve a feeling they have ordered in catering, no bring a plate for them!

So, having looked at my photos and thought  yuck, yuck, yuck, and being full of a cold virus with my head spinning if I walked more than a few paces, so going out was a no go,  it was down to me and the cat to produce something fresh that I could bare to look at.  Fortunately Florence came good and I managed to get a few shots of her. Just after she had killed a feather encrusted stuffed mouse.  There is certain look in those eyes that makes me smile. So we worked on that a little and produced this. Which from a mini vote of my friends, out of the two they liked this one the best, my Auntie coming up with an amusing title of ‘Watching you, Watching me’.

Hubby has been to the camera shop and had it printed to the competition size of A4 and now we are ready. It’s all good, I’ll be fine, after a generous glass of wine and a vol-au-vent.

I can’t tell you how much I look forward to the 1st of December, not least that I can now look lovingly at all of the Christmas decorations in the shops without feeling the slightest hint of revulsion that it is still November and I was still enjoying Autumn thank you very much. But now we have had hard frosts and I sense that Santas elves are hard at work making children’s dreams come true, I really do feel Christmas is coming.

When I was very young we had a beautiful, in the sense of cardboard and a bit tatty, but beautiful nonetheless advent calendar which had pictures of children dressed up in winter star motif jumpers, woolly bobble hats and thick scarfs and mittens enjoying toboggan rides and throwing snowballs behind its pretty doors.  I loved peaking into the frosty snow clad scene to see what was revealed each morning. One year it was replaced by a chocolate version, equally good and for a few years we had both. And then sadly I grew up, the Internet wasn’t born, so to find a vintage advent calendar would have been all but impossible – and I still hope to find one, one day, and chocolate seemed for children, so advent calendars for me stopped.

Until, the beauty industry had a bright idea to make its own pretty advent calendars. I love the treat sized products to try, and this year has been my year of the beauty advent calendar, but my one true love is the version by Liberty. It is just so pretty,Mornings will be so much fun, maybe not as much fun as racing down the stairs, half dressed to open up a door and pop a chocolate in your mouth aged eight,  but almost and maybe even a teensy weensy bit more grown up, perhaps.