Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

I woke up late today, because we had a VERY hectic busy day in London yesterday, and one of the first things Ed had to say to me was "When can we go and get a Christmas tree?".  Ed loves having a Christmas tree soooo much, we didn't bother last year as we were in the process of buying our flat and we weren't sure when our moving date was going to be. So this year Ed wanted to have a Christmas tree early in December to make up for it.  

This was the tree that Ed fell in love with, it is a Fraser Fir so we named it Frasier. It is a lovely, little compact tree grown in a pot which means that we can put it on the allotment after the festive season is over and hopefully Frasier will be with us for next Christmas as well.  

We managed to get it into the car without making too much of a mess by removing the parcel shelf.

Ed managed to find some of our decorations from two years ago. We thought we had more! We only had one tiny strip of lights and a few baubles. 

Here he is in pride of place in the window, ready to be decorated properly so all the other Christmas trees don't laugh at him! 

Hope you have had a great (slightly festive) weekend <3

Audio Book Review - Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce.

My first 5 star review! When my Audible credits came through this month I didn't have a clue what books I would buy. So I had a little wonder through Audible and stumbled upon this book. One part of the publishers summary really jumped out at me, it said "It is as if Neil Gaiman and Joanne Harris had written a fairy tale together." Now if you have been reading this blog for a while you will probably be aware that I LOVE Neil Gaiman. I also adore fairy tales and folklore, so I knew that I should give this book a chance and I am so happy that I did. 

This book is by the English author Graham Joyce and it is set only a little way from where I live, which made it even more atmospheric for me. I was totally blown away by how gritty and intelligent this book is. The premiss is that a young girl of 16 goes missing in the local woods without a trace and 20 years later she returns on Christmas day having not really aged at all. The story blooms like the buds of the bluebells in the book, it is heady and enticing whilst also threatening danger just to warn you not to get too carried away. The characters are all beautifully thought out and their relationships are scripted with the love and fragility that will leave you not wanting to let go of them.  This is a book for people who love fairy tales and yearn for that certain something, dare I say it... magical. It will also leave you wondering what the truth really is and it may make you think twice about wondering in that cherished bluebell wood near you.