Shop early for Christmas

I know it is a little early to start talking about Christmas (and I hereby claim the dubious honour to be the first this year), but here is a sneak preview of my decorative plans for the 25th.

The above is a tube full of little paper lantern lights (£1.50 at a charity shop) which are miniature versions of the large one hanging in this room which John Gray admires so much, having caught a glimpse of it when I have taken selfies. You can still buy them John - it's not too late.

Before I hang them in a graceful arc over the central window I am facing now, I am going to paint them in the colours of the lanterns I remember from the Christmas Rupert Annuals of my childhood. I am childishly excited by this prospect. How many sleeps are there before the big day?

H.I. sees herself as the colourist of the household (and rightly so - she has thought of little else since childhood) and I normally concede to her tastes in all matters concerning colour and the application thereof, but in this case I put my foot down.

"I think they would be better left plain white," she said.

Trying to control my quivering bottom lip, I responded as forcefully as I could under the circumstances, saying that - in this instance - I insisted being allowed to colour them in whatever way  I thought appropriate for Christmas.

She looked at me for a moment and, not wishing to further hurt my feelings (which were in an advanced state of regression at the time), she said 'ok but they have to be the colours from the old Rupert books, not the garish, post 1980 new ones'. As if I would! I let this slur go for the time being and wiped the tears from my eyes. A feint smile replaced the quivering lip.

In the past, I have considered introducing some good pieces of brown furniture into our compact but adorable city apartment, but always thought better of it.