24/12/2025
Today we continue our Christmas mood series with Andrew Chamberlain:
'Hooray for the Christmas Tree
For me, Christmas is really coming when I get our plain, unbedecked Christmas tree in the house and in place. A Christmas tree is a sensory delight. First there are all the tactile sensations it offers: the rough bark at its base, the prickles of the needles, wrangling it into and out of the car, its glorious unwieldiness, letting it spread as you release it from its sticky restraining netting. Then the scent: the earthy, pungent warmth of the scent of pine which will fill the house for the next three weeks. And what a sight; symmetrical, bushy, advent green, little branches reaching out ready to receive whatever decorative delights we can load onto it. Christmas has arrived!'