Is Someone on the Naughty List?

Well, I say someone, it's more like something. Let me explain.

Unless you've been living in a cave in the middle of nowhere, you will have noticed that the Season of Goodwill is upon us. I love Christmas, (I may have alluded to that in previous Christmassy posts) and something that makes it really special, is when I walk my little orange dog and we get to see how hard people have worked to decorate the exterior of the houses.


There are wreaths hung on doors and some people have even got the most enormous ribbon I have ever seen in my life and made their front doors look as though they are gift wrapped.

There are reindeer, 'Santa Stop Here' signs and lights hung around windows and in garden trees.

Please note the emphasis on 'garden' trees, and the very pretty picture of a real live tree, lit up with hundreds of beautiful fairy lights. This is very important to the rest of the story.

As I was walking Max a few days ago, I noticed a tree in someones front garden. 'Wow! They've gone to an awful lot of trouble,' I thought to myself. This tree had not only baubles (which you don't often see on outdoor trees), but tinsel too. I was, and still am rather concerned about that tinsel, it could very easily blow away if we get a bit of a gale blowing. It was then I noticed something rather odd about the tree. Here's a photo, see if you can spot what the oddity is...

...well I wasn't going to make it that easy for you. Actually, the truth is, I took this photo yesterday and didn't want the owners of the house to think I was photographing their house in order to case the joint, so I hid behind the hedgerow thingy, which in hindsight probably looked even more suspicious. Once I'd taken the photo I walked off very quickly, which must also have looked very dodgy. Miss. L on the other had, was totally brazen this morning, stood on their drive and took this photo (apologies for the slight blur).

As you can see, it is an artificial tree. Now this may not seem unusual to you, but so far, no one I've spoken to has ever seen an artificial tree decorated and on a lawn. As such I have come to the conclusion that this tree has, for some reason, been banished from the family home. Perhaps it has been replaced, by a bigger and better tree and just sloped off outside alone to wallow in self pity. Perhaps it did something very naughty, like ejecting the fairy into the dog's mouth, who in turn chewed the fairy and was sick for the rest of the week. One thing's for sure, it looks a little sorry for itself. It's probably worried that not only will its tinsel and baubles fly away with a decent gust of wind, but that it too might get blown away. I do hope the weather is kind to it this holiday season.

Have you spotted anything unusual this year, or better still have you got any creative ideas as to what this tree may have done to find itself banished to the outdoors. I'd love to hear your ideas.