"Put down that wrench!"

Now that the garklet's first birthday is out of the way (see ias's journal for an account), we've started putting up the decorations. Himself seems to be rather taken by the tree and its adornments (in his words: dah!), and I've managed to stop himself from electrocuting himself by sucking the fairy lights.

We've decided that our living tree of the past two years is really looking too sorry; it was charmingly crooked when we bought it, now it's charmingly crooked, marginally taller, and rather the worst for wear. Think of it as the Steve Buscemi of the tree world. In a few years it'll have developed enough character to make a statement, at which point we might let it back into the house. For now, we have a young, fresh tree, a bit on the short side, but nonetheless attractive. Think of it as the Thora Birch of the tree world.

Regarding decorations, I thought I'd add a few new ones to those that we've built up over recent years. We didn't have something for the apex of the tree, so I've added a jaunty cameo of a middle-aged Isaac Newton, which I've complemented with these hanging decorations: