A sprinkle of fresh Christmas magic...

Let's deviate from Santas, reindeer, tinsel and baubles and celebrate the natural beauty that surrounds us this festive season! How about a stunning peacock feather discovered by chance or some pale, perfectly-formed urchin shells found while swimming in an azure sea? 

Fili, heroine of The Case Against Fili Du Bois, would, I think, be loving her view of the season. For her, it is a time of walking the verdant rows of vines and glorying in the swelling of the grapes, watching - sometimes anxiously - the play of sunshine and rain, seeing how the mountains turn pink in the rising sun or glow like steel in the moonlight.

And, away from the vineyards, the thrill of spotting the arrow-straight dive of a pied kingfisher as it pierces the water to grab its Christmas lunch! Or the less elegant plunge of a bumble bee into the pollen-filled heart of a scarlet hibiscus...   

Whatever your preference, do look about and enjoy what we perhaps take for granted all year round...
What will you notice?

See you in the New Year!