The cards are down, the tree is down, and the holes in the decor are brought into sharp focus. Where the tree used to be is now this:

A TV the size of a postage stamp and lots of wires. And binning the cards (and no, further to My Friend’s recent question, none of them this year were from local take-away restaurants) reminded me of something else…

Mantelpiece display: state of. No flowers picked from the garden and stuffed into unsuitable artisanal receptacles.  No spending half an hour moving a vintage milk jug from one side of the mirror to the other. No shuffling ceramic gubbins to pleasing visual effect. I  haven’t footled around with this mantlepiece arrangement in approximately… erm, the length of time since I’ve had a boyfriend. Can these things be connected?