The reds and greens of the season

Yesterday was an Elf Help day.

After getting most of the cards done, I headed out for some errands.

You know how it goes with Christmas shopping, you leave with some firm ideas and plans and those often get changed before you return.

So it was yesterday. I went to the nursery with one gift idea. It was not to be found and I left with something totally different and for a different person.

But how could I pass up this gorgeous cyclamen? The red so velvety, deep and intense.

"Mary took the opportunity to smuggle a beautiful pink cyclamen into her own bedroom and hide it behind the curtain on the windowsill. It had cost more than she could really afford, but she had decided to forego a new pair of winter gloves. The old ones could be mended, and who was to notice the much sewn seams in a little place like Shepherd's Cross?"

from "The Christmas Mouse" by Miss Read 1973
just one of the things I reread every Christmas