Heck of a Hedgehog

I didn't have a good picture yesterday of Mr Heck the Hedgehog that Kate sent me to grace our Christmas tree this year.

But I have remedied that now. And I hereby wish to introduce you to Mr Heck. He has a place at eye level, right at the front of the tree. So everyone who is my height (or my eye level) will see him first thing. He's a very handsome fellow.

I fully expect to get a letter from Sidney tomorrow complaining that he isn't at eye level and why is that, and thus far there have been no Christmas pictures forthcoming on anyone's blog and why is that, and he doesn't see packages under the tree with his name on them yet, and why is that? And he doesn't like the answer, which generally seems to involve the Lady of His House and the troublesome Greek she is writing about.

Still, Sidney says.

Perhaps not, I tell him. Perhaps she has finished with TTG. Perhaps she has sent him packing. Last time I said that, I was treated to a feline snort and a grumbled, "I wish," and the twitch of a tail as he stalked out of the room. I don't even have to be in England to see this. I can imagine it. I have a good memory.

Anyway, the hedgehog is wonderful and I thank you, Kate, for making such a lovely contribution to our tree this year.

As one of the truly wonderful places to enjoy Christmas is The Hancock House, a bed and breakfast in Dubuque, Iowa that belongs to friends of ours, I thought I would share some pictures of it with you. I have fond memories of it anyway because our daughter got married there. But she got married in June when things look very different (but still lovely) than they do at Christmas.

Every time I want to get a sense of the "best of Christmas past" I dredge up my Hancock House memories. So I thought I'd share some of them with you.

Hope you enjoy them!