Merry Christmas everybody :)

Stained glass window showing the Nativity with the three magi, Romsey Abbey, Hampshire

May everyone out there have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2012. My gift to you for Christmas Day is some of my favourite Christmas pop songs. Not all those traditional carols (which I love) or anything too kitsch – these three rock yet at the same time are a little bit spiritual…

Chris de Burgh: A Spaceman Came Travelling
– I love the science fiction of it – angel as alien…
link to video (Lego version!)
link to lyrics

Greg Lake: I Believe in Father Christmas
– They said there’d be snow at Christmas, They said there’ll be peace on Earth, Hallelujah, Noel, be it Heaven or Hell, The Christmas we get, we deserve.
link to video
link to lyrics

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: The Power of Love
– I’ll protect you from the hooded claw, Keep the vampires from your door…
link to video
link to lyrics

AND FINALLY…
A slushy song that has been playing in my head – and in all the high street stores – all through December…
David Essex: A Winter’s Tale
Here’s the video from 1989

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Feathers three and fleur-de-lis…

The Welsh Rugby Union's 'three feathers' logo, left, and a stylised fleur-de-lis symbol

Somewhere, somewhen, someone told me the Prince of Wales feathers and the fleur-de-lis were the same thing. They aren’t, but I am exploring the idea to look for any connections.

I wonder if

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Frosted Cotoneaster horizontalis

A sweetgum leaf (Liquidamar styraciflua) on frosted Cotoneaster horizontalis...

Today has been the coldest day of the winter so far, with ice on the birdbath first thing. There was also a wonderful delicate frosting on the tiny evergreen leaves of the Cotoneaster horizontalis.

This is surely

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Trees of the riverbank…

Beside the River Taff in Cardiff, November 30, 2011

Last Wednesday there was a national strike of public-sector workers in the UK, which meant no Cardiff buses.

But it was a lovely crisp, sunny morning, so I walked to work along the bank of the River Taff and took these pictures of some

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