Gone, but not forgotten

 Things were back to normal today. We were up just before 7:00 and Urban-Cub dropped Ellie off before 7:30. Ellie was already dressed and ready for school. She couldn't get there quickly enough. We were dragged to the school gates and were first in the queue for her class. When Miss Yardley opened the gate, she couldn't get into class fast enough.

We settled down for some breakfast and coffee when we got back. The Gorse Fox had decided to take down the Christmas decorations today. Cars were moved and the storage boxes retrieved from the garage. The lantern was the first to be packed away, then the Gorse Fox started on the floor level lights in the front garden. They were carefully wound around a polystyrene block so that, hopefully, they would not be tangled when retrieved next December. All of the cards were taken down from their ribbons and the ribbons wound and stashed. The hanging lights on the bay window were taken down and, again, wound round a block for storage. Next, the tree and the lights were dismantled. This batch of 600 lights took a lot longer to wind - but again they are stashed neatly. The tree itself was a pain. It came in a box in 3 separate parts. There was no way under the sun that it was going to fit back in that box. Two thirds of the tree were returned to the box and the Gorse Fox had a trip to B&Q to get some heavy duty rubble sacks. Two of these were used as a long sock into which the section of tree could be stored. Eventually, it was done. Everything was returned to the garage and the house was vacuumed. The decorations are all gone and will remain forgotten until next December.

By the time we were finished, it was time to grab a bite to eat and then collect Ellie. She played, she ate, she read, and she did some number games. She was very good and has just been picked up by Urban-Cub and gone home.