Spinning Spirals

Through my childhood pretty much all our Christmases were spent with my grandparents (on mum's side) in Edmonton. My grandad Smith was my favourite of my grandparents - a great, fun character of 100% Romani blood, who just LOVED all the lights and decorations. He decorated most of their flat! He was a big kid at heart. He always had loads of these crinkly foil spirals - only small ones though, maybe 3"-4" long, in assorted colours. He'd pin them in rows down either side of the hallway ceiling, so when a door was opened and a draft created, they'd spin and twirl. I was always entranced by them. Sadly he died when I was only about 10 years old, and my nan (a much more subdued character) stuck to just a tree and a few hanging decorations each Christmas after that. I always missed those spinning spirals (since we were away in Edmonton for well over a week every Christmas my own parents only put up a small tree, it didn't seem worth the effort of doing any more).
Once upon a time these spirals were easy to find, so became part of my own Christmas decor once I left home. I always used to compress them back down to store them so they had a limited life before getting tatty. Eventually I found I couldn't get hold of them any more.
Then several years ago I noticed these large versions for sale in Woolies (remember them!?). So I bought loads! I've been using some of them ever since as a mobile hanging from a rigid plant support ring covered in green tinsel (they're about 15" long" - and now I no longer compress them down again, but store them as they are in an old cardboard keyboard box - perfect for the job! ) When they do eventually get tatty I have twice that many still unused in their original packaging -I reckon they'll outlast me! I hang them in front of the fireplace, and a fan heater underneath provides the air flow to keep them spinning and twirling.
Of course, they will always remind me of grandad too ....