"A Poor Family Had No Decorations ....

.... for their Christmas tree, so while the children were sleeping, spiders spun webs of silver around its branches. When the family awoke on Christmas morning, the tree was sparkling with silver webs." And this is how the tradition of decorating with tinsel started. In parts of Europe from the Ukraine to Germany people decorate their trees with lucky spiders. My tree was missing a spider so I searched for one. All I could find was this deceased Pholcus phalangioides. I've placed it in an old bauble given to me by my mother-in-law.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to all. :)

Today's poem is Out in the Dark by Edward Thomas. http://firstknownwhenlost.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/out-in-dark-over-snow-edward-thomas-and.html

Written on Christmas Eve at High Beach (not High Beech as in my book) which is in Epping Forest not far from here. "The fallow fawns invisible go" on our property.