Twelfth Night.

All the decorations and the crib are packed away.
The Christmas tree is in its box ready to go into the loft. 
It is still quiet outside. There isn't a breath of wind.
 It is gradually becoming darker being late afternoon. 
       Yet there's an imperceptible shift in the time the sun goes down, meaning I have altered the timer for the hall light to come on in the evenings, if we are out later than usual. 
   I went to replenish the bird feeders after breakfast and the sun felt noticeably warmer on my face.  
    I took a cup of tea into our (unheated) summer house along with two books. One a version of Psalms, that I love, and the other a fictional novel.
     I hung up a piece of glass by the window, a Christmas present from our daughter-in-law's dad and step-mum. 
   I love it out there. 
It is such a place of calm. 
The sun poured in through the windows making it warm inside. 
Yesterday we had another trip to Bristol to see the family, and look after the three grand-kids whilst their parents were packing up stuff from emptying their loft, in readiness for the builders to begin in two weeks. It will give them more space as grandchild number 4 arrives in mid March! 
    We were then packing stuff they do not need, into our car to bring back here, for taking to our church "Grow Baby" project, and other stuff they still need will go into our loft bedroom! 
    The "Grow Baby"  project takes all kinds of clothing, toys and equipment for children from birth to 5 years old. It has helped refugees and disadvantaged families so much already. 
It was a busy time! 
We made chocolate cakes with them, great fun, and very messy! I was to be Granny Butterfly for the afternoon, as Libby, 5, was wearing a pair of butterfly wings. 
Toby,3, and Libby were playing "house" with a blanket thrown over a chair and I was the one providing the "toy" food. Bringing  it to them in a toy supermarket trolley!
   Sammy, 7, then played a memory game with all of us, before he used Grandad's laptop to write a story, under Grandad's supervision. (he needed help with typing commas and capital letters).
Their energy at that age is boundless! 
But by bedtime they were ready for a story and sleep. 
    We drove back up the M5 with a packed car! 
Today I am recovering! 
We are going down once more next Saturday to collect more things. 
Time for tea.