Nearly Solstice

Part of our long-standing seasonal tradition is the sending of cheapskate e-cards like the above. Our year is further explained in the “What we did in 2025” note included with actual physical cards and now lazily copied here:

It’s been a complicated year at Ansible HQ for all sorts of reasons, mainly house and garden renovations. The garden work started as a simple plan for some kind of paving on the front path, which was at best muddy and at its worst combined cedar needles and smelly bird droppings into a powerful organic glue with a special affinity for carpets. Unfortunately the early investigations revealed that our 125-foot cedar was not only a needle-shedding nuisance but actively dangerous. In the next major storm it might all too easily drop a big branch on some passing car or pedestrian, and (gulp) it leaned slightly towards the house.

Having a tree that huge removed is a long, fraught and noisy business. Our nerves suffered for weeks. But we were glad not to have waited any longer: as bit by bit the cedar was taken down, the sight of the rot-filled internal split in its trunk was pretty terrifying. The eventual result was a half-paved front garden (‘Can you make it look like this?’ said Hazel, producing a rough sketch, and they made it look like that.) with new front and side walls, a parking space for the first time in the history of this house, and no cedar needles any more. And so we lived happily ever after, watching strange plants emerge from the new topsoil – including one that turned out to be a poisonous thorn apple, to be removed with caution and thick gloves – until the frequently repaired roof over the front bay window started to leak again, and a new cycle of builders’ visits began. You would not believe the amount of coffee they can drink.

Everything seems fine at present, but we’ve had a reclusive 2025, mostly not going anywhere and not seeing anyone except for builders and a couple of visits from brother Jon the rock star.

All best for Christmas and the New Year!