The Christmas card census

• Snow Scenes 35. ( Many and various )


• Birds 22, ( calling and otherwise )


• Animals 12: ( who knew the cat was a symbol of Christmas? )


• Christmas trees: ( one per day, as is only right )


• Other plants: 13. 2 snowdrops (in addition to the robin's pot), 7 red berries (lots of glitter), a Red Cross rose, Candy's aunt's wood engraving and a very fine hand-stencilled dandelion


• Baubles: 4


• Snowflakes: 3


• Nativity scenes: (freely interpreted) 12, namely: oriental townscapes 7; magi, 3 (including magi approaching oriental townscape, 1), mother and child, 1, and stained glass, 1


• Angels: 6, including a Gustav Klimt identified as "Harmony" who probably isn't an angel really, at all


• Santa Claus: 5, including a Mel Calman, a Francis Blake and - goodness, that's odd: I hadn't looked closely at this one before. Santa figure in red robe and holly crown seated with a sack at his feet brimming with vegetables. Birds and beasts cluster around him; a hedgehog peers out from under his hem, a parrot watches a goat which is eating a carrot, a rabbit, a guinea pig and a kitten are investigating the sack and another kitten, in Santa's lap, is peering at something green - maybe a bauble - in his hand. Soon it will notice the mouse climbing up his skirt, and then all hell will break loose...


• Sundry other stars, oranges, mittens, fireworks, candles, Christmas puddings etc: 15

I make that a grand - a very grand - total of 138, which is ridiculous. No wonder I didn't have a chance to play with them as they arrived, and have to make up for it now!