A partridge and a pukeko in a pear tree...

Today I met a pretty important deadline, and after emailing off the thing I'd put together I went out for dinner with Nadine and Sarah. Fun chats with the girls is always a lovely thing... and then the three of us walked up Bloor St and Nadine headed off at the subway to catch the train then bus to Hamilton, and Sarah and I decided to keep walking and do something we'd been planning to do for a while: we walked up and down to look in the shop windows on Bloor (lots and lots of big shops up that street!), enjoying their Christmas window displays.

Our favourite (I'm pretty sure Sarah feels the same way) was the a massive multi-window display in which life-size manequins were placed in scenes from the Christmas song 'a partridge in a pear tree' - I wish I'd taken my camera with me so I could put some snaps on the blog, and I'll head back soon to do just that :) But in the meantime you just have to believe me: it was gorgeous!

I'll paint the picture.

Cold, it was cold. Not snowy and not bitter, but I was very pleased to have my lovely new down coast buttoned all the way up to my chin. We'd popped in to grab coffees for the walk, so as we strolled up the road we held warm cardboard cups of warmth... in my case, my little seasonal obsession, a gingerbread latte. All up and down Bloor are bright twinkly lights, and most of the shops have really made an effort with the windows... and then this one, Holt Renfrew which is a very spunky store, had gigantic green pears half my height, with a huge partridge on a branch which stretched across a window that was maybe 3 or 4 metres long. It was fun cracking the code... and, although they had some of the words as a part of a piece of sheet music for the song which was a backdrop to a couple of the sections of the display, most of the words were not there and we found ourselves trying to remember them. (Easier for me, because Sarah's Jewish and so hasn't grown up with quite so many Christmas carols around!)

It was fun, it was lovely, it was the start of December and the start of a wintry Christmas.


*******************************************************************************


PS - I got home and goggled the lyrics, so I didn't have to stay up half the night lying in bed trying to hum them into my consciousness... and look what I found! Who knew!?

Religious symbolism of The Twelve Days of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas) 1 True Love refers to God 2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments 3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues 4 Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists 5 Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace. 6 Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation 7 Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments 8 Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes 9 Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit 10 Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments 11 Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles 12 Drummers Drumming refers to the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed