I knew it was what I wanted because it was exactly the same as the one we have beside the icon of St Nicholas, but when it arrived I found it was unimaginably filthy with grease and gunk. I spent a morning trying to clean it with every substance I thought might have an effect, from washing-up liquid to vinegar. A sort of brassy material was revealed: I agreed with the kind donor who was actually paying for it that we should have it re-silvered, a process which has taken longer than you might expect. Now it is beautiful, and looks like it's been purchased new. You can't see it that clearly in this photo, but Our Lady and Our Lord seem to approve of it.
The other new item was the replacement for our old wooden crib scene. With the unavailability of donkeys on Christmas Eve getting no easier and the 'nativity tableau' we did for several years not being very involving, we decided last year to assemble a crib scene with painted wooden figures. They were placed on the altar but we agreed they looked a bit lost and what they needed was a stable to frame them. John who regularly knocks up such items did his magic again and produced something which looked so splendid I thought it was high time to dispense with the old version which was well past its best.
Curiously the Crib Service was the only one of the Christmas services at which attendance was down - if you believe the figures from last year, which I am not sure I entirely do. The biggest surprise was the Prayer Book communion service at 8am on Christmas Day, which not only drew more souls than any service of its kind since I arrived in Swanvale Halt, but I'm fairly sure more than any 8am service in that time. Admittedly, that's only a grand total of 21, but still. Two of them were under 8, and that's not even counting Ruby the dog.
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