Finished!

I put the final touches to our Christmas decor yesterday by putting the outdoor ones up. These are probably the cheapest decorations you can get, but I really like the way they brighten up the apple tree and they don't seem to mind what weather gets thrown at them.

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Friday Bench: With Wallace

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The Gromit Unleashed trail in Bristol is providing a lot of free fun and laugher in Bristol this summer and it was the perfect excuse to meet up with my Girls Night Out friends recently. We started off as colleagues 26 years ago, and now are firm friends, though it's rare to find so many of us together these days. Here we are with Wallace providing a stand-in for our one missing group member. This photo makes me so happy! The trail comprises 53 various Wallaces, Gromits, Feathers McGraw and Norbots spread over a wide area in and around Bristol with a few extra surprises along the way such as the roving labybird Gromit and a few items hidden around the Museum. It's great fun and don't we look fab!
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Friday Bench: Meet Geoffrey

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  I'm rather taken with Geoffrey, a friendly giraffe used to promote Toys R Us since 1965. I'm even more taken with his bench inside W H Smith in Chippenham. Prior to the chain's sale earlier this year, it was agreed that certain stores would also have a Toys R Us section within them. Geoffrey's bench marks the transition from one of our traditional High Street retailers into something more fun and entertaining, though sadly rather empty when I took this photo. At some point the name W H Smith will morph into its new owner's chosen rebrand name, T G Jones* - rather bland in my opinion which appears to have been made up, unlike the original name which refers to the company's original founder Henry Walton Smith and reaches back to the year 1792. * = it has already in nearby Malmesbury, though they have yet to erase the etched W H Smith from the glass doors. They seem to have retained the corporate blue colour on the shopfront too, for now at least. UPDATE - it tur...
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How Advertising Works in Chippenham #41

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Decide to put your house on the market Research thoroughly the best Estate Agent* to get you the swiftest sale and best price for your property Agree to have a For Sale sign placed outside (not everyone does these days) Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice that Scott really does need to use his full Christian name in his advertising Et voila ! * = Realtor if you're reading this over the Pond Gosh, I see it's nearly 5 years since the last How Advertising Works , it's great to be back! NAH and I have a list of examples similar to Scott's e.g. Sue Wellings' signature at the swimming club became S Wellings and he was at school with Terry and Steve Potts (S Potts and T Potts). Do you have any examples to add to the list? 😉
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Postcard from Yorkshire

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For Apple Day: Eat your way to the river

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