Girding my loins

Before we get onto the matter of what I am girding my loins for, I will just mention that I had no idea where, when or how the phrase came into being - so I tried that old new standby, Google.  Wikiwotsit says that it was used in the time of the Roman empire but others (rather more of these) say it is found in the Bible (Proverbs 31:17) and yet another says that the phrase is not used these days.  I've got news for them!

Anyway, I'm thinking of going into town this afternoon.  It is time I bit the bullet and got on with some Christmas shopping.  To be wholly truthful, I have already done a fair bit.  Well, I've bought a present for one grandson and a few bits and pieces for the OB.  One son wants Amazon vouchers, which is easy.  Oh, I've bought a present for the other son as well.  I bought it while we were in France.  Son & partner will be without any of their children this Christmas so they are going over to our place in France.  One of our favourite restaurants provides gift vouchers, so that was an easy way out and one which I am sure they will enjoy.  My daughter, however, wants to buy a particular watch from Debenhams.  I suspect that this is an expensive item as she has asked for vouchers towards it.  We won't be seeing her until sometime next year (she and her partner will be in Australia over Christmas to watch the Aussies smash the England cricket team - again!) so this will be easy to post.  I might be able to buy Debenham's vouchers online, but I do have another reason for going into town.  I have yet to buy a 2014 diary, and the OB wants one as well.  I had fully expected to get them when I did the shopping at Sainsbury's but there were none in the shop before we went to France - and last Friday they had only expensive ones.  Well, I think £6 is expensive for a pocket diary.  So I will try W H Smith this afternoon.

No doubt my ears will be assailed terribly in the Churchill Square shopping centre with carols and seasonal songs of all sorts.  I actually heard the first carol of the year yesterday when I went into Argos to buy a pair of curtains.  I adamantly refuse to try visiting any shop or other retail outlet such as pub or restaurant on Christmas Day and Sunday is a day when I usually try to avoid shops completely but things are starting to get a little manic chez the Brighton Pensioner so I broke my own rule.  Well, I made the rule so I think I'm entitled to ignore it when I want to.

I wonder if there are any Christmas illuminations in town?  There is a Christmas tree - complete with lights - on the Level, a small park not all that far from the centre of town but hardly central.  It's in the heart of the Green Party's electorate and the Green Party is in power, so...  (Who are you calling cynical?)

We had planned to visit the town of Vitré while we were in France as in past years the decorations there have been magnificent, but there was some doubt about them having been switched on so we didn't make the hour's drive.  The lights were on in Châteaubriant.  Despite this being quite a small town, they have two Christmas trees - one in front of the château and the other in the Place de la Motte, a large square just outside the town walls where the weekly market is held.  This is the Place de la Motte: