I love Christmas in London–and I realized last night that this is my last weekend in London until after the New Year!  I’ll be in New York next weekend for a wedding, then in Luxembourg for work, and then off to Australia for Christmas and New Year’s.  So today I went into full Christmas mode.

Started early with a trip to the Columbia Road Flower Market to smell the Christmas trees and pine boughs, and to buy all the fixings for another Christmas bouquet.

I was slightly more restrained this year than last year, meaning that I didn’t come home with more than my vases could contain . . .

. . . instead of armfuls of eucalyptus, I went for amaryllis (which are a lot bigger than you’d think!) . . .

. . . and I’m happy with the end result.

Fingers crossed all the flowers open before I leave town!

I also brought home a handful of blueish-purplish hydrangeas because, well . . .

. . . they’re just so lovely.

When “night” fell (in the middle of the afternoon) I went out for a walk on my street, which couldn’t be cheerier . . .

. . . ate a bratwurst at the Christmas market . . .

. . . and then came home to light the German nativity pyramid and snuggle in for some serious hygge as I attempted to plan the trip to Australia and do my Christmas shopping online.