In the UK I was used to the idea of decorating your house for Christmas, but not really very much else. Whereas in the continent, or this part of the Netherlands at least, you also decorate for spring or Easter. You get some twigs and hang coloured eggs and ribbons on them. I guess it’s a celebration of new life and spring growth.

This year I decided we should do it too, as I’d seen some twigs for this for sale in our local supermarket. And the children and I had a fun afternoon tying some ribbon onto the twigs. And they’ve sat proudly in the corner of our living room since.

(Sorry about the photo – not my best!)

The thing is, that I’m not sure I should have put them in water. In the shop they weren’t in water. The twisty sticks were pretty as they were, and now their leaves have drowned out the ribbons we added. And their roots are so entangled that I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get them out of the vase in one piece.

I’m not even sure how long we should keep them for. Is there, like at Christmas, a certain day that the decorations should come down? They do make me smile when I see them, so I will keep them for a bit longer!