Which it is a Christmas Tree, triced up and well braced.

 

So, it wasn't actually up until Christmas Eve, and it came down on Twelve Night, and, apologies for the late posting, but I did manage to assemble a Patrick O'Brian tree, just in time, and get pictures....

(The house isn't mine, btw - one of the reasons why it went up during radio-silence.)

 

So - there were admirals -

 

Frigates

 

A ship of the line (I suspect it's the Mary Rose...)

 

Globes and Union Flags (correct from 1801 onwards)

 

A Nutmeg of Consolation

 

(I dipped a nutmeg in glue and fine silver glitter and attached it to the stray clasp of a old tree bauble)

 

And Bonden's own gun....

 

 

I couldn't find a sloth - but a venomous platypus seemed the next best option - and here he is, contesting ownership of a duff with Testudo Aubreii

 

 

There were also ship's biscuits - made much as I suspect the originals were - and marked with the broad arrow -

 

These are about 2cm squared, baked in an aga overnight - alas, the photo of them on the tree hasn't come out.

 

"At the present moment, the whole fleet is lit up. When I say 'lit up', I mean lit up by fairy lamps."

 

 

I'm pleased to say it met with the approval of a Royal Marine who dropped in on New Year's Eve, and has offered to help me start a collection for a Peninsula tree - so Jack can share honours with Dick Sharpe next year.

 

Sorry it took so long to post (- rather like a serial letter to Sophie...)