Light and life

WHAT do you mean, no Christmas lights?” Abigail Thornton stood in the town hall, arms crossed. The announcement had barely settled, but already the room was stirring with murmurs of discontent. Alan F

MAUD had been looking forward to finally getting her decorations out again. And now with a whole afternoon at her disposal she was really going to savour the experience and make it something special.

It was 1963 and things were changing – but had Judith been left behind?

HELLO, little one!” Penny Dauntless greeted a robin-redbreast, who cocked his head as she pushed along her trolley of post on the daily round. “How often is there such a perfect mid-December morning?”

JENNA had a length of Christmas-themed fabric. She had used it previously to cover the table of her market stall, and was willing to sacrifice to help beautify Santa’s Grotto. It was patterned with al

The search for still-life subjects led the artist Kate Friend to some of the greatest gardens and gardeners in the country, discovers Tiffany Daneff