It does strike me that some commercial organisations struggle with Christmas as a promotional tool. Mrs SDA rec'd a mailing from Next this morning which included a card flyer sporting a frost bitten shorescape, a pale blue painted clinker built fishing boat with wrapped gifts and decorated tree, plus a boder collie sat on the ground at the prow. What on earth that has to do with Christmas I can't fathom.

My favourite commercial Christmas image was on one of the company Christmas card back when I worked for Access credit cards. It was a print of a painting of an 18thC coach and four pulling up at an ancient inn in a snowstorm with the passengers and crew muffled against the cold and the horses steaming. The inn had a big bay georgian window, bright with warm light from inside and just by the inn's front door in one of the georgian panes was one of those small Access decals. It was a tiny, subtle detail, but the recipient couldn't help but smile when they eventually spotted it.