'The Art Of Going Mad Decorating The House At Christmas'

I absolutely love people who make a real effort to decorate their homes in the run up to Christmas. As long as they don't put the decorations up too early they can go as mad as they like and I often stop, take a long look and have a smile. There is something magical about the power of light and when darkness falls in December if its not too chilly I often go for a walk around my area to look at peoples decorations. When I see a large Christmas Tree twinkling back its good will message to you through their living room windows it really makes me feel welcomed and as if I'm enjoying the same festive feeling that whoever lives there has got. Many a time I am tempted to knock on the door and say a few words. How lovely it would be to be asked in for a Christmas cuppa and a chat... Somehow, I never do though, people today are much more suspicious and scare very easily. I'm not the best looking chap in the world but I'm not the scariest! The sad thing is though that the PERCEPTION today is that people you don't know are to be feared whereas in the old days you were simply a 'neighbour from up the road'.  If I see people about in their front gardens or driveways though I often pass on a compliment. Sometimes this leads to a pleasant conversation for a few minutes with a mutual 'have a good christmas then' at the end. I'm not lucky enough to have a special lady, have no kids and I've never been married either so I often feel a bit 'left out' as much as I love the festive season. Little chats, smiles, waves and get-togethers with friends really help so much so please think of those you know who are unattached this Christmas. As wonderful a time as it is it is often pretty lonely for a lot of people and a tiny gesture of kindness can make a HUGE difference to someones day. 

The pictures you see here are of a house of VERY Christmas people I know who live in Battle, East Sussex. I am an amateur recording artist and have written a number of Christmas songs with Harvey Summers (that man again!). The first new Christmas song I recorded is called 'Its Christmas Time (Christmas All The Year Round)' and for the video for it I asked the inhabitants of this house whether they'd mind if I filmed the outside of the house. I'm glad to say that the family were only too happy to help and my video has now had over 9,000 views on my Youtube channel! ( Maybrick44)

Its amazing what fun you can have with a small video camera and the determination to sit and edit things until you are blue in the face using imovie. Just take a look at this...