Advent Calendar 12th December

 According to my little book Etiquette for a Traditional Christmas there is a legend about Christmas roses.

It says that a shepherd girl who attended the stable was impressed by the gifts the Wise Men brought and was upset that she had nothing to bring herself. The Angel Gabriel asked her why she was tearful. He stretched out his hand and immediately the ground was covered with flowers peeping up through the snow. The girl gathered a bunch and took them to the stable. The sleeping baby woke and touched the roses and to this day, from the touch of His hand they bear a faint blush of gratitude on their white petals.

Roses blooming into December isn’t unknown in England in a mildish autumn; I took this photo of a small bush in a bed along the path round a council building car park last week.