Last updated 19:44, Thursday, 31 July 2008

THIS week I have been on my favourite day out, to a well-known kitchenware store in the south of the county followed by a stop off at an equally well-known garden centre on the way back.

We stopped at the garden centre to buy a few shrubs for our new garden and while it was still a bit early to buy bulbs for next spring, it wasn’t too soon to buy Christmas decorations.

Yes, I can report a sighting of the first Santa of summer, and most of us haven’t had our holidays yet.

You don’t really expect to find model snowmen in the shops before snowdrop bulbs, but I suppose there are some folk who like to plan ahead - although five months is a bit excessive.

Christmas starts earlier every year. No sooner have we put away our suitcases and bored our colleagues with our holiday snaps than we’re confronted by shops full of tinsel, fairy lights and novelty Nativity scenes.

By the time December comes round, we’re all sick of it and all you hear are shopped-out shoppers complaining that they wish it were all over.

Time was when Christmas began in December. Kiddies saved their pocket money and drew up gift lists which were relatively modest.

They went something like this: ‘Dad - Brylcreem; Mum - Evening in Paris scent; sister - gondola basket; brother - snake belt; Gran - Dainty Dinah toffees; Grandad - pipe tobacco (yes, they used to sell it to children); Auntie Beattie - bath cubes.’

And here I pause to ask - what happened to Dainty Dinah toffees and bath cubes? The demise of bath cubes I can understand because they made the bottom of the bath all gritty; but Dainty Dinahs were quite popular - but obviously not popular enough.

Nowadays children draw up lists of gifts for themselves, rather than for their relatives, and what they want is usually the latest mobile phone, computer game or one of those music player thingies that they plug into their ears so that they can’t hear approaching traffic and almost get run over.

I will be going back to the garden centre for some bulbs in a few weeks - but anything with even a whiff of ye festive yuletide will be staying on the shelf.