A Pig in Clover

We were very proud of our friend Pigs, the Piggybank, when he took a starring role in the final nativity tableau at our local church yesterday.

Pigs was there to represent the gold, given as a gift to the Baby Jesus by the Wise Men. Now, you need to know that Pigs is almost full of lovely shiny £1 and £2 coins which he looks after for us and  pays out to us (in modest quantities) when we go racing and need some coins for betting.

During the service Pigs was brought up and added to the crib scene along with the frankincense and myrrh. Can you see him at the front of our picture, looking a real natural?

Santa Bear climbed onto the roof of the stable for a real good look at this timeless scene and to be reminded of where the tradition of giving presents, that he works so hard to support, originates.

Having completed his present delivery work until next year, Santa Bear took some time off to relax with Mary and Joseph, practise his donkey riding and to marvel at how big the Baby Jesus had grown in just over a week.

 
We won't see much of Mary and Joseph now until next Christmas, but we know they won't be resting on their laurels, as they'll be very busy and attentive parents.

Lots of love

All at Beard Unlimited xxx

Getting Festive

There was a cartoon in the Church Times recently that we particularly liked. It showed a clergy gathering where all the clergy were wearing a number on a card around their neck. The caption said: 'It is traditional for those who attend clergy gatherings to display the number of carol services they expect to take this year. Those with single-digit figures are frowned upon mercilessly.

Well, we've been to so many carol services this year, with more to come, that we think we'll soon be running into a respectable 2 digit figure.

One of our favourite carol singing occasions took place at Burgh Hall, home of one of the local churchwardens, earlier this week.


It is a nice informal gathering and everyone sings enthusiastically, no doubt aided by the mulled wine which is available. As you can see from our first photo we found some friends of our own size to sing with. We felt very honoured to so close to the shepherds, wise men and even ... Mary and Joseph themselves.

As we were in such illustrious company we were on our best behaviour for a while. However, it wasn't long before action bear Chelmer gave into the temptation to do a bit of Tarzan swinging from a chandelier.


He justified it by being saying he was being sociable and making the acquaintance of some angels, Father Christmas and a choirboy. Quite an eclectic collection of characters really, but there again Chelmer has that bear gift of being able to strike up a conversation with just about anybody.

We hope your Christmas preparations are going well.

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx