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It’s Boxing Day in parts of Europe. It’s also St. Stephen’s day a traditional day in some parts of the British isles for hunting the wren. To my knowledge no one actually still harms the birds. But every St. Stephen’s day we put out food for the birds, to sort of take back this day and make it a positive thing for our little feathered friends. And, to make the tradition more fun, there was a wren on the suet feeder this morning just outside the kitchen window. A Carolina wren, which does not exist in Europe. So happy St. Stephen’s Day; save the birds. It’s good luck to see a wren today, so keep your eyes open. They’re small, brown and buff and ivory. An elegant little bird with a cocked tail, and a jaunty attitude. Hope you spot a wren today. It was very kind of mine to come to the window for breakfast. Terribly convenient. I’m back to work. Putting the finishing touches on the opening for the sixteenth Anita book, so I can put it to bed and concentrate on Merry. If that goes quickly I’ll either give a try at the extra chapter that I need for THE HARLEQUIN, or I’ll take another crack at the opening for A LICK OF FROST. I needed not to be wedded to an opening for this book. I needed to be forced to go back over and reread some of the latest books. It opened up a lot of plot points that need wrapping up, that I might have neglected. But, damn, it is so much harder to start with a blank screen. I think at the end of this one I will go back to doing my opening of the next book when A LICK OF FROST is done. But for this one, I believe it was necessary. It still makes my life harder. But I saw a wren on St. Stephen’s day. Good luck for the year; if you believe.