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Can any reader identify the source of the words in the window of Concrete Wardrobe on Broughton Street? 

What looks like a quotation accompanies Charlotte Duffy’s latest Christmas cardboard creation – a tree and somewhat windswept man carrying a ladder – and reads: ‘He didn’t understand why we bring trees inside – so he left it where it was.’ 

A quick Google search throws up no answers, although it vaguely reminds Spurtle of something out of Guy de Maupassant.

Reader Liz Ballantyne has spotted this yarn-bombing commentary attached to the site fence at Shrub Place. 

The statement – MORE SOCIAL HOUSING FEWER BLOODY STUDENTS – refers to the new development currently replacing Shrubhill House (Ref. 13/00241/FUL). 

Ziggurat are creating five commercial units here and accommodation for 260 students. 

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 

How successful the angel and subsequent multitude were in setting the shepherds’ minds at rest is not clear from Luke, Chapter 9.

The Glasite Meeting House on Barony Street will be open to visitors this Saturday from 10am–4pm. 

Scottish Historic Buildings Trust staff will be on hand to show off the newly decorated rooms and improved services.

It’s Christmas. 

I detest Christmas. I detest Christmas cards, Christmas jumpers, Christmas trees, Christmas presents, Christmas songs, Christmas cake … 

If you’re thinking about buying me a Christmas present this year then don’t bother. 

Last year, a relative – who obviously doesn’t know me very well – bought me an umbrella. That’s right, an UMBRELLA. It was a man’s umbrella and it had a fancy Italian name that made it sound more expensive than it actually was. It was just what I had always wanted.    

It looked at first like a successful ascent of Mount Usborne. 

In fact, what half-frozen passers-by witnessed yesterday lunchtime was the hoisting of a prestigious Green Flag over King George V Park. 

Members of the local Friends group and Council staff met to celebrate the award (one of 26 in the city), first announced in September. 

The Green Flag scheme has been the national benchmark for excellence since 1996. It judges green public spaces of all kinds according to eight criteria:

For no very good reason, Spurtle is running a spot-the-location quiz. 

Each Wednesday between now and the end of the year, we'll publish five square photographs featuring Broughton viewed from misleading angles or from straightforward angles but unhelpfully cropped afterwards. We use the term 'Broughton' in the elastic sense of flexible Spurtleshire. 

Many passers-by have been infuriated over recent months by the untidy and malodorous state of London Street. 

Broken bin bags, strewn rubbish, and seagulls strutting about as if they own the place have become all too familiar sights. 

It’s interesting, therefore, to learn that London Street residents themselves have been among the most frustrated and disgusted observers of the problem. 

This slightly frightening Sankt Nikolaus can be found at Unicorn Antiques on Dundas Street. 

For much of the day he stands in the basement window, bag in one hand, doll and a few twigs for whipping wicked children in the other, nodding. 

He is an acquired taste.