Okay, less about the festive and more about how absolutely wretched bins which sit on the front porch in full sun every afternoon can smell. Despite the careful bagging of all of our rubbish, it was very, very horrid indeed.

It has been such a long time since either of us have lived in a haus that we’d managed to long avoid such revolting tasks, in apartments blocks there are generally mysterious people who take care of such things.

But lots of disinfectant, very hot water and scrubbing they are lovely and sparkly and decidedly un-stinky.

We’ve lined with a giant bin-liner to hopefully mitigate future stinkage to some extent.