Poor Susie only has one hand, and initially I massed a huge quantity of tinsel to disguise this, but quickly decided that I should treat it as an advantage, not a defect, and used it as a securing point for a shrike-tree for one of the more murderous-looking little birds. Susie's new lipstick has given her a slightly ironic smile which (quite correctly) makes her look tiredly tolerant of such outrages. I keep meaning to get her another hand from somewhere, but they're actually quite hard to yank off mannequins in shops.

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Photographs and tree-dressing by Jeremy Dennis

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