Ahhh …. December and the doom filled lead up to the festive season!  Oh how this used to fill me with dread and apprehension.   The thought of having to work out gift choices for young people and some not very young.  The possibilities for getting it all horribly wrong were endless and yet each year I’d have a go at it.  Admittedly I got immense praise for inventive ideas – especially if the younger sector had been purchased from the most fantastic toy shop outside London  We are lucky to have a family run emporium in this very town.  They don’t seem to have embraced the online business – shame as their sales would be stratospheric.  Mind you, it is lovely being able to go into the shop and be helped by one of the very experienced staff.  No question goes unanswered.  There is always a perfect gift on one of their shelves.  I may have gone in for a puzzle book but always come out with something much more fun and usually challenging.  Of course, pleasing the parents of the younger element is as critical too!