December 17 - The Outsider

I asked yesterday if you could spot the figure in my Christmas crib that really does not belong there. What I had in mind was this little red horse - correctly identified by Meike as a Dala Horse (or Dalecarlian Horse); a traditional carved and painted wooden horse from the Swedish province of Dalarna. I have a bigger one as well, once upon a time blogged about here. I think I have had this little one since childhood too, even if I can't recall exactly when I got it or who from.

The Dala horses are not Christmas ornaments - actually usually more associated with summer. This little one just happened to already be on the shelf where I was going to set up the crib... And on a whim I decided to let him stay for Christmas this year. 

Janet spotted something else as well, though - and quite correctly, even if it was not what I had in mind when I asked the question. The star on top of the stable is really a starfish. To be more precise, it is a little brooch... And as it happens, I have seashell one too. They're not real gold, just cheap trinkets.