This is a surreal thing that my daughter and I regret never having actually carried out, though we contemplated it for a long time and wish we'd done it: When my mother was living in a complex of retirement apartments which had a communal lounge where there was much gossip and hooh-haah amongst the ladies, we wanted to plant a basket/bag in there filled with a bizarre and eclectic mixture of objects (general elderly lady stuff plus a few odd or surprising things - a racy magazine for instance), just so that we could imagine all the fuss that would go on amongst the residents as to whose bag it could be. We chickened out of doing it, in case it caused upset to anyone - but it would have been a good one.

The other scheme, which we have also talked about doing for some time and are actually going to bring to fruition this year: Sending Christmas cards to people we know, but from fictitious people with bizarre but just-about-plausible "family news" [various lurid medical complaints/jolly japes performed by pets/amazing exam & sporting results from offspring etc. etc.) A relatively harmless trick, which will also help the recipients to while away the festive hours wondering who on earth "Sheila and Steve & the kids" are and where they might know them from.

- jeanie