In the old days (before the 1950s), a real log was doused with brandy and thrown on to thehearth, where its flames were scrutinised as a harbinger of the next year's harvest and its ashes preserved for good luck.
Everywhere you look there are porcelain ornaments: of more cats, of mice, even a couple of rabbits onthe kitchen hearth, which she has adorned with a string of colored fairy lights.