Let it snow let it snow let it snow..

So where were we? Oh yes, last post was in a stormy and cold November.. now it's December and we've had the earliest dump of snow here in the UK for many a winter. Even here on the tropical south coast we had a good 6inches on Wednesday night.. meaning I had to work from home Thursday and Friday being snowed in. Admittedly it doesn't take much to be snowed-in here in the UK - especially when you live on a hill like we do. Today was the first time we were able to get out anywhere in the car, and the roads were still very icy in places.

Our beautiful daughter is now a beautiful one year old, and we celebrated her birthday up in Birmingham with her Grandparents and Kate's side of the family, although we had an early party at the weekend with my side of the family, which was fun. She's such a little character and great fun to be around.

It's good having an ex-librarian as a mother-in-law because you get lent lots of books. Having spent alot of time on the train the past couple of weeks, I read Lowell Sheppard's "Chasing the Cherry Blossom" in quite a short space of time. It's a book about a cycle trip he did across Japan, following the arrival of the cherry blossoms, which are a major cultural event there. It's also about his spiritual journey about adjusting to a change of season himself, having left one job and moved country with his family. He's an insightful author and I definitely enjoyed the book - it was especially appropriate because I'd been wanting to read a bit more about Japanese history for a while, and the book was a gentle introduction.

I also won a book the other day, Typhoon, which is a sci-fi novel set in the not too distant future. It's also unusual in that it was "livewritten" - a chapter an hour over a single weekend, with the author relying on input from others for major decisions as to where the plot should go. The version I read was an expanded second draft, and disappointingly I finished it just too late to contribute in some small way to the livewriting of the sequel - which occurred the weekend before I finished it (if only I'd known!). Now I'm just tucking in to the most recent "Shardlake" novel (no 5), lent to me by my mum, and a lovely big hardback with thick pages and a ribbon bookmark!

It's already very Christmassy in our household. I think we are feeling it more so than normal because we had a very subdued Christmas last year since we had a very tiny baby! The snow helped too. Anyway we've got the Christmas tree up (a small artificial one, now in it's 6th year and going strong), I've put up the outside lights on the house (sod's law we'll sell now!), Kate's baked two Christmas cakes which are "steeping" (with extra brandy being added weekly), and we're on to our second batch of mulled wine. Today we had some Mince Pies (not homemade). We had some gluwein at the German Christmas Market in Birmingham in the week with our friends Paul and Katty who happened to be up there too. Oh, and we've got Christmas songs and carols playing at home (not all the time) and in the car. But apart from that we're not feeling very seasonal at all.

Kate and I went to see the latest Harry Potter film last weekend, which was excellent. Then in the week I watched The Return of the King at home.. and today we watched The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. Bit of a magically themed week!

With all our travelling and the snow I've not managed to get out running for a week.. and I think I am noticing it too.. feeling a bit more tense and pent up than normal. Hopefully I can get out this coming week.

Anyone following the Ashes?