Friday, November 16, 2007

Winter Wonderland

It's chilly and frosty and gorgeous here in Bath right now. At 7am this morning, the view from my kitchen window was a veritable winter wonderland. Forget the fake tan trauma that summer brings (no matter how hard I try, the sun never kisses my milk bottle legs) - everything about this time of the year is lovely, from clothes to food to TV schedules. Not that I'll be watching much TV this weekend. As I write, my mum and my sister are making their way down from Liverpool, for a two-night visit. The cooking started yesterday (cakes, both fruit and ginger, and chocolate brownies, too) and continued this morning: Thai fish curry as a main course, with freshwater prawns in filo wraps and chargrilled peppers stuffed with feta cheese and pinenuts and drizzled with honey to begin/nibble on. The vegetarian sausages are baking already, ready for tomorrow's breakfast, when they'll be served with pancakes, scrambled eggs and French plum jam. That's today and tomorrow morning sorted, then. Tomorrow? Ah, the menu continues - unless, that is, we defect to the nearby countryside, where a friend of mine runs a gorgeous weekend-only, BYO restaurant in a cosy country manor.

Mike's gone to work, all cosy and snuggled up in his big rugged jacket, the one with the fur-lined hood. Thumper (the lizard baby) has been out for a good runaround - he's looking at his very best right now, having just shed his old coat and donned a green-tinged, golden-flecked suit of armour. Rufus Wainwright is puttering away on the CD player in the corner, and I feel like the luckiest woman in the world, on so many levels. But honestly, I'm not gloating - I just wanted to remind myself how warm and gentle life can be, whatever the weather.

Thank you for reading this. May your day, too, be merry and bright!

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