Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

"Hmmm. Thanks for some praline christmas log mum!"

"That's alright Ax, glad you enjoyed it, I know you can't have a lot though, otherwise you get all itchy and your skin gets a bit black and patchy"

"I know I only got to lick the plate, but I know most of it got stuck to my nose. I couldn't seem to reach it either!"

"That's alright Axle, it seemed to work its way into your mouth, after a time".

So; hope you all had a jolly good scoff. Have you started jogging now? Or even a little power-walking? No? Shame. Neither have we. Besides; the weather has been stuck in a winter groove. We've actually had a 'white Christmas' for the first time ever, too. Not because of snow, but of freezing fog. White ice has been stuck to this landscape and hasn't shifted for over a week. The whole land has looked as if life has forsaken it; aside from our neighbour's apple-tree: which is the local hang-in for all the birds now. They hang around causing noise and trouble. They wear little hoodies, too and gang up on the greedy birds. As soon as food is out, there's always a fight.

No, I'm just joking really. Our birds are sweetiepies. But since, ours is the only watering-hole for what seems miles around now, we really get a great range of birds. We see chaffinch, robin, woodpecker and your ordinary sparrow and black-bird.

I got one of those great Nintendo brain gadgets from my husband for Christmas. It's fantastic! It improves your brain age over time: with lots of games and puzzle challenges. I started at age 63 on day one, and today have a 27 year old brain! The ideal is 20, apparently (though I'm not sure being nearly the same age as my son is ideal! I don't want to start getting spots again.)  Talking of spots, I've had the grossest couple of cole sores on my bottom lip over Christmas. They were both placed to each side of my mouth, as if drawn by a truly accurate red pen. So, they ended up looking like two horns, on my bottom lip. Not a pretty sight for the Christmas party frock, I can tell you. Anyway, yes the Nintendo: you can play against your family, too. You can really see the competitive juices start to flow in the family: when brain begins fighting brain.

My husband recieved a huge box of lego. Lots of bits, you know. I'm afraid you have to piece it all together. It doesn't come ready built. It has these cute little characters that come with the turbo truck. I guess they may drive it.

We had one beautiful day of sunshine yesterday. It's been grey for so long, I'd almost forgotten how beautiful the sun  was. It quickly began melting everything and great chunks of ice could be heard crashing to the ground. I wonder if that's 'bye bye' to the snow and ice for this winter?

Freezing Fog

Here's a little window into my neighbour's garden, covered in icy freezing fog. Brrrrr! Everything and everywhere has been like this for over a week. Can you still see that blessed red apple, in the left of the photo? Hanging on for dear life?  Maybe, it's trying to manage a whole year? Or at least until new leaves start growing?  How tenacious is that little red apple!

We've had not a breath of wind, either. I'm sure the world must've stopped. Did we notice? Were we too busy  eating? We had a lovely little turkey, by the way. I didn't know you could get small ones. We bought ours in a local supermarket, here in Fribourg, Switzerland. It was perfect, because it was about twice the size of your ordinary chicken. The meal came together beautifully. And of course, my husband found a delicious little yule log, in a local Swiss bakery, which was surprisingly gorgeous, with a hint of coffee. How lovely with a cup of tea. The only downer really, is that every time we pulled a cracker around the Christmas table, the dog ran into the garden. He hated the noise, you see. Then he had a huff with us and wouldn't come back in. Eventually the promise of turkey did the trick.

Hope you had a lovely Christmas, too. 'Happy New Year' to all you English friends and 'Bonne Anne!' to all my Swiss friends.

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