It's Such A Perfect Day, I'm Glad I Spent It With You!

Dec 25th shall be the stuff of legend in our house; a Christmas free of argument and filled with family joy as any normal household must get every year. But that's another story which, actually, will be immortalised in Alex. Chapter 3.

Parts of this will too, but I wanted to share the festive cheer with my one (on a good day) reader.

Dec 27th (yes, I know the camera's calender needs fixing) started out like this...

a wonderful half an hour, utilising the 1mm dusting of snow. This quickly led to the perfect kind of drive; out in the country with my dad, the snow clotting as it whisked round our coocoon, the beach boys on the stereo, and an excitable black monster leaning over my shoulder. This in turn led to a walk with Stink-Dog, the Best Dog in the World, and Dad at a local wood, with snow and mulch, mud, sunshine, moss and trees all rolled into a cookie-dough ball of joy. We messed about trying to climb the crag with ice-numbed fingers and mulch-caked hiking boots for a while, to no avail. And when we hiked round to the top, watched the motionless sheep and busy helicopters through binoculars, as you do. This was, of course, interspersed with stick-throwing for HRH Stink-Dog. I'd almost forgotten how adorable he is with his half-puppy, half-pony canter of elation.