As you Like It

All the world's a rink
And all the men and women merely skaters
They have their slips and falls
And one woman in her time does many.

Well I suppose it was a bit early for gritting, but my sortie in the dark this morning would have appeared to a bystander as straight out of some comedy routine; a lady (I use the term loosely) inadequately dressed for the temperature, slip sliding with baby steps across icy pavements and roads with no vestige of salt and sand sullying their frozen splendour, and trying not to fall on her beam end.
It was a relief to reach the gym upright and to pretend-ski on air without the perils of snow and ice waiting to trip her up.

Earlier in the week when it was not so hazardous underfoot, there was a liberal sprinkling of salt overnight on dry pavements, but with icy frozen slush pavements, nothing. As my cousin would have said " typical!"

We put up our Christmas Tree this morning, because with our cyclists' Christmas dinner tomorrow, 'it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas'.
Last year we succumbed to buying a 'fold in a box' tree complete with lights attached.
I know it's a poor substitute for a real tree with that evocative Christmassy pine resin smell, but we have in our time been there, bought the Tshirt and sent the postcard, and decided that we no longer need the hassle of vacuuming up pine needles for the next 365 days. Now I just need a candle smelling of pine needles.

Gillipaw's Glasgow robin was more than happy to hop out of his nesting box and take up a perch beside little nut baby from Budapest, but has managed to turn his back to her.
The twinkling tree lights make the room look quite festive despite the chill gloom outside the windows.

I'm glad I don't have to venture out again.