end

well my dears, as much as i'd promised to bring you more interesting insights into british life, i have in fact spent all of the last week shut up in my house with horrendous flu, with my english husband being the only british thing to cross my path all week.

but it is the end of the year, so once again people are contemplating the old year, wondering about the new, pretending to make new years resolutions. are you making any? i don't have the attention span to see them through so never bother. there are some things i'd like to achieve this year though, like make a pie from scratch, visit paris, teach my husband how to close cupboard doors. i do feel excited though, at the thought of where 2011 will take us.

after all 2010 was an interesting one, kind of random, but not in an unpleasant way. i've been wondering though, where to next after getting married? chidren you say? yeah, i'm not 100% convinced of that direction. children are cute and all, but (and here's the key) not all the time! i'm not even sure that getting a cat is a good idea!

really, though, the first day of the year is always the nicest, don't you think? full of hope and pontentiall. so here's hoping your new year takes you in a unexpected but not unpleasant direction.

well, (dusts hands off) that's another christmas done and enjoyed. and my first ever white christmas too! although i learnt yesterday that it isn't enough that there is snow on the ground, it actually has to fall on christmas day for it to be a white christmas. and as it did fall for about 3 minutes we can count it as a white christmas!

lots of people have asked me in the last week what christmas in australia is like. it's funny, really, because in oz we grew up with lots of images of a white christmas, but most brits don't really know what a hot christmas would be like. one lady expressed great surprise when her daughter told her that whole families rock up to the beach, pull out their folding chairs and their eskies (ice boxes), and hang out! it's usually too cold up here to do anything outside, so you spend the whole day inside, with you're family, which i imagine can lead to some tenseness! we had a lovely day with jeff's family though. and i had my first ever turducken! and plum pudding with brandy sauce! it was delicious! two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

and the best bit of the day? watching the dr who christmas special, on bbc 1! felt very british! loved it!

one last thing! i know i've been a bit pants with my entries lately, so one of my new years resolutions is to up my game and bring you a lot more interesting insights into life in britain. merry christmas everyone. you're all in my hearts over the holiday period!

blurgh (pronounced blerg)

blurgh. double vodkas were not a good idea...

i'm sorry folks, i don't think i have it in me to write anything today. i somehow have to find a way to bake lots of things in the midst of my hangover fugue and that involves going to the supermarket first. again, blurgh.

i will say this though, the brits love a good christmas party. the last friday before christmas is called black friday because so many people get into fights and accidents pre, mid or post work christmas parties. also affectionately referred to as black eye friday i believe.

anyway, the noise from my typing is painfully grating against the inside of my skull, so i shall depart.

here is a christmas carol i thought you might enjoy

this week it's not about the snow. it isn't really. except that it is. in a small way. i've had enough. enough of the bad driving conditions. enough of the gutters falling down. enough of the roof of my car getting caved in by snow that fell off of a roof. i'm with the locals now. snow on christmas day would be nice, but then the rest of the time it can just f$&* right off.

thank god we've had a thaw over the last few days. and it's surprising how quickly it all goes. but it's kind of like when a bad neighbour moves out. there's an overwhelming sense of relief, but you're left wondering if another bad one is on the way. they're predicting the coldest winter in 130 years. awesome.

i'm afraid, after the last two weeks, that i don't really have anything of interest to write about. i mean there's only so much i can write about my new hatred of snow before you all start awkwardly looking at your watches and mumbling something about needing to check your emails on another page.

(is it just me, or is the word awkward, awkward to spell?)

it's not all red faced and stompy though. a lot of the houses here are terraces and they're built quite close to the road, so everyone puts their christmas trees in their living room windows which is nice when you're driving around. they're all twinkly and sparkly and make my grumpy brain less so.

anyway campers, i'll raise my mug of tea to a better week, and go in search of my christmas cheer.

snowmore

so, you know how last week i was all excitable about the snow?

yeah, that's kind of worn off a bit.

this is why.



northumberland is a few miles north of here, and they've copped the worst of the snowfall but it's definitely been like that in our village. it took me 2 and a half hours to get to work yesterday morning, half an hour of that just to get out of our village!

to be honest, it makes me feel tired just writing about it. driving has become a complete and utter chore with a spicy element of danger thrown in just for good measure. i hit my first ever ice patch yesterday. it's a sickening feeling to have your car still moving after you stomped on the breaks!

this is what our main street looked like at the beginning of the week.


by the end of the week the snow was piled up about four foot deep, and there were cars parked on both sides of the street because people couldn't get into their own streets.

all the locals are trying to reassure me that this kind of weather is not normal for this time of year. apparently they haven't had this much snow in november since 1965. i'm not really sure how that's reassuring, because all it says to me is that i've got several more months to endure!

it hasn't all been an icy hell though. i did have a few snow days, and i built a snowman.

he is now buried waist deep in snow.

but it is pretty, and it does look like a christmas card.



am i still hoping for a white christmas?

yes, as long as i don't have to drive anywhere.