Expect a Freezing winter ahead.

Back in the bad old 70s & 80s a certain kind of weather would frequently occur at this time of the year. A big high pressure system world swing down from Scandinavia, ushering in an easterly air flow. The forecaster would talk of "much colder" temperatures to come, and we would all freeze for a while. This almost always seemed to begin between Xmas and new year.

The weather in the UK is notoriously 'changeable'; but this set of conditions would generally persist, usually for the rest of the winter. Brutally cold temperature for months on end.

It looks to me that the same thing has happened this year. Spring could be a long way off.

For no particular reason...

(1) It was Terry Pratchett who pointed out in Lords & Ladies that Chateau might translate in French as Cat Water. All the more surprising then that it's used so often in the name of wines?

(2) From Passage to Juneau, Jonathan Raban.

Death is wilderness in which we are all lost for words

(3) The sweetest blackcurrants I ever tasted were growing wild in Reading cemetery.

(4) David Sandham, a fellow chess player who plays just as well as me.

Chess is like a language played by a downtrodden minority, that no-one else speaks.

(5) Have you ever noticed that enema sits next to enemy in the dictionary?

(6) Time is the most precious resource. Now is its most critical aspect.

(7) Whilst waiting for a train a few years ago, my wife, Jeanette, exclaimed:

My brain is so big that I cant find anything

A little music

A friend of mine writes and plays music; just for the hell of it, not professionally (though I reckon he's got more talent than much of what I hear around about). Anyway, he's just done this, which I like and would like to share. You may need to sign up to get the download (which is free, by the way).