And how are we all feeling post-Christmas? Bursting stomachs and fuzzy heads? I’ve been really quite abstemious this year – a few glasses of champagne and wine on the significant days, a decent helping of Christmas dinner, but no gluttonous eating and drinking marathons. I did have one too many dark chocolate truffles on Christmas Eve and went a bit queasy, but apart from that I feel rather smug! No toxic fallout, no festive aftermath…

Talking of aftermaths – what about the weather? I sincerely hope that nobody has been severely affected, that houses have stayed dry and loved ones safe. The photograph above shows the “field” at the back of my house – completely filled with water. Luckily it’s an unoccupied field, and not someone’s garden or driveway, but it does make you appreciate the sheer power of nature. And more storms on the way, apparently, so batten down the hatches and make sure you have your candles and torches at the ready in case of power cuts. I’m going to be using any outages as a chance to hibernate in my bed, reading my (fully charged in advance) Kindle and catching up on all of the sleep I didn’t get in 2013!

(*I am on holiday, hence the informal and slightly useless nature of this week’s posts. Normal service resumes on Monday.*)