It’s 5pm and I’m sitting in the living room with my laptop on my knees typing. I haven’t yet drawn the curtains but outside it is almost dark, in this room, never bright at the best of times it actually is dark, the only light is coming from the TV. I need to put the lights on. It’s a good thing I touch type.

The weather has been wet again. It wasn’t all that cold during the day but as the late afternoon showers set in it has got a lot colder so I put the heat pump on soon after I got home at 3pm. I do most of my blogging on the laptop in winter as this is the warmest room in the house.

Saturday, the first day of winter, was a beautiful day, the sun was out and the sky was blue. It didn’t last though, the next day was grey and showery and that seems to be what we can expect for the next week or so. There may be some snow falls at higher altitudes. Luckily I got all my washing dry on Saturday so no need to use the clothes dryer.

I have a sausage hotpot in the slow cooker so will stop in a moment to peel some potatoes. Winter means more casseroles, curries, and pasta for dinner along with the old favourites of stew and Shepherd’s pie. They are warm and filling and use the cheap cuts of meat too.

I don’t really mind winter most of the time but sometimes the lack of sunlight can be a bit depressing. I prefer the crisp, bright days of winter. There will be frost and fog in the mornings. The rain can be exasperating when it goes on for days and you can’t dry clothes outside and it’s too wet to walk to Geeveston to do errands but at least it’s cosy indoors and there is always the possibility of seeing snow. I know some of my blogging friends see way too much snow in winter but we only get enough to look pretty but not enough to be really inconvenient.

Meanwhile, in England where it is early summer, the Cricket World Cup is being played and later there will be the Ashes Test series.