It's cold, unremarkably. Not Sweden cold, just UK cold. Not that the predictability of it being cold in January stops certain newspapers from screaming about 'Arctic Blasts' and such on their front pages. If something isn't soaring it's plummeting I suppose.

We're about to have the back of our house lopped off to make way for an extension, so it's going to get very chilly and probably dusty in here. Where to put stuff is becoming a big problem. To complicate matters the current kitchen is being ripped out, and the garage has to be cleared - after three years of filling it with stuff – so that the builders can drive a digger through it to get to the back garden.

Next time we move house (if ever, please no) I think we should get one that's big enough to begin with. In our defence, the location was very good.