It's beginning to look...

...a lot like Christmas.

It was a winter wonderland out there this morning - no snow, but the hardest thickest frost I've ever seen. Hardly surprising given the amount of water in the air after all the fog we've had lately. Even by the time the sun came out (11ish) and it was warm enough to think about going outside it was still a world of frozen spider webs and tiny icicles spiking out from all the plants. Quite beautiful, though I think my hebes were giving me a sorrowful gaze as I wandered by them - and casting mean sideways glances at the rose laurier and zantedeschia (sp?) that were lucky enough to get a warm fleece snuggled around them a few weeks ago. I'm sure the hebes will get their revenge by dying and being brown all spring like they did last year.

Busy Wednesday was interspersed with DIY errands for Mr B, picking up* and then setting up Katherine's new mobile phone, and making a chimney for my 9 year old Santa to get stuck in for our part of the Spectacle at school on Friday. Dress rehearsal tomorrow. I'm giving up on teaching them the words and think we can only now hope for everyone to make some kind of noise in time with the music. Hopefully the parents will be too busy laughing at 'Santa' to listen too closely. And since 'Santa' is one of the boys featured in yesterday's blip, I'm very tempted to put some spiky things on the inside of his costume. Or perhaps itching powder in his Santa hat (actually, it's such a cheap nasty polyester one that I think he'll be itching plenty without any chemical assistance).

Speaking of yesterday, thank you for your support and advice. Conor does seem so much brighter since he shared his troubles, and I think in that sort of situation a positive attitude can help a great deal in making you less of a target.

In good news today, I think I'm beginning to take a more positive approach to my ability to communicate here. I managed to call the football club secretary today and understood pretty much every word he said - without having to ask him to repeat it. The first time I met him, a bit over a year ago, I don't think I understood one word he said. So I think I must be tuning into the local accent a bit. And my lovely friend who speaks very good English is speaking to me more in French, so I think I'm better understood too!

I think Katherine, however, has a new mountain to climb: French text-speak. I will have to try and find her a website with some examples - having never texted in English she didn't really understand what Mr B and I were going on about when we were trying to explain it. She was delighted to find out that her phone worked straight out of the box, but by the time I'd finished showing her the charger ("It comes with its own charger? Wow!!") and the headphones ("Daddy, Daddy it comes with headphones you can talk INTO") she was in such a frenzy of excitement that I thought it best not to point out that it has a camera too.

* From the garden centre, obviously...

PS: Yes, I know the bokeh's a dodgy shape, but I rather like it.