TRY TO FIND THE LIGHT...

Panicking, panicking, oh just ever so slightly. Sorry to be a cliched English person and talk about the weather - and I said sorry too, there's another one. It occurred to me yesterday that it's only the middle of November and we still have December, January, February and if the last few years are anything to go by March as well, in which we are treated to the shittiest weather that ever did exist. Well maybe not, but it's the familiarity of it that gets to you. And the dampness, which gets into your bones. At least now the trees still have leaves, turning the most amazing colours, which against a steel grey sky is pretty spectacular. I'm drawn to the leaves that are bright vivid yellow on trees with sodden trunks and branches registering to the eye as black. But soon the leaves will fall...
I don't mind cold and snowy, that's often accompanied by dry and sunny. But day upon day of rain; dark, dark skies, constant drizzle, drivel, miserable, blaeeurgh. It is this time of year when London living foreign friends who moved here for the buzz and the raw energy on da street (especially those who moved here in the spring) start saying things like;

"But ho my Gaahd, this is really it is unbelievable you know, I am really in DEpress now. Hevvery day, hevvery day it is raining and then there it is no sun, just rain, rain, rain. So November is worst month in London yes?"

Should I lie to make them feel better? Why get their hopes up. You need a survival strategy. A good plan is to LEAVE THE COUNTRY at regular intervals throughout the winter. Actually an English winter is only bearable if you live in a quaint old house in the countryside with an open fire and a cosy village pub that also has an open fire. My radiator and my local nouveau gastro bar or whatever we're supposed to call it aren't quite having the requisite effect.

I take comfort in flashes of colour: the trim of my colour combo genius Orla Kiely steel blue cardi with one mustard coloured cuff, the other coral pink. Petrol blue shoes. A brightly coloured blanket to trail around like Linus from Charlie Brown.

Smells and flavours too: Kiehl's Original Musk Oil is warm and comforting. My pumpkin and sage risotto (Vialone Nano rice of course Mia) with feta cheese and lemon olive oil. Spanish orange macaroons (Nigella). Candles everywhere in the daytime. I'm in my living room and it's just as dark at 3pm in here as it would be at night.

My furry alarm clock failed me this morning and gasp! the furry one and I stayed snuggled up in bed until ten to eleven which was quite shocking since I had an appointment at ten. Oops. What an excuse - it was dark so I couldn't see the time, and my cat was cold so she didn't wake me, choosing bodily warmth over breakfast.