Andy's Birthday and shortest/longest day

December 20th is Andy's birthday. We had quite a lot of shopping to do, including visiting IKEA, so his birthday lunch was swedish meatballs and chips in their cafe!

However, later in the day his mum and I sang 'Happy Birthday':

In the evening I went out for a Christmas meal with some ex-colleagues, whom I hadn't seen since 2004.  It was lovely to catch up and see how well everyone is looking:

Despite the falling snow we experienced on our journey from Heathrow airport last Friday, the weather has now become very mild.

Yesterday, the shortest day in northern hemisphere, was unusually sunny and warm. I walked to my mum's house, about 20 mins, wearing a light jacket and felt rather hot when I arrived.  Later, I read via Facebook, that Cape Town is unusually cold - what strange weather we are all having!

Nevertheless, I am missing the long daytimes.  I've been up for 2 hours with no sign of a sunrise yet, and in the afternoon, we are drawing the curtains by 3pm.

The weather forcast for Christmas Day is also warm and sunny - so no 'white Christmas' for us this year!