So the BBC website told us that we'd have no snow this weekend after all, despite previously announcing we'd get a shedload. We wound up getting quite a bit on Friday, which was great except we didn't get back from work while about 9pm. Then last night we got the motherload - flakes like dinnerplates covered everything! from then on Louise & I have spent pretty much every waking moment playing in the snow like kids.

We did take time out to go to our local Chinese supermarket to pick up some Chinese, Japanese and Korean sweets 'n' treats for Christmas, and to start a series of Japanese language tests. We'll be quizzing each other as we learn from now on to make sure we don't skip over bits in our studies - for instance I found out I need to go back over the days of the week as I'd forgotten almost all of them...

Anyway, here's the fruits of last night's labour - a rather magnificent(?)-looking snowman!:

(hope this comes out - I'm blogging off my mobile and don't fully understand the app yet)

Happy winter everyone!

I'm getting really excited about Christmas now. Work's been so hectic but there's only four more days left before we break up, then I'm off until the 4th Jan, unless I choose to take some extra Football Live shifts. Sadly Louise is back at work on the 30th Dec for two days, but we still get a good amount of time off together.

Christmas brings out the kids in both Louise & I, and now we have a house to ourselves we're probably a bit badly behaved - no grown-ups to keep us in check. Christmas Eve is now, by tradition, spent moving bedding downstairs so we can sleep by the tree and presents and watch Christmas films all night.

This year will probably feature The Polar Express, The Muppet's Christmas Carol, and A Christmas Story. The latter is one I barely remember from my childhood, but I do recall quite liking it and I managed to pick it up at a bargain price from Tesco recently. Louise has been almost entirely put off by how creepy the kid, played by Peter Billingsley, looks on the cover:


Random Blog-End Note: We've been lucky enough to sample some delicious far-Eastern treats recently in mochi and bubble tea. Mochi, a traditional Japanese sweet made from sweetened rice paste and filled (in this instance) with red azuki-bean paste, is thoroughly delicious. I hear it's a traditional New Year thing in Japan, so I think we'll try making some in a few weeks. Bubble tea is sweetened flavoured tea with large tapioca pearls in, which is very unusual but equally delicious. I heartily recommend both!