Mid-winter Blahs

    Occasionally, here in Ontario, we experience a January thaw but this year has been quite out of the ordinary. For one thing the January thaw actually started in the last week of December.

  Despite having a fair amount of snow last month, we now have none! Everything is green and only a few piles of shoveled snow remain in spots. It seems quite incongruous. I do recall one winter some years ago when we stayed at a friend's chalet with hope of spending the week between Christmas and New Year skiing. It rained almost every day and needless to say the hills were a washout, but most years it is much more what we expect at this time of year - snow and more snow!

   I didn't manage to stay awake to bring in the new year in proper Scottish fashion - I still haven't had my "First Foot", perhaps I will ask the mailman to bring me good luck by stepping over the threshold tomorrow, I know he's tall and dark - but I did drink a toast (of Caramel Bailey's) before I retired!

    Now I'm enjoying the traditional New year's Day concert from Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Ballet. Beautiful!

   My wish for all my readers is to have a safe, healthy and prosperous year in 2023. Think I'll go and have another small glass of Bailey's.