The woodpecker pecks

Breakfast, and outside in a grey january morning the woodpecker is picking it's way round the old branches in the elm. Windless and still, it's one of those days when the sky blends seamlessly into the lake, the only colour the yellow tinge of the reeds waiting patiently on the shore..

Winter as you may have noticed, is remarkable in it's absence. The New Year snow is gone, leaving just the gravel littering the roads and paths, and ice for skating is still just a faint hope.

Oh yes... the New Year. A GREAT party... and then back to reality. Work is uninspiring, though with a reorganisation coming there's prospects for some improvement.

And the car's not working.. which doesn't matter too much as I'm planning to get rid of it anyway. Goodbye to parking, insurance and the petrol pump! Which leaves only a few small questions - like how am I going to get my assembled rubbish to the recycling centre?