The weekend before Christmas

WE HAVE AN ENJOYABLE MEAL yesterday, a lamb, carrot and swede bake - it plops away for four hours, the aromas of garlic and rosemary and of course the gently cooking shoulder of lamb infuse the whole house. By the end, we're almost drooling at the prospect of the wonderful treat to come.

To distract ourselves My Good Lady and I put up our little Christmas tree - artificial, of course - and very pretty it looks too.

And the sight of it now heralds the immediate run-up to the big day; we don't believe in putting such things up too early, as seems to be the fashion - nor do we waste time and electricity in festooning the outside of the house with strings of lights and oversized snowmen and Santas and the like.

Just our little tree with its fairy lights and a few baubles symbolising, I suppose, a light of hope in the winter darkness.

And finally, even MGL is coming round to something a little more like celebratory merriment - she even suggests opening a bottle of something vinous in the evening to help things along.

Yes, all in all, a pleasant weekend.