Excellent.

It's Christmas, and therefore everyone has flu, or variations thereon, some involving continuous sneezing and others involving vomiting. This makes for an interesting and somewhat challenging combination of nursing requirements.

When I say everyone, I mean of course everyone but me. By the law of Christmas mothers are immune from illness until Boxing Day only after I've cooked the ham, the goose, the trifle and the chocolate log will my immune system succumb. And on Boxing Day afternoon (with the fridge stuffed with enough cold food to last a week) I shall inevitably stricken by a combination virus which includes both vomiting and sneezing ( hopefully not both at the same time!).

Until then I'm enjoying solo nights on the sofa, eating Quality Street in front of the fire and watching repeats of "Love Actually", I've just realised in fact that I had never seen it all the way through, uninterrupted, until this evening....excellent.

But don't forget Christmas isn't about religion - it's much more important than that (which is why all this avoiding it to not offend other religions is such nonsense) it's very lack of religion is made clear by the alacrity with which all faiths join in, turkey, silly hats and all. Christmas is about the human spirit, the hope in the depth of winter that the sun will come again and the earth will be warm. Which took a bit of beleiving when you were in a cold cave I bet. So to "SOL INVICTUS" the invincible sun and to you all Happy Christmas .