Jottings 5th December - looking forward

 Last week was a bit of a rollercoaster. This week was definitely on the up.

It feels like suddenly there are things to look forward - a relatively normal family Christmas, a covid vaccine, and hopefully a normal summer next year. I hope it isn't too long before things settle back to their old routine, but even if it takes a while, I feel that now things are moving forward, rather than us just having to hide away.

I always start thinking about Christmas far later than most people seem to. All the neighbours have got their festive lights up (I haven't), and probably all their present-buying finished (I've hardly started!). 

To get the Christmas vibe going, we headed out to Chatsworth on Tuesday, the only really dry day. The House was due to open in its Christmas finery this week, but the local Tier 3 restrictions have called a halt to that. The gardens though are still open, with an illuminated trail leading around various Christmassy features.

Other than that day out, it seems to have been a quiet week with not much happening. Other areas, even parts of Derbyshire, have had snow but there was no such excitement here. Just a lot of cold, damp drizzle interspersed with rain.

Despite that I'm trying to keep up my evening walks, muffled up in scarves and heavy duffel coat, as I've come to appreciate this short time outside before settling down for the evening with my knitting.

In a brief dry spell at weekend I nipped into the garden and clipped some flowers and foliage. The winter jasmine is looking really good this year, with all of it seeming to flower at once rather than higgledy piggledy from now to February, but because of its position against the house walls it can't be seen from inside. It's lovely and cheery though and helps brighten up these dull months, plus remind me that, as Shelley wrote, "If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind".