Winter Is Coming

Retrophoto from before the creation of  Chain of Moans or whatever it's called

Winter is coming.

Today we had a big storm. No thunder or lightning but strong winds and heavy rain and hail. I was caught in one of those hailstorms that actually hurt. It's like being struck with millions of tiny pellets. The ground turned white for a moment before the hail stopped.

Winter is coming.

Last night there was an almighty crash at 12.36 am. My full length mirror had fallen off the wall and shattered all over the floor. The mirror was given to me by a cousin who left Jerusalem over 20 years ago to return to England. There she got married and has two teenage daughters in school. However, if you were thinking of coming back to Israel, Lucy, you''ll have to buy a new mirror as your old one broke.

Winter is coming.

We have given up pretending that DD sometimes sleeps in her own bedroom in her own bed. She's firmly in the other half of my bed for the duration (nights only). This means we only have to heat one bedroom unless she's playing in hers during the day. It's cosy and she's miles better than a hot water bottle.

Winter is coming.

Having got to the end of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and with two weeks until Grandma gets here with book #7, we are filling in with The Little Princess. Last night we got to the part when her father dies and she is left a penniless orphan with no family at all. We were both sobbing. I could hardly get the words out. DD stammered through her tears, "why did they put this in a book? It's not fun! It's no fun at all!" I woke up with my eyes all swollen and red.

Winter is coming.

I made a big pot of onion, carrot, tomato and lentil soup on Friday. It's the sort of thick pottage that makes you think of selling your birthright (or tricking your brother out of his). I've been drinking a mugful of it with croutons each night. Tonight I had two mugs of soup.

Winter is coming.

I dedicate this blog post to 13 yer old Felicity Wilcox who was threatened with a lawsuit for using the phrase "Winter is coming" in a piece of artwork. Apparently HBO thinks it owns the words and phrases of the English language that it uses in its TV dramas. Well here's news for you HBO, winter has been coming for centuries. Eons before you even had the means to broadcast it to the masses, the masses already owned the phrase "winter is coming." Oh and by the way,......

Winter is coming (in case I forgot to mention it).