Comfort...

The end of October and the beginning of November is a time of hustle and bustle and excitement, usually around this time; the short period nestled between the end of Halloween and Bonfire Night, I realise winter is on her way. The time has changed, mixing up internal body-clocks all over the country - darkness is suddenly descending on us an hour earlier than it should, and everything feels decidedly cold, bleak and wintery.

The walk to nursery with Sophia and Miranda has become a trundle through a wind tunnel of cold, brisk morning air. The sky is often slate grey and ominous; yesterday I lingered staring at the old sandstone building with a clock tower by the cemetery, it was lit beautifully by the sharp morning sunlight, and it sat against a background of the deepest darkest grey...I couldn't dawdle too long though, because recently we have been having miniature torrential downpours, they seem to originate from one singular cloud, all of sudden a surprise cold shower starts bouncing off the top of your head with enough force to make you gasp and run home. They're funny, because you can see a little way down the road that it isn't raining there, the water is falling in a forceful sheet over an area only a few streets long ... it's like being in a cartoon with a storm-cloud over my head!

When it gets like this all I want to do is get home, brew some tea, snuggle in my comfiest clothes and warmest, softest blanket and read a very good book. There's something quietly indulgent about silently sitting surrounded by blankets and cushions on a soft sofa while turning musty pages full of intrigue.... it's just perfect.

Some people hate mugs with a chip, but I love my giant china teacup, it's my ultimate comfort. I like to run my tongue along the chipped edge absent mindedly, and the cup itself is big enough to get me through several chapters while sipping the hot sweet contents and feeling like a princess reclining on a chaise longue next to a huge roaring open fire.