WHAT SANTA BROUGHT ME!

Not exactly Santa, but my daughter and granddaughter, both voracious readers and definitely experts in book selection.

They used their considerable brain power to deal with the problem that I have every translated crime book ever written accumulated in an enormous pile in my cupboard sized study, by selecting two American crime books.

The Way Home: George Pelecanos

Black Water Rising: Attica Locke

An excellent choice was made by each, well done girls!

One of these will be useful for Dorte's Global Reading Challenge.

Our Christmas Eve was enlivened by the road and pavement outside turning into a skating rink after fresh rain had fallen onto very cold ground and frozen hard. For one second I thought our neighbours had been drinking, then I realised they were sliding around and trying to stay on their feet. They shouted a warning to us and then we warned vehicles that our road was extremely dangerous. I was concerned as we had our family's three cars parked in a row, and one skid by a passing vehicle could have been disastrous.

On Christmas Day we were able communicate via Skype [plus video!] with my son and his beautiful girlfriend, who were in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Skype is an absolutely incredible technology that still leaves me astonished. Perhaps the next great advance will be an acceptable mobile phone signal in the Tiverton region of Devon.