At last, some seasonable cold.
We've now had the first damp chills of the year and I've extended the hours that the central heating is in action. It has been unfeasibly mild so far. Even as I've been driving into work at 7:30am, the temperature has often been well into double figures.
But, for the past few mornings the thermometer has plunged below freezing point. And I can't remember the last time that we had four nights of sharp frost in a row in this part of the world. In fact, the only time we've had snow that actually stuck and hung around was my first Yuletide in the region back in 2000.
Maybe this year will see a change.
Not a lot has happened this week. If I tell you that the major events for me were visiting the dentists and cooking a pan of spare ribs, then you'll see that life has been chugging along a fairly placid pace.
In the music room, the first set of shelves has ow been erected and I've taken the plunge and ordered a cheap DVD player from Amazon so that I can watch my opera DVDs and not interfere with Ross's television plans.
The first signs of Christmas are appearing in the local shops. This is most pleasant. With the changing hour, All Hallows' Eve and Bonfire night behind us, it feels right to begin to think about the great Midwinter Festival. So far, I've managed to avoid unwelcome manifestations of early festivities - I've done this mainly by keeping out of supermarkets and not watching commercial television. But we're getting to the point were plans have to be laid.
This year, Ross and I are having Christmas at home, alone, together. And I'm looking forwards to it enormously.
As a consequence, however, we are hosting meals for both sets of parents - mine before Christmas; Ross's afterwards. Well, you never get out of these things lightly.
We're well and truly snuggled down for the winter with a long list of talking books behind us now. I must say that I like the way that we get to invite famous people into our bedroom to read to us. Currently Sam West is taking us through Hardy's Jude the Obscure.
It's no wonder I go to bed before 10pm on most evenings. There's nothing on television of that sort of quality. One exception continues to be Bleak House which is very good indeed.