Advent Calendar
11 December

December has arrived with more warm, wet winds from the South West.

There seems to be little let up in the grey skies. And the warmth. Night times are still unseasonably balmy. To the extent that we have only just pruned the twisted willow and the roses. The tree mallow continues to beggar expectations and flowers prolifically still.

We've introduced some cyclamen into the garden this year which gives us a vivid slash of colour. I'd like to introduce a few of them around the pond to give us actual and reflected colour in this grey time. Actually, with the purple tree mallow, yellow winter jasmine, white summer jasmine (still with us) and various green leaves, the garden is never without colour.

On Sunday afternoon, we went into town for a Philharmonic matinee concert. We ate at the visitor's centre of the Metropolitan Cathedral and it was rather good.

I've not been a regular at the Phil since I returned to Merseyside. Frankly the programmes and the music making have not been attractive. That's mostly been down to Gerald Schwarz who has been the Music Director until recently. I didn't like either his Mahler 2 or his Richard Strauss back in 2001 and nothing I heard after that could persuade me to attend his concerts.

I liked the lunchtime concerts when I worked more centrally and my discovery of Brahms' Piano Trio in B was a highlight there. I've been in the building for specific concerts like Charles Mackerras conducting Beethoven's 6th, Harry Bicket conducting Handel's Messiah and Paul Daniels conducting Britten's Spring Symphony. Those and a couple of Basically Baroque concerts have been about it.

I think that all this is about to change. The new Music Director, Vasily Petrenko, is sensational. I've not heard the Phil strings with that sense of both sheen and steel in their tone since the days of Marek Janowski back in the early 1980s. And the music making had a lively sense of pulse in the way that it did in the days of Libor Pesek. More than this I could hear the layers and inner parts of the music rather than the sludge of sound that Schwarz seemed to be keen on.

We heard Haydn's Symphony No 101 The Clock which was delightfully energetic. Then Jonathan Biss entertained us with a fine run at Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No 2 and almost persuaded me that it might be worth hearing a second time. The afternoon ended with a transcendent performance of Brahms' Symphony No 2. I left wanting to hear both performers again and I shall certainly be looking out for the Philharmonic Season Brochure next year.

And then I was off down to Oxford again for another of my training courses. It went well. They liked it. It was more subdued, given the time of the year, but everyone still got what they wanted or needed. And then I was into work on a Monday for a day of assessments which was not very enjoyable.

My time away gave me the chance to complete a couple of books.

I've been ploughing my was through The Virgin in the Garden by A S Byatt for some weeks. Antonia Byatt was one of my tutors at University College London; I principally came across her on the Romantics course. Her other areas of interest were the Victorians and American Literature but I avoided those. The novel was broad, literate, offering a panoramic view of 1950s Britain through the prism of a pageant to celebrate the Coronation of Elizabeth II and ultimately, quite boring. I mostly can't fault it apart from its inability to engage my interest. I felt as though I had heard all of this before about this class of character. So, just two stars.

Much more fun was Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett. This follows on from A Hat Full of Sky and is another good book. In fact, it is somewhat boring that Pratchett can continue to produce good book after good book. This was another of his witchcraft and belief books. I like them. But this time, my ending was better. Instead of thawing winter through the warmth of her feeling, I would have had Tiffany dance with the Wintersmith and Roland dance with Summer and then for them to exchange partners. I like my symmetry. But the book was good nonetheless.

The current weekend brought more Festive cheer.

The advent calendar in the kitchen is well under way. We bought it at the Oxfam shop in Crosby village and each window follows a part of the traditional Christian Christmas story - I don't see the point of one which disgorges chocolates and features photographs of this year's boy band.

We've received our first cards and have now sent our first cards as well. Ross has wrapped up some of the presents and they've gone under the tree.

This is our tree this year. Jemima can be seen at the bottom of the photograph approaching it with purpose. However, both she and Nutkin have so far maintained their tradition of leaving the tree well alone. For me the tree is the heart of the Christmas decorations. It's nice to see one in our house once more.