Chilly!

No, not pots of hot, steaming spiced mince and kidney beans, it's bloomin' freezing here! Honestly, I'm sitting in a jumper and my hands and feet feel like little blocks of ice.

I had meant to cut the grass at the end of last week, but after it rained I thought I'd leave it till it cheered up, not realising that it wasn't going to stop any time soon. My poor little patch of garden is such a mess - the height of the grass isn't far off the width of the lawn, the beech hedge has turned into a mad triffid and it all looks so dreadful. The one good thing to come of it is that I don't need to water the pots and my new strawberry trough - if anything, they're in danger of drowning.

This sort of weather does dampen my spirits - I feel really glum and down and I'm not sure if the weather is reflecting me or I am reflecting the weather. Either way, I feel totally drab, grey and good for nothing. All the things that I know will cheer me up, like attacking the weeds in the garden or just pottering about outside aren't really an option at the moment, well, not unless I suddenly turn into a duck. I can't even face heading into the kitchen as I've had a row with Kim and I'm not feeling calm or pleasant enough to be in the same space as him - which means staying locked away in my study.

We were going to head off to Lyme Regis last Sunday, my birthday, for a nice meal in the Thai restaurant there, one of our favourites. As Kim had to dash off to Switzerland that evening, there wasn't time to go and the afternoon and evening were spent huddled in front of the tv; we had talked about going today instead, but being broke and the bad weather put paid to that. All in all, it's been a miserable week.