Today we celebrated the Winter Solstice.  Yes, yes, I know that technically it was on Saturday, but I was working, so shhh, the kids don’t know that.  It was TODAY, okay?

As you may have guessed, we have a programme, and here it is:

1. Watch the sun rise at Sunrise Beach.  Yes, this was early.  And cloudy.  So we climbed on the seats instead, and yelled a bit, because there was a campervan that looked all tucked up right near us.  I suspect free campers at MY beach access.  Hippies.

2.  Go out for breakfast at Bistro C (which looks onto Noosa Main Beach).  This was much more my style.

3.  Wear something yellow.  I wore a hair clip of Coco’s as a brooch.  And I forced certain family members to wear fake sunflowers in their hair for a few minutes. That counts.  Never let it be said I don’t go all out for this stuff.

4.  Listen to our Solstice CD, which has contains classic songs like “You Are My Sunshine”.  We all sighed with relief when it was finished.  All thirteen tracks.  Who thought of this tradition?

5.  Bake sunflower seed biccies and decorate the house with plastic sunflowers.  Box up said biccies and give them out to unsuspecting others, because frankly, they are a bit shit.

6.  Watch the sun set.  The highlight.  Hands down.

This year we had an added bonus of sharing a lovely lunch cooked by one of my gorgeous friends who reports that she “loves cooking and entertaining”.  So clearly, she is a complete idiot, but man she can cook.  We had delish food, wine, more than a few laughs and two beautiful surprise guests.

The winter solstice has well and truly ended here.  Everyone is abed- the kids exhausted, and Nath with what could quite possibly be a terminal case of Man-flu, leaving me with some repeats of Black Adder and a Hot Toddy.  Winter, generally you suck, but today, you weren’t all bad.  The 23degrees didn’t

Roll on Summer, roll on.

Do you celebrate the solstice (because it means Summer is on its way)?

…From The Ashers xx

Well it has taken ten days, but alas, today it has happened.  Winter has come.

It is a mere 22 degrees here today, with some windy type of wind that people are saying is a westerly, but I don’t believe them.  Wind this cold must come from Antarctica.  Or the Arctic.  I’m not that good at geography, but I’m almost certain neither of those are in the West.

Anyway, like I said, it is 22 and I am SHIVERING.  Even worse, it appears that there will be a low of SIXTEEN at some stage in the next 24 hours.  If my weather app is to be believed there will be a low of THIR-FRIGGING-TEEN by this Saturday.  I know, I know, how can human life-forms be expected to thrive, or in fact, Iive in conditions such as these?  Normally I can give you an ever so smug pic from my top deck of the sea, but today you get this:

It’s bloody windy

A quick snap through my filthy salt-encrusted window because IT IS TOO COLD TO GO OUT.  The 22 will give me a cold burn in seconds.  I know you’re used to me bringing you the very best in intrepid journalism, but I just can not.  Can you see the little blip in the photo?  That’s a dude setting up a kite or paraglider or something.  Idiot.

So I’m working my frozen little fingers to the bone in my proper job today, and still I’m not thawed.  Between patients I’m wrapping my hands around steaming mugs of tea with a lemon squeeze (I told you I was cold, I think I can feel something coming on..) whilst I click away, with two heaters blaring.

So strap yourselves in Regular Readers.  For those who know me, you will be aware that there will be much whinging and tantrum-like behaviour, well, actual tantrums in fact, over the drop in the mercury.  I haven’t blogged through a Winter yet, but I fear that it won’t be upbeat, and it won’t be fun.  For any of us.  So, if you are game, get ready for the wild ride that is Alison in Winterland.  Things could get ugly.

At least we can remember this: some “new research” has found that shivering for ten minutes can burn up as many calories as an hour of moderate exercise.  And who am I to scorn “new research”?  Please excuse me now, I’m headed outside with this Veuve.  And perhaps I’ll just add a little ice…

Do you like Winter?  What are your fave Winter Survival tips?

…From The Ashers xx