• My daughter asked me to walk into town this afternoon. I agreed as long as we came back the long way round so I got a bit of a walk.

    The snow is starting to look a bit tired now, especially in town where it is looking quite sad and dirty. The Christmas decorations are still up. They would have been out on Sunday to take them down, but I’d be surprised if they do – mind you they are quite a hardy and dedicated team. Surely they won’t want to be up cherry pickers and ladders in this weather?

    I’ve decided to wear my favourite hat again. I can’t be bothered if my children are embarrassed by it any more. I bought it on a roadside stall in the Scottish Highlands quite a few years ago. I love it and don’t care what anyone else thinks.

    I realised there is something serious missing in this snow. There are no snowmen! The snow is really powdery and doesn’t make snowballs or snowmen at all. It has made it quite good for walking on – although my wife has been attending to millions of breakages, from slipping on ice, in Gloucester hospital today.

    If they can’t make snowmen they can go sledging – That’s one thing the Forest has to offer – plenty of hills to sledge down. Maybe I should get a tea tray out!

  • Nuss? Is that really a word? You won’t find it in the dictionary. It’s a word my daughter came up with that has since become a family favourite. I don’t know if it is in general use though.

    Nuss comes from the suffix Ness and describes the very essence of something, as in the essence of loneliness, shapelyness or fruityness.

    Nuss has a derogatory meaning when a negative intonation is added, as in: “It’s all covered in Nuss!” or “I don’t like its Nuss.” I suppose that by publishing the word here, it has a chance of being picked up by the dictionaries and eventually becoming an authorised word.

    Learn a new word every day.
    Repeat it and remind yourself what it means at least three times in a day.
    Try to use the word in conversation or writing today.
    Get a dictionary and look words up.

  • Kristina Lenko
    Kristina Lenko – the real star of Dancing on ice for all us sad Dads of a certain age – is not on Dancing on Ice this year. Is it going to be worth watching?

    Not worth watching for Heather Mills, surely? Can she really hope to turn herself around with a British audience? The British don’t like people who meddle with their national treasures. I suspect she will never be forgiven for marrying Paul McCartney and will either be voted off first or kept in to make her feel the pain more and more each week.

    Ah! don’t you love the mob?