"In the deep mid-winter frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone." Well deep mid-winter feels as though it has arrived. The frost was thick over the car and everything else this morning and has remained so for the whole day. It has been bitterly cold but we have had no wind and lovely blue skies and sunshine - a perfect winter's day. I can't decide whether I love or loath winter. I think I come down on the loathing side but there is something approaching romance as I watched people walking through town yesterday with their coats, gloves and scarves pulled tight around them, heads down, their breath forming a mist, trying to get to their destinations before the cold had a more debilitating effect. I love the Christmas lights that have appeared over the last few days, the cosiness of a warm fire after a cold walk, warming soups, smothering myself in scarves, gloves and warm coats. But then there's the long dark nights, the thought numbingly cold wind and rain, the grey skies and the watery sun; the days that never seem to wake up and the inevitable cough and runny nose that comes just before Christmas - perhaps the reason for my present melancholic state. I'm told to take comfort from the fact that the shortest day is only ten days away, but the shortest day is swiftly followed by the longest night! In the meantime I dream of long, warm summer's evenings, barbecues, dressing in shorts and tee shirts and I have actually got some books from the library about walking and cycling in France which I am studying whilst looking at routes in an atlas.
I've had a cold and cough throughout the week so haven't managed to cycle or run since Saturday, another reason for feeling sorry for myself. Yesterday I spent some of my birthday money on a new pair of running shoes. I've never had a pair of dedicated running shoes before so hope they will help with the achilles problem that crops up every so often; but I don't get to use them until this cold has ceased.
Last night we put up our new Christmas tree, an artificial one much to Lucy's disgust, but we have all agreed that with lights and baubles it looks good. This evening we are attending Mary's Life Groups Christmas dinner at Chinese restaurant. So, the James family are getting into the Christmas spirit.

8th December

Over the last week I've tried "spinning". Nothing to do with fishing but in fact a type of gym based cycling class. About 15 stationary exercise bikes are arranged in a gym and an instructor sets the pace and shouts instructions regarding speed and style of cycling. The exercise lasts for about half an hour and is one of the most physically demanding things I have done. There were times during the exercise when I thought I would have to give up but the instructor kept on yelling encouragement and telling us that we were nearly there. I had heard from a few people over the last year or so that spinning is an extreme form of exercise and would push you to the limits and I wasn't disappointed. I managed to get to two classes over the last week and on the second occasions cycled there, did the "spinning", went for a ten minute run on the treadmill and then cycled back to work. I don't think I have ever felt so fit as I do at present and know that if I hadn't lost two stone in weight three years ago I wouldn't be able to maintain this sort of fitness. I'm even thinking about road running again.

Despite the colder weather I am cycling to work three or four times a week which is a round trip of five miles, including some severe hills in and out of Knaresborough, on top of which I am running from between 20 to 30 minutes twice or three times a week on a treadmill in the gym. Most Wednesday's Mary and I get in a walk of at least 6 miles in the Yorkshire Dales and I climb on the artificial climbing wall about once every ten days. I want to increase duration and intensity of exercise over the next year but obviously without sustaining any serious injuries or illness.

The one downer over the last few weeks is that I have now taken my motorbike off the road for the winter because the local council have started to salt the roads which corrodes the metalwork on a bike. I'm missing the riding but am planning some longer trips into Scotland and perhaps even over to France in the Spring.
Last Sunday I enjoyed my 57th birthday. Dan, Kim and Dominic bought me the Alistair Campbell diaries - "The Blair Years", Bethan and David bought me Atonement by Ian McEwan, George bought me a notebook for Grampa (clever little chap), Lucy bought me some delicious cheese and an advent candle whilst Mary gave me a years subscription tot he Trail magazine. So lots to read over the coming weeks during the long winter evenings.

4th December

Of course sentencing a naive, middle aged woman to forty lashes, a fine or imprisonment for naming a teddy bear Mohammad is ridiculous and beggars belief, but at the same time it is staggeringly stupid to give a toy animal the name of the prophet in a Muslim country where issues like this are akin to dancing round a barrel of gunpowder with a lighted match. Did Gillian Gibbons not appreciate how volatile this area is and how her actions would be completely misunderstood? The demonstrations and riots of a couple of years ago over the cartoons drawn of Mohammad, the fatwa on Salman Rushdie for writing "Satanic Verses", alone should have been enough of a warning for Mrs Gibbons to have steered clear of dropping this clanger.
In contrast, with the Christmas season virtually upon us, it will be interesting to note how many "politically correct" city councils attempt to keep the word "Christmas" out of the festival so no offence is caused to ethnic minorities living in British cities. Something, somewhere seems to have gone very wrong.