I was all on my lonesome this weekend - Jeremy has been off galavanting around Dorset with his fellow Web design gurus, while I’ve been here at the computer, tippety-typing away, working, working, working. I’ve gotten quite a lot done in the past two (very quiet) days, though, so I’m feeling rather pleased with myself. Being a hermit for the weekend has paid off.

The only time my self-imposed isolation has been broken is when I’ve ventured out for provisions each day. No take-away curries for me - I figure if I have to eat alone, I may as well pamper myself with fine victuals. My daily trips to the grocery store have resulted in chicken and olives cooked in white wine, rosemary and garlic, with olive oil mashed potatoes and a giant salad on the side (Friday’s dinner), and a ragout of Puy lentils with a spicy olive rouille, homemade bread, and another giant salad on the side (Saturday’s dinner). Yum, yum, yum.

A little while ago, as I was getting ready to go out shopping for tonight’s dinner, I noticed that the sunny day was getting darker and darker as ominous clouds rolled in. "Storm’s a-comin’," I thought. I’ve lived here long enough to know the signs of an imminent downpour, so I put off my shopping expedition for a bit and sat back down at the computer.

When the precipitation finally came, it was not in the form I was expecting: I glanced out the window a few moments later and, to my astonishment - it was snowing! And snowing hard! I got so excited that I actually tried to take pictures of it out the window (if any of my neighbors saw me, they must have thought I’d never seen snow before in my life). For a just a few brief moments, it was snowy and blustery outside, and I was cozy and warm inside, and it felt like the holidays all over again.

And then just as quickly as it came, it was gone once more. The sky is a cloudless blue again, the sun is shining brilliantly on the white-painted buildings across the street, and all that’s left of that wintery feeling is the freezing temperature outside.

And now I wish it was Christmas.