I’ve just arrived back home from the Clearleft Christmas party, once again hosted with consummate style by Richard and Wendy in their lovely home.

The fact that we arrived there at all and got back home with relatively little fuss was a minor feat in itself, seeing as the snow that fell last night subsequently turned into slush today which hardened into ice as the sun went down, leaving all but the main roads quite treacherous and throwing public transport into disarray.

We had no luck getting a cab out to the party but did make it onto a packed bus, which then wound up being diverted, leaving us with a bit of an icy walk from a more distant bus stop to Richard and Wendy’s house (we were lucky to snag any transport, actually—other Clearlefties resorted to walking). Amazingly, I did manage to get a cab to take us home (after sitting on hold on the phone for ages), so we didn’t have to trek all the way across town on foot; having done that last night, I didn’t fancy an even longer, icier walk tonight.

In between the bus out and the cab back, there was a delightful Christmas party with fun company, wonderful food (naturally), mulled cider and mulled wine (with Amaretto…oh yes…) and “Secret Santa” gifts (I got a fab set of cheese cards with recipes, cheesy info, and hints for buying cheese and putting together cheeseboards—whoever my secret Santa was, they know what I like). It was lovely to eat, drink and be merry, and it was a great way to wrap up the last week before Christmas. In fact, now that this final working week is over, it should be nothing but eating, drinking and being merry from here on out…