It might now be getting colder! We might have had an uncharacteristically warm January but it might not last! That isn’t guaranteed and as good as it’s been spending time outdoors it’s not helping my job situation nor my bank balance.

Am I going to shake off the doom settling in as my job hunt continues unsuccessfully or am I about to find new avenues to make a living in this country? I’ve swapped poorly children as the youngest went back to school to the delight of her best friends and the oldest stayed off after a weekend not feeling right. Am I a soft touch? Probably.

But I haven’t done much more than be mums taxi today which means I’m feeling apathetic now.

So a snowy spell might appeal to the sloth like part of me but being iced in isn’t the same as being forced to make snowballs for fun and not being able to enjoy the snow for fear of skids. Walking like a clumsy snowflake with extra sticks leaves me feeling my shortcomings as a functioning human being and don’t get me started on driving in snow as some of my most scary moments were skidding over ice in thick snow in Fife. A few years ago now but it doesn’t make it any less vivid in my muscle memory to ‘try not to slam on the brakes’ – ‘steer gently with the road’ – and as we tend not to have the same depth of snow in landlocked Herts, the snow generally disappears after a few days of slurry and sludge.