Sometime after Christmas - Once more we have to apologise that life has got in the way of keeping these pages up to date. We're both busier than we would like to be and simply don't have the energy. But next year we're hoping to fix the problem — by taking Christmas off!

1 December - Weekend in Finnsnes to visit our good friends Jon and Sarah. Snow clearing is always part of the winter experience; see the photos (left) to get an idea.

December at home has been by no means as snowy: just a pleasant dusting (the usual lake picture here).

On one of our trips recently we were looking on booking.com for a place to stay and were surprised by the nature of the main attractions on offer there. Worth the journey just to enjoy such luxuries!

The Mayors - This was one of my favourite news photos from early December. It shows the Mayor of Oslo and the Mayor of Westminister together near Oslo, busy "sawing down" what was to be the Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square. (The tree, incidentally, was later criticised in London for being too scrawny, but that's another matter). Can you tell from the photo (right) which mayor is which? (Hint - the Oslo one looks more at home in her surroundings).

And so suddenly it was Christmas with the family (photo, left), with a Boxing-Day walk into the hills (photos, right) after all that turkey and Christmas pudding!

31 December - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Comments Norah, 2 January I hear you are having a heat wave in Norway so it seems inappropriate to wish you all a Happy New Year - but I will anyway! Tim, 2 January Yes, extraordinary that Åndalsnes this morning broke the all-time Norwegian record for January temperatures (18.6 degrees) - though it only held the record for half an hour before being beaten by a nearby town. Heatwave indeed! Happy New Year to you too!