After all the rain and wind, we have had three full days of cold, dry weather. Each morning there is a frost and there is ice everywhere. Where there is water dripping over rock faces, the ice forms a sheet beneath which black droplets of water creep.



We celebrated solstice in style last night, with a party at my friend Pauline Le Bel's new place on the water right below our house. Pauline is a truly neat woman; an actor, singer, writer, bookseller and all round fascinating person. A wide sample of Bowen musicians gathered at her house to jam and sing and make all kinds of wonderful and strange music.



Under a cloudless and moonless sky tonight, I stared up at the stars, getting a long look at Orion and Sirius and Auriga, all the winter constellations and stars that we rarely get to see. The rain is supposed to return for the weekend, so it pays to enjoy the clear cool weather now.



We have put up our Christmas tree, a douglas-fir sawed down from right beside our house where it was showing signs of growing into the eaves. It's about 7 feet tall, and stands in the corner of the living room now. Finally feeling Christmassy now.