Liking the winter warmth

Winter is always heralded in with a burning bonfire and family get together. A tradition I've carried forward from my own childhood days. I've prepared the fire and food for a family winter gather since the birth of my own children and wonder who will take it on board once I am too frail to do it. Building a fire and chopping wood is tough work for an old lady. As is the preparation of so much food needed for so many people - territory that comes from having a large family. I'm never happier than seeing them together eating, laughing and enjoying the little shared time we squeeze into busy lives. A fire has been a central feature of my life for as long as I can remember. From heralding winter in my own childhood, lighting campfires at brownies,, sitting around fires as a PE student singing songs with the girls on my course after a hard day hiking, digging cesspits, mountaineering and rigging up cold water showers in rivers we'd canoed or swam in during the day. There was nothing better than those days of camaraderie. Fire fascinates me as it always did and with it come many good memories. of days gone by.

If this is anything to go by, it looks like my youngest son Jakob and his fiance Yvette as the last ones to leave the burning embers will take it forward someday.