Keeping warm

I had Viber text messages overnight from Rachel, one from Chicago and another from Phoenix, telling that she'd been sick on the 'plane, from some noxious component of the in-flight vegetarian meal option. Meal booking menus don't always list ingredients that might present allergy problems, apart from the obvious life threatening ones. On this occasion, she got caught out. Another wobbly homecoming!

Clare and I went out the Co-op for food shopping, but apart from that, despite the bright sunshine, the rest of the day was spent keeping warm indoors. Out and about, the temperature hovers around zero. BBC Radio 4 made the day worthwhile with a start of a serialised version of singer Ian Bostridge's book about Schubert's 'Winterreise' song cycle, which puts the music, and the poems of Wilhelm Muller which he used, in their social and cultural context as part of the emergence of Germanic identity in the nineteenth century. An utterly fascinating way to do history, ranking with Neil McGregor's outstanding 'History of the World in 100 Objects' broadcast series a couple of years ago.

We also binged on the missed Christmas episodes of 'The Archers' via iPlayer, while I cooked supper, in time to hear the latest one live. So much of the world's best radio on demand - this alone is worth the annual license fee, which reminds me ....