News today is that I am officially living in a drought zone. Hosepipe bans on the horizon. This will inevitably lead to people grumbling about their gardens turning brown in the summer, unless we are blessed with a little water from above.

We are at the moment however in a spell of fleeting deep freeze moments in the East of England and are receiving the occasional flurry of powdered water. We had 10cm of snow the other day, most probably the 'wrong kind of snow' for the rail network, but it was just the 'right kind of snow' to roll into very large balls. Snowmen were proliferating all over the place (including my back garden) which lightens the mood on a cold commute. As is always the case the temperature rose for a few days, leaving half melted lumps of snow where once stood proud guardians of the cold.

I found a use for my fallen snowman. A great wine cooler. Now he has truly ...