1. Even Nick gets out of bed to see Alec's reaction as we draw back the curtain on a snowy world. He stares and stares and then points.
1b. Our snowy park walk was just magical (teenage girls were shrieking 'I'm for Aslan' at each other) but now we are so cold. I sit on the sofa and feed Alec. I can feel the warmth coming back into his hands and feet as he takes long sucks.
2. I did another session at the night shelter this weekend. I was on cooking duty. I appreciated more than ever all those capable women who know the church hall kitchen and its quirks.
3. "All the things on your plate, they mean something," he says. "I found a bayleaf -- my girlfriend never put bayleaves in the bolognaise, and you don't find them in Weatherspoons either. A bayleaf means... it means 'welcome'."
4. The visiting GP looks as fragile as the snow on the cherry trees outside. But she listens for an hour to a man in crisis.
