Before breakfast this morning I gave myself half an hour of chigung, then went out into the garden with a cup of steaming tea. Such a lovely way to start the day. Beneath the cloudless, pale blue sky the lawn bore a light covering of frost and the pond was still covered in biscuit-thin ice. Gazing skywards I spotted a pair of distant herring gulls; their wings rimmed with gold from the light of the rising sun. I love this time of year. Despite the cold and the dormancy there's still this wonderful sense of anticipation, of being in relationship with and participating in something special.