On the Tenth Day of December

Apart from our annual summer holiday, Christmas is the only occasion we get to spend extended time together as a family.  The cold and rain serve as incentives to stay indoors and play games or tackle jigsaws but it's not long before I feel the need to get out and about.

We've already lined up a few activities - carol singing for Water Aid, the Bristol Choral Society's Messiah at the Colston Hall, the pre-Raphaelite and Turner Prize exhibitions at Tate Britain, the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery ...  in between which I also hope we'll find time for a few walks around the harbourside or up through Leigh Woods.

Now that my elder daughter is away at university, to be followed next September by her younger sister, these shared moments are becoming fewer and therefore more precious.

The painting is Rossetti's Lady Lilith