Awoke this morning to find our pool completely frozen. Despite a spate of cold frosty mornings recently, today was the first time our pool actually iced up. Although we live in Chateauneuf-de-Grasse (itself a lovely medieval perched village) we are, as we are wont to say, down in the pits; an area called by the locals as "Little Siberia". Generally not a daily function in winter, we can find ourselves scraping the hard frost off the car windscreen reminding us, very much, of cold wintery days in the UK.

Between our new office and the river bank I spoke about yesterday, we have a rather large Common Persimmon Tree (Diospyros) - also called a Kaki Tree - that comes into its own during these winter months. Naked and bare of all its leaves it stands majestically with its large juicy orange-coloured fruit. Although Nigel and I are not partial to it, boy, do the birds love it!

Whole flocks of starlings converge onto the river bank trees making the most awful din. Once settled a sudden glorious peace reigns over the garden. Then, one by one, they fly down onto the Persimmon Tree to plunder the juiciest of fruits, pushing and squabbling as they do so and generally showing much bad humour when failing to find a tasty morsel. Momentarily replete, they swarm off in a clap of wings to hunt down another tree.

Once the coast is clear, down come the Great Tits who have carefully hidden themselves in the dense bush and now enjoy the frosted fruit with a touch more finesse and kinder demeanour.

Their feast over, waiting patiently in our abri-voiture, our river bank Robin now pops out. Making sure that no pesky cats are around, he bobs his way to the ripe fruit lying on the leafy ground and pecks at the soft textured flesh inside, burst open by their fall.

Our wintery "Litte Siberia" has been known to drop down to   -15°C yet by lunch time and until around 3pm it can be warm enough to walk around the garden in short sleeves. Magic!

A small stream runs past the side of our house. It’s nothing fancy and holds no fish, but its river bank is blessed with some wonderful trees: Oak, Hazel, Eastern Hornbeam, Mediterranean Medlar, Sloe and Laurel. As the sun rises so its rays filter through the lush leaves in summer and the trees skeletal forms in winter. Our bedroom window overlooks the river and the field beyond and as the morning sun peeks over the range of trees at the far end of the field, so this beautiful light manages to squeeze through even our closed wooden shutters to pervade our bedroom with its brilliance.

These past few mornings we’ve had a pair of rather large, plump Magpies hopping around our river bank trees. I find them pretty birds, with their black and white plumage and beautiful greenish blue sheen on their rounded wings and long tail. They are noisy birds; uttering loud squawks and rattling alarm calls and certainly let you know when they’re around. They are joined by another noisy bunch of birds: Great Tits.

There was a time (before we had our five cats) that I’d hang out bird feed, dangling myself over our wire fence to attach the hanging baskets. This was a magical time as a variety of birds would come to enjoy my offerings. I was prouder still when I saw a couple of river voles feeding inside the basket until Nigel pointed out (after looking through binoculars) that they were actually rats.

So the basket came down and, with the arrival of our cats, I stopped feeding the birds. But the trees (and stream) still attract our feathered friends: Nuthatch, Short-toed Treecreeper, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Jay, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Redwing Hawfinch, Robin, Wren, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Blackcap and Starling.

As I write this, morning has broken and sunlight is filtering through into our office, it too looking out over the river bank and field. Bird song fills the air and another day dawns on the French Riviera and our little part of the world.

As to our Ratty "friends"; Archie Airedale, Freddy Fox Terrier and Maggie May Lakeland Terrier gave them their matching orders quite a while ago!

So here we are: Christmas Eve.

Nigel and I have been busy going out and about to buy a few special items for our meal tonight and of course, for the Big Day tomorrow. We did our much needed trip to beautiful St Paul de Vence to buy our apricot vinegar and bought two new flavours too: Cassis (Blackcurrent) and Pomme Vert au miel (Green Apple and honey). The joys of these vinegars is due to the fruity pulp contained within; gorgeous. While in St Paul de Vence we also succumbed to another, beautifully-made, Lise Berger Santon. It’s called "Young Woman with child" and seemed (for us) to encapsulate everything that should be Christmas; love, tenderness, family and hope. The delicate features of the young woman, the way her hands are crafted and the tilt of her head just makes it a truly amazing work of art.

Yesterday we drove over to Valbonne to visit its super Christmas market. We go every year, and, much like the magical "Carols from King’s College Chapel" in Cambridge (UK), it marks, for us, the beginning of Christmas and holds a special place in our hearts. There was a lovely festive atmosphere and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The weather was of course perfect: cloudless blue sky and sunny. We strolled along the wide red carpet that winds its way through the main market area, browsing the many stalls and delighting in their products.

We also found Father Christmas too, enjoying a relaxing lunch in the sunshine. By then, we too were starting to feel a little peckish and so we walked slowly back to the car and drove home to fill our tummies.

Today we’re up and about early and have one last "shop" to do. Then we’re home to listen to the enchanting and very moving "Carols from King’s", I’ll light all the candles and our celebration of Christmas will begin.

To one and all, have a very special Christmas.