As regular readers may remember, I have been suffering with depression since the summer. My last blog on the topic, I'm told, came across more "worryingly bleak" than "winningly chipper in the face of adversity". That wasn't really the intention at all. But hey, I'm mentally ill - so what do I know?

As I start to emerge, slowly and falteringly, from it all, now seems like a good time for a hopefully more hopeful update. Let's call it getting into the Advent spirit. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death's dark shadows put to flight and all that.