Happy Christmas

Photo © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2010

I have been inspired by the current V&A exhibition on Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes to use this wonderful stage backcloth from the Wedding Scene in The Firebird - designed by Natalia Goncharova in 1926 - as my Christmas image this year. Though it deserves to be seen much bigger than this (click on the image above for a bigger version), preferably in the flesh - I saw it today and even though I was prepared for it to be big, it was astonishing. At over 10 metres wide, it's the largest object in the V&A's entire collection. But beautiful, and somehow wintry and Russian and therefore appropriate for Christmas.

We're heading for Edinburgh on Christmas Eve, to spend Christmas and New Year with my sister, who moved there a few months ago. She is finally - and very happily! - living in the city she loves (she went to university there), has a job in the sector she has been training for and trying to break into - editing/publishing - and using her Arabic degree. And I am just happy to have the excuse to spend time in Edinburgh, having only been back there a couple of times since she left university.

We haven't made many plans to do much once we get there - over the last few days we have been focusing our thoughts on actually getting ourselves there, since last week the Arctic weather conditions which we've been suffering from in the UK this month returned. Many Christmas travellers have had their flights or trains cancelled, and the roads have been a nightmare. It seems to be improving now - touch wood - and one of my colleagues successfully made it to Edinburgh on the same train route we're taking tomorrow evening...

We'll be cooking our traditional braised duck recipe for Christmas lunch, then after that the only other thing we have planned is a visit to the new Scottish Parliament building later in the week. In between we'll probably go for drives in the Scottish countryside and visit castles and quaint pubs and watch M R James stories on DVD and read big fat books. Can't wait.

So all that remains is for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all best wishes for an excellent New Year - may 2011 bring peace and happiness to you all!