Every year, Autumn comes as a surprise. That sounds ridiculous. It’s not a surprise that it arrives, I know it’s coming. But I love summer. I enjoy the warm weather, days out paddle boarding, surfing, wild swimming and being around the water. Family time while the girls are off school. Long, hot evenings sitting outside in dusky light until late. So, I dread autumn. I think about the grey days, the rain, the cold. Spending less time outdoors, being busy getting ready for Christmas and ferrying the girls around to shows and parties. Then when autumn actually arrives, I remember…

When does Christmas start in your house? I’m not really a Christmassy person. Our tree goes up after the children break up for the holidays. They are absolute believers in Santa, but they don’t get anything huge from him. I only allow them to ask for one thing from Santa rather than having a long list. My one concession to early Christmas is mince pies, I’m more than willing to eat those as soon as they appear in the shops. It has amazed me that people already have their lights up and presents wrapped. We went to our first Christmas…