Brr, it is absolutely freezing today again. Blizzards, sleet and snow and gale-force winds - and my dog Bez* still wants to go out in it - and that's despite the poor pooch having pulled a muscle and is hobbling along on a mixture of anti-inflammatories and determination.

Apparantly it even snowed in Amman, the capital of Jordan yesterday - a rare event indeed. I flew into Amman from Aqaba once (beautiful place and claimant of the most hours of sunshine yearly) and our plane was delayed for three hours by fog. Yeah, yeah we thought as we all looked at each other nervously, assuming this was Jordanian-speak for the engine being gaffa-taped back on. Perhaps if it can snow in the otherwise sunny capital it can indeed get foggy....

*So named because he has no musical talent whatsoever and is a 'rubbish dancer'!