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The tenth month is upon us, there is a chill in the air, the leaves are falling off the trees and the shops have started putting their Christmas wares on display. If there is one thing I don't like about living in Scotland it is the short winter days. In midwinter, the sun doesn't rise until about 9am, and it sets about 4pm. Combined with our grey and dreich weather, sometimes it seems as if the sun decided to have a day off altogether. That said, however, there are compensations - and not just the very long days we have during the summer, when sunrise happens at about 4am, and sunset is not until after 11pm. No, not that. What compensates for the long winter nights are the crisp and clear winter days. Days when the sky is azure, and when the sun gives off no heat at all. I love to fill my lungs with the cold air, and see my breath as I exhale. The nip of the frost on my face, and the crunch of the frozen grass as I walk over it, these are the things that I adore about winter here. I enjoy going for walks on crisp days. Wrap up well in several layers, thermal gloves and hat, two pairs of socks (and often two pairs of trousers) and a big scarf, and you're sorted, ready to face the biting wind. On days like that, everything seems so clean and so pure, as if it has been reborn. The absolute best thing, though, is in the evening, when you sit down with a piping plate of soup in the central heated comfort of home. Well, soon enough... let's not wish too hard, lest it happens now... we can have another couple of weeks of reasonably mild weather before we have to look out the winter undies! I would be shouting about Celtic's 5-0 victory today, but it was only Livingston we were playing, so there are no bragging rights. And anyway, R*****s won, and Hearts should have no problem getting all three points tomorrow - so it's as you were on the League front as we break for the international week.

We were dancing to Liam's guitars on this day last year