WOOHOO! Tax return done, finally (& snow!)

Tax returns are always a bind but this year's has been extra painful. It is my fault - leaving all the data entry for an entire year (well, year and a half if you include up to date records). That is A LOT of receipts, %s of bills and sales that need to go into my spreadsheets. The photo shows my dining room table covered in paperwork as I worked through it all. I used the online return this time around and it took a little while to do but I felt more confident I'd filled it out correctly. Last year I got stuck on one box on the paper return, which caused a lot of stress - all I had to do was copy a number from another box but this was not clear on the so-called helpsheets. A phone call or three sorted it out. Phew!

So, that's it for another year. Thank God! I am now free to focus on making glass and being creative. HOORAY! It is about time I updated my website. It is looking rather empty, compared to usual.

It has been a bit of a funny week so far. I was back to work designing kids' books on Monday, post-Xmas. I was enjoying getting back into my routine. However, this was pretty short-lived when super-snow was forecast for Tuesday lunchtime. I got a call from my dad to warn me of the weather headed my way and I should've set off when he called about 11am. I did not leave work until 2pm as it was nice and sunny in Oxfordshire - none of us thought it could be that bad. By the time I reached the Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire border I was in a blizzard! I made it 30 of the 35 miles home, then had to turn around as the roads were super snowy and the traffic stationary. I didnt want to spend hours in the middle of nowhere in the snow - I heard on the radio it was v bad further down the hill. I drove all the way back to work and had to stay over at my friend's house. I dug my car out of about 6" snow yesterday and the roads were slushy, snowy and slippery. I got home about 12.30pm to a heavy blizzard and about 8" of snow!

I have been stuck at home since then. The snow is still thick on the ground and the freezing temperatures are making the roads like ice rinks. Scary driving conditions. Weather eh!