After a pretty miserable 2024, we decided to have a quiet Christmas. In the end it turned out to be even quieter than we’d planned when James turned grey mid-afternoon on Christmas Day and spent the next 48 hours throwing up. I put it down to a rogue chipolata and was decried as the world’s most unsympathetic parent (in contrast to the saintly Mr Houghton).

Boxing Day onwards was either spent driving the porcelain bus (James), lying in bed (James) or swimming through a fug of tinsel, Baileys and Quality Streets (everyone else) until we got to New Years Eve and gratefully left the house to celebrate with Levys and assorted guests. James made a Lazarus-esque recovery in time to drink an unenviable assortment of champagne, lager, black sambuca and port. The latter of which he combined on the advice of his (less-than-saintly) father, who dubbed this new concoction a ‘Dirty Minge.’ Took a while for those who partook of the aforementioned cocktail to realise it was absolutely disgusting. And completely made-up.

Onwards and up-up-and-away-wards to the snowy climbs of Muhlbach which is about an hour from Salzburg. Beautiful, but definitely a one horse town. The Spar was good for stocking up on beers and basics while the Bauer Bakery baked the most fabulous breads and pastries. Their rosinenschnecken (raisin snails) our favourite and they also did a mean breakfast. Mostly we had big lunches out on the slopes and snacky meals at home in our stunning chalet which overlooked the town and the mountains and had the most incredible views.

The third and last Muhlbach apre ski highlight was the discovery of Anderlwirt’s bar and restaurant. Every other establishment here looks and feels like a dentist’s waiting room with this one exception. We walked in and it was one of those moments when you knew this was your pub for the holiday. Four large beers later and with the Bischofshofen ski jumping on TV, we felt like locals.

The skiing was great in Muhlbach, easy reds and blues and blacks that weren’t too vertiginous. We also spent a couple of days exploring Alpendorf – the benefit of having a car – where William went with Pangbourne last year and which was a huge space to cover but we did our best – and even bumped into the teachers from Pangbourne who were back on this year’s trip. I took it slow, preferring to concentrate on technique over speed, which meant the others had to wait, but they were pretty patient to be fair and we all came home with a few bumps and bruises but on the whole relatively unscathed.

Back at work now, and it’s up and off at breakneck speed with a constant stream of events to prep for. I was hoping to get back onto the tennis court now my calf’s better but fat chance of that for the foreseeable future. As the hamster wheel turns at ever faster speeds, I’m grateful to have had the time to take a breath and spend time together as a family. Particularly with William off on his travels for seven months in a couple of weeks.

It’s going to be quite the year ahead, of that I have no doubt.