Spring is in the air, and I have hayfever. In February. Yes, it's ridiculous. I also have unsightly gashes across my shins following a truly extraordinary accident in which I became tangled up with the leash of a small dog as I was running down the river path near my home...

Well, Happy New Year. The first couple of working days in January are always a bit of a horror especially when outside temperatures are subzero and when the alarm clock goes off you find you set the central heating timer wrongly and the flat is freezing cold. Some people rather nobly give up alcohol in January, which I find truly remarkable. I think such a New Year's resolution would stop me getting out of bed at all. (Feasibly, of course, one could stay in bed and drink there, but I haven't sunk that low yet. Still, there's always next year.)

Having sat down to write the November installment of this newsletter, I thought, hmm, so what exactly have I done in the last month? What can I report? Where have I been? I turned to my diary to help me and discovered that the furthest I have travelled from my front door was 7.45 miles...

Some people may have found my long silence a blessed relief. Others have complained about my lamentable failure to update my website and send out newsletters over the summer. My excuse is that my summer travels turned out to be rather hectic - though full of interest...

My living room's a mess. There's an inflated Thermarest lying on the floor, a sleeping bag airing across an armchair, and an open suitcase with all sorts of outdoor gear inside and around it. Yes, I'm off on another long trip.

New for June: the sun's come out. UK readers who have suffered our recent rainy deluges will understand. The arrival of the sunshine is particularly good news for me as my car has sprung a leak. Strangely enough, it's only the floor that is soggy - the roof, sides and seats have all stayed dry. But the floor is so bad that I've been forced to drive round with my trouser legs rolled up. The sunshine - and tomorrow's scheduled trip to the garage - will sort things out, I hope...

I was away for two weeks of April, this time in Chukotka in the very far northeast of Russia (it's only about 80 kilometres from Alaska at its easternmost point). UK-based readers of this newsletter may be interested to know that Chukotka is the province of which Roman Abramovich is governor (for those not in the UK who are now scratching their heads and saying, 'Who?' Abramovich is the billionaire oligarch who owns Chelsea Football Club)...