Well, I am back in Vancouver and you are looking at my one saving grace.  My gas fireplace is getting a lot of action right now ! December is always a tough month for me but having avoided the cold for almost the past year, I am back and freezing my butt off.  Worse than the cold is the fact that there only seems to be a few hours of sunlight in every day, but hey, I guess that is a Canadian winter for you.  And there is nothing better than to sit by the fire and read a good book with a cup of tea when it is this painfully cold outside.