I did it! I managed to get to February 1st without collapsing into a heap of grey-gloom induced melancholy.

I’ve tried all kinds of things to stave off the annual bout of SAD. Whenever there was even a hint of a ray of sunshine outside, I ran to the back garden and basked for at least a few minutes.

I’ve eaten a lot of Cadbury’s caramel eggs – how good are they? I’ve eaten a lot of carrots, in the hope that they counteract the caramel eggs. I’ve popped fish oils and vitamins.

Chai tea and homemade frothy coffees have helped provide a cheerful little boost through the day. Well, you’ve got to be able to leave your desk for a mini treat.

When I was feeling really damp, cold and miserable, I went for a thoroughly Scandinavian sauna. Lying on a hot bench in bone dry heat I could almost pretend that I was lying on a beach.

The new Annie is keeping me very cheered, she’s probably the reason I’ve not been SAD. Her new adventures are set in London, a lavish Italian spa and even, for one evening, Vienna. Svetlana is in full diamond-encrusted flow, there’s a handsome surfer, an epic journey in a clapped out Bentley, a huge row with Lana and many other treats in store for you.

(So many congratulations to Annie’s hard-working editor Sarah who managed to get the first editing round done before leaving to have adorable baby Reggie)

Meanwhile February gets off to an utterly bizarre start for me this year. My Dad turns 70 and he’s decided to take us all to St Moritz (yes, the outrageously glamorous ski resort, where apparently you can’t buy a hot chocolate for less than £20) because he wants to go down the Cresta Run (again!)!

I have mixed feelings about having a super-hero for a Dad. I mean it is kind of fantastic to want to sledge at 60mph just days before you enter your 8th decade. But it is also seriously MAD. His wife and daughters are all going to be waiting at the bottom in a completely nervous twitter.

Hopefully, the next time I post, we will all have survived and recovered! And the collection of lovely people looking after my children and dog and doing all the school runs, feeding, packed lunching, taking to athletics etc. will have been rewarded with mountains of Swiss chocolate.

I love the statistic that Swiss people eat the most chocolate in the world: half a pound per person per week! That’s just the average, which means some people are eating a pound of Swiss chocolate every week… maybe even more. No wonder they make the Toblerones so big over there.