I see my current role within the NHS as a five year mission to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before. So I spent Thursday evening here...

The aim was for NHS managers to look for lightbulb moments and explore methods of queue reduction. But with a slightly different spelling of queue. It was an illuminating evening, featuring toasted marshmallows, mistletoe and mulled wine. Although I eschewed the latter in favour of hot chocolate, as I'd left my car in Wimbledon and still had to drive home.

I actually spent Thursday evening being treated to 'Christmas at Kew' by my new boss, as an end-of-year reward for all the months and months of hard work I've put in since November. This is me on the managerial merry-go-round...

There's a suffragette in the background, trying to throw herself under the nearest horse. Or chicken. I also had the chance to go around in circles whilst heading downhill fast...

But I get enough of that at work, so I chose not to ride the helter-skelter. I did, however, have a surprisingly enjoyable evening strolling through beautifully lit landscapes, and watching some amazing musical light shows. I didn't quite get the point of the sword-fighting display by the greenhouse, but the rest of it was fab. It even beat our earlier trip to Pizza Express, which as praise goes, is about as high as it gets from me.

Of course, it's all very well to follow a festive trail through a magical land of illuminated flowers...

... but if you really wanted to see a show, you should have been at Amelie's school this week...


In 2013 she was Mary; in 2014 a sheep. So I'm looking forward to next year's show. With this kind of evolutionary progress, she'll be playing a flea on the donkey.