I am having a jolly good clear out. In between dancing in the snow and dog walking and pushing the barrow through the drifts I am cleaning and clearing. I am sorting through the old magazines and pulling out the relevant articles on TTEAM and TTouch, and also reading through the old correspondence files, saving letters from playwrights and directors for our children. When we are old and boring they can read them and remember that there was a time when their father was really cool. I now have boxes of memorabilia from Chess, The Rocky Horror Show, Rope, to name a few, and press cuttings from our charity work and all the television productions that Tony and also our daughters have been in. All my articles are also neatly collated. (I look so young!) After days of sorting there it is. Our life in boxes.

As I was mucking out this morning I was in a reflective mood, as I have been for the past week or so. I have such a full and varied life and this past month sums it up. In December alone I have saved a dog's life in court, been to a memorial service, celebrated some wonderful moments with my beloved family and with my friends, laughed, cried, worked with some difficult dogs, helped horses in distress, written, blogged, attended some wonderful events with my family with our celebrity hats on, enjoyed the company of our own animals, reconnected with old friends and made new ones too. I have been interviewed on the radio and for a magazine about my new book, co-authored with my good friend Marie Miller, and had meetings to discuss future television projects.

This is my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but if I had to choose one part of my work only, without doubt, it would be the rescue side. Standing in the icy yard at the IHWT last week, drinking a cup of hot coffee whilst listening to Fairytale of New York playing on the radio, I turned to watch the bay show jumping mare looking over her door with a look of total joy in her eyes and I knew without a shadow of a doubt, that this aspect of my job is where my heart truly lies. So may 2010 bring you all that you hope for and I wish you, and your animals, well.