Have a wonderful year, everyone! As always, there will be good days and bad days. Ride the bad ones, revel in the good ones, and stay safe.

We lost Eva. We still have Katie. Today is the perfect day to reflect on the loved ones no longer with us, whilst renewing our determination to let the ones we love today know how much we cherish them. It's a wonderful world, let's stop bickering and fighting and just appreciate how amazing we all are.

Some people are settlers and home-makers. Others are pioneers and explorers. Either way, it's in your blood. It's just who you are. Katie is an adventurer. When she discovers a magical new place she'll stand and admire it like anyone would, but eventually she'll think "we found this wondrous place, surely there must be other wondrous places out there just waiting for us to find them". And she'll set off into the unknown once again.
I know there are people that loved "Call Off The Search" and "Piece By Piece", stroked their chins a bit over "Pictures", then stormed out the door in a huff over "The House". Now they look on from a distance, muttering "In Winter? What the.... choir music?". There are other people, and I count myself among them - for I am not alone, who love everything Katie has done. I don't love her music because she's pretty to look at (and she is), I love it because it moves me. Her voice and her delivery connects with me on such a primal level it feels as though she's in my brain rewiring it herself. No other artist has ever had quite such an effect on me. I adored Karen Carpenter's voice but remained detached from the lady herself. When Katie sings I feel like I'm inside her mind, seeing the world through her eyes and feeling what she's feeling. That is an extraordinary skill she has and why I will argue with anyone that she is the best interpreter of a song on the planet.
The settlers are still complaining. They want Katie to turn back the clock fifteen years and go back to where she started. Like a musical Groundhog Day. They want to cage the eagle. Now that Katie has left the Dramatico nest she has spread her wings and is beginning to soar. Who would want to hold her back? She can see things from up there that we can't, so let's put our trust in her and see where she leads us. I compare Katie's situation with that of another wonderful singer, Enya. When Enya released "Watermark" it was different and risky, but the risk paid off and it was a massive hit. So she constructed a template from that album and used it to create every album since. And they are all good albums. If you like "Watermark" you'll like them all. You know exactly what you are going to get with an Enya album. She is settler-friendly. She doesn't take risks. Nor does she perform live concerts. Katie is the opposite. She lives for live performance. And she isn't afraid to take risks. If her fans just believe in a certain style of her music they may get disappointed. So be it. Katie's fans need to believe in Katie herself, for whatever music she creates will be music she is passionate about. Feel that passion and you'll feel the music. It's as simple as that.

The Katie Melua large Tbilisi candle was wonderful while it lasted. But now that it has finished I have a very nice Katie Melua large Tbilisi wine glass!

Whether you write or paint or sculpt, or whatever, remember...

How gorgeous is this?

Merry Christmas everyone! 💃🏻😊😘✨❄️💃🏻😊❄️ xx

A post shared by Katie Melua (@katiemeluaofficial) on Dec 25, 2017 at 2:25pm PST

Okay, yes, maybe I have got too much time on my hands. But who wouldn't want a cocoa-dusted Katie Christmas trifle?

A Merry Christmas to Ketefans everywhere! Have a wonderful holiday.

I've set up my Katie Christmas Playlist, all good to go....

Amazon Prime subscribers can now view Katie's 2017 Cadogan Hall concert. At the moment, this is UK only :-( I don't know why this is - that is a question for Amazon (not Katie). Needless to say, her performance was wonderful. Here is a screenshot. I will add more to the gallery in future. [Update: there's a bunch of them up there already!]

It's the busiest day for travel with people heading places for the Christmas holidays. If that includes you, then be safe and stay calm. If you are stuck in traffic or face delays don't worry - it is what it is, it won't be forever. Why not listen to In Winter and chill out and let the rest of the world get stressed!

The shortest day of the year always seems like a good time to reflect and think about the coming new year ahead. So here's my little words of wisdom for everyone...

Here is an extract from today's Soul Music program on BBC Radio 4. Katie talks about O Holy Night and what it means to her,

Katie has so many fans in Europe and around the world for whom English is not the first language. Normally, this is not a problem - music is a universal language - but whenever I hear "Idiot School" from the album Ketevan, I can't help but wonder what these fans make of it. The musical accompaniment is rather quirky, hinting that this is a somewhat light piece, but Katie's vocals are as clear and sincere as ever, hiding the fact that there are a couple of very amusing linguistic jokes in the lyrics, courtesy of the fiendish talent of Mike Batt. And Katie delivers those lines exquisitely, with perfect comic timing and a beautifully subtle pronunciation of "not" to sound like "nut". I still snigger every time I hear those lines. Right from "Closest Thing" I'd always thought Katie was amazing at making you believe every single word she sang, but this was the song that made me realise she has the ability to sing absolutely anything. She really is the best interpreter of song I know.

So I woke up last week to a new Spotify playlist, songs I've played the most in 2017. Wanted to share it with you as it had us humming along and tapping our feet while getting ready for shows and driving to and from airports. A few are easy to see why like Fields of Gold but others are just feel good brilliance, songs by the Temptations, Percy Mayfield, Hank Snow, the Carpenters. It's been a good year! 😎😎😎 K x ps. Full playlist is available on my Spotify profile

A post shared by Katie Melua (@katiemeluaofficial) on Dec 18, 2017 at 10:30am PST

Oh no, my knees have gone. What. A. Smile.

It's been a week of European travels, a breakfast tv in the city of Düsseldorf, Germany then an evening tv in Munich where we had a few hours spare for this epic German Christmas market... and further still to Lviv Ukraine, where we're currently at. K x Photos by @laurensass

A post shared by Katie Melua (@katiemeluaofficial) on Dec 16, 2017 at 6:16am PST

Katie performed Fields of Gold live, beautifully as always.

Special to me, anyway. This bit of lyric connects with me on multiple levels.

Katie appeared on a German breakfast television show this morning. If you speak German, hit the link and dive in. If you don't, it is still worth watching because she's as charming as ever. You can make out her responses, though you have to listen carefully as the interpreter speaks over her. If you don't speak German, like me (and Katie - she has an earpiece and is being fed instant translation!), then you'll just have to guess what the presenters are asking her by her responses. It ends with a live but very truncated performance of "Fields of Gold". Oh, and Katie doesn't get a look in until 16:30, so you can skip forward to that point! You can watch it here

Okay, I know Katie hasn't done much acting. There was a tiny appearance in the 2007 movie "Grindhouse" and she has acted in some of her own videos. But she's so good at everything she does I'm sure she could pull this off - she would make an amazing Holly Golightly if they remade "Breakfast at Tiffany's", and of course she could sing "Moon River" for it. Who would play the George Peppard role? I don't know. Chris Pine? Who cares. I just want to see Katie channelling Audrey!

Here is an article in Songwriting magazine about Katie's songwriting advice > Katie Melua’s 10 top songwriting tips

It's snowing in England! Time for a throwback picture of me in the snow! Yes all my baby photos look like they were taken in the 70's but this is Georgia circa 1988. Happy snow day everyone! ✨💃🏻😘

A post shared by Katie Melua (@katiemeluaofficial) on Dec 10, 2017 at 7:02am PST

This is a brutal poem by Charles Bukowski. If you get through this and are not put off writing then maybe you do want to be a writer. It applies equally well to lyrics. When I write lyrics they usually pour out. If I get stuck and can't finish within an hour or so I usually abandon them as failed attempts.

If you ever thought that the sound quality on Ketevan wasn't up to the standard of Katie's other albums I've written a small piece about my thoughts on it in this PDF

Okay, so after finding a recipe for megruli khachapuri (Georgian: მეგრული ხაჭაპური) a couple of days ago I just had to have a go at making it. Now, I'm no Paul Hollywood but I do make my own bread twice a week so I don't consider this rocket science. In terms of appearance my effort wasn't far off but I have never tasted the real thing in Georgia and of course they use their own local cheeses, so it is bound to be different but all I can say is that a) it is definitely delicious, and b) I am definitely going to visit Georgia!

Katie has just done an interview with HMV > http://www.hmv.com/music/katie-melua-interview-in-winter-2017

Well, Google Photos very kindly made a little animation for me!

This is megruli khachapuri (მეგრული ხაჭაპური), a Georgian bread stuffed with melted cheese and with extra cheese on top. I've heard Katie mention it and her mum must have made it for her many times. She has also talked about her Grandma's pancakes. This begs the question - why isn't Katie 100 kilos???

Looking through some screen grabs and Katie's changing expressions tickled me. See what you think!

Nervous wait this morning at 10am as I refreshed the browser page waiting to book a ticket for next December. Thankfully it all went smoothly so now all I have to do is wait a whole year! I'll be in the front row at Nottingham to be mesmerised by Katie and the Gori Women's Choir on December 3, 2018. C0untdown has begun...

While we're all going nuts over Katie's tour announcement, Katie's getting lost in books!

Happy December 1st everyone! 'May the season of reading begin.' And listening to good music too! K x💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻#londonpiccadilly #hatchards #bookshops

A post shared by Katie Melua (@katiemeluaofficial) on Dec 1, 2017 at 9:41am PST

A whole year to wait but good things are worth waiting for!

The bad news is there is no official 2018 Katie Melua Calendar. You can get one for Cliff Richard though. { Shakes head at the folly of this world.} Well, hold back those tears, Ketefans - Craggie has come to the rescue! I have made one for us. Okay, it might not be as polished as a shop-bought calendar but if you print it out on decent glossy paper or card it looks pretty good. Certainly better than no Katie calendar at all! You can get it in PDF format or as individual PNG images from the miscellany page.

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