Work, play and Autumn's spectacular show

Every year in November since 2009 I have worked at the ATP World Tour Finals - the top 8 men pro tennis players in the world in singles and doubles battle it out in the season finale at the O2 Arena in London. 

It's a full on 8 long days for us and we have always stayed nearby in Greenwich so that our journey to work each day would be traffic free and quick. 

Most days I accompanied the Presenters who I had to make up each day and we would take the Thames Clipper river boat from North Greenwich Pier to the O2 as it was super fast - only 5 minutes journey time to be exact! 

It was a perfect way to start the day - and the only daylight and fresh air we would see until the following day! Luckily for us most days were beautifully sunny and unseasonably mild which we made the most of in those precious few minutes between the walk from the hotel to the pier, the journey and the few minutes walk to the entrance of the O2 the other side.

Every day would be pretty much the same apart from the last day - the final day - when our day started at midday.

The length of the working day is mostly dependent on how long the matches are and fortunately for us, Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic in two sets and got us off air at a reasonable time. 

A fantastic finale ending an amazing season of tennis. 

After that long stint of work, it's always good to be home again and to be able to enjoy the continued good weather. This year the autumn colours have been particularly stunning and have lasted for a good few weeks. 

I have only had one day of the day job this week at the Westminster Studio and during my break in the early evening watched the changing light over the River Thames as the sun went down. I always find it very uplifting and cannot help but photograph anything that catches my eye. (As you can imagine I have taken a lot of snaps too numerous to post on here.)

The rest of my week off has been taken up with walking my dog in the local park and enjoying the last of the autumn colour before all the branches are bare and winter sets in.

I think it's time for HQ to start planning another holiday .. perhaps a little Caribbean jaunt again next spring? How predictable! Anywhere warm and sunny by the ocean to wash away the winter blues.