I’m dead “bah humbug” about Christmas as you’ll know if you’ve been around here for a while. For days now, I have been itching to tear down the decorations and shove the tree outside waiting to befall the fate of the Bosch shredder when I can face getting it back out of the shed. So, tonight is the last time this year I’ll have to go “ho ho ho” and to be frank, much like last year, I’ll be jolly glad to see the year gone. Tomorrow the tree and all the trimmings get consigned to their respective resting places and we move on!

It’s time then to do the old blessing counting thing – what’s being ill done for me? Well, it’s slowed me down……it even got me to a grinding halt early on but fortunately, I have found some energy again. I’ve been on a nest-building mission and our home is now much more of a home and much less of a building site. Hurrah for that. We can now use most of the house without sitting in rooms filled with brick dust, wiring hanging out all over the place and filth everywhere. The main problem remaining is the kitchen, which as I mentioned yesterday is about to undergo a transformation by me. I’ve grown in confidence and decided that I can do these things alone and without the aid of a safety net so I’m planning to start it around the end of January, when I’ve finished the other kitchen that I’ve committed to do first. (Another long story but hopefully one that will help to stop us sinking later in the year.)

Somehow, among all of the fog and gloom I’ve been able to think through a few things and have finally worked out that being broke and unstressed is a much better way to live than being cash-rich and life-poor. It took me a long time to see that I could have security that didn’t come in the form of money and that’s the security of knowing that I have got time to spare to see and be with my friends and rellies. To be fair, it was forced on me by a lovely psychiatrist who scared me witless with tales of a life of long-term illness if I didn’t mend my ways and not try to be all things to all men.

Not only that, but I’ve learned how to keep bees, how to weave with willow and how to relax for the first time in my life. I’ve had my sewing machine out for pure pleasure (instead of simply making curtains) and I’ve been experimenting with lots of new recipes. All of these things are good, good, good.

The bees (universally named Doris) are alive and we think coping reasonably well with the cold weather although we’ve had a few hiccups and mishaps along the way. They’ve also given me a happiness that’s as pure as can be when I got the privilege of teaching at a school about pollination, bees and their importance to our world. I had no idea how moving and life-enriching the experience would be. I can’t begin to put into words how invigorated and “whole” I felt after that experience.

Our chooks have had a scary time of late. Two were taken from us by (we think) a stoat so we’ve got two newbies again who are turning out to be great little characters – more on them over the coming months.

Tonight we usher out a shitty year with some good highlights and hopefully we’ll welcome in a new year with more highlights and fewer shitty bits.

I wish all of my friends and family a very “Happy New Year” and thank everyone who commented yesterday for being so welcoming……..I was flattered and honoured to see how many folks hadn’t killed me from their favourites even though I’d disappeared for so long.