New traditions(new years dear diary.❤

Friday 29th

Well that’s another Christmas come and gone, the last few run up days kind of flew by didn’t they?, without much ceremony or a cheery wave goodbye, In truth there really wasn’t much left to do anyhow, I like to kid myself i was all organic, (organised is the word Treez, its organised😊) and being fair to myself i had indeed gotten it down to that semi organised Chaotic state. , gone were those days of last minute shopping, present wrapping, When you have no car and driving for me should never be an option anyhow😁 you just have get all your turkeys in a row…well most of them. My tiny box freezer was stuffed so tight, opening the door was not only a challenge, but darn right lethal. You know it’s bad when you put off opening the door until you have no real choice left, then only do so with a broom in one hand and a chair in the other, yelling back foul feinds.. I also tried creeping up on it in the dark once or twice in hopes i could open it, without it knowing and half the contents launching itself at me.😁 after this freezer Tetris soon became my new Christmas hobby., Not by choice though you understand.

The day itself turned out to be super quiet almost in a tranquil mode,. And there my dears is the beauty of living by ones ownsome, (I can’t say I’m it’s biggest fan and given the choice of course one would always far rather get that Christmas dinner invitation, its such a rare treat indeed to have dinner put before you 😁., But other than that the next best thing is being by yourself, (I know to most of you it sounds the worst thing you can think of),but picture this if you will, for just a second.., waking up when your good and ready only, none of this diving out of bed before even the Sun’s fully awake, while the family sleeps on, tucked up cosy in their warm beds,, all so you can prepare and cook that lavish turkey banquet, that we all know appears magically upon the table, fueled only by that age old Christmas spirit,(the liquid breakfast, believe me I resorted to this more than once 😁😉), No this year instead I took my coffee back to bed, read a while before finally taking my time to get up and washed, I felt quite spoilt😁, putting on fresh shorts And a shirt,..Blissfully there was none of that head spinning, wild eyed panic, trying to serve up several things at once, while making gravy from scratch and all the while keeping it piping hot… Oh folks it was blooming marvellous, I daintily served up a resplendent repast for one, of sliced turkey, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, stuffing, Brussels, green beans with thick gravy, not one bead of sweat putting in an appearance, After washing up my solitary plate, knife and fork, I relaxed in front of my usual Christmas viewing,.. Scrooge, it can only be that black and white version with Alistair Simm, for there is after all only one Scrooge “in keeping with the situation!” 😁.

 I opened my gifts much later than I would have usually, no other reason than I just wanted to savour the thought of having them that bit longer, and because well I could😁, I gave in to temptation finally as Jesse was excited though for me see what he had bought, And I really love this about him, such a pair of kids the pair of us, . I came to the conclusion that apart from not being at Jesse’s side Christmas morning, the next best thing was us on chat as usual just leisurely enjoying the day, no fuss no shenanigans. No pressure!, Moreover no exhaustion,😁. We napped, watched that traditional war film😁, while partaking of whisky loaded Christmas pudding and custard..(I send him pudding and custard every Christmas which thankfully he actually loves😁.

 New starts and family traditions

 This year saw a new tradition for my family, one introduced originally by Iceland during the second world war (that’s the country by the way not the food store😁) Its called Jolabokflod, which quite literally means the book flood. It all came about during the shortages, because one thing they still had plenty of was paper, after reading about it I decided to research some more. Thankfully all three of my children are readers and the gifting of a book, is such a wonderful personal thing don’t you think? One book in particular bought home mixed memories both happy and sad, I bought my daughter a book called the letter by Josephine Cox, I’ve not bought books by this author since my mother was alive some years back, this being mum’s favourite..

I had read this book back in October via my kindle, and now my daughter has her own paper back copy, I hope it gives her as much pleasure as it would have both myself and mum, it wasn’t just the reading for us though it was discussing, dissecting and sharing of each chapter, I have missed this greatly, I’m hoping with the use of this Jolabokflod tradition, I can introduce it to this next Generation, bringing about not only a love of books and reading, but that link to a much missed mother …

On a whole other note folks, I’ve hidden away the last of the chocolate, plus what’s left of any other contraband, because it’s time to say goodbye and farewell to my sugar addiction for yet another year, it’s only day three of sugar freeness, Bring on the headaches, muscle aches and moodiness, for they are indeed in full flight, (bring forth the tin hats and wave the white flag all who dare enter this obode😊)…this normally if I’m somewhat lucky lasts roughly around two weeks to a month.., remind me why am I doing this again?, Oh yeah health reasons, excuse me if it doesn’t feel right healthful now. but I will persevere until either it or I desists…..I’m not sure whose winning here right now…

I’ve also chosen this week to declutter…yeah I know I’m a glutten for punishment(or is that just a glutten?, shrugs who knows!) . But with the gaining of new things(present wise) my tiny apartment is becoming increasingly full, of well stuff!, And again living alone I like control of my tiny world, and the objects there in…I think I’m a closet minimalist…mind in my closet you would have to be, ..But does it sound terrible? When i say I want each thing in existence here to have a purpose, a reason for being, useful(we all need to feel useful right?)

  Thought behind this is I will eventually have carefully selected things about me, that I either love, have use or both. Everything else I will seek homes for if it can be made use of by someone, recycle or throw away.. I’m not the best at this I must confess, often sat amid piles of clutter trying desperately to sort through things while getting distracted by the self same stuff..but eventually I do sort that bag of things to go which are the rules …nothing less than a bag per week, at this rate I will be finished in time for 2028s new years celebrations..wish me luck folks 😁😁😁😁😁, Happy News year all, I hope the coming year, sees you all well, healthy, happy and prosperous…look after yourselves and take care out there ❤❤❤❤❤💛💛💛💛💛💛💛