A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM OUR HOUSE...

...to yours!  After our lovely afternoon and evening with our friends, I was quite tired last night, but at about 3 o’clock this morning was woken by a message from our younger son, who lives in Vietnam.  It was a voice message, but I didn’t want to listen whilst in bed because I thought it might wake Mr. HCB - so I left it until this morning, when he got up early and left me in bed!  

It was just to update me on the fact that he had lost his motorbike key whilst away at Christmas and had to sort out how to get the said bike from the bus station to where he lived.  

Having realised all was well, ordinarily I would have “snuggied” back down and had another hour or in bed, but my brain was buzzing, so I decided to get up and go over to our only M & S Store at a large retail park on the other side of the town.  Mr. HCB politely refused when I asked if he would like to accompany me, and decided that he would go out and potter in the greenhouse, which was probably a better idea!

Although the sale had started at M & S, there was nothing that took my fancy, so having bought some food, I came back home and set off a large amount of spiced red cabbage in the slow cooker.  It probably won’t be that spicy, as I looked at the date on the Chinese Five Spice to find it was 1.12.12 - ah well, I did put some extra, over and above what the recipe said, so no doubt it will still taste good.

I then made some soup from leftover broccoli, which was looking a little sad, a few sprouts and ends of lettuce and some celery, with various mixes of spices, but I’m not sure about the taste of this - so I don’t think I will be making it again.

Then it was time to look for a Blip - I had intended looking for Easter Eggs in M & S, but forgot, so instead decided that these two plants would be able to help me out.  Both were for my birthday - the one on the left from our son and daughter-in-law - so we are waiting to see what colour the hyacinths will be - and the one on the left, a Spathiphyllum, or Peace Lily, from a very kind Blip friend.  The picture in the background I have blipped before, but thought it set off the two plants rather well.

We won’t be going to any wild parties tonight - those days are over for us - but we might go outside at midnight, but if previous years are anything to go by, all we will hear are fireworks and detonators that are often set off on the town’s railway lines.   However, Mr. HCB tells me that it used to be the shunters that did this, but they no longer work as they used to and this probably isn’t done now for “Elf & Safety” reasons.  

“We spend January 1st
     walking through our lives,
          room by room,
               drawing up a list
                    of work to be done,
                         cracks to be patched.
Maybe this year,
     to balance the list,
          we ought to walk through
               the rooms of our lives...
                    not looking for flaws,
                         but for potential.”
Ellen Goodman

Bless you all, and may you have a very Happy and Healthy New Year.  M & J xxx