Monday 2nd January

Eventually, well almost, the long Christmas break is over.  A quiet day to look forward to at last, I seem to have been inundated with visitors and invites to parties I simply couldn’t refuse.  Not that I do not enjoy them when I get there, it is the anticipation that I do not like, the day seems not my own if I know that I will have to be expected to be bright and breezy at seven for drinks and nibbles at Jennifer’s or a small dinner at Marjorie and Martin’s, and so I find I cannot settle to anything with the knowledge that I will have to get showered and dressed and ready to go out later in the day.  Please don’t think I am ungrateful, but everyone seems to want their own parties these days, myself included, that there really aren’t enough days to fit them all in. Today I have nothing planned and the whole day ahead.  So, a start is to be made on the new book, mapping out a few ideas, and a start to the writing itself; I hope it goes well.

I may also begin to take down some of the decorations, they are beginning to look a bit jaded.  Also an inventory of the fridge is needed; I am out of a few basics and have at long last finished up all the cheese and cold meats.  Maybe a slight diet regime may be needed too; I seem to have put on a few pounds again this Christmas, so more veggies and salads on the way for Catherine I think.   And I will start again my walking regime, which with so many parties to attend and my mother being here I have sadly neglected for the last two weeks.

In many ways the whole rigmarole of Christmas is a bit of a nuisance, upsetting even the best laid plans; if only it came around just every two years, we might appreciate it more.   Missing out each alternate year might actually whet our appetites a bit. But no more excuses, the holidays are over and it is back to some sort of normality.  Thank goodness.