It's almost the end of the year

I've finished work for the year, been to a pantomime today (first time in probably 30 years and I think fair to say better for the children than the adults - still fun though) and am now on holiday for the next week. I will be heading North for the New Year a few books optimistically packed in case I get some reading time, and a few whiskies for the more likely event of not getting any reading time.

I'm planning to be internet free for the next few days so see you when I get back, meanwhile I wish anybody reading this a very happy New Year.

Happy New Year

It's amazing the difference a few days can make to a persons general frame of mind. 2012 was a mixed year for me and for many people I hold dear, it wasn't all unrelenting bad news but sometimes it felt like it and with work being so hectic over the last couple of months I'd started to feel somewhat burnt out and fed up. For the last many years I've gone away for New Year to catch up with Dad and family but this year I've been based at home and initially that was another cause of despondency but it's turned out to be exactly the right decision. I'm slowly sorting out the chaos in my flat, have caught up with lots of friends, and generally feel like a new woman.

I'm not great at resolutions but this year I want to be more organised; tidier of mind and habit. I'm 40 this year so it's probably about time and it can't be a bad thing to know where I've left my chequebook - I wouldn't really miss the half crazed search through the piles of paperwork I engage in at bill induced intervals,  and socks in pairs would be useful... On the other hand chances are it'll never stick. 

Whatever happens it feels good to have drawn a line under the last year, I have a good feeling about the next  one and on that note I'm off to read 'Pride and Prejudice' as my New Years treat.   

Happy New Year

I'm off to my (parents*) winter retreat for a few days (me, the Scottish one, my brother, my brother's rabbit, my father's dogs... and others) which I hope will be peaceful and idyllic - well there's nothing wrong with hoping. I have a suitcase full of Victorian novels and warm jumpers, a bottle of single malt waiting for me, and a chocolate reindeer for emergencies so think I have the basics covered. 

I hope that everyone reading this has something equally good to look forward to and that the New Year brings good things for all. 

*It's flats - we retreat to one small corner, but the picture has a pleasingly Mitford feel for someone who finished 'Christmas Pudding' on the bus home tonight

A little bit late but...

I’m back from my holidays and over the cold so pretty much ready to start the new year which not unexpectedly has already started without me whilst I’m still pondering resolutions. I don’t seem to stick to resolutions terribly well so have been trying to come up with some things I already half do and want to be more whole hearted about...

Last year is the first time I kept something approaching a record of what I read – by which I mean a note in my diary whenever I finished a book and even then it’s quite possible I missed some. A quick count suggests 65 novels read, I think that’s more than last year, I think I also acquired books at 3 to 4 times the rate I managed to read them. On the whole I don’t have a problem with that; now I’ve started on Trollope I know I’m going to read my way through a good chunk of his work so there’s no point in waiting for prices to go up, and the same is true for good second hand finds, but at the same time I want to read more this year. Not necessarily more books but definitely more pages (some of those Trollope’s are doorsteps) so I’m resolving to spend less time watching television I’m not interested in, a lot less time playing solitaire, and a bit less time pointlessly mooching around Waterstones in the vain hope my local branch will ever stock something I want to buy.

So far I’m not doing very well – a whole week away and I only managed to read 2 books, I did however get to spend some time with my family (and even better the dogs without whom no country visit would be complete) in really idyllic surroundings so it was by no means time wasted. We also visited a handful of bookshops – 2 branches of Waterstones in Edinburgh (woeful) and 3 excellent independents in the borders including the superb Main Street Trading Company in Newton St Boswells which I think is possibly my favourite bookshop anywhere for the mix of stock, atmosphere, cafe, helpful staff, and all round loveliness.

Good bookshops are to be cherished, The Main Street Trading Company pretty much sums up my winning the lottery and this is what I do with my life dream. The blonde and I first found it about 2 years ago and I’ve made the pilgrimage back a few times since coming to the firm conclusion that it just gets better; very much worth a visit.

And now I feel myself beginning to ramble so it seems like a good time to put my resolution into action by stepping back from the lap top and picking up a book. Happy New Year.

A bit early but...

Happy New Year. I will be hauling myself to work tomorrow in an effort to look willing and tie up loose ends and shall then be heading northwards on Friday morning where I shall be rendezvousing with some of my paternal family, and best of all (sorry dad) the Scottish one. Before I go I need to gather up all the tissues which have fallen like a New York blizzard around the place, choose some books, pack some warm clothes, oh and all the other things you need to do before a few days away.

There’s a vague forecast for snow so perhaps the scenes of last year will be repeated, I’m half hoping they will be, until I remember the drive home that is, but whatever happens (bar power cuts, please no power cuts, I want a holiday not a deep freeze) spending time with family, good books, good whisky, and of course the Scottish one is going to be a great way to end one year and start another.