Happy New Year to all of you.

I didn’t manage to stay up to see the year in – well, it’s so arbitrary, it’s just another day, really. Went to bed at about 10.30, after watching the first two episodes of Friends, then Love Actually – love that film. Slept till 11 am, which is ok ish.

Took the Christmas tree down (we have an artificial one), and all the decorations including the cards. The cat got very excited. Ribbons! And big old bags to get inside and explore! But what has happened to the lounge? Call me a miserable old baggage (which is frequently how I feel), but I am absolutely fed up of Christmas decorations after two solid weeks of them. It’s such a relief to have everything back to normal. The house looks tidier and cleaner. I’ve sorted through all the Christmas cards, cut up the ones I want to use as gift labels next year, edited my spreadsheet of names and addresses, all organised.

Yesterday morning, as I was dressing after my shower, I put some body lotion on (as usual). It felt a bit odd, and when I checked the bottle, it wasn’t body lotion, it was bubble bath. Ah. When I rinsed it off my arm there were bubbles bloody everywhere. Blimey. But it could be worse I suppose. Once, when I was adolescent, I managed to mistake nail varnish remover for face toner. But I washed it all off pretty damn quick, and my face looked no worse than it did before. So now the bubble bath is in the bubble bath cupboard, and I only have body lotion in my wardrobe (along with all the other lotions and potions, all guaranteed to make me look younger, fresher, and dewier – for which read sticky and shiny).

So, a productive day altogether. Vic has just woken up (it’s 4.35pm) and made us both a cup of tea.

Spoke to my friend Sue (who lost a cat in the middle of December) and she has a new one! Hooray! This one’s called Honey, a rescue cat, four years old, and very timid. Can’t wait to see her. Sue and Nigel have three cats altogether. My mum used to have three (all marmalade toms) but now has just one (marmalade tom) called Dandini. Dandini is very friendly, and quite hefty. A sweetheart, really.

Well, that’s about it for today.