The Year of the Horse

Well the Christmas tree, bunting and decorations have all been packed away. Santa is a vague fuzzy memory, the kiddies have lots of things to amuse themselves with until at least February.  We hope everyone had a truly lovely Christmas and the best of New Year celebrations.  We actually managed to stay up and watch the televised 'multi-sensory' fireworks display over the London Eye, which was rather brilliant.  Over here in sleepy Long Stratton, there were a few sporadic fireworks going off into the wee hours of the morning but by and large 2014 was ushered in very quietly.

I don't do New Year Resolutions, largely because they are a complete crock of shite and nobody ever really sticks to them after the first week of January when they are back into the grind and at work.  But I do hope that this year is spectacular for everyone, that you attain your dreams or get on the right path to doing so and, of course, that you are healthy and happy.

Last year seemed to whiz past at a rate of knots, it would be nice if this next couple of months could slow down a bit (especially February when we are in South Africa!) but I know that won't be the case. As soon as the kids go back to school then the weeks will just fly by.   We are all focussed now on our forthcoming trip and can't wait to see everybody.  There are a couple of things that you guys over in SA need to get sorted before we arrive, namely:

1.   One or six family sized packets (i.e. 60 tablets per box) of Myprodol.  Important safety tip - if you each go to your doctor complaining of back pain and insist that you need an anti-inflammatory, you'll get a prescription, then you can go and load up on stocks for us.  We'll reimburse you when we arrive.  Yes, this might seem funny to the uninitiated but the UK health system really doesn't have the handle on DRUGS!

2.   We'll also be purchasing a good couple of boxes of MedLemon, Five Roses Tea and BILTONG!  I think we can bring biltong back with us in our cases, so long as it's in vacuum-sealed bags.  We'll bring you a sample of the jerky that they pass off here as Biltong and you'll see why we need to stock up.

3.  Shame, Kevin won't be able to bring back a case of Zamalek (Black Label) but he might be able to sneak a couple of cans into his case.

4.  I am going to the fat shop in Boksburg near the Flea market to stock up on some clothes to last me another couple of years (no jokes) because I'm heartily sick and tired of the clingy jersey tops that the Brits seem to adore so much.   And if I see another pair of TIGHTS I'll scream - just about every bird in this country wears tights and tops that don't cover the camel toi ... and most of the clothes only fit midget sized anorexic Chinese chicks.   Hayzel and I are battling to find clothes shops that actually sell the kind of stuff we like - well, er 'battling' is the wrong word, we CAN'T find clothes to fit us in the UK.  I've bought tons of stuff online and nearly everything I buy ends up in Hayzel's cupboard and she might end up wearing one or two of the things but not all of it.  This year I've wasted a lot of money on clothes that I don't wear.   So warn the nice people over there in Clothing City that I'll be descending on them in February and they'd better have new stock in.

5.  Ditto kiddies clothing - Jet, Ackermans (even Pep), they'd better make sure they have plenty of stock because it's also difficult for us to find clothing that we like for Faye, particularly.   I never thought I'd say this but I'm looking forward to doing some shopping in a real mall.  You could fit Chapelfield and Castle Malls (in Norwich) into one quarter of Eastgate.  

6. Another thing I absolutely never thought I'd ever say in my life, ever, is I am rather looking forward to having a breakfast or lunch at Indiana Spur!   Kevin would find that amusing, I think, considering how much I used to slag the place off when we lived in Edenvale.  The Brits don't know how to do family restaurants.

Happy New Year!   Do something great with your life.