Another Year Nearly Gone!
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George; The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan; The Governess by Wendy Holden; The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick; Madam Burova by Ruth Hogan; The Little Brooklyn Bakery by Julie Caplin; The Things We Never Say by Sheila O'Flanigan; Midnight in the Snow by Karen Swan; Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne and Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. I've been writing down the books I've read in a journal this year as I kept forgetting which books I'd read which then prompted me to hang onto books much longer than necessary so at least I'm now able to give books away when I finish them!
Do you make New Year resolutions? I don't really. I like the list of Goals For the Year that Mavis Butterfield does on her blog. She's much better at keeping to them than me but I like to have a goal or two so this year I'm going to list a few goals of my own to see if I can stick to them. One thing I'm determined to do this coming year is get a new carpet for our downstairs rooms. Our living room and dining room become one large room if we open the double doors and then the carpet goes up the stairs too. It's a lot of carpet! (you can just about see what I mean in the picture of the table). Not only will it be quite an expensive purchase, but will also be an awkward one too! Just about all our furniture is in those two rooms and all of it is quite heavy or large or awkward to move! I dread having to move it all to get the old carpet up and the new one down! We've had our current carpet for over 20 years now. It's done well to last this long in such a busy space, however there are now actual bare patches in areas where clearly we spend a lot of time! Like where the computer is under the stairs or in front of the settee. As it's a tartan carpet it's getting to be quite obvious so that's a definite goal for next year! As we also plan to go to Australia next year to see our son and we have to replace some kitchen units and worktop, it's already looking to be an expensive year ahead for us so to that end I've told hubby we're buying nothing that is not absolutely necessary for the next few months at least. I'm hoping to save enough for the carpet by spring. Australia is already saved for as we were supposed to go this year! So, saving is another goal. I'm also keen to get back to doing some art. I would have loved to return to my classes but the way things are with Covid just now that's not on the cards but I have the stuff at home and I'm determined to dig it all out and get onto it again. Obviously there is the usual 'I must lose weight/get fit' goal however, I'm not going on a diet! I've already stopped buying biscuits although we were given a couple of boxes of them as Christmas gifts, and I'm going to stop 'stocking' up on stuff ! So hopefully as there will be less and less chocolate/crisps/nuts/biscuits etc in the house, I'll lose a bit of weight without necessarily trying too hard! (I live in hope lol)
Talking of Covid! (if I must!) It is now rife in our circle. My friends grandaughter tested positive on Christmas day and as she lives with my friend, they are now in isolation. Also both her daughters have it and their husbands; my neighbour told us his son has it; my grandson's girlfriend is just out of isolation having had it and while I've been doing this my son called to let us know his partner (who was here for dinner on Friday night) has just tested positive. She's going to get a PCR tomorrow but we're assuming it will be positive! She had Covid the first time round so we were not expecting this. She's not had the booster yet so fingers crossed as the rest of us have had the booster,we'll escape! My biggest worry is for my mum as obviously we saw her yesterday but our LFT was negative yesterday so again, fingers crossed! I am so over this virus. I hope the scientist I read today was right and that Omicron is milder because the virus is burning out. Oh I do hope so!
On that note I will go for now and wish you and yours a very Happy and Healthy New Year when it comes. I won't be back on here until next week so I hope you all stay safe and have a lovely time. x
Don’t know how you found the time to do a blog entry too! Hope you all keep healthy and best wishes for the New Year.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite nice to come upstairs to my computer where it's quiet of an evening while hubby watches the news on tv. I try hard to avoid as much news as possible these days! Best wishes to you too for a happy and healthy new year.
DeleteI am glad your celebrations went well, I am sorry to hear that covid is so close to home for you. I am trying my best to avoid it as well - I have 2 shots and the booster, but honestly I am going to avoid being in public (outside of shopping) now. You just cannot tell where it comes from any more, and getting tested is soooo difficult now in Ontario. My brother's in laws came over from the UK and they brought LFTs with them - ya'll get a good supply, we get nada.
ReplyDeleteWe get a pack of 7 LFT's free if we ask either online or at various places which are advertised on our local council website or from the local pharmacy. Thank goodness for the NHS! Yes, I'm only going out to get some shopping and even that is limited. I made sure to get plenty of milk in and other than that I have a freezer full of food we can eat so it will only be when we run out of fresh veg I'll need to venture out again. Stay safe. x
DeleteIt's strange that other than when we got covid in November I haven't heard of anyone else getting it round here - maybe that will change after New Year. But I do hope everyone is ok over there. They said everyone was going to get it and they're probably right. Hopefully they're right about it being milder too! And I'm like you in that I now keep a list of the books I'm reading/have read because it can be so frustrating to start reading a book and then realize you've already read it! Good luck with your challenges and here's hoping 2022 is kinder to all of us!
ReplyDeleteIt's like someone burst a balloon full of covid here, its everywhere! Everyone knows someone who has it. It wasn't this bad first time round!
DeleteLets hope 2022 is the beginning of more normality for us all. Wishing you and your family a very happy and healthy new year when it comes! x
Fingers crossed that you manage to avoid Covid. My mum insists that she won't get it, because she's triple jabbed. There's no telling her that she's still vulnerable to it.
ReplyDeleteNo new year's resolutions here. I'm not one for plans and goals as something always goes wrong!
We're staying home as much as possible for now to try to avoid it. My son's partner has felt really ill with it and she's still testing positive after a full week now! I think my mums illness last month has shaken her a bit and she seems to be trying to be more careful now. She's taken to wearing two masks when she goes shopping now.
ReplyDeleteMy plans have already changed! Our kitchen is in dire need of attention, not least new flooring and hubby says we'd be better prioritising that than the carpet for now, he has a point, our kitchen is off the dining room so it makes sense to do the kitchen before getting a new carpet! So, we'll use the current savings for the kitchen and start again for the carpet, and so it goes!! x