New Year's Eve

The end of another bloody awful year. 

Will next year be any better? Probably not, unless Boris suddenly grows a spine and starts to draw this madness to a close. Thing is, it's in his hands.

He could go on tv and say "Well done, everyone. Through your efforts and your diligence in having the jab, we're starting to get Covid licked - now it's time we slowly started getting back to normal, so there will be no more mandated restrictions and no more testing. The only thing we ask is wash your hands more frequently and stay home for a few days if you have cold or flu symptoms. Wear a mask or have a jab if you want to; if you still want to take tests, you'll need to pay for them. We're leaving it up to you now".

Now, how great would that be? I would be ecstatic. Not going to happen though, is it? 

I don't think Boris enjoys being PM, it's not as much fun as he thought it'd be, but he is enjoying the power and control he's been able to exert over the past 21 months. He thinks it gives him status and makes him feel important. He's not going to give that up in a hurry.

Even if Boris says nothing useful (which he won't!) the one thing that would really help is if people would stop the constant testing. What the hell is wrong with them...?! They're addicted to sticking a cotton bud down their throat or up their nose "just in case"! 

It's the ultimate in virtue-signalling "We saw some friends at the weekend, so we're taking daily tests... just in case". Give me bloody strength!! Get it through your heads... this is not normal!! 

Let's see what next year brings. It'd be nice to be able to say "It can't get much worse" but, sadly, with the current crowd of idiots in charge there's still plenty of scope for things to deteriorate. 

Looking forward to 2022 with hope and optimism is probably asking too much, so I'll just keep my expectations low and hope for brighter and better times.

Roasted Root Veg Gratin for us tonight using the last of the Christmas veg lurking in the fridge, then feet up in front of the telly with the new James Bond movie on Sky. I might manage to stay awake until midnight or I might not.

Happy New Year... and a toast to those we've lost. xx

Edit: The icing on the very crap cake that was 2021... Tony Blair has been knighted. Tony bloody Blair.

Don't even get me started about giving honours to the Three Stooges who stood beside Boris and whose lies led to much of the pain we've endured since March 2020. 

No words can describe my disgust.

And that was that

Another Christmas over.

It's the day after Boxing Day - our traditional time to take the decorations down and return the house to its usual state... and that's exactly what we did this morning. So much quicker to get it all taken down than it is to put it up!

Most of the leftovers have been used up, just a few bits left in the freezer and some biscuits and treats to take us through to 2022... oh, and a piece of panettone for a bread and butter pudding tomorrow. I hate having loads of food hanging around into the New Year, I like to start with a clean slate (or even plate!). New beginnings and all that.

Javid says there'll be no new restrictions for England before the New Year. Wow! Could this be a small, long awaited, outbreak of common sense or is it the knowledge that they have absolutely no authority now that we all know about the Downing Street parties last year? 

Admittedly "...before the New Year" is leaving the door open for any future action but, for now, individuals and, more particularly, the hospitality industry can breathe a sigh of relief and crack on with all the New Year parties they'd planned. 

Wouldn't it be a really great start to 2022 if Boris grew a spine and came on TV to say we can all begin getting back to what we knew as normal? After all, wasn't that what was promised when they started the drive to get jabs into everyone?

It could happen but I won't hold my breath... 

Actually, I don't care what they say; we had our lovely Christmas with The Troops, so I'm happy. I'll decide at the time whether I'm willing to abide by anything else they try to bring in for the future but, as long as I can see my family, I'm bulletproof.

I did not appreciate the Govt text on Boxing day, though, "GET BOOSTED NOW"... it said. Bloody rude, I thought and a completely inappropriate day to do it and, yes, it was all in capitals. Don't shout at me, Javid, I don't react well to shouting and certainly not when it's coming from a jumped-up civil servant with an over-inflated idea of his own importance.

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!

We had a lovely day with our four Troops yesterday. I am a very happy bunny. Today... a walk, a rest, a new book, some cheesy telly and some nice things to eat are the order of the day.

Hope you have fun with those you love. Don't let anyone or anything ever stop you.

Cheese and wine, anyone?

It was a business meeting... so they say. Yes, of course it was.

I've been to a lot of business meetings; never did anyone bring their wife and small baby, nor was cheese and wine ever on offer. On the contrary, drinking at work was a sackable offence.

But this one was definitely a business meeting and absolutely conducted within the rules. Yeah, right. Liars... bloody liars.

They're taking us for fools and then they have the effrontery to lie about it, as though it's not worth their time telling the truth to proles like us.

We won't have any new restrictions for now, Boris said last night, but he left the threat of future restrictions hanging in the air just to keep us on our toes.

New Year celebrations have already been cancelled in Manchester and London so I imagine he'll be on TV in a day or so, magnanimously "allowing" us to spend Christmas with our families but, for our own good, and to protect the bloody shambles that is the NHS, we'll have to wreck the economy, people's livelihoods and their mental and physical health yet again in the New Year. Rinse and repeat. Ad nauseum.

One day I'd like to see him and his cronies in the dock at The Hague for crimes against humanity. Yes, I know it won't happen but I can dream.

Quick question: While we're protecting the NHS, who's protecting us and our health? Just a little something to ponder.

Meanwhile, away from the Covid circus, I'm still having a family Christmas dinner for six. I think I'm pretty much up to speed on it all, just the last Waitrose delivery tomorrow and I'm done. After that, if there's anything we don't have... we'll just have to do without.

I have a rather fetching top to wear on the Big Day - the reindeer on the front is wearing glasses so, technically, I'll be wearing two pairs of specs...!

Last Christmas...

"Last Christmas...they kept us apart. And within a few days, they locked us away 

This year...to save us from Tiers, they're dishing out Covid boosters"

**With apologies to George Michael**

Absolutely every possible resource of the NHS is being thrown at boosters, with no evidence that they're needed and no guarantee they'll work.

Even urgent operations may be cancelled - not great when the NHS surgery backlog already stands at nearly 6 million! They're passing death sentences on people who've done nothing wrong; I can't believe it, it's criminal. It all sounds like the manic pronouncements of a deranged dictator. 

Last night the majority of MPs, with the exception of 99 Tory rebels and a few other randoms, backed a vote on Covid passports to be used in large venues as well as compulsory facemasks in most indoor settings.

After nearly two years I can't believe this is where we are. Boris is ramping up the rhetoric nicely again to continue keeping people frightened and compliant, The sad thing is that mostly the public are still going along with this nonsense, which started with his statement in March 2020 of "Three weeks to flatten the curve". It's dragging on a bit, matey - it's been a bloody long three weeks!

In my post of December 23rd 2020 I said I thought we'd have a lockdown in the New Year. We did. One year on and I'm saying it again. If Boris doesn't cancel Christmas within the next week, he'll definitely put us into lockdown soon after New Year. 

I'm wary of planning anything in the midst of the current situation when it's quite likely we'll have the rug pulled again, but what else can we do? I will still see The Troops at Christmas - nothing Boris can say will change that.

Just prepare for the worst and hope for the best, I suppose.

Let's have a party!

Last year there was a party (or more than one) in No.10 Downing Street while the rest of us were not allowed to see our friends and family. The rules were for us, but clearly not for them.

Even Her Majesty the Queen didn't have her family at Windsor Castle for what turned out to be Prince Philip's last Christmas.

Last year I did as I was told because it was the right thing to do. This year... not a bloody chance!

The Troops will be here for lunch with us, come hell or high water. Boris can bring in whatever rules he likes - I will not be abiding by them. He has lost what little authority he may have had by lying and squirming to get himself off the hook. I hope he chokes on that hook.

He's allegedly planning to bring in Plan B, whatever that means, at some point soon. Good luck with that, matey; most people will laugh in your face. Quite rightly.

Update:

We're into Plan B as of next week. Yawn.

Boris is clearly desperate to get any talk of Christmas parties off the front pages of the newspapers. Someone should tell him no-one gives a toss about Plan B, C  or even Z.

He threw in yet another diversionary tactic by suggesting that the jab may become mandatory. Not for me it won't, matey.

He's really serious about getting people's minds off Downing St parties; he's chucking the kitchen sink out there.

December 1st

December 1st.

Will Boris allow us to have the Christmas we want? We'll probably find out at the eleventh hour like last year, curse him. Will I adhere to the rules if he pulls the plug again...? Ooh, that'd be telling, wouldn't it!

In an effort to banish the vile mood I've been in for almost as long as I can remember I got my Advent calendar out this morning and stuck it on the dresser with a couple of other cheery items - the countdown to Christmas has begun!

Might have to have a piece of shortbread later - I like a little daily piece of something Christmassy in the run-up to the big day.

Outside lights and the wreath on the front door will be up by the weekend and indoor decorations will follow. Some odd bits of cooking will shortly be taking place; I need to make another batch of Nigella's Chocolate Mint Cookies and a few Mini Cheese and Onion Quiches can be stashed in the freezer if I can find room for them.

Christmas has taken on a massive significance for me this year because of the complete disaster of 2020. I can't do that again... I won't.