New Year, New Smiles

Let's face it, a New Year only seems to bring new challenges and unlike our antipodean cousins (for those born and bred in Yorkshire and northwards, those are the real southerners) we are also facing the depths of winter in all its damp, cold, English guises. Or geysers, to judge by the rain this last week.

Then there's the return to work for many of us, the payment date for as yet unpaid taxes for the unfortunate few, and the prospect of the bills due to arrive shortly detailing our Christmas spend for pretty much all of us.

The 'bleak midwinter' as Christina Rosetti, the English poet, wrote about a century and a half ago. And that was before flexible friends.

Anyway, I've been casting around for things to make me smile. Without a big freeze around here offering me opportunities to spot elderly neighbours taking up involuntary ice-skating, I've been forced to focus on my laptop (no, I mean my computer). So this week's post is a fairly appropriate collection of my favourite images from both past and present....

It's still party season, so first, I have a great idea for fancy-dress costume choice next time I get a say in how my grandkids will look at their next event... Appropriate in so many ways, yes? It made me Chucky... I mean chuckle.

And we all need a salutary reminder that to 'assume' something can make a cliche out of any of us...

It's the humble (as if) animal, though, who seems to take centre stage for me. Even if they didn't quite make it onto a certain boat...

We can learn a lot from our furry/feathered/scaly friend, though, where they did manage to hop, wander or crawl on board...

For example, given that a lot of us (well, a lot of me) could use a little dieting after the holiday pig-out-a-thon, it might be a good idea to take note of animal behaviour at this time of year...

But we must always remember that coffee is not necessarily a good substitute for other food stuffs - again, with the help of our animal friends...

We need to be fit enough to tackle any sudden downfalls of snow, and ready to meet the same with a positive attitude...

Above all, even if we've been educated at Hogwarts or on the Discworld, we must remember that we don't need artificial stimulants to help us through these cold months...

No matter that life is sometimes complicated, we should plan and build whatever is thrown up against us...

Above all else, though, let us all try to remember that this life has a happy moment tucked away around every corner. Sometimes we just need to search a little bit harder to find it.

Good luck with that. And, broomstick in the garage, cheers!