4 Jan 2013
I have two days to prepare for my January detox. It’s not only me that needs it, judging by the recycling you would imagine that the house has been the scene of endless parties for the past two weeks. Nothing could be further from the truth, other than the family dinner before Christmas it’s been a quiet holiday.
New Year’s Eve was spent at home and not on top of Parliament Hill as planned. The rain throughout the day put a dampener on proceedings and made the Heath reminiscent of a mud bath. Instead I spent the evening with Jools Holland’s Hootenanny and a line-up of musicians that not only did I recognise – I also knew the words to the songs – something of an achievement these days.
E.L. James was in the audience and she must have seen at least 50 shades of grey with Kevin Rowland, Roland Gift and Adam Ant performing. Even the Radio Times described them as 1908s survivors, who would have thought that aged 52 I would be spending the evening watching bands from the 80s, being presented by the ‘boy’ from Squeeze. Petula Clark kicked off the year when older women are going to be taken seriously and not ridiculed; performing as she did aged 80 was fantastic. Although I couldn’t help wondering how she has the lung capacity, I certainly didn’t spent time thinking about things like this in the 80s, oh how times have changed.
It was wonderful to wake up on New Year’s Day with a clear head (something else I didn’t do in the 80s) and clear sky, the weather was beautiful and a walk on Hampstead Heath with the rest of London was just what I needed. I took the photograph above during the walk, when I tweeted it; Hampstead Heath reliably informed me that was Barry showing off.
I haven’t managed to resist tidying up the last few chocolates that are in open boxes, why is it that boxes can sit for a year unopened but once they are exposed I feel the need to finish them off? I’ve mastered the juicer ready for next week and now have to stock the fridge with suitable vegetables. The diet will be fine; it’s getting back into a fitness routine which will be the hardest.
