Happy New Year!

Well, the start of another year. We didn’t go out last night, for a number of reasons, but namely we couldn’t stand the pressure of having all that fun! We got some DVD’s from the library which are due back next week so we watched Serindipity with John Cussack (filmed in New York so I thought of Helen and Paul) and another called Punch Drunk Love or something with the chap that was in the Wedding Singer (which we watched earlier in the week). The first was a romantic comedy and we both enjoyed, the latter was just plain weird and I gave up and went to bed, Ian though, enjoyed it.

New Years Eves are more relaxed now, at one time I found them quite depressing, full of lost opportunities and ‘if only’s. Strangely since meeting Ian things have completely changed and News Years Eves hold no regrets, instead optismism and excitement about the future. OK, so we didn’t achieve much of the Pullen Plan 2004, however we have had a pretty good year and have learnt an awful lot. I don’t think we would have predicted this time last year that Ian would now be working, I’d be unemployed and that we’d be planning another move!

Talking of Ian, he has many faults as we all know.

Many, many faults. Thinking that waking me up – at 12.30 with a glass of apple brandy is a good idea, is an example of just one! And incase you are thinking that this doesn’t sound like too much of a bad thing, he was accompanied by a crumbling bag of salt and vinegar crisps and five over exctited puppies who proceeded to strew crisps out of bag and on my side of the bed, and I had retired early for the night feeling tired.

However one thing he cannot be faulted on is his cooking. Since he has been on holiday we have relit the aga and Ian has treated us to home made bread, super curries, marientated aubergine, long simmered tomato sauce, home made pizza….. we have eaten like kings and the waist bands are getting increasingly tight. The scales in the bathroom told a sorry tale. So sorry in fact that Ian did not believe them and just by moving the scales from the bathroom into the middle of the landing we both lost a stone! Marvelous, however keeping our scales there does detract somewhat from the newly tidy and decorated landing. So they are now back in the bathroom and we are both a stone heavier.

Ian is also very good at turning his hands to most things as he has shown around the house, and this week has become a garden landscaper, as well as a plumber – oh, and has made me a craft table. The garden design is the complete revamp of the piece of ground outside the front of the house – the gravel bit outside the front door and also the patch that is outside the basement. He has also turned a little oasis out of the patch outside the basement at the rear. The plumbing is due to Ians changing of the taps in the downstairs bathroom to stop the constent running of the cold tap. And the craft table came from a rare experience that I had with the ironing board and having left it up for a day or so (not so Ian could see that, contrary to what he may say, I do know where the iron is kept) but because it was quite a useful size and I could tuck it away at the side of the chair and adjust the height to what I was doing, put a light on it etc. I just happened to mention that an ironing board would make a good craft table, and an hour later, Ian had found a spare one, ripped the cover off, adjusted the height lever thing to make it lower, moved the iron rest at the end… and voila a new craft table!

Today we need to get some more chicken food, so I guess we’ll have a trip out to Hexham.

Temperature 10.1 outside, 14.3 inside and there are clouds and ticks flashing on our weather station (must read booklet!)