The first blog of the new year should be full of fun and frivolity.
This blog is waterlogged and a wee tad tired.
I have been absent from the blogsphere as one of the disadvantages of the international workplace is that my colleagues all go home over the festivities and I am left treating all their patients. Which is a bit like being left holding the baby but slightly less smelly. Slightly.
As you will know, Zoe country has been pelted by floods. There is one hotel there that has been flooded four times in the last month. That was hurricane Desmond. Then hurricane Frank came along and caused this in the shopping centre up the road.
And this was Alan's journey to work...
This was deepest Dundee...
Glasgow
my journey to work.....
Bits of Scotland are now falling off.
The clinic is open to 9pm on a Wednesday so there was hasty rearrangement of clinics to get everybody in early. My normal Wednesday ( 10-3) was a 7.30am to 8pm.
Chocolate is a marvellous thing.
As you know I am veggie and thinking of going vegan in 2016. But I make an exception for Hogmanay and I will be eating one of these----- farmed Haggis (as regular blog readers will know).
The French have got in on the act and have started breeding these below, Hagglings. They are supposed to be very tasty and slightly milder ( less peppery I guess) than the more mature ones above.
This is how I will be eating it - with clapshot (mashed tatties and neeps)
But seriously, I have just learned that the Uk, this year, spent more money by card than we did by cash. And that was a first!
The biggest trends of the Uk shopping experience, apart from getting wet in the queue to buy wellies, were as follows. How many did my fellow bloggers buy...
1) A fitness DVD ( not me )
2) A Nutribullet ( not me )
3) A spiraliser ( I don't know what that is so I presume that I don't have one. Unless it is an intestinal worm in which case I might not know I have one. And even if I did I would not blog about it) There sales went up by 1400% on Amazon UK in 2015.
4) 50 Shades of Shit..sorry Grey, shifted 125 million copies. ( not me )
5) Beard oil. 52% of Brits ( mostly blokes I presume) grew a beard in 2015 and were told they needed beard oil. Don't ask, I have no idea. There was no such thing as beard oil in 2010.
6) Athleisurewear. That is not a typo, it's a new word for being smart while you exercise and this is a huge industry now. Me? When I go out running I look like fat nan the boxer so I am not going to add insult to injury by paying good money to look that bad.
7) Grey hair dye- sales up 82%. It's now trendy to be grey!
8) Coconut water, sales up 400% in Uk in 2015. I tasted it in Vancouver, it tasted as though it had been strained through the athletic support of a Turkish Wrestler. Vile. Try Irn Bru instead, it might be bad for you but it certainly adds girders to the little life you might have left.
9) 5 out of Amazon's top ten books were..... adult colouring books. Because of mindfulness.
These people should go out FOR A WALK AND LOOK AT TREES.
10) The Uk discovered Prosecco. I am very guilty of this.....oops. Sales up from 2.8 million bottles to 28 million in the uk in the last ten years. Much of that is down to me.
Sadly, John Lewis Stores have ceased to sell bookcases as there is no real need for them in the modern home. We are all Kindlely and electronic now. I have plenty bookcases, in fact I have not enough .. books are everywhere in my house...
On a better note, the rest of the UK followed Scotland's lead in making a charge of 5p for every carrier bag used. Result? A 78% drop in the number of bags used. Which is good for the environment.
Here is a wee message for Evka the wondrous. I say that because I am often left wondering what he is going on about...
Hope you had a good one, and welcome to the other side.
Caro Ramsay 01 01 2016
Posts
I'm often wondering the same of you, Caro, my shimmy framed glittery goose pimple...
ReplyDeleteThe "Adult Coloring Book" one made me laugh. My sister has taken up coloring as a way to relax (meditation is apparently too easy). So, her daughter-in-law decided to get her a coloring book for Christmas. I know you can imagine her surprise at what she found when she did an on-line search for "adult coloring books." Of course, then she HAD to buy one for my sister. Everyone had a good laugh. There's worse ways to transition from one year to another.
It's still 2015 here, and hour forty to go, and I'm going to bed. I suspect the new year will be born just fine without my help. In case there's any trouble with the birth, I've left them your number, told them to call at any hour...
Caro, I feel guilty sitting here in sunny Italy, looking at the blue sky. I was in hurricane Sandy in NYC and blacked out for eight days during a cold January. I can't tell you how much a sympathize with the weather where you are now.
ReplyDeleteI bought none of the above, unless Prosecco by the glass counts. I did buy LOTS of chocolate. Professor Lupin was right. It is a cure for many ills--especially those connected to stress!
I hope 2016 brings you less stress, more joys, and skies that are fifty shades of blue.
Slàinte mhor a h-uile là a chi 's nach fhaic!
ReplyDeleteThe floods are tragic, but barely reported in the US--so what else is new? Our prayers are with you, Caro.
ReplyDeleteAdult coloring books apparently have become a very big thing in the US--which may explain the thrust of the prior sentence. In fact, at Murder by the Book in Houston they have a long table in front of the cash register dedicated just to them--and they're not mystery based! I was told they are a huge seller. I struck up a conversation with a woman who'd come in to buy several of them and "convinced" her to buy the colorless one I was pushing. She actually sent me a note to tell me she liked it. Now, if such obviously sophisticated people of such discriminating taste are buying coloring books, what conclusions should we draw about shading our own characters?
Speaking of colorful characters, why did you have to start my New Year off with a vision of EvKa in a kilt showing off his happy hogmanay?
Sometimes, Jeff, you just have to face reality, however hairy the experience might be...
DeleteNevertheless, Happy New Year to you and Allan, my love.
ReplyDelete