Category: New Year resolutions

Bubbling over

Published on by mickyrichards1957Leave a comment

It is thought to be unlucky having decorations still up after Twelfth Night. 

But, with all the paperchains; miniature mangers and Christmas tree fairies back in the loft/garage/recycling bin, all potential curses can vanish and normal service can be restored; although possibly not mealtimes.

As a kid growing up in the “Gateway to the South” I questioned if it was deemed to be tempting fate by still serving some form of cold meat, so frequently, up to and well after January 5th – and also, whether my mother had been sponsored by the creators of bubble & squeak?

I assumed she had been given Mrs Beeton’s “A million and one things to do with cold meat” for Christmas, as this seemed to be a daily serving (in various guises) at mealtimes before I returned to school.  I often wondered if my school books smelled of bubble & squeak due to its constant preparation throughout my holidays?

I had this irrational fear, usually during double chemistry, that the teacher might ask accusingly if anyone had brought sprouts or cabbage into the school?  While I knew bringing Player’s Number 6 in wasn’t permitted, had a sudden rule been introduced where no pupil could bring in anything which had been fried and several weeks old?

So, when someone says “bubble & squeak is not just for Christmas”  – they’re not lying.

Dear Diary…

Published on by mickyrichards1957Leave a comment

It’s that time of year when you think about New Year’s resolutions.

It’s not unlike Lent, except the resolutions rarely last for 40-days (or nights).

Is this the year I give up chocolate (and make Bournville village a ghost town) and try and get that bikini body ready for the summer of 2024? 

Should I start adding semolina to my diet (having lived without it since an unfortunate episode during a lunch in my Balham primary school in the early ‘60s; this is unlikely – plus, I promised my then probation officer the incident would never happen again).

I’ve wondered about writing a diary?  The last time I wrote one was in the summer of ’76 and wrote the word “hot” for so many weeks I became bored.  I assume it was never continually hot for Samuel Pepys?

Last year, in the UK, the most popular New Year’s resolution was to exercise more. Should I get my Bullworker down from the loft?  Should I ask Charles Atlas for his promised set of muscles – and a duster for the Bullworker?

Or, I could combine several of the above and write in my new 2024 diary: “Have applied to Opportunity Knocks.”  I mean that most insincerely.