Happy New Year!!

Hope the new year has in store all the things you wish for! My new year has started the way the old one finished with us being snowed in again and our council not very interested in gritting as it's *too icy* - yeah for us too that's why big snowploughs are needed, honest! We dug out yards of 6inch ice from under the three vehicles along out bit of street and managed to get our car out for some essential shopping - sales, what sales?? Haven't been to any as I don't want to be out for long incase I can't get back in again, like last week when the car was parked out in the main road:(
Right enough moaning, I'm re-starting my fitness campaign on Monday when I return to the gym, come hell or high snow I'm going to get there because it's important and if I slither into someone else's car in the car park, I'm insured, I'll cope!!
The house had it's cleaning fest for Hogmany, we all clean for visitors to drop by but over here they don't do it like on Islay. When we were teenagers on Islay there would be complete strangers *first footing* around the village, they came with shortbread - so your house would never know hunger, booze so your house would never know thirst (though a few could have done with some juice or water!!) and fuel so your house would always give a warm welcome! My adopted brother was very dark-haired so he was sent out the back door with all this stuff and had to knock to come into the front for good luck you see, he was in demand at quite a few houses and used to visit with alsorts of folk he didn't see from one year's beginning to the next! In Argyll, we still did this with our children, visiting friends in the wee sma' hours, but in the east, here, it's not done at all - there's parties in folks houses but you need an invite and with hubby away I wasn't doing that this year but next is possible.
Anyway my new year's resolutions are to continue my weightloss journey whilst getting fit, and to complete it by next Christmas, and also to widen my circle of friends through my hobbies and through charity work of some sort - still looking into where I could be useful but something outwith children's education!
I want to make more of an effort to get to know my neighbours, who are very pleasant people but I don't *know* them, and to keep this house tidier so I can invite them in for a tea or coffee without embarrassment! This reflects on my younger son who's going to be encouraged to invite his pals over more - we got out the habit when I worked full-time and need to make an effort to start again.
And lastly, to work harder in my garden, I abdicated a lot of work last year to my daughter who's doing landscape design at college and needed basic experience but this year she can try for real work and I'll do my own garden again!!
Hope your beginning has been a good one:)