Hello 2008

Well that’s it, the deccies have come down and it’s all over for another year. So what did I get up to? Well at short notice it was decided to have Xmas dinner at Château Ghastonbury instead of Little Miss Sunshine’s house. This meant a flurry of activity to finish the decorating and have the house fit to accommodate nine guests on the big day. I finished the decorating on Xmas Eve and with the smell of paint finally beginning to recede I started prepping the dinner.

The day arrived and with it the guests, LMS, her beau and her daughter and beau. Chef, Bean counter and her eldest, myself and I did say nine didn’t I? Yes of course I was forgetting Angel the dog or four-legged eating machine, as it should be known. It was a great day and I fell asleep face first in the ample bosom of BC soon after the Dr Who special. Boxing day and I did it all again only this time with seven people instead of nine and although it was a much gentler affair it was still a wonderful day.

The day after Boxing Day the Driver came to stay with me for a few days but had to leave on the Sunday. He had not been feeling well and drove home to his local walk in health centre. From there they rushed him up to Wigan Infirmary where he spent the night in an oxygen tent. He had apparently suffered a huge asthma attack. He was to spend the next few nights there, struggling to get his breath.

Onto New Years Eve, for the first time in what seemed like forever but was probably only 10 years I celebrated away from Château Ghastonbury. A massive formed at BC’s house and we partied until the early hours. The highlight coming just before the bells when one of the youngsters told us oldies that “all of the cool people” go to the roundabout nearby a large supermarket just yards from BC’s pad. So about 20 or so of us trotted off to the roundabout to meet a gathering of assorted revellers and we all hugged and cheered. The more adventurous of us decided to have trolley races using the roundabout as a circuit. I have no idea how this happened but I found myself piloting a shopping trolley propelled by The Beast and LMS’s Beau. I understand the video footage is hilarious and is somewhere on U Tube. As soon as I can obtain a copy I will post it here. I am also led to believe that I finally made it to bed at around 5am but not before me and TB had attempted to make fire with a Leylandii tree in BC’s garden.

I went see the Driver in hospital on Jan 2^nd and as he was being discharged that day I took him home. He has decided that it was a wake up call and has vowed never to smoke again. After chewing the fat for a few hours I was touched by his comment, “mates come and go. Friends are for life, I am proud to call you a friend”. It made me realise that I am blessed to have such a good social circle even though it is spreading further a field on what appears to be an almost monthly basis. News reached me yesterday that The Teech will be heading towards the sunnier climes of the middle east this September to take up a new post lasting for at least two years. Hopefully this New Year will take me further to reaching my goal of leaving these shores. 2007 has not been a good year for me and I am glad to see the back of it and so hello 2008.