A review of the year that is. But actually I wrote at length before Christmas so I am not going to repeat myself. In many ways this was a fantastic year for me and amy family. For the world not so much.

I am incredibly sad at what is happening in Ukraine. I have no idea how I would cope in those circumstances. It terrifies me that one day —- I cannot even put it into words. All we can do is live the best life that we can wherever we are, and pray.

I won’t talk about Brexit and how it has improved our lives and wellbeing. Mainly because I haven’t yet discovered one improvement. Food is not fresher, travel is not easier, jobs are not more plentiful, nor more easily filled, people are not friendlier. Please, if you can provide me with one example of a real advantage since we left the EU, please let me know. I am willing to listen. I am longing to find out that it was not all a waste of time or money. I’m not usually political on this platform, but there comes a point where all my reflections focus in the same direction. Apologies if this was not what you were expecting.

But on a rather lighter note I had a somewhat uncomfortable experience the other day. My husband and I !!! were returning from Cookham to London. I rummaged in my bag as usual for my keys. They were not there. Oh well. Jacek always has his keys.

Always.

Always.

But not this time. I waited for the hunger fuelled explosion. The questions. Where are they? Why haven’t you got them? etc etc.

Nothing. Not a sound. Not a whimper.

What shall we do? I tentatively asked, thinking that we should quickly go for lunch somewhere and back to Cookham. His keys were there. Mine were inside, in London. No answer. Silence. This was beginning to feel ominous, but I knew to keep calm.

The garage door was opened; he went in and began gathering tools together. I didn’t dare ask, as I was given his coat to hold. It was cold but sleeves were rolled up. A stool was fetched for me to sit upon. And then slowly, carefully, precisely, he began to remove the hinges from the internal door. It was a real pleasure to watch. After about 45 minutes he stood back and told me to move out of the way. I thought the door might fall. but no. Silently he opened it and let me in. I opened the front door with the keys lying in wait on the kitchen table and brought in our luggage and set about making lunch as if nothing had been untoward. He replaced the hinges and the door and we ate our meal.

And that is one of the beauties of a long marriage. You can always be surprised – pleasantly!

So, in about 6 hours it will be 2023. I hope that everyone who reads this will have a lovely evening tonight. I hope that next year will be better for everyone and full of pleasant surprises. Like Miss World (is there such a person any more?) I hope for world peace, an end to poverty and a temperate climate. More than anything I hope for kindness because without it we all make ourselves and each other miserable. And life is too short for that.

What are you looking forward to? Happy New Year!