Diary summary weekending 4th January 2026

[louisa maud]

Bright sunny morning but oh, the frost, hope it warms up later, not venturing  far, not sure I will stay up to see new year in, usually we just go outside, last year I was out on my own.

Happy new year to one and all.

LM

[Caw1]

RTL - so very god to see your post on here it has been quite a while… I hope that things have been better for you and your family…

A chilly day to be sure but no snow!
Unlike my brother who regularly sends me pictures and yesterdays one had the snow about a third of the way up their back patio doors.. and they have a step down to a decking and then a further six steps to the garden!
They do live in Ontario though so to be expected!
I’m sure we won’t be getting that much 🤞even down south…. Unlike 1962/3’s winter which I remember well as I’m sure everyone else does too.

We will just be venturing up the lane to our friends who live behind us for dinner and see the New Year in.

Best wishes to everyone for the New Year


Caroline

[Gillg]

It will be a struggle for us to stay up and see the New Year in, I feel.  I remember as a child that my father, a dark-haired man, would set out just before midnight to bring the New Year in for our neighbours, carrying with him a lump of coal and some cake.  This was called "First footing".  Every year he would bring Warmth and Food to them in this shape.  We lived in north Lancashire, so perhaps this was a northern custom.  Dark-haired men were, I suppose, thought to be safer than fair-haired Vikings.
 
On New Year's Day, or in the days following it, there would be a knock at the door and there would stand some children, probably the same ones who had sung carols at our door before Christmas, dressed in scruffy clothes and aprons.  They were the Mummers, who did not say a word, but made a humming sound all the time they were in the house.  They brought with them cleaning cloths and dusted round the furniture, apparently cleaning out the old year.  Of course they wanted some kind of payment, either cash or sweets.  Does anyone else remember the Mummers?  Viktoria, I'm sure you do!

[louisa maud]

That was interesting,  my mother was 0art Scottish and they had parties and I suspect first footers.
I don't remember the mummers, what a cute idea.
LM

[River Tyne Lass]

Thanks Caroline.  I won't say too much apart from my Grandson is still having treatment and seems to be doing well.  People say children are resilient but I didn't really believe it at first but he has shown a strength throughout that has amazed me.  Hopefully, near the end of 2026 he will get to ring the bell.

As for me I have such terrible insomnia now and there seems to be no help for it.  I told them again when I went for my annual review but I felt it was just brushed off as before.  They are more interested in things like cholesterol and blood pressure.
One day, a few months ago, I tripped on the stairs,  I was practically sleepwalking.  I injured my hand.  They said at the hospital it would be better in 4-6 weeks but it is not. 
I haven't been on here as much as I would like because I am at the stage now where it is hard to think at times.

I'm celebrating New Year early with sister in law this afternoon but may be asleep when New Year comes.  The fireworks will probably wake me up though, I expect.  I usually wake properly between 2 & 3 am.  I have a 12 hour shift on New Year's Day.  I'm to be picked up and taken home.  I prefer the bus even though that would take longer.  I find bus journeys very relaxing.
I hope to get my sleep issues sorted out in just over a year and a half when I can retire at almost 67.  If I can't it won't matter anyway by then.
God only knows how I will get through the next year and a half - I have a very active job. 

[BushInn1746]

Hello All

Lovely to see the sun and I wish all a good year ahead.


Oh Roobarb

I do hope you have not had a brush with silver iodide? Don't breathe that in and I'd go back inside straight away if it fell here, close the windows, until after the rain and moisture has fully cleared which usually follows.

People who genuinely care about our Welfare and the Environment have been saying it should be stopped, but the authorities are saying the opposite that this is only a low toxin.

I am not convinced of low toxicity and as for the scientist who says it is an irritant and people will cough it out, so he felt it was okay, I am not sure about that either.

They are part of the government experiments to make it rain. Another experiment is to change the atmosphere in order to dim the sun, rather than cut down pollution, plant more hedgerows and more trees.

Silver iodide (AgI) is a bright yellow inorganic compound, important for its photosensitive properties and its crystal structure, which closely resembles ice, ...

It's been quite a bright morning although we had a short shower that I suspect had some little white pellets in it. Anyway, I've been out gardening after that. Yes, sounds mad but I wanted to rescue my geraniums from the garden and the big pots so I could put them somewhere they might stand a chance of surviving. It's forecast to get really cold from tomorrow so it was now or never. Wrapped up in several layers, I wasn't feeling cold, came in when it started raining.

Has anyone wondered why the sky has been dull, full of cloud and lots of rain, in the months leading up to x-mas?

Mark

[louisa maud]

No Mark , please reveal,

Have had some beautiful but cold days and  between throughly miserable depressing days,  today is very bright but very cold.

Just popped to the top shops, didn't want much, the traffic warden is out, saw a young woman get a ticket, she didn't seem bothered at all, I double checked  with the warden how long I was allowed,  1 hour,  that isn't lone outside a parade of shops but the supermarket does have a car park which allows longer.

Happy and healthy New year all.

LM.

[River Tyne Lass]

This is the first time I have heard of silver iodide.  I'm now wondering if we had some of that on Tyneside last Saturday morning 27th?
At first, I thought it was raining but then noticed it was more like sleet but it seemed softer than sleet and not as icy sharp.  Then we did get some proper rain after that.
That doesn't sound good if the government might be experimenting with toxins.  If so, you would hope they would be more transparent about it - such as when and where.

We have bright sunshine here now but I still feel like I am living in the Artic. 

[Roobarb]

I don't think it was silver iodide, although I've never heard of it either. I was just avoiding the 'S' word - sleet! 
I'm a bit puzzled about why the government would want to make it rain, it's done nothing but rain here lately! I'm assuming that the cloud and rain is due to one thing  - it's winter!
 Same weather as you today RTL, a hard frost overnight but at least we don't have that freezing wind coming off the sea today.

Good to see you posting again RTL, I hope your grandson continues to improve. I'm sorry to hear you're sleeping so badly, it's difficult to function properly when you haven't slept, I can't imagine how you manage to get through the days at work. The government doesn't seem to take account when they're raising the pension age, of people who are doing jobs like yours.
Very best wishes for the new year.