Happy New Year

Emma and I wish you all a Happy New Year 2026

It is a hundred years ago that my grandmother got married. She wore a slightly below knee straight white plain dress, white stockings, pointy white shoes with a strap over the top, and a long, quite thick, lace veil that was kept in place with a circle of flowers placed low on her head. Her hair was bobbed, and she had teeth. The men were all in smart suits that they could walk down the street in now, and all you would say would be, what smart looking young men.

I mention my granny’s teeth because by the time I came along, they were long gone, and she never wore her false ones.

This year, my elder son is getting married. We are all on diets and keep fit regimes of different kinds in order that the Morrisons don’t look like tubs of lard in the coming photos. I’ll let you all know what seems to have been the most effective of these strategies nearer the time.

I expect some of you will be thinking of New Year Resolutions. As I’ve said, our family has had a head start of several months to a few weeks. What self improvement or world improvement plans do you have?

Whatever you have planned, I hope you can make your plans doable and that you keep on track.

Today, as opposed to the cop-out Christmas dinner that I was responsible for, is my husband’s piece de resistance. He takes a leaf from his late mother’s book, and doesn’t feel that he has done it right unless he has us all sitting round the table, eating multiple courses and feeling that we can neither eat nor walk afterwards.

My soon to be daughter in law will join us too. As she is a midwife and has no children, she does the usual thing for health care and emergency service staff, which is to allow people who have young children have priority for Christmas off and allow the young singletons priority for the New Year parties. Thus, for the third year in a row, we are having our traditional Christmas dinner on Hogmanay Evening. After this we play games which my younger son always wins.

Towards The Bells, we usually put on the Scottish Television Channel and watch something dire with lousy singers, lousy dancers and a bit of tartan. How my husband misses Jackie Bird’s shimmery outfits and how I miss Ricky Fulton’s dry humour.

Have a lovely time whatever you plan, and I sincerely hope that next year, when you look back on 2026, that you have happy memories.