2009: Time for change

Here's wishing all and everyone whom I know a happy and prosperous New Year. It's a time of year that I used to love especially whilst living in Zim as it was the big party in my home town of Karoi where you would meet up with 300 people, most of whom you would know and then finish up at the Twin River Inn for a breakfast or an early lunch.

In England it is slightly different and house parties are the main order of the day with mainly family and close friends. I'm not sure if it is that I am getting older, but I don't look forward to New Years as much I as I used to. Too many unkept new resolutions which are usually broken by the middle of January, but as each New Year approaches I can't help myself but write out the dreaded list. Each year I swear that it will be different, and is it........., of course not.

This coming year I am not going to set unrealistic resolutions, goals and targets but here are a few.

1. I will create a weekly post for a whole year, to give you a flavour of the sort of things that I am up to as well as share some of my thoughts and opinions. Advice and comments will be appreciated through out the year.

2. I am now officially an Obese Person weighing in at 16 stone, 224 pounds, 100 kgs, however you measure it, its fat! In order for me to be at an ideal weight I need to lose 47 pounds which is 3 and a bit stone. I am giving myself the whole year to loose it at about 4 pounds a month. Is that unrealistic probably, but have started so just as well carry on.

3. I have a patch of land at the back where I intend to grow most of my vegetables, some of my fruits and all of my eggs. I have seven chickens which I got as day old chicks. Unfortunately I was not able to sex them as day olds and neither was the woman who sold them to me, so guess what? Yes I ended up with three hens one of which is baron and 4 genuine Zanu PF cockerels, yes they aren't particularly well behaved. They unfortunately were all given names, by my children and I am not allowed to prepare them for the table. They have now been separated from the hens and I shall be adding to the hens in the spring.

I have always started the veggies off with enthusiasm at the beginning of the season, this tends to tail off in the middle of summer and interest is totally lost by the beginning of autumn and really don't get a great deal from it. This year is the year of abundance. I shall be making plenty of wine and cider this year. Oh yes this might not bode well for the old weight problem. I shall drink in moderation and get my mates to put on the weight!

Here are a few things that I hope to build over the coming year.

I am definitely going to build my Biltong Machine which I found on someones blog. See link. I really miss eating it as it is really expensive in the UK.

I want to have a stab at putting together an outdoor oven for some alfresco entertainment over the warmer days. I can see why I am putting on the pounds as everything seems geared to food and drink. Maybe by producing it myself I will hopefully burn shed loads of calories and get back to my racing snake physique.

4. I am looking forward to plenty of cricket and golf this summer. We have a cricket tour arranged for sunny Leicester which should be a good crack.

5. I intend to enjoy this coming year to the hilt and look forward to keeping you updated over the next 52 weeks.

So again wishing you all a happy New Year especially to all my family and friends in Zim who are having a tough time of it this year. It will change for the better soon!