Russian Snow and Car Trouble

Hi,

Well it`s 2009 now and Christmas seems long gone. Most of us are back to work after the holidays and life is back to normal. The only thing that hasn`t changed here is the weather which is still very cold, quite unusual after the last two mild and wet years. I must say I prefer the cold frosty days to constant rain. It`s easy to put on another jumper and turn up the heat if necessary but the rain just makes me feel miserable AND my arthritis flares up too.

Kerry called to say that they all had a great New Years Eve playing in the snow until 4am with Roman who throughly enjoyed himself. He had been asleep in bed but woke up at 11.30 and wouldn`t go back to sleep so she decided that as it was New Year that it would be a good idea to go outside as is Russian tradition. Apparently everyone was outside in the snow, children included. Even though it was -7c nobody seemed bothered. What a wonderful way to celebrate. Dan on the other hand took Salina to the London Eye to see the fireworks. They got there early and all along the embankment people were sitting drinking champagne just waiting for midnight. As it was bitterly cold they went to a restaurant for something to eat before coming back to try to get a good viewing position. The whole area was packed with people by now and eventually they found a little back alley where they could see but wouldn`t get crushed by the throng. The only problem being was that quite a few other people had the same idea. The fireworks were brilliant though and they really enjoyed themselves. the problems started when it was all over. Dan said there were fights breaking out and people were shoting and swearing at each other as they all tried to leave at once. In the end it took them nearly three hours to leave the capital and they eventually got home at 6am and they didn`t even get a celebratory drink. Something tells me that they won`t go there next year.

Oh yes, I was asked a couple of times why I was given two pairs of boots for Christmas. Well, the thing is that I had boots for Christmas last year, I have many, many pairs as I really don`t like closed in shoes and am far happier in boots. I think they feel more comfortable and look better too. But I digress. Last years boots were just what I was looking for and I was delighted when Jim bought them for me, but when I unwrapped them I found that the decorative leather button was missing from one of them. Jim said as the shop we had bought them from was not local he would buy me another pair if I found some I liked. I told him not to worry as I liked my new ones, with or without the button and forgot all about it. This year however when I asked for boots again for my present I found a really nice pair...AGAIN...but this time they were in a sale. Jim said he was going to buy me another pair to make up for last year and after protesting, perhaps not hard enough, he bought me yet another pair! Now I have nine pairs and I wear all of them....though not at the same time. One thing though, I won`t have boots for Christmas next year, or the next or the year after next...lol!

I`ve had car trouble this week, in fact I thought it was going to blow up at one point. It all started on Christmas Eve when after I started it in the morning it felt very shaky as the engine ticked over so I vowed to get something done after the holidays. However on my first day back to work (Monday) I had terrible trouble starting it and once it did all this black smoke come out of the exhaust and the smell of burning was very strong. Also while driving to work it seemed as though there was very little power in my once speedy little Clio and the engine light was showing yello on the dashboard. Our mechanic Steve had a look in the afternoon and immediately knew what was wrong. Something called a needle coil needed replacing as it was causing the engine to only fire on three of them and I had almost no power. He got the part and fixed it right away which only cost me a fraction of what a garage would charge, I was so relieved as I feared something far more serious.

Anyway I must run and cook some dinner. We have lamb chops and I`m getting really hungry. Bye Bye for now and have a great weekend. :o)