OUT WITH THE NEW.....

It`s taken a day or two for me to come to terms with the new year. Now, I know I`m getting old and increasingly grumpy but one thing I`ve never really come to terms with is this mania for celebrating the turn of the year.

It could be because I`m not Scottish....or it could be because I just know that the new year will arrive on cue come what may. It is, after all, just another turn of events and one which has only been made at all significant by its inclusion in the man made calendar.

So, on new year`s eve, I go to bed as usual, get off to sleep as usual only to woken up at the midnight hour by a cacophany of noise as my neighbours start letting off fireworks. Not just any old fireworks either - these seem to be armour-piercing, weapons grade fireworks which go on and on for ages. It`s almost as if they have a malevolent determination to keep me awake.

The good news is that Henry doesn`t seem to mind too much, but then very little seems to disturb him. There are times, New Year`s Eve being one of them, when I`m convinced that our canine friends are much more `knowing` than we can ever be.