New Year New Me? Absolutely Not!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a very lovely Christmas and New Year. I spent the time at home with the fam and it was very quiet but also so nice not to have to rush around trying to fit everything in to those few days. I received some lovely gifts, gave some lovely gifts, ate far too much and celebrated a birthday (celebrated is far too strong a word – I tolerated my birthday), rode the horses, walked the doggies and had a very jolly festive period. And straight into lockdown. I for one totally agree with these measures and think it should have been imposed sooner seeing as so many people clearly couldn’t or wouldn’t stick to the rules, however, it does make January a bit more rubbish than usual and it’s already the worst month of the year before adding Covid into the mix.

Am I making any resolutions for the year? I’m not sure yet. I only make resolutions if I think I can stick to them (cutting out all junk food just is not going to happen) and I don’t put any pressure on myself to think of any just for the sake of saying that I have one. Last year my New Year’s Resolution was to learn to tie a stock, which I did…it may have taken me to the middle of December to do it, but I still managed it before the year was up! This year, I could say I’ll eat healthier or lose the little bit of weight I gained throughout the pandemic, but I plan on doing that anyway and making it a resolution doesn’t feel like a proper challenge, nor will it motivate me any more than I already am so it seems like a bit of a waste. I did buy a calligraphy set at the start of lockdown which still hasn’t been opened so maybe that’s going to be my goal for the year! Or maybe I will try and improve my cake decorating details…one thing I do know is if I make a resolution that is too vague or unachievable, I will lose interest and give up.

Another thing I definitely will not be taking part in this month is Veganuary. If you decide embrace veganism, that’s up to you…you have your reasons and that’s fine. I on the other hand am all about everything in moderation. Do I believe that cows farting is the biggest contributor to climate change? I won’t even dignify that with an answer but I am sure you can imagine my response (also before anyone starts kicking off, I obviously know that it is a wider issue than cow farts). Rather than cutting out all meat and increasing the demand for food that is out of season, and therefore flown across the world to get to your plate, how about focusing on eating seasonal produce from our own wonderful, local farmers. This time of year isn’t the most exciting for local produce, so if you are insisting on buying all the healthy strawberries, raspberries, mangos, asparagus etc etc, you can pretty much guarantee that a hella lot of air miles have been racked up in the process of getting them here. What produce is in season in January? Just a few examples are chicken, game, beef, lamb, apples, brussel sprouts (a personal favourite of mine), kale, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, onions, turnips and parsnips…I could go on! Now, I am certainly not saying we should be eating meat all day every day, I for one enjoy having a veggie or vegan dish a few times a week, but I would much rather shop seasonal and local and know where my food has come from.

Dry January? Nope. Next.

New Year New Me? Absolutely not! There are always a million posts going about at this time of year with inspirational quotes, goals and motivational speeches…again, totally fine but SO not me! I’ll be the same person this year that I was last year, the year before and so on. I’ll still eat too much junk, drink too much and make an arse of myself (or maybe not if I’m not allowed out again) and make many, many gaffes…nobody is perfect, as the world of social media often leads us to believe. I say, let’s just get up, do our best and get through this year as well as we can, because let’s face it, it’s not going to be a walk in the park! Although we are currently in lockdown, I’m holding onto the hope that we can look forward to some fun events this year – agricultural shows and horse trials pleeeease! I’m also starting my new job in a few weeks so that is going to be a big change and something that will no doubt keep me on my toes while I try to learn the ropes. Fingers crossed we will be moving into our little cottage on the farm this month (we were due to move in November but hey what’s another few months?). Being back in the countryside also means I’ll need to get myself a car which isn’t something I have had to take full responsibility before and I can’t say I’m looking forward to it considering I do nothing for the independent women out there – I cannot change a tyre and if I break down, usually sit and cry until someone rescues me. But I think that’s definitely going to be enough to keep me busy for the next few months at least -lots of change ahead!

What are you all planning for this year?

Kirsty x