NEW YEAR

So the new year is here-Blwyddyn newydd dda or perhaps Blwyddyn newydd austere. Over the past years I have tighted my belt,but now the papers are saying it will cost £160 just to cover petrol increases, VAT increases,and higher food prices.

I have spent the morning cleaning out my car,which having failed its MOT is off to the scrap yard. It is eleven years old,but it needs a lot of little things doing to it, and all those little things add up to a lot of money. I paid it last year,but not again. So the option is to go without a car. I don't need one;it is an expensive luxury .

I wonder how long I can manage carrying my shopping home, catching the bus,and giving up things not on a bus route. I didn't have a car until I was in my early thirties, but it is lovely to have mobility.Still the way petrol is going up it isn't the time to think about another car,and I can't drive for another week anyway because of my carpal tunnel operation.

On a brighter note the date 1.1.11 looks like binary code,stark tall winter trees standing to attention.