OFF TO A BANG...!

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!

MAXMOM here...

2011

HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!

On a New Year's eve I prefer to stay indoors and cuddle up with my family and my animals.

For some reason, the world goes mad in anticipation of ...?

 It’s not so much the craziness of people on the roads across our city, but the FIREWORKS which people let off so indiscriminately! It is hard to understand. Our dear ‘Aunt Tam’ has a serious fireworks phobia, so it's home for us, with a simple evening on the cards!

Last night we had a very enjoyable evening. Our dogs were comfortable and lazed happily at our feet. “Miss R” made pizzas for us all and we settled into watching a video together.  When that was over we took on a competitive game of “30 seconds” (one of our favourite family games!)  As midnight approached, we put on the TV and echoed the count-down towards midnight. It was all smiles but we did wait, with some anticipation at the back of our minds, for the first "lunatic" blasts into the New Year.

Setting off fireworks in residential areas is against the law here in South Africa, but somehow everyone ignores it and it becomes a ‘free for all’ in our city. The poor animals inevitably pay the price and usually the SPCA’s are filled to the brim with distressed escapees who flee into the night to their unknown destinies. People can be so thoughtless and so stupid sometimes and it’s heartbreaking to watch!

For the past three years however we have been blessed with significant thunderstorms around midnight which has curbed this lunacy significantly. The rain has been enough to extinguish people’s firework intentions in our own neighbourhood – effectively ‘peeing on their turf’!

 I always send up a prayer of thanks for the rain at this time.

Last night there were one or two bangs which made their mark in the midnight storm. It was enough to get poor “Aunt Tam” clawing away at our laps.

Toby however slept though all her angst (imbuing the enclosed room with graceful fragrances of doggie farts...urrgh!)

Geesh! Toby's comfort levels know no bounds – the more comfortable he is, the more effective his farts are! He’s becoming a gun dog of note :)

Anyway, all’s well this morning. The rain has settled in and a brand new year is upon us.

WISHING ALL MY READERS A WONDERFUL, HAPPY, HEALTHY  and FUN-FILLED NEW YEAR!

Tomorrow (2nd January 2011) is...

MISS "R"s 21st BIRTHDAY!!!

(It would be greatly appreciated if you could perhaps stop by her

brand new blog

HERE

 and wish her well.) 

She's new to blogging...please?

Sending lotsaluv to all my friends across the world.

I love you all!