Out with the Old?

Nicola here with the latest Wench Christmastide/New Year post. It’s the second day of January. It can be a strange day and sometimes a bit of an anti-climax. The festivities of Christmas and New Year are over and it’s time to move forward into 2023. There’s a lot of emphasis on the “new” at this time – new year, new you, new opportunities and in some cases a sense of good riddance to the old! However as someone who enjoys history, I’m in no rush to throw out the old. Can you imagine? If 2022 is old news now what about 1802 – or 1502? What are they?

This year, along with the new things I plan to do – join a choir again, practise my French – I intend to cherish some of the old stuff as well. I’m getting new bookcases, which means a sort through all my old books. Can I bear to part with any to make way for new ones? I’m not sure I want to! They are special. Then there’s our garden; we’re re-designing it this spring and planting some new trees and shrubs, but amongst the new growth we’ll be keeping some of our favourite flowers and old pots.

New Year’s resolutions are a great thing – we enjoy celebrating the idea of a fresh start and a new year have done throughout history. In December 1661, Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary: ‘I have newly taken a solemn oath about abstaining from plays and wine which I am resolved to keep.’ He didn’t manage it but took those two pleasurable activities forward with him into the next year and his diaries were perhaps more interesting for it. So, I won’t feel bad about keeping some of the old alongside the new in 2023!  After all, I’m treating myself today with an old favourite recipe – Chocolate brownies!

What do you plan to carry forward into the new year from the old? Favourite books, hobbies, recipes? Enjoy the combination of the old and the new in 2023!

Comments

[Mary Jo Putney]

Nicola, I think chocolate brownies are an excellent thing to carry forth into 2023--and indeed, into all new years!

I'm not a big one for making resolutions, apart from doing a deep clean on accumulated paperwork in my office. We'll see!

[Nicola Cornick]

A new tradition I'm also carrying forward is Wench Christina's saffron buns! Hmm, all my favourites seem to be food related - and books of course!

[Christina Courtenay]

I'm all in favour of brownies and saffron buns - sounds great to me! Like you, I have a few things planned but I never manage to stick to resolutions so I'll take it as it comes. A book clear-out is definitely in the cards though and very necessary!

[Teresa Broderick]

I'm not one for resolutions either but a house clear out is definitely on the list for me!! We seem to have accumulated a mountainous amount of stuff since we moved in sixteen years ago. So that's a goal for me. I don't really have a sweet tooth buy my daughter absolutely adores brownies!

[Anne Gracie]

Those brownies look delicious, Nicola, and I've yet to try making Christina's saffron buns — though I will. The supermarkets here are already baking hot cross buns and they're tempting enough.

How exciting to be getting new bookshelves. I had a wall of new bookshelves built in a month or so agin, and I love it. I haven't yet filled it, though — partly I'm telling myself that I wont do it until after I've sent my current book in, but it's also partly procrastination, because I know my books won't all fit and I'll have to cull a lot. So painful.

[Kareni]

Now I'd like a brownie! (I'd also happily try a saffron bun and a hot cross bun and....)

I plan to carry my love of reading into this new year; I shall happily explore new books and reread old favorites.

[Janice J.]

Now those are proper brownies; I can tell by the delicate crust on the top. Now that I have swept flour, sugar and salt out of my home (and am a bit healthier for having done so), it is a lost skill to me. But I do miss the fun of it and the wonderful smell in the whole house. Daisy Mae was told to use pork chop perfume to induce Lil Abner, but chocolate would work a lot better on me.

Resolutions? I don't have any. The world at large and my own personal world are changing, so my own plan is to ride it out as best I can. I will say that it helps enormously to have a community of nice people like this one to talk about my reading hobby with.

May we all prevail.

[Nicola Cornick]

Pork chop perfume! Wow! Yep, taking forward old friendships and societies/interests and connections is a great one!

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL!I've tried all three this holiday and now I need to get back to my resolution of stopping eating sweet things. But in terms of moving forward, I love the continuity of a reading habit and the joy it brings into our lives.

[Nicola Cornick]

It's so tough, though, isn't it! I start with good intentions but as soon as I pick up a book I think "Maybe I'll keep that" and end with a shoebox sized pile to go out.

[Nicola Cornick]

It's extraordinary how we accumulate "stuff" isn't it? I fully intend to have a big tidy up and then a deep clean... Hmm. We'll see if that happens. Good luck with your clear out!

[Nicola Cornick]

It is a very difficult thing to do, isn't it. Somehow keeping books feels deeply ingrained in us. But when you do come to fill those shelves, Anne, I hope it is a very enjoyable experience.

[Karin]

I have been trying to organize 30 or 40 years worth of photos for the last couple of years. Maybe this is the year I'll finish the job!

[Nicola Cornick]

That's a huge task, isn't it. Like books, you end up looking at them all and being distracted by memories...

[Annette N]

Thanks for the wonderful post and all the terrific comments. Hope 2023 is a lovely year for each of you.

[Karen S. Clift]

I actually weeded quite a few books out during this last year; I was having the bedroom walls striped of wallpaper & painted; I told the fella I hired; I'll move everything out but the furniture, you guys have to deal with that! I had 40 large canvas bags of mostly paperbacks under & around the dining table as part of the fun. Other stuff on top of the dining table and the couch was buried in clothing & dresser drawers; all by the time they came to paint. However, outside of the clothes, it took me months to get the books moved back in (3 large bookcases in there! & mostly multiple layers on each shelf) But while moving them back in, I started entering them into a spreadsheet & checking if I also owned them in ebk format, then deciding, 1 copy or 2? Some authors--both ebk & pbk! Lots of plastic grocery bags went out but according to the family, you'd never know it!

Nicola, I'd love to know what that plant is in your post! My mind says blackberry plant (not the fruit type) but the leaves don't feel right... It's beautiful & I hope it's one you're keeping!

As for what I'm keeping moving forward---lots & lots of books, obviously! And like Mary Jo, time to clean out the office paper!

[Nicola Cornick]

And for you too, Annette!

[Nicola Cornick]

Wow, Karen, what a project that must have been. You are an inspiration to the rest of us that it can be done! The spreadsheet is an excellent idea - I'm going to adopt that.

The plant is a skimmia of some sort but I'm not sure which type. We are definitely keeping it as it flowers for a lot of the year and always looks lovely.

[Karen S. Clift]

Thanks, Nicola! I see that it likes shade to part-shade, woodland settings which fits one area of my landscaping very nicely. I think I'll have to watch for them in the shops. Whoops, except I just found it's hardiness zone listing: 7 & 8 zones. I'm in a 5 zone with a slight tendency towards 4. Ah well, I can admire pictures! And so it goes! But Hostas do very well here at least...

[Nicola Cornick]

Oh, that's a shame! Yes we are in 8/9 here in the UK. (Although we've had more extremes of temperature here than ever before this year.) Interesting that Hostas do well with you too.