I took the Christmas decorations down today, as I could not really see the point in hanging on to the festive season for much longer.

I feel a strange feeling of sadness when it comes to removing decorations. It is one that kind of reminds me of packing away a tent after a sodden week of camping in Swanage. I should be glad it is all over but part of me wishes it wasn’t.

The end of the Christmas is hardly enhanced by the grey dank weather and the fact that around about the 10^th of December, in professional terms, I took on my obligatory, “fuck it, that can wait until the New Year” attitude. It is an attitude that has left me with a plethora of annoying tasks but I’m in good company, Theresa May did the same thing with Brexit.

On top of that, I am having to learn to cut back on the drink again after giving my Drinkaware App a good battering with 25 consecutive days of boozing. December was as usual, a month of client and supplier Christmas lunches that was followed by a “why not it’s Christmas?” attitude at every opportunity to have a beer or wine. This often included a tipple after dog walks, or once the clock reached midday.

It was only a semi violent pre-Christmas stomach bug that temporarily curtailed my boozing and my first alcohol free night in nearly a month (yesterday) was a jittery and restless affair featuring some bizarre dreams and sporadic volleys at the quilt, featuring both feet.

September through to the end of November was a breakthrough in my battle against not what would be regarded as heavy, but habitual boozing. It was inspired (as many of you regular readers will know) by a documentary by Adrian Chiles (I wonder how he is getting on?) with a total of 46 non-drinking days completed in that period.

December kind of laid my evangelist ways to waste but I still drank less than in previous years and now I have got last night out of the way, I am determined to get back to the level I had reached until then. I felt great and was walking further in less time due to weight loss, so it would be foolish not to.

January is a shit month and on a personal level, the only excitement I get out of it is when we are offered a prospect of a bit of exciting weather in the form of snow and ice. It adds a bit of drama to these dark and not very inspirational days and can be good fun if it lasts no longer than a week.

With what is known as ‘Sudden stratospheric Warming’ being confirmed by the Met Office as taking place over the North Pole right now, this may well be the case in a couple of weeks’ time. However, don’t believe the Daily Express and Nathan Rao’s clickbait bullshit, keep an eye on the Met Office Website. There is about an 8 in 10 chance of a hard, cold snap in 2-3 weeks.

So, anyway, if you are feeling the post-Christmas gloom after all your happy cells have been consumed by festive booze, take some positives. We have now gone almost two weeks since the shortest day and the next season to arrive on these shores will be spring and a month (March) when our future as a civilised forward nation is finally decided…allegedly!

Happy New Year!