Happy New Year!

The first post of the year - hopefuly presaging a more regular updating of this blog following the access issues of last year.

We spent Christmas this year in Dubai along with the Grandparents T and P. The weather has been great so we managed a number of visits to the beach (including a Christmas Day swim)which has provided a nice contrast to the tales of storms and flooding that we have been receiving about the weather in the UK.

After our swim on Christmas Day we had a very traditional (BBQ) Turkey with some Australian friends over in Dubailand which was terrific (and rather than an open fire burning in the hearth the created a firepit Assie style in the back garden and the kids had great fun toasting marshmallows over it).

Apart from a trip to Adu Dhabi half way through the holidays I had the whole Christmas/NY period off so managed to catch up on a bit or reading and also to set up my new Ipad and sound system (Father Christmas was very generous this year..). A less welcome addition to the household was a rat (or possibly a mouse - the jury is still out) in the garage so I have spent some time on the phone to various rat catchers around Dubai to get someone to deal with it. Actualy getting someone to come out was surprsingly difficult - evidently the pest control sector is booming at the moment. The traps have now been set and we are awaiting the results with some interest. Needless to say the resident "rat-catcher" Minnie has disdained any involvement in the process although I do seem to recall her taking an unusual interest in the garage just before Christmas so prehaps she was aware that something was up. Our cat has however managed to lose no less than three collars over the holiday period which has necessitated much angst in (a) finding suitable replacements (cat collar fashion in Dubai tends towards the blingy) and (b) attaching them as collarless cats tend to be impounded (or worse) without further enquiry here.

NYE was spent at an early dinner at the Al Manzil hotel followed by a view of the Burg Khalifa fireworks in the relative comfort and convenience of the end of our road in Al Safa. All in all a very satisfactory holiday.