Welcome to the new age

Hello 2026, what do you have in store for me?

Before I dive into that, I need to give you the lowdown on the last few days.

I made an unscheduled trip to Newcastle on Tuesday so the eldest could deliver a mythical creature to my dad. He’d crafted the six-legged artwork from paper clay and decorated it with gems, while a shell served as a unicorn horn.

He wanted something of him to be in the room with his grandfather.

He was going to catch the train up to drop it off – a 7-8-hour round trip – so I said I’d drive. Another long stretch in the car wasn’t in my festive profile, but I figured it was good parent-child bonding time.

After visiting the nursing home we headed to my mum’s place for leftover Christmas ham sandwiches, then we hiked back to Sydney.

As I walked the dogs, my nephew sent me a photo of himself wearing his Christmas present: a Nashie. Have you heard of Nashies? They’re rashies that looks like shirts. They dry super fast, which means blokes can wear them straight from the surf to the beer garden.

I went out on a limb and bought him one rather than a gift card. He loooooved it, immediately put it on after he unwrapped it, and sent photos to his friends. I was stoked.

DD got one too, but is a little more uncertain about his. It’s still in the plastic bag.

Here’s what a Nashie looks like …

I think it’s a winner.

I woke on NYE with no plans for the night, but by 8am a short soiree had been scheduled on my balcony. DD’s brother landed from the UK at around 5.30pm and dropped in with his family for a glass of bubbles before heading off in search of a fireworks viewing location.

Good thing I cleaned the house on Monday!

I comforted the dogs on the couch as the sound of fireworks set them off at 9pm, walked them around the block and went to bed. A very anticlimactic end to 2025.

Oh, I also made potato salad for a New Year’s Day BBQ I’m attending today. It’s a Recipe Tin Eats one, which I can highly recommend.

I’m having a blogging break from today, I’ll be back to regular programming in around a week and there are bound to be many tales to tell.

I hope you have a great start to 2026.

PS: My personal hopes for the year are to work on my health (gym, diet, heart checks etc), go holidays to remote and beautiful places, spend time with my kids and maybe find a new place to live where I’m not on the body corporate. I’d also love the world to stop circling the drain of authoritarianism.

What are your hopes for the year?

Song of the day: Imagine Dragons “Radioactive”