And just like that, it is 2022. The past year has flown by again, and so did Christmas and New Year. I would like to take this opportunity to propose a virtual toast with all of you and wish you a very good, healthy, happy, and merry New Year with as many highs as possible and as few lows as possible!

Last year was actually a very good year for us. There were certainly a few low points that I don’t want to mention anymore because there were many more high points that we enjoyed, such as a number of wonderful long weekends away with Bine, beautiful walks that we took with my parents, our son who graduated cum laude from university and moved to Ljubljana with his girlfriend and, despite Corona, we still had a good tourist season with friendly and satisfied guests.

We spent Christmas with our children; Larsen and his girlfriend Manca and daughter Lexi. And of course, we ate well. As always, I take care of the menu, the groceries, and the preparation of the Christmas dinner. In the morning we all had breakfast together and then, of course, unwrapped the presents. Then went for a walk because the sun was shining :).

This year, I honestly didn’t feel like cooking an elaborate dinner and thought it would be fun to have a fondue instead. I did, however, make a tasty beef stock from fresh beef from the village and, of course, with baguette and herb butter. There was also a starter in the form of a fresh chicken salad with tangerines. Then we had the cheese fondue. I had bought ready-made cheese fondue at Leclerq, and unfortunately, it was a bit disappointing in terms of taste. So I’ll just have to make it myself next time. But luckily there were enough tasty things to eat, and we were anything but hungry. For dessert, I had an apple tiramisu, which was really simple but super delicious. After dinner, we watched a movie and later played a game.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve together with our daughter, Bine’s sister, her partner, and their daughter, who is the same age as Lexi. Larsen and Manca were with their friends. We made a chocolate fondue early in the evening so that we could at least use the fondue set again that I had bought especially for Christmas :). This fondue went down well, haha. Delicious with pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, ladyfingers, waffles, and marshmallows. Calorie bomb!!

Then we had quite a laugh while playing the game »Activity« where you have to guess a word in teams by portraying, drawing, or describing it. My sister-in-law especially loved it and wanted to keep going. At midnight, we, of course, opened a bottle of champagne and watched fireworks that were set off in the village on the terrace.

We liked it, but our dog Ivy definitely didn’t :(. She was shivering and panting for a few hours. The next morning, luckily, she was her old self again. It remains a problem every year, despite the fact that I turn up the television quite loud before midnight and of course leave her in the house with doors and windows closed. And to think that we live in a very small village where only a few fireworks are set off. Poor pets in the big city :(.

I would like to end this post by expressing my hope that this year may be a good year. The proverb »A better world starts with you« is more topical than ever, and so I ask you all to try to take small steps to make the world a bit more beautiful. Help a neighbor, even when it may not suit you at the time, eat less meat, go for a walk with shelter dogs, try to empathize with others more often, and just be friendly, as often possible :). You will see that you will feel better and that you will get that kindness back more often. Have a good year and good luck in everything you do!!