New Year's Day odds and ends

While the calendar year length is tied to the Earth's orbit, this arbitrary end and beginning comes some 10 days after the solstice, a definable point in the orbit, so this has never had much meaning attached to it other than a new cat picture calendar from Aunt Nan gets to be admired.  Some people put great stock in omens and portents of things to come.  TPP's year started officially about 3 am when his restless wife (a bit of flu?) and her cat sleeping companion took over nearly the entire bed thus shifting yours truly to a spare bed much to the delight of the other cat who believes this bed to be her own. The day dawned quite beautiful, the worst of yesterday's winter storm having missed leaving just enough snow to make the garden look freshly frosted.  Most of the holiday decorations will be taken down today, and for a bit the house will look less festive although some nice bulbs and house plants are in flower.  Apple sauce was made from our store of fall apples that are beginning to show some signs of deteriorating.  An annual review of the freezer found that none was left from last year, but a large pot roast had resided there sufficiently long, so it is being use to make some Portuguese sopas for dinner.  So where did all the whole allspice go?  Corning a brisket probably.  Happy we are for having survived the apocalypse and the war on Christmas, and if the phrase "fiscal cliff" is never muttered again all for the best, and what passes for governing continues its stubble forward, and now there is nothing whatever to worry about other than how Lincolnland fixes its problem with pensions for state employees who may be thinking about retiring. So things are off to a nicely ordinary start and that bodes well enough.