Just to bore you a bit more on New Year’s Eve (well we have to stay in due to no babysitters, so why shouldn’t you suffer too *grin*), here’s the top ten search hits bringing people to Pewari’s Prattle this year (links take you to the page the searches point to).

1. nanowrimo – despite me only managing to complete this in 2003 and no longer having the completed novel available on the site, this is the number one search hit. I *will* do better next year, honest.
2. cat scarer – I didn’t even remember writing this post, am stunned it’s the 2nd most searched for item. My cat scarer is not for sale, though. Sorry!
3. mcdonalds slogan – I get lots of variations on this search too.
4. mooncup – yup, the infamous menstrual product review is still in the top ten. Mildly disappointed that this is the review everyone remembers and searches for, I’m sure I’ve written better since – my colic resources post, for example!
5. nice feet – the mind boggles. I don’t have nice feet, just for your reference. I can’t even work out which particular post(s) this is pointing to.
6. pewari’s prattle – well at least this search makes sense!
7. pulled stomach muscle – another high traffic search which bemuses me – for a start, it was my shoulder…
8. silent call guard – a really useful way to cut down on sales & silent calls.
9. fotothing – traffic probably artificially inflated by the fact that they’ve been having a lot of server outages recently.
10. dolphin bathrooms – dropped from its number 1 slot this year, but considering that was a post I wrote in the first week of blogging, I’m quite impressed…

So there you go. All you didn’t want to know about Pewari’s Prattle for 2005. Have a good New Year, everyone!

I know every world and his dog is writing one of these in their blogs tonight, but hey… it helps the lazy among us get an overview without traipsing through the archives. So, the Prattle’s 2005 in summary:

• January: this was the month the much hated stairgates went up; the month I rediscovered my old Monopoly tour photos and scanned them in; and the month the entire Naan household got the flu.
• February: the extension finally started, we took part in our annual ant battle (it gets earlier every year, I swear) and the entire Naan household caught the stomach bug doing the rounds.
• March: thugs poisoned our local friendly goat (bastards), we got ourselves a baby carrier in the hope that we could get fit with lots of walking, and I got tonsilitis while Li’l Bhaji got himself a full-blown ear infection complete with burst eardrum (are you spotting a pattern here?)
• April: Pewari’s Prattle was 2 years old, Li’l Bhaji stopped breastfeeding by himself (and I still feel a bit weepy reading that entry!) and I got a makeover. Bizarrely, we seem to have been healthy that month.
• May: Akra Jr turned 4, Li’l Bhaji turned 1, Akra turned 32, my youngest nephew was born, and I sulked due to lack of presents for me! (Honestly, May is “Christmas Two” in our household).
• June: the big Michael Jackson trial and the first time I learned about the mobile phone mast going up near our house (it’s up now, will probably be switched on after the festive period).
• July: the shock of the London Transport bombs, Li’l Bhaji’s first steps and first visit to nursery.
• August: the Naan family joined the National Trust and *gasp* … started spending time outside as a result! Having been healthy for a while, I got ill again.
• September: our thoughts were with New Orleans, Akra Jr started his very first day at school with less than full enthusiasm, and Li’l Bhaji decided to lock me out of the house.
• October: I gave blood for the first time (and possibly last as I no longer meet the weight requirements) and I quit blogging forever.
• November: Okay, maybe not *quite* forever! Also the month that The Wheel of the Year Photo Project was born (go sign up now – you still have time!).
• December: Li’l Bhaji tried to electrocute himself, I said goodbye to Fotothing and said hello to Flickr!

Well, last night I thought I was in luck – it started to snow and it was settling. Perfect – minimal effort, making tracks in the snow… snow angels… maybe even a mini snowman if we were lucky. Ideal child entertainment.

Woke up this morning to the depressing drip drip drip of rain. All that lovely snow has gone and instead it’s cold, wet and miserable. Oh, and there’s no nearby panto or anything decent on at the cinema suitable for a 4 year old.

However, all is not lost. We’ve decided to have a Board Game day. It’s not something we get to do over an extended period of time as Li’l Bhaji tends to interfere – and during naptimes, Akra Jr prefers to get out his train set (which is strictly 3+ with very small, delicate pieces). It’s been quite fun all sprawling on the floor playing games.

Now, you’ll have to excuse me – I’m being summoned for Build A Beetle.

I’ve set up a static page for Wheel of the Year entries which includes a contact form for you to submit links to your work in progress. I’ll then update the page so you can see how other participants are doing. Don’t forget to leave them comments (if their webspace allows) to cheer them on for the full 12 months!

The boys are running us ragged today. Neither of them are used to the other being around 24/7. Li’l Bhaji has just got to that stage where pushing and shoving to get what you want is the order of the day, and screaming loudly if forced to share or rebuffed from snatching. Akra Jr has got to that stage where “I’m gonna tell on you!” comes to the fore. You can imagine the joy and brotherly love in the Naan household at the moment… When does term start, again?

Fortunately, tomorrow is Li’l Bhaji’s nursery day (a private day nursery – so not geared around school holidays, thank goodness). We have a plan to get Akra Jr out of the house and doing things that he couldn’t normally do with a little brother in tow. Any good ideas for activities that doesn’t require too much energy on the part of the parents are gratefully received.

This week’s guest is Therapy in the Making – someone else who uses my favourite tagline: “Therapy is expensive. Blogging is cheap. You do the math.”

I really don’t know how to do proper justice to this great UK blog. It’s funny, but that’s such an inadequate way of describing it – the humour has a self-depreciating energetic rambling style; there wasn’t a single post I didn’t read with a smile on my face and definitely more than a few genuine laugh out loud moments.

In terms of the blog layout, it’s easy to read and navigate. The text, while rambling at times, is well punctuated and paragraphed and is black text on a white background – that may seem minor, but is certainly something that contributes to me revisiting a blog. It’s easy to browse the archives, there’s an RSS feed and regular updates. I’ll definitely be revisiting long after the “rental” period!

I braved the sales today and splurged… on a bird feeder! Well, it’s all for the greater good of the Wheel of the Year Photo Project as I’m hoping that some birds will discover the thing before January 1st. Hopefully we won’t attract the cats in the process, but it is supposed to be squirrel proof – I’m going to have 12 photos each with a squirrel dangling from the side, aren’t I?!

Oh, and of course, hopefully some birds will get fed! That’s the main point of it, honest.

The weather has definitely taken a turn for the colder. We had a brief flurry of snow earlier in the day, but it stopped again and whatever had settled melted pretty fast. I think the boys are rather disappointed, but we have to take them into town tomorrow (Akra Jr’s trainers are now too small for him, so off to the shoe shop *again*, plus I have some cheques to pay in the bank) so on the whole I’d rather the white stuff was delayed for a day or two. We still have those snow clouds hanging about and the air is very bitter, so there’s still a chance.

I’m sorry I’m a bit meandery today. My brain still hasn’t recovered and I have a chore list about 3 miles long – my mind isn’t properly on the job at hand. Will do better tomorrow. Promise.

Well, this was the first Christmas we’ve spent at home with the boys, and the first proper Christmas dinner I have cooked. And you know what? I’ve really enjoyed myself!

It’s been great not to have to do the travelling, to not have to keep an eye on all the small toy parts so we remember to collect them all up at the end of the stay, to start working out our own traditions and Christmas rituals. The cooking of The Dinner[tm] went smoothly and we all got lots of lovely pressies!

Akra was very naughty and bought me a new macro-capable camera – just in time for Wheel of the Year (I am trying to resist the temptation to purchase the wide-angle lens converter for it – just to get a good shot of the whole of the back garden, of course), and my mum gave me a bread maker – something I’ve wanted for ages. We all had fresh bread with our turkey sandwiches today which was delicious.

The boys have had a fantastic time, if veering towards the slightly over-exciteable stage, and all in all I’d say this year was a success.

Now all I have to do is find homes for all the new toys … argh!

It’s now less than a week until the start of The Wheel of the Year Photo Project.

Time to walk off some of that Christmas turkey and find the locations in your neighbourhood you want to keep track of for the year!

That was the phrase yelled at us at 5am this morning! Ugh! Still, they’re thrilled with their stockings and loving the wooden train table – just got to keep the amused my mother & her partner arrive!

What time did your Christmas Day start?