2026: Health Wins, Local Wanders, and a World on Edge

Happy New Year 2026

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a restful holiday. We certainly did—it was full of quality family time and, if I’m honest, far too much food and drink. Despite the festive indulgences, the health journey continues. I’m currently hovering around the 90kg mark. Since I started this process seven weeks before Christmas at 96kg, I’m feeling quite chuffed with the progress.

A Gift to Myself: The Numbers

As a special present to myself, I bought a blood sugar monitor. It’s been an eye-opener. The readings show a significant fall, bringing me very nearly below the “pre-diabetic” threshold.

Considering this whole journey was prompted by my GP surgery officially labelling me as diabetic, I am doubly pleased. I won’t get into the mountain of contradictory information out there about what a “normal” blood sugar level actually is—at the end of the day, all that matters is that I’m feeling fine and the weight loss plan seems to be working. All that’s required now is for my appointment with the diabetes nurse at the surgery to actually take place. It has just been re-arranged again!

Winter Walks & Local Gems

We were in the Lake District for a couple of days between Christmas and New Year and visited Castlerigg Stone Circle (full of oiks!), Keswick and Penrith Castle.

While Brockholes is as far as I have ventured lately for a longish walk, I’ve been making the most of what we have right here in Lytham. Between the short days and the recent cold snap, driving elsewhere feels like a bit of a bind. Instead, I’ve been taking full advantage of:

• Lytham Hall & Witch Wood
• Green Drive
• Our beautiful seafront and riverbank

The hills are calling, though, and I hope to get back up into the slightly higher ground soon!

Breaking the Political Silence

Last year, I decided to stop posting about the UK and global political situation until 2026. Coming back to it now, there are so many unpleasant developments that it’s difficult to know where to begin.

• The Political Spectrum: UK politics continues to drift further right. It’s reached a point where the leaders of the Greens and Lib Dems look radical simply for proposing what I’d consider reasonable, centrist viewpoints.
• Domestic vs. International: While the government is doing some good work at home, it’s overshadowed by extreme actions like treating 80-year-olds with hand-painted signs as terrorists. On the world stage, our Prime Minister’s toadying to the US President is frankly embarrassing.
• The Conflict in Gaza: We continue to supply Israel with equipment being used in Gaza. It seems there is no longer space for the nuanced view that both Hamas and the Israeli government are committing acts of terror; criticism of the Israeli government is now too often conflated with anti-semitism.
• Global Precedents: The US President’s stance on invading countries for oil reserves (and his eyes on Greenland) makes any moral criticism of Russia’s actions in Ukraine feel hollow.
• And there’s more………

To be honest, looking at that list, I’m reminded why I felt blogging about politics was a waste of time. The “more” is endless.

A Resolution for Kindness

I want to wish you all a happy and healthy 2026. If you are active on social media this year, I have one request: try to be polite. I’ve started framing my own comments with, “While I support your right to hold this opinion, in my opinion…” It might be a drop in the ocean, and it might even be a waste of time, but it makes me feel better. It has to be an improvement on hurling insults into the void.