2016 - Is there anything to smile about?

Not much in the opinion of liberal, internationalist, ageing-hippy Greyrocks!

We have despaired over the trouble-spots of the World: Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Turkey, Korea, the Mediterranean .....

over the propensity of people to vote for simple, selfish and dangerous solutions, as in the UK referendum, US presidential election and in rising fascism in so many European nations ....

over the impotence of international bodies to stop carnage ..

over the prospect of Trump, Putin and Boris together in positions of power ...

and as UK taxpayers - if not residents - over domestic phenomena such as an imploding prison system, breakdown in social care, employers' freedom to exploit, plummeting standards in the Press, food banks, self-perpetuating Establishment .......

Oh Dear!!! And journalists don't seem able to "join up the dots"!

And then there are the numerous deaths this year!
In the field of music we have been saddened by - and driven to extensive You-Tubing of::

David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Dave Swarbrick, two thirds of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, George Martin, Leon Russell, George Michael, Bobby Vee  and even Rick Parfitt of Status Quo

whilst UK TV lost:
Victoria Wood, Caroline Aherene, Carla Lane, Alan Rickman and Ronnie Corbett

At a personal level Greyrocks lost Ruth's father following months of ill health, Barry - a friend living in Crete - to a heart attack at too young an age, and Tim, who lived next door for his first seventeen years and took his own life in his twenties.

And what about natural disasters, and the bizarre weather in Greyrocks' chosen habitats??

Annus horibilis doesn't begin to describe this year!

We have enjoyed good times with other ex-pats, locals and old friends on their holidays in Crete and Fuerteventura, and in our tour of England, several little parties before and after birthdays, a great Fairport Convention gig in Coventry, some fun in France, and considerable (eventual) relief in first one - and now the second - knee.

It has also been a parental pleasure to help Chloë continue to improve the Little Blue House and share the joy of her engagement to Jack, and new jobs for them both.

For 2017 is that light at the end of the tunnel, or .......?

Greyrocks recommends cava at EUR 1.95 a bottle!

"SALUD!"