The 17th is St. Patrick’s Day, but alas, it falls on Sunday, so you need to rethink this. How about you plan to celebrate on Saturday night and on Sunday you can sit in your sham-rocking chair to recover.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone - This is probably the most renowned holiday of the year. Why, you ask. Because, I reply, this is the only day when chocolate sheds all its calories, sends them wafting into the ether, do not pass go, directly out of our solar system to find a young star that needs beefing up. We are the winners.

Do not forget to celebrate Albert Schweitzer's birthday on the 14th. He was quite a mensch (mainly remembered for his medical missionariness in Africa) and deserving of at least one grateful pause in your busy life.

Christmas is nearly on the doorstep, or the roof, ready to bring oodles of joy into your house. Joy is all well and good I've always thought, but it's the wrapped presents under the tree that make your heart thump in anticipation. At our house, first thing, there's sticky buns for breakfast (just a modicum of calories, so don't fret), then it's into the living room or den to rip into beautifully wrapped presents, over in three seconds, and here it took at least 10 minutes to make each look perfect. I know, I know, you can't help yourself.

Can you believe it -- Thanksgiving is just round the corner. Of course I was fast off the mark and changed out Halloween for Thanksgiving decorations November 1st. Because of the wicked decoration house goblin you never find every single ghost or witch hat or black cat pillow.