Those of you in the UK may have caught the BBC’s fantastic New Year’s Day production of “Wind in the Willows”. Fortunately we had glasses of wine to hand when the main characters, plotting a raid to reclaim Toad Hall, armed themselves with staffs and raised a toast:

“To the proper handling of sticks!”

Needless to say, we joined in enthusiastically. As a motto for the year ahead, it seemed rather appropriate.

Haron had ‘enjoyed’ her first 2007 experience of the proper handling of rattan shortly after midnight. Rob made a wonderful suggestion in a comment in reply to my post about Haron’s Christmas day caning that we might bring the new year in with a dozen strokes, one per second counting down to the chime of Big Ben. We had company as midnight struck, and the TV pictures of the astonishing fireworks display on the Thames then kept us enraptured – but as soon as we were left to ourselves, we conducted our belated kinky celebration.

My young lady was told that she could choose her cane; she disappeared upstairs, returning with the longest, thickest, heaviest rod in the house – our Singapore rattan, bought more with curiosity than intent. Even the lightest stroke resulted in a spectacular response, and a delightful stripe; the twelfth and hardest engendered a yelp that the crowds in London could surely have heard 200+ miles away!

Here’s wishing all of you a joyful, healthy and prosperous 2007, filled with every kinky happiness.