2023 Retrospective

‘So what,’ asks my son-in-law, Simon, ‘is the first thing you’re going to do in 2024?’ After spending a perfect Christmas, firstly with Lily, Russ and the girls in Cardiff then with Rose, Simon and the children in Keynsham, I’m moaning away again because our house is still on the market and no one who’s viewed it appears to have read the particulars. ‘Make selling the house the second thing on your list,’ Simon continues. ‘Let it run in the background while you get on with something else or it’s going to dominate your life. Think about what you’re going to do first.’

Simon’s got a great knack of coming up with the right advice at the right time and it turns out that his comment does make me think, but more about that later. ‘Well, we’ll carrying on enjoying where we live and continue doing what we always do,’ Tom replies. And, as I look back over 2023, it hasn’t all been dominated by a fruitless attempt to move house.

Strava tells me I’ve been active for 251 days of the year. Our ebay bargain swimming pool - now into its third year - has been a source of utter joy; those precious moments of peace at the beginning of the day is the most brilliant way to appreciate the changing seasons.

I’ve rediscovered my running mojo - after a period of feeling a bit slow and a bit old - and zipped round the Aberystwyth 10k coming in at 58:40 and my parkrun pace is back where it was. And, of course, there are the many hours of running, chatting and laughing with my dear friend and running buddy Helen.

I hated sewing at school but somehow I found myself making myself some long-sleeve T-shirts and enjoying the process. Well done Tilly and the Buttons for your patterns with easy-to-follow instructions!

This is the year I took on temporary care of my neighbour’s inscrutable tortoise, Storming Norman, and Squidge, a very elderly cat. They both survived! We also acquired grandguinea pigs and a grandkitten.

For personal reasons, I’ve never been interested in tracing my family tree, but when my brother-in-law, an aspiring Viking, turned out not to have a drop of Viking blood, I decided to take a closer look at my DNA… and yes, you guessed, not only 17% Scandinavian but also 35% Welsh.

Yes, there have been some rubbish moments in 2023 - Tom and I could both have done without losing the first week of December to a vomiting bug so severe I actually thought my number was up. And ten days later, Ma could certainly have done without our 5 hour wait in A&E to have a rib injury checked (lots of muscle damage, no broken bones).
Above all, however, Tom and I have made lots of happy memories with our family. We want to move to be physically closer to them, but when I look back through my photos and see so many smiling faces and celebrations, I realise how lucky we already are.

And as for the first thing I’m going to do in 2024? Ah, well, there’s a book I’ve been trying not to write because writing a book is hard work, but the idea won’t go away so it looks as if that’ll keep me busy.

Thank you for reading this blog. I wish you and yours and happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

Heading for the Rocks

Blue Nun and the rocks! Aaaah! The joy of having a boat again! Blue Nun’s so much more responsive than our wooden boat, lovely as she was, and so nippy too! We enjoy a brisk sail from Neyland to Dale where we spend a couple of restful days, reading, writing and generally watching the world go by. On the third morning we decide on a change of scenery and potter round to a sheltered bay where we can pick up a mooring buoy. Well, we would have, if I’d been quicker. Now, I’m pretty good at picking up buoys, but make a right dog’s dinner of it this time. ‘Never mind,’ says Tom, ‘we’ll give it another go!’ He puts the engine in reverse and Blue Nun obediently travels backwards (something no previous boat of ours has ever done!) … and a rope which trails the dingy behind the boat whirls round the propeller. Yikes! Tom manages to free enough to regain control of the engine, but he’s pretty sure that some of the rope is still tangled up. Whilst I would quite like to preten...

A Winter's Tale

Thursday 2 December Feeling confined in her snow-muffled flat, Ma takes a walk up her front path to take the morning air. As she returns a cat jumps over the wall and startles her. She slips on the icy path and lands heavily on her shoulder. When her injury doesn’t spontaneously heal, she eventually gives in and calls her local GP surgery. In the evening a GP visits and summons an ambulance ‘sooner rather than later’. Around 10.30 pm Ma is admitted to her local hospital. X-rays suggest she has a fractured scapula which will require emergency surgery. She is put on a nil by mouth regime that night and transferred to a larger hospital for an emergency operation. However, she’s picked a busy period for her accident so the operation doesn’t take place. Saturday 4 December The operation is rescheduled for this morning, so Ma’s had a second night of nil by mouth. A CT scan shows that Ma’s humerus is broken in four places. Despite her obviously smashed-up arm, which is in a sling and...

The Winds of Change

‘Good’, says my dear friend, Jill, when I tell her that Storm Ciara means the Llanelli Half Marathon has been postponed. ‘My guardian angel is working overtime!’. Jill’s guardian angel has indeed been very busy looking after her and her loved ones lately, so I’m impressed that she’s squeezed in a few extra hours to whip up a storm which will give me another four weeks to recover from my accident before I race. Bit tough on everyone else being battered by strong winds, of course, but yes, part of me is relieved. Llanelli’s one of my favourite races so I was reluctant to pull out, but a bit daunted by the prospect of running 13.1 miles just at the moment. My ribs have stopped clicking at last, but I’m afraid to sneeze without holding tight to the damaged area. So far as getting back to normal goes, my chipped front tooth has been repaired and most of my traumatised teeth have survived a ‘vitality test’ with electric pulp testing … which I have to say doesn’t half make you jump....

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