Has 2011 been a “Rose Bowl Year” or a “Landfill Year”? Well it’s certainly been a funny year — but then aren’t they all?! All sorts of strange goings on in the world, both good and bad: earthquakes, tsunami, nuclear meltdown, Libyan meltdown, Egyptian boiling but not quite boiling over, Eurotrash banking and government, to name but a few. More than enough has been written about all of these, so here’s my rather more personal end of year review. Yes there were good things and there were those which really ought to have been dumped unceremoniously in a landfill site. Overall it’s probably a draw.

Let’s get rid of the landfill candidates first.

Colonoscopy. As I blogged at the time I had to undergo this back in February, and ended up in hospital for 3 days because of complications. All is OK now, but it wasn’t too much fun at the time.

Summer. What summer? Last summer in London was so dismal, wet and not very warm we hardly even sat outside with a drink, let alone sitting out all evening as we often do.

Holiday. Well we didn’t get one. Having spent a lot of money on the bathroom (see below) we really couldn’t bring ourselves to shell out for a holiday, and in the run up to the Anthony Powell Conference (also see below) we were also struggling with the logistics. Part of the problem is that the holidays we’d really like to do are fairly expensive.

Major Fails. At the beginning of the year I set myself a number of objectives for things I wanted to do during the year: go out for the day at least once a month, get out regularly and do more photography, get the house tidied up, go swimming regularly, do more family history and more cooking. And guess what? I failed at all of them. Why did I fail? Was I too over-ambitious with what I could achieve? Yes, maybe I was over-ambitious. But I can’t help feeling the underlying cause was at least in part due to my depression. And of course a large dose of innate laziness.

Depression, Diabetes & Weight. This has mostly been another big fail. Yes my depression is a bit better and I’ve been able to halve my antidepressants; but I don’t really know why this has happened. If anything my diabetes is worse; certainly my blood sugar levels have crept up, which is not good, although my GP doesn’t seem especially concerned. I managed to put back on a lot of the weight I lost a couple of years ago. Luckily not all of it and I think I’m beginning to slowly lose a bit again. Maybe there is hope for this in 2012?

So now to the events which are worthy of the Rose Bowl.

Noreen’s Retirement. Noreen finally retired in early April. I say finally as it seemed a long time coming despite being some months early. I have to say I’ve enjoyed having the two of us together so much; I won’t pretend it didn’t get kind of wearisome at times being at home alone (well except for the cats, and they sleep most of the day). I won’t say we’ve achieved a lot — the house is still a wrecked jumble sale — but at least we’ve been able to share things more, not have to set the alarm most days and go to bed late without it mattering. Oh, and I’ve been made lots of mugs of tea! 🙂

Anthony Powell Conference. The Anthony Powell Conference has to be the pièce de résistance of the year — as blogged back in September. It took a lot out of me — it took a lot out of both of us — and I certainly needed several weeks to surface again! But it was worth it. It was our best yet and people are still talking about it.

Hypnotherapy. I’ve been having regular hypnotherapy sessions all year, with the objective of cracking both my weight problem and my depression, which seem inextricably linked. Have we succeeded? No — I’m a hard nut to crack largely because my mind is so analytical and so quick it sees through a lot of what is about to happen when it shouldn’t and so doesn’t let go easily enough. Have we made progress? Well I think so: the depression, although still present, certainly seems to be less intrusive. And the hypnotherapy has certainly been interesting and enjoyable. Am I hopeful of further success? Definitely, otherwise I wouldn’t keep doing it.

Senior Railcard & Bus Pass. Yes, at last I am eligible to get something at a discount! I clocked past 60 last January so I got my Senior Railcard. And then in November I ticked past female retirement age (delayed in the general move to harmonise the retirement age at 65 prior to raising it to 67 or 68). So in November I got my Granny Card which gives me free bus travel and more.

New Bathroom. Noreen having retired we considered whether we wanted to move house, but on balance we decided against the idea. So instead we had the guys in to gut and rebuild our bathroom, which hadn’t been touched for over 25 years. The work seemed to take forever — well we would have it done across Easter and a Bank Holiday! — but we now have a great new bathroom; more space; a better shower and a few nice extras like warm towels.

Photobook. Also in September, more or less coincidentally with the Anthony Powell Conference, I published the photobook I’ve been planning for a while. In a way it grew out of printing our own Christmas cards as postcards of one of my photos. Everyone seems to enjoy these, so I thought to do the book. I enjoyed doing it and basically did it because I wanted to, not because I thought it would sell. I’m delighted by how many people also seem to enjoy it. Interestingly although I had been planning it for a while, I suspect it would never have seen the light of day if I hadn’t been energised by the hypnotherapy to take that extra step.

In the next few days I shall be doing a private review of my achievements and disappointments this year and planning where I want to go next year to make 2012 my Best Year Yet. You’ll probably find out bits of it as 2012 unfolds.

Experiment, week 6. This week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful.

1. Elveden Estate Shop. Not going to say any more about that here as I wrote about it earlier in the week.



2. Cats. We love our two cats, even when they (threaten) to throw up on the clean bed linen on Christmas morning. Harry has spent a large part of the last few days insisting on inhabiting my desk with me. He was last seen asleep in my grandfather’s chair in the dining room. Sally is currently reclining on the back of the sofa over the radiator (see photo). Somehow they always manage to get their priorities right!
3. Gin. Amongst my presents were two bottles of gin! A bottle of Sipsmith’s London Dry Gin: very nice and juniper-y. And a bottle of Martin Miller’s Icelandic Gin: still distinctly gin but closer to vodka than the Sipsmith’s. Standard Gordon’s tastes bland against both of these. So now there are at least three different flavours of gin in the house. This bodes well (or maybe not!).
4. Fairy Lights on Trees. One of the things I like about Christmas is fairy lights, especially on trees. Christmas trees are good, but even better are fairy lights, lots of fairy lights, on ordinary trees in the street — at any time of the year. Somehow they always make the place look fun and festive.



5. King’s Head at Bawburgh. I’d not eaten pigeon in years until earlier this week when we had lunch in the King’s Head at Bawburgh, just outside Norwich. Two breasts made a small starter but they were excellently tasty and gamey — almost like liver. That marks this pub out as something special: gastro-pub food to die for, with many locally sourced ingredients, and at sensible prices. Since my student days they’ve had a reputation for good beer and good food. If you’re anywhere near Norwich, the King’s Head is an excellent place to eat: not just for the food but also several good real ales (including the local Adnams); friendly staff; an old building in a small village complete with river and mill; and not over busy on a weekday lunchtime (but busier at weekends).

Experiment, week 5. This week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful.

1. Parakeets. Ring-Neck Parakeets to be precise. Not going to write more here as I posted about them earlier in the week.
2. Pine Cones. I love pine cones; indeed I love pine trees. We always have a basket of pine cones by the fire over Christmas as part of the decorations. But even better … Some years ago I bought, in different years, a couple of mini-Christmas Trees in pots; one certainly came from M&S. After their Christmas duty they were planted out at the far end of the garden. Both are now well established, one being as high as the house; the other not far behind it. We were delighted this week, in clearing lots of overgrowth, to find that both have a good crop of pine cones. I think the trees are probably Norway Spruce as the cones look like those pictured.
3. Small Potted Christmas Trees. Last year Waitrose sold small potted Christmas Trees (about 12-15 inches high, plus pot), complete with some decorations attached. I bought one, so now we have yet another to plant out when it’s bit bigger — we’re getting quite a little copse in our suburban garden, and the birds love it. I wondered if Waitrose would sell these small trees again this year and was thinking I’d not seen them; but on Friday there they were amongst the cut flowers. And not just with decorations, but also with a small set of battery driven LED lights. All for £14.99. A much better investment than something that’s hacked off at the ground as after its festive duty it can be planted out with the others — or kept potted and used again next year.
4. Oxtail. We’ve not had oxtail in years, but Noreen bought some from our favourite butchers, Hiltons in Pinner, last week. It was casseroled. And our stomachs said it was good.
5. Biscotti. I’ve been making batches of biscotti in the last few days. Yes, I like them, but I also like making them ‘cos they’re quick and easy. And they always seem to be appreciated as presents. My recipe is here.