Another Year Over…

 

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the title but it does describe the content of this short blog. It’s not intended to be  one of those “Round Robin” letters because

a) We don’t have children that saved the world and/or found a cure for Cancer over the past year - which we would like everyone to know about.

and

b) It’s a précis of what we have done and it is for someone else to judge if the items we mention are worthy of note – I have recorded them because they happened to us.

2008 has been a fairly average year I suppose I/We have certainly had worse but there have been a few things that have made it stand out a little more.

Carol’s graduation – almost a year ago at the time of writing and this started the year off well and its been almost 18 months since Carol started working at Wiltshire County Council and she hasn’t got bored with it yet. The most striking difference I suppose is that Carol hasn’t been spending every available moment trying to cope with her studies and work – although her new job is much more demanding. Hope she can make it permanent this year either at WCC or hopefully somewhere closer. 

We had both been busy at work this year and that has been awkward sometimes to juggle all of the other things that we need to do in our life like eating, sleeping etc. The hard work has been punctuated with some “Us” time though and recalling this last night we have been to New York, Amsterdam and Egypt. This is in addition to the odd day trip here and there including Lundy Island and London. Work has taken me to few other places too.

It’s been a bit of gadget fest this year too, I won’t list them all here but suffice to say I realised just how much I had bought when clearing out he empty cardboard boxes from the attic yesterday. Best gadget this year is my new camera – even better when I find out what all of the buttons do.

Barney is not getting any younger but he passed his 12th Birthday in August this year fighting fit (according to the vet) so I hope that we keep hold of him for a few years longer yet. I’m not quite sure where he gets his energy from.

Been doing a bit more sailing this year and I was lucky enough to find a club member (and now friend) who is keen too. This makes it a lot easier to sail on a regular basis. We had our last sail of 2008 on Saturday 27th December (short, cold but very enjoyable) and have our first one planned for the 4th January (the Durleigh Icicle series). I still have some work to do to make my boat ready for the main season so we are hiring a boat for this. I have had to return the trophy I won last year with no hope of wining it again this year. 

I have been attending the Gym regularly (at least as often as I can) and I was quite proud of my time in the Christmas Cracker race on the 14th December – not bad for an old ‘un. There is a small chance that I may have a go at a half Marathon this year – thought about the Bath Half but it is very close to when we get back from New Zealand so it may have to be a later one.

On the cultural front I am ashamed to say that we haven’t been to a concert this year – although the music collection continues to grow through the magic of bit torrent and the like. Kate Rusby is on the cards for next year once we know the dates, as we missed her at Bowood House in July when the event was cancelled.

Apart from that no massive achievements to speak of for 2008, but 2009 is the year of our  Silver Wedding Anniversary. Not sure about the plans for that yet but there will be something to write about later in the year on this subject.

I’m hoping the UK weather is kinder this year so that we can do a little more camping – a February holiday is great but we need something for later on in the year. During our week off in July this year we had the pier burn down and although we have a reputation for being in the vicinity of conflagrations (is that the plural?) we certainly didn’t have anything to do with this. It was a shame that it caught fire, not least as it provides a suitable marshalling point for the Chavvy visitors to WsM in the Summer.

Apart from the usual, eat and drink less, exercise more, we don’t have any firm NY resolutions.

Last night was spent with a takeaway and a few beers – unusual for us but good for a change. That’s not to say that we intend to spend the rest of year in a sedentary manner – just need it to get a little warmer !!!

Barry & Carol.