Retrospective 2021

Executive Summary This year can be summed up with the phrase, “steady as she goes”. Like everyone else in the affluent West, Covid rules continued to curtail our activities. Easing of restrictions in the summer brought hope of a return to the old normal but, as winter set in, the Omicron variant sent us almost…

Retrospective 2020

Executive Summary It’s been a funny old year. Mary and I stayed well clear of the Coronavirus but it has obliterated most of the happenings that I would normally be blogging about. I am one of the lucky ones, though. As a pensioner, I don’t have to worry about losing my job or loss of…

Retrospective 2019

Executive Summary It’s been a fairly uneventful 2019 for us on the whole. One more year on the life clock has, presumably, taken its toll but we don’t feel any older than we did 12 months ago so we are not complaining. Our cat, Persephone, is now on regular medication for thyroid and kidney problems…

Retrospective 2018

Executive Summary Mary is still teaching conversational English to elderly Asian women for the WEA, doing volunteer work for Age UK and playing her part as a governor at the local primary school. Phil is enjoying his retirement to the full, writing his music blog, strumming his guitar and pointing his camera at anything that…

Retrospective 2017

Executive Summary Mary continues to work part time for the WEA, teaching English one morning a week, mainly to elderly women of Asian extraction. She has also joined the board of governors for the village primary school. Both occupations have required attendance at training courses and meetings at various times throughout the year. Phil is…

Retrospective 2016

Mary and I have been out and about quite a lot this year. A couple of trips had to be cancelled for health reasons but these turned out to be minor bumps on life’s sometimes rocky road. This year has also seen a notable rise in routine check-ups and medical preventative maintenance for me (bowel cancer screening,…

Retrospective 2015

The most significant event of the year was, undoubtedly, moving to the North Leicestershire village of Wymeswold on 24th February. The move itself went smoothly and by the time I got to the East Midlands it was a lovely early Spring day, sunny and surprisingly mild for the time of year. It felt like a warm welcome…

Band For A Day

Back in the early seventies when I was at university and trying, with limited success, to learn the bass guitar I was introduced to another student who was a drummer. I’ll call him John, not because I want to protect his anonymity, simply because I’ve long since forgotten his real name. At that first short meeting…

Retrospective 2014

It’s been a year of change. Mary stopped working for City of York Council, I retired and we nearly moved to the Leicestershire wolds. It feels as though we spent more time sorting out our possessions and getting rid of decades of accumulated junk than anything else. And thereby hangs a tale… First Quarter Clear…

Retrospective 2013

It has been a busy and sombre year for me. From February to September I was studying hard for the Open University module, “TU100 – My Digital Life“, and in October we were on overtime at work. Things were particularly difficult in July when my mum became seriously ill and, sadly, she died peacefully in…