Looking back at 2010

Due to my bad back and the snow and ice we've been rather like hermits this inbetween week after Christmas & before New Year. It's been chill-out in our house, food, chocolates, wine and lots of crap telly. Phil did venture out for the day on Wednesday when he picked up G and went to Melton Mowbray to see his mum and dad but Harriet & I stayed home. Well Harriet did venture out first thing to see the doctor and was diagnosed with tonsilitus and given a strong course of antibiotics. I spent most of the day catching up with domestics albeit at a slow pace because of my back. I did manage a workout yesterday albeit a bit gingerly but I suppose it's better than nothing. There was lots of new faces that I didn't recognise in the gym so I hope its not going to be jam packed in the new year.

As we come to the end of the year I suppose its time to reflect on the year gone by and look back on the good, the bad and the plain ugly. My memory is not what it once was and I would struggle to reflect on our lives if I didn't do the blog. Phil says that I am repetitive and boring, often repeating myself and that in the new year I should not post more than twice a week. But I am not so sure, you'd be surprised how useful it is having a journal to dip in and out of because when you get to a certain age, you do forget.

Of course, we started out 2010 in Australia. After driving all the way from Sydney we ended back in Melbourne on new years day. We were very pleased to be leaving a few days later where we then headed to Brisbane with a few days spending some time with our friends Lynn & Mick in Byron Bay. Later in the month we took residence in Geoff & Denise's house in Townsville where we had a very pleasant few weeks in spite of the heavy rains. Early February we found ourselves on Magnetic Island then back to Townsville and another road trip to Port Douglas. Also in February we did Cairns, the great Barrier Reaf. From there we flew back to Sydney, then on to Brisbane and explored New South Wales. On leaving Australia we flew to LA where we did the Grand Canyon and more exploration in Las Vegas. With one last adventure at Universal Studios we landed back in the UK on the 10th of March and then it was back to reality with a bang. Boy, just typing this paragraph makes me feel weary, I can't believe we did so much!

The month of March saw us celebrating Mads & Steve's 25th wedding anniversary at our favourite restaurant, Robinson's in Newport Pagnell and also Harriet's 21st birthday which she celebrated by strapping herself to an aeroplane propellor for 10 minutes. The wing walking was a birthday present from her dad and I can remember that it was an extremely cold day and we were all freezing watching her in the sky from the airfield. Still, she seemed to enjoy herself and said afterwards that the experience was exhilarating. Each to his own is what I say!


From reading back, April was pretty uneventfull. Phil's dad was taken poorly with what the doctor thought was a minor heart attack so that was pretty worrying. Thankfully he was given some pills to take and made a good recovery without an operation in hospital. The month of May was a little more exciting, we joined a new health club and went to the wedding reception of Amber & Lee in Surrey and had a great evening.

Poor George got poorly again in June and this time he was hospitalised. Phil was up down the M1 taking his mum to Leicester General each day and finally they diagnosed food poisoning and once treated he was allowed home. Once again another worrying time but thankfully it was nothing too serious although not very pleasant for George. Also in June, step-dad and Marie pitched their motor home in Cosgrove Park for a week and not only did we get to spend time with them but  also we were introduced to Sue & Alan, who live in Spain during the winter and Cosgrove in the summer. A great couple and we have remained friends.

In July Harriet gave up her flat and moved back home. I had to put my painting hat and do some redecoration before reletting and I also spent a few days painting Christine's house in Downs Barn. Phil thought my hard work deserved some reward so he booked us a cheap week away in Turkey where we had a great time. The highlight was meeting up with Mick & Lynn, who by some weird coincidence were exploring Turkey all the way from Oz. Unfortunately for Phil, as soon as we got back from holiday Phil was offered a short contract in Oxford, which of course he had to take. It wasn't so bad a job although the comute was horrible and I spent at least one night in Abingdon each week in a hotel just to save him a few journeys. This was okay but I'd pretty much 'done' Abingdon by the time he finished his contract.

Phil worked throughout August which built up the pennies in the bank. I can't remember it being a brilliant month of sunshine but perhaps it was. I do remember that the wasps didn't bother me too much this year but the swarm of bees nesting in our roof tiles gave him cause for concern and stress. The sad news of August was learning that my friend Jess had lost her fight against ovarian cancer and it was a very sad day attending her funeral. Gone but not forgotten.

September didn't start very cheerfully with learning from Sue that Alan was diagnosed with kidney cancer in Rome enroute to La Manga. They had such plans for the winter and had to leave their caravan and fly immediately back to the UK. As I type Alan is currently in MK hospital being treated for muscle spasms in his back. Hopefully he will have less pain and more mobility and will be allowed to return home sometime soon. Fingers crossed!

Going to the wedding of Ed & Sarah's in Northampton was a rather grand occasion and we were really looking forward to it.  The service was lovely and the reception was one of the best that we've been too.   Obviously with Mads doing most of the organising there was much attention to detail and it certainly paid off, although how much she and Steve enjoyed the day I don't know but everyone else certainly did and the party went into the early days with Phil & I being one of the last few to go to bed.  No change there!


Phil found the new love of his life in September, his new iPhone4; even as I type some 3 months down the line, he is still completely obsessed. He's even added to his Apple addiction and now he also has the new iPad to play with as well. What is it with boys and toys??

October started off a little more positively; I redecorated our bedroom and it looked much better when I'd finished. For once I was pleased with the results and the new Dwell bargain cabinet that I found in the rejects part of the shop looked fabulous. This was also the month that Phil first got tested for prostrate problems and both his PSA levels came back a little high. But the good news was that his contract finished in Abingdon and he was very relieved. We finished the month by going to a halloween party at Sandy's house over the road, a very late night with very bad hangovers in the morning! It was a great party with lots of brilliant costumes.  We felt a little embarrased because we didn't really make any effort and stuck out in our civilian clothes like a sore thumb. 

We had a good start to November with a birthday party for Kylie at Jim & Shirley's house.  This was coincidently bonfire weekend so the party was to celebrate Guy Fawkes as well as Kylie's birthday.   Another great night with glorious food, mega fireworks, good company and as usual too much to drink  !  Most of November was dominated by our 3 week holiday in Goa which now seems like a lifetime ago. Hard to believe it was only last month. As usual we had a great time, exploring the north and meeting some really interesting people along the way. It was slightly spoilt by the monsoon weather and our HUGE delay getting back home caused by the snow. But hey, we got back and it's all water under the bridge now.

And this leads us to the here and now. All in all, despite some sad news, when I look back, I suppose we havent had a bad year and should count ourselves lucky. We have a roof over our heads, Phil has got work and we both are fortunate to have good health as we head into 2011. We wish all our family, friends and followers a happy and healthy New Year.

This will be the last posting on this blog. A new year and the start of a new blog which will be up and running on the 1st of January :

http://www.thenakedbloggers2011.blogspot.com/.

Cheers & HAGO !

Some of our favourite photo's from 2010, bar the 1st one