2013 - A Year in Review

December 31st 2013 - the end of another year and the eve of a year of awaiting opportunities and lots of new adventures. It's been an interesting year and I thought it would be nice to recap it like so many tv shows are doing tonight and share with you some of my favourite moments.

January - Covent Garden

Places visited

We went to loads of cool places this year, too many to mention so thought I would just include the ones where we stayed for at least one night. So in alphabetical order - Cardiff, Clun, Cornbury Festival, Edinburgh, Mickleton, Sydney, Whitby, Whitstable, and Wynyard. The gorgeous Bertie Boo is a very well travelled puppy dog having been on five of these breaks with us.

February - Gargoyle Tring

Now anyone who has been reading this blog for a while will know that whenever I see an Australian flag I have to take a picture of it - over 2013 there have been eleven Aussie flags featured. I guess you can take the girl out of Australia but, well you know the rest.

March - Australia House London

Animals

Apart from the three beautiful furbies that we share our lives with, over the last year we have been blessed by meeting (within the blog) 72 of God's creatures including: dogs, goats, sheep, alpacas, cats, cows, squirrels, birds, rabbits, devils, pademelons, wombats, koalas, butterflies, a donkey, a bison, and one tiny mouse.

My three animal highlights were getting to pat a young Tasmanian devil, seeing the cows let out at the Hare Krishna temple, and finding a small park in London dedicated to a stray cat that the locals had known and loved.

April - Letting the cows out

Graveyards

I guess I have a little bit of a reputation for visiting places that not everyone would consider the best place to spend a few hours. Thankfully I have a very understanding husband who indulges my love of cemeteries - there is so much history hidden amongst the graves. This year we have enjoyed and shared with you 15 delightful graveyards.

May - Nunhead Cemetery

London

There is a famous saying about London by Samuel Johnson - “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”. I happen to agree - there is so much to see, do, and enjoy. What we really enjoy is going off the regular tourist routes and seeing the unusual bits of the city.

June - Selfie in the London cable car

Festivals


We attended three very different festivals this year - the Clun Green Man Festival, Cornbury Music Festival, and Peace in the Park at the Global Retreat Centre. All three were fantastic in very different ways - we welcomed the coming of spring with the Green Man, we stayed in a wooden tent whilst enjoying great music at Cornbury, and we meditated in the sunshine at Peace in the Park.

July - Festival Ken

Throughout 2013 we've tried to pay it forward as much as possible - if everyone on the planet did more for others imagine the possibilities. It doesn't have to be a huge gesture, even putting your name to a petition can make a difference to something. Buy the Big Issue, give to charity tin shakers, take your unwanted clothes, books, etc to a charity shop.

August - Suspended Coffee Edinburgh

There have been to many cakes to count but they were all scrummy - my advice to all of you is that life is too short not to enjoy cake.

September - Cakes on the South Bank

We've made several visits to our local dogs trust this year to support the charity but also to say hello to the puppy dogs - if we owned a big property we'd love to take several of them.

October - Harefield Dogs Trust

There have been so many fun moments in 2013 shared with my beloved and we're looking forward to many more in 2014.

November - Me and friend in Cardiff

Christmas is always a magical time of the year, and December is always special as it's also when we celebrate our anniversary - 14 wonderful years.

December - Christmas shopping at Westfield

So that's our 2013 in a nutshell and now that it's the New Year  how many of you have made resolutions? None for us, just hopes for a peaceful and happy year having lots more days of fun.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and take a moment at the start of this new year to remember all the things you have to be grateful for.

Pamela and Ken
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