Review of 2022

 

This time last year not only did I note that the pandemic was still with us despite most restrictions having been lifted, but that it had been a very mild December - 13C on the 30th and 14C on New Years Eve. Unlike this December when snow fell overnight on the 11th/12th. There were also eleven successive nights of increasingly hard frosts and daytime temperatures struggling to rise above zero. In the morning of the 15th December it was minus 9C. Then overnight on the 18th/19th the temperatures started to rise and in the morning all the snow had gone, And 14C again on the Monday.

I mentioned a year ago that running was beginning to be a real struggle. Not only the old glutes (which have actually settled down recently) but in the new year sore calves were the real problem. So after running the MK 10K ( just over the hour but first of 2 runners over 75. I wonder why?) in March and the Marlow 5 in May (my last run of the year). I then gave up running to see if a rest might help. Back to my walking in the Chilterns, I still suffered from some discomfort in the legs and in the summer I was at the doctors for a check up. A thorough examination and all sorts of tests diagnosed a B12 deficiency. That was all, thank goodness. In September I had six B12 injections in two weeks and have been taking tablets ever since.

I think something must have worked as the discomfort has mainly eased for my longish walks. As long as I rest in between. I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed being back on those hill walks that I used to do before I started running. There are posts, for instance, in May for those at Ashridge, Coombe Hill/Dunsmore/Chequers and Aston Hill and Pavis Wood. It also meant that Alison joined me on some of these. I have also worked out a couple of level circular walks from the house of over 4 miles. Whether this means I will be able to run again in the Spring I'm not sure. Or if I would miss my walks in the countryside. My last parkrun was on  the 23rd April (heart rate too high for the 9.26 pace. But I still turn up to volunteer on occasion. I had been running for ten years and three months. 

This time last year I mentioned that I'd had three Covid vaccinations and wondered how many more would we have. The answer was another three, in January June and October. So far so good. Although my hearing is not what it used to be, mostly the left ear. So next year I may be looking at a hearing aid, although I will put that off for as long as possible.

Our first holiday of the year was in June (post of the 21st) based at Buxton in Derbyshire. The photo above is taken from the front window of the hotel. The one below is from an afternoon at the  National Trust property at Ilam. 

Alison was taking part in the Baslow Boot Bash so I took the opportunity to visit my home town of Rotherham. At Rotherham Minster I was shown the font where I was christened all those years ago. Blog post of 22nd June.

We stayed in St Ives in October, the earliest week we could find. A little cool but a lovely week.

Also in October I visited the Cheltenham Literary Festival to see Elizabeth Strout (that was cancelled at the last moment) and Ian MacEwan. 

The main feature of the garden this year has been the lawn. It looked great as usual through the Spring and into June and July..... until we were hit by the drought. More photos on my post of 7th September where "The Lawn Recovers".

Despite the lack of rainfall and soaring temperatures in July (37C on the 19th), the plants all survived particularly the dwarf dahlias that have been the best bedding plants so far. 

However the best flower in the garden is the rose Blue for You. It gained it's own post on the 27th October after it flowered for the third time this year. The first photo from June, the second in August and the third in November.

I have been making use of my season ticket for Cineworld in Hemel Hempstead. 

The best movies seen this year have been Nightmare Alley, Parallel Mothers, Cyrano, The Duke, Benedetta, The Northman, Benediction, MEN, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Nope, Laal Singh Chadda, The Forgiven, Amsterdam, Decision to Leave. Living and She Said.

In March I went to see an excellent Wuthering Heights at the National's Lyttleton Theatre which was coupled with a visit to Queens Jubilee Galleries in Weston Tower at Westminster Abbey. The ballet The Great Gatsby was a disappointment but ABC at The Royal Albert Hall were great as was Jack Absolute Rides Again in July, also at The National. But less so The Glass Menagerie (even with Amy Adams) at The Duke of York's Theatre in August  and Henry V111 at The Globe in September.  During the interval I found that the queue for the Queen's Lying in State was now way past the theatre.

On TV I enjoyed Irma Vep (see post), Astrid: Murder in Paris and They Were Ten.

In February we celebrated twelve years of our book club. There have been some interesting choices this year, I enjoyed Claire Chambers' Small Pleasures but Sarah Winman's Still Life was one of the best novels of the last few years. Elizabeth Strout's Oh William and Jane Gardam's The Flight of the Maidens I gave five stars on Goodreads. There was much that was familiar in Gyles Brandreth's terrific Odd Boy Out, taking me back to a parallel childhood of London in the 1950's.