Date: 14th May 2007 Event: My 21st Birthday Family Meal
Above is a rare photo of all three men that my mum brought into the world. Three brothers. Alex. Me. Neil. We were raised together. We shared everything including family meals, bedrooms, hand-me-down clothes and holidays. This was before Shaun, my Long Lost Brother, came into our lives.
For my 21st birthday we had all gone out for a family meal. I don’t remember where. But I do remember thinking that there were next to no photos of Alex, Neil and me together as adults and on insisting that this photo be taken. Just before the camera went off, Alex said something funny and we were laughing as the photo was taken. He was always doing that. Saying things to make everyone laugh.
I remember showing Alex the photos when I got them developed and telling him, partly in jest, that he had ruined the photo by laughing. But looking back on the photo now, he simply used the photo as an opportunity to show his sense of humour. He had this wonderful ability to find laughter everywhere and in everything.
6 years ago today Alex died. I’ve examined this photo in great detail since he passed. But until recently, I never noticed the old lady in the background on the right-hand side of the photo. So in the spirit of Alex’s sense of humour: That old lady was well ahead of her time! She photobombed our photo, back in 2007, before it became a thing. She probably didn’t even realise she was doing it. 🙂
This photo is one of the most precious things I own. I can’t remember what he said, as the photo was taken, that was so funny. I can’t remember what the impression or joke was. But when I look at his face on this photo, I laugh. Every time.
Read & Review at least 20 books. I have read 19 books this year and reviewed 17 of them. The two books that I have not reviewed yet, will be reviewed in January 2017. See my Book List 2016 for a list books that I’ve read this year, along with links to reviews I’ve written for each book.
To create more time for creative projects. I am more than happy with my creative output this year. I’ve reduced my working hours, so that I can still afford to live, but so that I have more time for creative projects. I have also been careful about how I use the limited time and energy I have to get the most out of it. This combination of working less and using my time and energy better has significantly increased my creative output.
To complete 2 creative projects. I’ve completed 12 creative projects this year. This is a massive achievement when compared with my creative output in previous years. For more details of my creative projects see: 11 Creative Projects That I Never Intended To Do… This Year and The Finished Project (candle making project).
To get up-to-date with my financial obligations and continue to reduce the balance on my debts. I am up-to-date on my mortgage and other household bills. I have continued to reduce the balance on my debts. I have paid monies back to family that I owed monies to.
Save up for and buy a new rug and corner sofa for the living room. I still need to do this. The sofa is getting in desperate need of replacement. Both of these will be goals for 2017.
To give up smoking. I’m still working on this on a semi regular basis.
Monthly Goals
January
Start a new creative project. I published my latest short story Soulmates, here is an excerpt:
Treat yourself to a reiki treatment. I haven’t had a single reiki treatment this year. At the start of the year it was due to lack of money. Towards the end of the year it has been due to my Reiki Practitioner changing where she works.
April
See a sunrise. This has been a goal for the last few years. I think I need to take a day of annual leave off work to experience this next year. So this will be a goal/new experience for 2017.
May
Celebrate your 30th in style, including a night out in Newcastle and a family meal. I didn’t manage the night out in Newcastle, but did do the family meal which was wonderful. I blogged about the family meal here: My Thirtieth Birthday.
June
Visit Chester Zoo Islands Exhibit. I actually did this in May, as part of my birthday celebrations. See A Day Trip to Chester Zoo. Start a new creative project. One weekend in June I wrote, edited and then published an article on The History of the National Health Service (NHS). It was a creative project that I have been thinking about for sometime and I was proud of myself because I had finally done it.
July
Spend time in nature. Go for walks in places of natural beauty. I visited Astley Hall Park with my friend Simon. I would have liked to spend more time in nature during July, but the variable weather influenced what I was able to do. Visit a botanical gardens. I visited Southport Botanic Gardens (Churchtown) with Simon in August.
August
Visit a castle, one that you haven’t been to before. Okay, technically I didn’t visit a new castle this year. But I did do a tour of acient sites along Hadrian’s Wall with Simon. See The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure (Part 1) and The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure (Part 2). A goal/new experience for 2017 will be the finishing off of The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure, meaning that Simon and I will have followed the wall from one end of the country to the other.
Celebrate Samhain. Celebrated Samhain in style with my friends Simon & Chrys. Great food, drink, fire, music and company.
November
Take it easy. I tried to do the bare-minimum in November. This was probably why there were only a few blog posts in November.
December
Bring people together to celebrate Yule. Yule fell on a Wednesday, which made it difficult to arrange a get together. Perhaps I will put this on future goals when it lands on a weekend.
This year I’ve completed 14 of 22 goals/new experiences for 2016. That’s over half and not at all bad when you consider the 12 creative projects I’ve completed this year, along with how busy the year has been otherwise.
As the dark, cold, winter nights draw in and signal the end of the year I’ve took some time out to reflect on the places that I’ve visited this year.
Birdozwald Roman Fort – Photo Opportunities, especially on the outside of the fort.
In May, my good friend Simon and I did the first half of our tour along Hadrian’s Wall.
We started at the Cumbria end of the Wall and worked our way along, stopping at several historical sites along the way. In one day managed to enter Northumberland, stopping at Walltown Quarry and Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum.
Unfortunately not many people could make it on the day to share the experience. The Islands Exhibit was also rather disappointing.
But the well-established exhibits were great. My favourites were: the Elephants enclosure, the Butterfly house, the Giraffes, the Chimps, the Flamingos, the Lions, the speckled Bear and the Black Rhinos.
Astley Hall Park/Grounds (3)
In July Simon and I set out to one of our favourite places – Rivington. But unknown to us, there was some sort of cycling event and with many roads closed we couldn’t work out how to actually get there.
So instead Simon directed me to Astley Hall Park. It was a place that I had never been to before and is beautiful.
We had a walk around the park, stopping to take photos. Then we had coffee and cake in the on-site cafe.
I have wanted to visit a botanical gardens for sometime now. I wanted to meander inside a giant glass greenhouse full of exotic plants and trees. I even put it as a goal for 2016. So I did a Google search looking for my nearest botanical gardens, found Southport Botanic Gardens (Churchtown) and dragged Simon along.
It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. No giant glass greenhouse. But the weather was sunny and warm and in its own way it was totally charming. The small park was filled with trees from across the world. I just wish there had been some sort of guide to what species the trees were and where in the world they had come from.
There was an unexpected aviary and a small yet delightful Victorian gardens. There was another cafe, so of course we stopped for coffee and cake.
The Victorian Garden (1).
York is known for its iconic Abbey and shopping. It’s a place that I had never been to until this year.
Simon and I visited York and Knaresborough. York is architecturally splendid and has building from various times in its long history. We did visit The Shambles, but didn’t really buy much.
Probably the greatest thing about our visit is the fun we had together. We talked and laughed lots. Here are two photos of me being silly (click on any image for full size):
York Abbey (from a distance).
Me racing on a wooden sheep.
My arrival at Knaresborough Castle.
So these are the places that I’ve visited this year. I think it’s time to start planning for 2017.
We should all count our successes (no matter how small) and occasionally take time to reflect and contemplate them. So here’s a list of my recent successes:
Watched I Love You Phillip Morris, a film about a gay serial con man and prison escapee who finds love in prison. Based on a true story, staring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.
Installed a printer/scanner/copier on an painfully slow computer running Windows Vista.
Found some single-piece deep silver jar lids for some mason jars. The jars will make up part of some Christmas presents, as well as be used for my next batch of candles (more information in the new year).
Caught up and reconnected with my family. We gathered, ate (a chicken dinner and wine), talked and laughed lots.
Finally caught up with my friend Sye. We all have that one friend that never fails to inspire us. For me, that’s Sye. I talked through a major problem with my idea for my next batch of candles and he solved it like that (*snaps fingers*).
Celebrated Samhain in style with my friends Simon & Chrys. Great food, drink, fire, music and company.
Come off Facebook for the beginning of the week. I made the decision to come off after seeing two major spoilers about The Walking Dead on my news feed. I’ve been amazed how much time I’ve saved by coming off Facebook and realised how much time I used to spend ‘checking’ Facebook.
Come up with titles for a series of blog posts with a Mental Health Focus. I’m thinking of releasing one a week (once they’re all written) on a Monday and calling it #MentalHealthMonday.
Shared my post 15 Lies That Depression Would Have You Believe on a number of Facebook pages. This has increased visitor traffic, but not only that, someone commented stating: ‘Thanks for posting that today, I really needed to read/hear that today, really made a lot of sense and was comforting to read (if that makes sense).’ It’s always wonderful when you write something that resonates with someone and helps them.
Read & Review at least 20 books.
To create more time for creative projects.
