2024

 Last year was a weird one which slipped by without me really paying attention. It feels like it was only a month or so since last New Year!

It ought to have been a momentous year really as I turned 66 and became a pensioner. There wasn't any dramatic impact on my life though as I've been a stay at home mum/homemaker and my husband took early retirement a while ago; the main difference is in number.

Thornbridge Hall 

Getting older has made me more determined to get fitter. Use it of lose it, is what they say! It's two years since my fall-down-the-stairs incident but the enforced rest while my ankles healed knocked my overall stamina (while increasing my fear of steps, stairs, and anywhere slippery), so I've tried to get my daily step-count up with short walks near home though I'm too easily put off by bad or hot weather. While we were on holiday my daughter helped by nagging me into walking further than I thought possible and back home I tried to push my limits occasionally but I still ended the year with a daily average of below 4000. Moving forward I'm determined to improve this. 

Wray Castle

I was definitely busier last year than in 2023. We had two adventures in Canopy and Stars cabins - one in the Wye Valley  near Tintern, the other at Wildernest near the Ceredigion coast, a few days in an AirBnB in Norfolk to visit Sandringham, Houghton Hall and the sea, two weekends away with my youngest daughter - Lake District which was dreadfully wet, and Settle, Yorkshire - and a weekend with the whole family near Prestatyn. In between all that I found time for day trips to local National Trust properties including the Summer of Play activities with my grandson, and a sitar and harp performance at Kedleston, several trips to my daughter in Manchester with visits to RHS Bridgewater and a sitar recital at the Northern College of Music. Then towards the end of the year there were trips to the Diwali decorations at Kedleston, and Christmas  markets and decorations at Chatsworth, Haddon, Calke, Kedleston, and Sudbury. 

I at last made the effort to start two craft kits that my elder daughter had given me - a macrame bag which I've finished, and a crochet bag which is almost done (just the sewing up needed) 

2024 was the year I really committed to buying second-hand. I cautiously tried Vinted at the end of 2023, but this year, apart from underwear and two items bought in the January sales, all my clothes have been second hand; I even bought a swimming costume but never got the chance to wear it. I thought this would be an excellent way to save money but I don't think I've actually spent less - I've just bought more. Still it's good to give items a second home rather than being sent to the dump. I've even bought books and jigsaw puzzles this way for presents. Another second hand bargain was a small sofa; theoretically it would fit in the available space but I wasn't sure how well it would work in practice - a find on Facebook marketplace saved spending a lot of money on an item that might not be appropriate. Second hand does seem to be the way forward for me.

I always believe that there's something new to be discovered - whether it's a previously unvisited garden or a musical performance - and although I haven't found 60 things as I did for my sixtieth year, there've certainly been a few. It's been more a case of new places to visit than experiences but here are some of them.

Wray Castle

Fellfoot

Thornbridge Hall

Wye Valley Sculpture Garden 

Markeaton flower gardens

Coughton Court wisteria 

Thornham

Houghton Hall

Sandringham 

Settle

The highlight though has to be the family weekend away together, something we're planning to repeat this year