I Looked Back (50 for 50 #19)

The benefit of slowing down over Christmas has been lots of time to reflect, looking back (definitely not in anger) over the last 12 months. I’ve spent a happy afternoon scrolling through photographs and adding things to my scrapbook.

There are amazing views, lots of photos of food and a few random ones that don’t make much sense at all – but they tell the stories of 2023.

January to March – a lunchtime walk in the snow, a special park in Salford bought for “the enjoyment of the people”, being by the seaside in Brighton for a few days (with some work involved), a Friday night “Too Good To Go” magic bag from Wright’s Pies in Hanley, fresh tomatoes and crazy golf in Rome and a weekend in Oxford – we stayed in a room overlooking the quad in Keble College!

April to June – lots of celebrations. My sister’s hen weekend and wedding, a very special 50th birthday trip involving cocktails, cake and shopping at C&A (and a parkrun of course) – and the inspiration for my 50 for 50 blogging challenge. A random trip to Wolverhampton – Mr T met a giraffe. A Friday night in Bolton – we played crazy golf and were the only people there. We dropped in on the Manchester Flower Festival – “Votes for Women” – and had afternoon tea with special visitors from the States.

July to September – sunshine and showers. We crossed a border and navigated a maze. It rained at the cricket but we did get the benefit of our new raincoats with a walk in the country. I swapped books in Sedbergh and found street art in Brighton – back again for work. And the birthday celebrations continued – afternoon tea and a woodland walk at Wedgwood. We hung out with an angel, and saw the whole world in one afternoon. We caught up with family and friends, hunted for bears in Leeds and saw giant inflatables in Manchester. Lots packed in to those months.

We were lucky enough to see loads of music and comedy gigs in 2023 – although nearly all of them were in October – new and old bands, new and old venues, lots of great nights out – Inspiral Carpets (Oxford O2), Midge Ure (Manchester Albert Hall), Two Door Cinema Club (Keele University), Slow Readers Club / Shed Seven (Stoke Victoria Hall), Deacon Blue (Manchester AO Arena), Nashville Live (Birmingham Genting Arena), Tailenders Live (Manchester Apollo), Rosie Jones (Newcastle New Vic), Don’t Call Me Ishmael (twice – The Underground in Stoke and St Mary’s Church in Stafford). Mr T went to see Death Cult (Nottingham Rock City) – but I stayed at the hotel.

And we finished 2023 with Elis & John’s New Year’s Eve Eve Party – from the comfort of our living room – a flashback to 2020!

We’ve already got a few things booked in for 2024 – looks like March will be music month!

October to December – running a bit faster and hitting the deck then getting back up again to run a bit further. Meeting up with friends, parkrunning and more crazy gold – there seems to be a theme there! We found some amazing murals, ate our favourite foods and made the most of winter sunshine whenever we could.

And then it was Christmas.