Posted on 20th December 2023

My 2023

When the sun sets on another year, corny as it may be, I can't help thinking in retrospect about what went on in my life during that time. I try not to indulge in too much navel-gazing but, since I launched this new version of my website and blog this year, I thought I would write a quick summary on here because a lot has happened:

This time last year my wife, our (then) one year-old Shetland Sheepdog and I were still preparing to move to Norfolk, which finally happened in March of this year. Being the first time we've bought and sold property on the same day the actual event was pretty stressful, not helped by the fact my car suffered from some weather related gremlins.

Our new place

For context, Norfolk is where I met my wife, where some of her family are from and where she now works. Norwich in particular, which is now just down the road from us, holds fond memories as it is where we went to university. So despite moving being a stressful time, I think we are both quite happy with how everything has turned out.

We have big plans for our new property, which is a 1960s bungalow that is in need of some renovation. A little progress has been made but at the moment we are in somewhat of a lull in activity. Before committing to anything too ambitious we need to take stock and decide on the way forward. Next year I plan on removing a few small walls which will open up some space in the kitchen before any more significant work is done.

Much of what we've done to the property has been removing rotten wooden structures from outside!

Work for me has continued much the same with another fairly busy year, punctuated by a short trip to a couple of small exhibitions in the middle of the year. Later in the year I also started a course in UX design which I am thoroughly enjoying and I think will add an interesting aspect to my career.

We managed to fit in a couple of holidays within the UK including trying out a campervan for the first time. In some ways it was an upgrade from our usual camping trips, though I think if we did it again we'd consider hiring a slightly larger motorhome and give ourselves an extra day at the end of the trip to tidy it up and return it.

A VW Transporter camper we hired for a few days

On the subject of vehicles I also sold my 1990 Volkswagen Polo towards the end of the year at a classic car auction. With little time or spare funds this year to complete some bodywork it required, I felt a break from owning a classic would be a good idea. I do miss it as it was one of the best cars I've owned for easy DIY maintenance and the kind of tinkering that I enjoy. I'm sure I'll reignite that passion with something else in the not too distant future though.

I don't usually do new year resolutions and to be honest it's hard to look into the future at the moment for a lot of reasons. But at least we've landed at the end of the year in a good place which hopefully puts us on a firm footing for whatever 2024 throws at us.

Winnie our Sheltie, who is now 2 years old, would like to wish you a happy new year