Christmas round robin 2017

I will remember 2017 as the year Rowena started at Bristol university (40 years after I went to Sheffield- 40!!), Brexit went from tragedy to farce, Trump went from farce to tragedy and consequently I lost interest in listening to political news.  Looking forward to 2018 for a very long walk (about 1200 miles).

January:
Traditional New Year's Day walk with Penny, in grounds of Lyme Park.

Shortly afterwards my 100th 5km run at Wythenshawe Park run, celebrated with cake made with Clara's assistance (the decoration shows jelly bears running the course route, complete with community farm, car park, and statue of Oliver Cromwell)

Spent days putting together an astronomy talk for SWOG, "A brief Tour of the Universe" based on this mind-expanding YouTube video. From great joy in discovering spectacular images and learning new stuff, to frustration at the practical task of reducing the entire universe to a small list of pictures showable in 60 minutes.

Met up with old friends from St Albans Adventure Group once again for a weekend in the Lake District (one crisp sunny day & one damp one)

February

Life with teenagers

 
                                   

March

Never to be forgotten: my Dad & I tiling & fitting a replacement shower in Mum & Dad's flat. Laurel & Hardy: such a laugh & a lot of hard work. We had to call out an expert to shift a panel so the door would hang properly. Here it is, not quite properly done... the door is about 5mm too low, bottom left.

Dunham Massey. Spring again.

April

Marshal at Manchester Marathon, greeting the exhausted finishers with cheers, hugs & bottles of water.

A fabulous production of Jane Eyre at the Lowry, made all the more remarkable by the prior consumption of a glass of prosecco and half a bottle of wine. An experience to be repeated, if only I could omit the next morning.

Goyt valley

Peak District on a sunny day. Great to have it so nearby.

Took a morning train to Sheffield. I did not recognise the station forecourt, car-free with its big fountain. The journey took me through Broomhill and Hunters Bar, which I barely recognised from the top of a double-decker. Then a walk from Fox House to Chinley along the gritstone edges. Stunning, and pleased I could walk so far in a day.

 

May

A fabulous fortnight bagging Munros in exceptional weather. Walked until I was exhausted, my knees sore, & then walked some more. The Skye ridge was, er, exciting & a little terrifying.

Isle of Skye from Applecross

Summit of Maol Chean-Dearg

... and rest

June

Amid all the, mercifully short-lived, election fever, I realised just how exhausting it can be for a candidate. Our local MP has stood in 3 Parliamentary elections in 4 years &, after this one, wondered just how long it would be until the next.

Squeezed in trial walks on the Berwyn & Clywydian hills before settling on an achievable route for a day walk to lead on July 2nd. Knees still complaining.

From top of Pistyll Rhaeadr

Wilmslow gardens open day- an impressive range of styles & plants

July

A rail journey, via Cambridge to meet old friends & visit the Scott Polar Museum, then Eurostar etc. to Austria & a stunning 10 days walking in the Alps

Edelweiss

Just before I returned, Rowena left for a 3 week long interrailing trip to Sicily, Budapest, Prague, Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Belgium, Zurich, Paris and Vienna.

An 'interesting' trip to the Yorkshire sculpture park with Clara

August

Clara and Penny enjoyed a separate trip to Amsterdam, Antwerp and Brussels 

A wet weekend in Glencoe, and a fabulous trip into the Cairngorms, camping for two nights. No photos to show for it, leaving my phone (= camera & GPS device), sitting on a mountainside. After the Alps & this trip, my knees were very tender & the Park Runs took a long rest.

With just 5 Munros remaining I hoped to do 3 more this year, keeping Stuc a’ Chroin and Ben Vorlich  as a compleating pair for June 2018

Started volunteering at Real Food Wythenshawe (RFW) events: dating, sorting, shelving food in a food bank; gardening at the "Geodome" & Wythenshawe Hall Community Farm.

We're not short of soup. Rice, fish, LL milk: yes please

The geodome & garden

Inside the Wythenshawe polytunnel

which inspired me to try some at home:

Rowena came back from the Interrail trip to receive top grades in Spanish, French & Geography. We celebrated with a Spanish tapas.

Penny's mum celebrated her 80th in a fab location overlooking the Menai Straits. An afternoon tea with us and Penny's brother's family.

Clara ruthlessly exploited on a minimum wage zero-hours working in a pub bringing out food & washing up. Worked beyond legal hours for her age &, as of December, still not paid for all of the hours she worked. This appears to be normal - she has horror stories.

September

Too much going on to consider another Scotland trip.
Family trip to Dudley Black Country Museum, a barge holiday, taking Rowena to start at Bristol University, "leading" a weekend to Snowdonia. Besides my knees were still in recovery.

As soon as Rowena had left, I set out to fulfill my promise of redecorating our bedroom. First step: shuffling furniture. We didn't start moving back until 3rd December, by which time we were thoroughly fed up of "camping out" in Rowena's bedroom. 

Clara got a job as an artist's assistant.

October

The weather didn't entice me to Scotland this month, but once Jon H reminded me about my intention to compleat Munros in 2018, I realised it was about time to start planning the From the Bottom to The Top trip. This is still work in progress into December 2017

Planning the Bottom to Top

Err ... nice..? Chant of the day "Bollocks to Brexit"

An evening of culture. After this went to see Bladerunner 2049

Visited Rowena in Bristol & did some Banksy-spotting. A SWOG walk at the tail end of storm Brian was a tad wet.

There's a reason why we have so few photos of Clara

November

Clara has been having driving lessons since June. Driving practise started with me this month...

Clara : "It doesn't seem that long ago since last Christmas"
Me: "Do you feel the years are going by faster?"
Clara: "Yes"
Me: "Welcome to the adult world"

But when Tesco put out mince pies for sale on 21st September, it does somewhat confuse ones sense of the passage of time.

Evening trip to Martinmere for a starling sussuration & geese fly-by

Led another SWOG walk, even muddier this time.

December

Christmas tree finally up once Rowena came home. The foodbank filled up with Christmas stuff (all that bloody soup still there though) & the beasties have been having a good time on my brassicas.

now with added leeks