Project Memory Lane

A lot of our time recently has been spent sorting out old family photos, scanning them for future digital access, then having long conversations with family about who is who! 

It has felt at times like there are copies of photos everywhere - although most have now gone into albums  to share with family and / or look back on ourselves in the future.

We've also started tracing our various family histories - not sure if all this 'looking back' is an age thing, or if nostalgia is just a more comfortable place to be at the moment. 

It has been interesting to revisit years gone by though - and great to travel down memory lane with family, and hear their stories.

Could Have Been Worse

Back from another trip across country to visit family - this one a tad on the fraught side . . .

Friday was a real 'Jonah Day' - took the car into town to get some bits and pieces for my parents - parking in one of the few 'timed' ANPR monitored car parks.  It was only on the the way back to the car though that this fact struck me - and at a rough calculation I left somewhere around 5-10 minutes over my time.  All of which put me into a foul mood - with the prospect of having to pay a £90 fine for just 'not thinking'!*

Then, having just about recovered my equilibrium, went out to the car to go and fetch fish and chips, and found it had a flat tyre!

Luckily the brother-in-law knew someone who was able to sort it for me - but we did have to have a new tyre (fitted at 10.45pm that night by the roadside!).

By then I was of course looking out for the third car related event - which duly had me stopping at the side of a busy A14 the next day trying to reattach a windscreen wiper in the wind and rain!  (Managed to jam it back on, but used the wipers with some restraint on the rest of the journey despite encountering rain, sleet and snow!).

Of course it wasn't all bad - there was family time, and cuddles with Marci Moo (seen here enjoying a lick of beer).

And the snow did at least provide some nice views on the final leg of the journey home:

*Update - after watching the post for a couple of weeks, it seems I was stressing for nothing, as no ticket arrived.  Either I miscalculated and I was still ok, or was over such a short amount of time I was given some grace!

Sunshine and Sea Defences

With the sun shining, it seemed like a day to do something, so we loaded ourselves in the car and headed off to take a look at what is happening in Aberaeron.

Unfortunately it was a bit on the cold side walking around, and a lot of the shops - and our other 'go-to' location, Llanerchaeron - were shut.  

We had a bit of a wander though, taking in the views, e.g. scenic bits of 'tree', and checking out the ongoing work on new sea defences, which had closed off a lot of the harbour side:

The harbour itself was also quite empty this early in the year - although we did spot some young seagulls taking it easy on an inflatable dinghy!

In the end it wasn't a long trip out, and we were back home for a late lunch - hopefully they'll get the work round the harbour done before the summer season kicks in.

Folly Layout # 4

Another day another 'reorganisation' - this time of the furniture in the Folly (again) - think I'm on something close to version 4!

The Folly had begun to feel very cluttered - and having moved 'in' a bookcase from the house, it was time for a rethink.  Cue another book 'cull' - removing some of the 'wine box' bookcases - and the re-homing of some unused furniture.

Then it was time to drag and shove what was left into new locations.

This included putting the train table (which I never seem to have time to do anything with) into a corner (which I may regret if I do ever do anything with it!), but which did create a lot more floor space.

All in all it now feels much more spacious, and some things, such as the printer, are now conveniently closer to hand - it will do - for now!

Project 'Paint Everything In Sight'

Yes, we've been decorating . . . well for the most part Martin has been decorating - almost every room in the house has had at least a lick of paint, but the living room is scheduled for a bit more of a makeover. 

While I was away visiting family, Martin refreshed all the magnolia paintwork and the coving - with everything piled into the middle of the room while he worked.

Then it was on to more de-cluttering of cabinets and bookshelves, and a lengthy debate over some interior design questions.

Having taken the curtains down while decorating, we realised how much lighter the room was without them - so should we leave them down? 
(While there are blinds on all the windows, they did look a bit bare without the curtains in place.) 

And, feature wall, or no feature wall?

In the end we did go for something a bit different . . .

Gold metallic paint on the end wall, and round all the window recesses - which are now framed with voile panels instead of curtains.  Must admit I'm rather pleased with it!

Too Many Books . . .

 . . .  and Not Enough Time!

Need to 'de-clutter' as Martin puts it - and I have so many books on the shelves (plus the accumulating Kindle 99p buys) that I am never going to read them all.

So the sorting has commenced, and small piles of books are now cluttering up other surfaces while we decide what should go to charity, and what might be worth trying to sell. 

Can't say I'm enjoying the process - but can't keep everything!

In 2023 I Mostly Read . . .

Finally, here's the reading list for 2023:

June - December 2023 - Didn't get back to the Chalet School in the end. Started on a re-read of Jodi Taylor's The Chronicles of St Mary's time travel series in June, and what with one thing or another, was still on book 11 by Christmas! Read the first seven or so way back when, and there are now actually fourteen (plus the short stories), so still got a few to go. Really enjoying them when I get time to actually read!

April-May 2023 - Another diversion, with the Green Man series of books by Juliet E. McKenna. Five in the series to date - focus on British folklore, with the main character the mortal son of a dryad, who the 'Green Man' enlists to sort out a variety of dangerous supernatural situations. Three books down - The Green Man’s Heir (2018) The Green Man’s Foe (2019) The Green Man’s Silence (2020) - and now on to fourth, The Green Man’s Challenge (2021), which is actually set during the pandemic, and reflects on some of its challenges too. Really enjoying these, so expect I'll be finished soon!

March-April 2023 - Inspired by a colleague at Epic to see what I made of a Russian 'classic' Crime and Punishment a bit different from the ongoing Chalet School series re-read :) Actually found it surprisingly readable - a lot of angst, and a bit grim in places, but gives you a real flavour of what mid-C19 Russia was like, and in a few places it is even rather funny. Glad I read it!

February 2023 - Now on to a full re-read of the Chalet School series - a blast from the past and real comfort reading! Also mixing it up, with the continuing self improvement mission and Russell Foster's Life Time all about how the body clock works.

January 2023 - In the spirit of 'New Year New Me' finally finished Four Thousand Weeks as started in July 2022 (there's time management for you). Followed this with The Clever Guts Diet - some interesting stuff here, but had heard a good bit of it before on Michael Mosley's various tv offerings.