Monday 30 December 2013

Looking back

What a year we have had in so many ways........I am getting to the point now that I am looking forward to 2014 so that we can start afresh, although we will be taking lessons and some health issues forward into the new year.

January was not a great start to the year, with the FH spending most of the month in bed, suffering from a debilitating chest infection, that then took him to hospital in February, when we discovered that his kidneys were failing somewhat.  We started the year with a Low Spend Challenge, and ate mostly from the storecupboards and freezers.



We seemed to spend the early months of the year at hospital in one way or another, either visiting him or taking him to appointments.  Even when he came out of hospital, he still wasn't properly well, and struggled through March.  April saw him back in for a shorter stay, but a much more successful one, with new medications and a much fitter FH came out again.

I knitted loads of these hats this year too!

May was time for a challenge and we spent the whole month avoiding that supermarket you all know I am not terribly keen on!  We were pleased with the challenge, and people seemed interested in how it all went.  It was also the month we hatched some cheepy chicks out and loved seeing them grow.



June saw my favourite challenge of the year when I learned to crochet.  I loved it when I got going, and some kind ladies of the Craft Club at chapel saw me on the right road, holding the hook and getting the tension under control.  I shall get back to crochet soon...


June was also the month I had to face up to the EFG going to university in 2014 and we started some uni visits, going to Lincoln and UEA.  UJ's help in the garden meant that things were underway and growing better than the year before!

Brayford Pool at Lincoln

July was a month of heat and thunderstorms, when we got struck by lightening and lost all our phone and internet connection - it was weird to lose such communications like that, and we felt a bit lonely! July was a patriotic time as we saw Prince George of Cambridge presented to the world too.  The FH had one more night in hospital that was a bit of a mystery and he was discharged the next day with no real diagnosis.

One of the EFG's beautiful photos from the trip

August was quite a month.  We had some local days out, our beloved Lancelot died, and the girls went on the cruise to Norway with my dad and MB.  We really missed them, but they had an amazing time. The exam results also arrived, and big smiles on the girls' faces said it all.

Lancelot 2007/8 - 2013

September and October was the most challenging time of the year so far.  It started off quite gently with a short break in Norfolk and ended with a heartbreaking tangle over a newborn baby that was never meant to be part of our family, it seemed.  It took some time to move on from all of that, and really wreaked havoc with people's emotions.  The EFG and I also made our roadtrip to Aberystwyth, quite an adventure, and some valuable time together as well.

The prom at Aberystwyth

November had us losing communications again through a damaged cable in the road somewhere, so once that was replaced, we were back again!  It was a month of preparations, of thinking and making plans, of beginning to bring plans together for the festive period, and a time to think, for me.  It was also  a very rough time in the weather, and the garden continues to be saturated.....some things don't change.


December had the FH back in hospital for one night with a chest infection that presented our doctor with a couple of mysterious symptoms, so he sent us off to the hospital again.  Thankfully the antibiotics have improved his health no end since the beginning of the month, and his only problem now is the gout. My own Dad has been the major worry this Christmas time with his hospitalisation, and now his continuing recovery period.  Fingers and toes are crossed for him across the world as friends on this blog and on FB remember him and he is thought of in prayers too.  He'd be a bit gobsmacked about that all, actually, so I haven't told him!

The recent storms that have battered the country really make us think about other people and count our blessings whilst we wonder what we can do to help.

I shall be thinking about our plans for 2014 tonight, and be back with a looking-forward post tomorrow x









2 comments:

Frugal in Bucks said...

What a year you've had, a real challenge you brave thing.
I hope 2014 is less stressful for you. Sending love from Bucks. X

Sue in Suffolk said...

Phew what a year you've had, no wonder you are looking forward to 2014.

Hope you get some more mice tonight - pesky things.