In 2012 ...

I knitted and crocheted

I cooked and baked

 I sang and listened to others sing

I involved myself in politics and campaigns

I supported local independent traders

 I went out and about in Bristol ...

... and in London

I went on holiday to St Ives

I started running and went on a diet and ...!

I survived the Jubilee but entered into the Olympic spirit.

I made holiday lists and managed to cross most items off them!

I met Fatmumslim's Photo a Day Challenge but didn't quite meet my own challenges to photograph A Month of Dinners or my Advent countdown.

All in all it's been a good year and I've certainly had fun trawling through my posts and reminding myself of its highlights.

Here's to 2013!

PS  I've thoroughly enjoyed reading other bloggers' reviews and greatly admire those whose photos are better displayed than mine.  Any tips on how to create mosaics on blogger would be much appreciated.

On the Sixth Day of December

What angels will visit me today! What messages am I listening to?

Over on Green & Generous Karin believes that how we celebrate Christmas is determined by how we feel inside.  I agree (and recommend you read the rest of what she has to say), but we are also influenced by the world in which we live and the messages it bombards us with.  It requires a strong will to resist the external pressures to do this or that, and follow your own heart.

Last Christmas we escaped to St Ives where, unfettered by custom or convention, we spent one of our happiest Christmasses in a long time.  But we can't always run away.  Sometimes we've got to stand our ground against the presumptions of how it should be

On Saturday we'll buy our tree and leave it bare - with no more than a few lights - for a week.  Ostensibly to allow my elder daughter to help decorate it on her return, it will also serve as a reminder of the beauty of natural form.

These angels can be found in Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol.

Summer Holiday To Do List - A Review

Well, I managed to strike off 11 of the 25 things I wanted to do in the school holidays, which doesn't worry me in the least as I did lots of other things instead.

I didn't eat a bacon butty at Brunel's Buttery but I did tuck in to a full English at the Lockside to compensate for the lack of a hot air balloon ascent at dawn.

I didn't have a drink at The Grain Barge but I did have a few at No 1 Harbourside, one of George Ferguson's other ventures.

I didn't visit the Holborne Museum but I was delighted by Richard Race's Automata exhibition at the Victoria Art Gallery on my first ever visit.

I didn't make it to London to view Grayson Perry's tapestries but I did take in the Alex Katz exhibition at Tate St Ives.

I didn't walk the Bristol to Bath cycle path but I did embark on the NHS Couch to 5k programme (temporarily suspended due to dodgy knee!)

I didn't visit Tyntesfield but I did spend a day working in the walled garden at Barley Wood.

I didn't bake any scones but I ate a few (with strawberry jam and clotted cream) in St Ives.

I didn't manage to fill my South West Reading Passport but I did make a start with one book each from North America (The Power & the Glory by Graham Greene) and Asia (Silk by Alessandro Barrico).

I didn't bake a pizza but I did bake a deliciously moist Almond and Orange cake for the last WI meeting.

I didn't paint my toenails but I paddled in the sea. 

I didn't have a barbecue but I did eat an excellent burger at Blas Burger Works in St Ives. 

I didn't make any homemade lemonade but I did drink Pimms (and eat cucumber sandwiches) while cheering Andy Murray on to his Olympic Gold.

I didn't start another sourdough mixture but I did share one of Mark's loaves with a friend I hadn't seen for a long time, who took the rest of it home to her partner in Wales.

I didn't catch a live performance at the Colston Hall but I did spend a very pleasant afternoon drinking beer, eating paella and listening to flamenco, blue grass and klezmer at the El Rincon  Fiesta at Greville Smythe Park Bowling Green.

I've had a good break and am as ready as I can be for the year ahead.

St Ives Summer 2012

We have just returned from a week spent in one of my favourite places in the whole wide world,

 where (in no particular order) ...

we paddled on Porthminster Beach ...

we ate breakfast overlooking Porthgwidden Beach ...

we wandered around Zennor graveyard ...

 and made our way down to the Mermaid's Cove ...

 we ate juicy burgersburgers and an excellent lemon posset at Blas Burger Works ...

and saved a fortune by putting together our own cream teas ...

we caught a magnificent sunset on an evening stroll around The Island ...

we cheated the seagulls out of an easy meal ...

we caught the open top bus to Sennen cove  for fish and chips by the sea ...

  

and a walk out along the sea wall ...

we visited the Alex Katz exhibition on a sunny afternoon ...

 and returned on a not so sunny one!...

we did our bit to support the local economy ...

 and we didn't let the occasional downpour dampen our spirits.

We also attended Sunday morning mass at St Ia's, putted on Porthminster Beach, walked to Carbis Bay and back, visited the Farmer's Market, ate several Cornish pasties, read a number of books, released one of them in the Tate, body boarded, walked out to Clodgy Point and fell asleep on the grass, played several games of Uno and Monty Python Fluxx, went on a Lantern Ghost Story Walk with Shanty Baba, caught crabs in the harbour, supped a pint at the Tinner's Arms ... but I don't have any photos of these!

I can't wait until next summer to return.

PS  We stayed here - another quaint cottage provided by Cornish Riviera Holidays - our twelfth - and hopefully not our last!