My last post was at the end of November in which I wrote of the shock and sadness at the sudden and unexpected death of a dear friend and neighbour. Christmas has felt different this year, it was a time she loved and we would discuss menus, presents, decorations in the preceding weeks. She was at the heart of so many things at this time of the year, our neighbourhood carols, a visit on Christmas morning and this year this season has just felt so sad. I popped around to see her husband on Christmas Eve with a gift, normally this was bubbles and a culinary gift as she was such a talented cook, instead this year, we dedicated a star in her name. The last song at her funeral was Coldplay’s Sky Full of Stars and I took a line from the song in the dedication. In my decorations this year I had been planning a star themed front window, I slightly adapted my design and put a large star in the window for her, surrounded by smaller stars and twinkling lights. Next year may be a year for new traditions, this year was simply about honouring a very special and loved lady.
It has been a quiet Christmas period for us, my friend’s funeral was the week before Christmas and celebrations just didn’t seem appropriate. Instead we’ve had festive walks around local attractions, I particularly liked the wishing tree at our local National Trust and our family walks always seem to end up in a lovely little cafe for tea and cake. I’ve done my weekly parkruns, with a bonus tourist venue in Taunton. My final total for the year was 48 parkruns completed and I’m very happy with that total. My class helped to make some decorations for my home park run and it was fun to see them being used. I was also very touched to receive a thank you present for my volunteering over the year. I’m simply grateful that I can give something back to our wonderful community.
There has also been football, I’ve attended the two evening games with my son and as one was broadcast live, I got to see Alan Shearer and Gaby Logan pitch side. The results have been great and it’s wonderful to be following a team doing so well on the pitch, you genuinely sense a great team spirit and a love of the game they play. Mr S. went to the Boxing Day game, so I took Granddad to the watch the Boxing Day swim in town.
CThis month has seen the first anniversary of Mr S’ brain injury and he has had a number of appointments, most notably about his sight. The result is that he has now been diagnosed as partially sighted as he has no peripheral vision and is no longer able to drive. We had hoped that there may be special glasses which would have helped but we are now working to him not being able to drive again. Now we have this knowledge it’s time to make new plans and make a few lifestyle changes.
Christmas Day was spent as our little family and Grandad. It was a quiet day with a delicious Christmas dinner, I do love cooking a very special meal and then chilling with our new presents, my fur lined Crocs are perfect, and watching the finale of Gavin and Stacey. I had all the feels for this programme, I watched the original series and all the little references back to the old episodes were brilliant. I was very happy with the ending and I did cry a few happy tears at the perfect end to one of my favourite comedies.
I’ve realised that I added the Dancing Queen decoration into my photo montage. Every year I buy a special decoration to reflect a highlight of the year. I couldn’t find anything on our cruise but did find the Dancing Queen decoration on our ABBA Voyage visit which is a very happy memory and a real highlight of our year.
Seaside Sparkles 