2013

The Traditional End-of-Year Meme

1. What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before?
Ate pomelo.
Enjoyed eating sushi rice (well, deep fried sushi rice).

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions?
2 out of 4.

Didn't manage monthly blog updates and the back garden didn't get the Olympic seed mix as planned. It self-seeded and looked good for about a month. Have already sown a perennial mix - fed up of looking at bare soil 10 months of the year.

Did the front garden. Ripped out the shrubs and put some more bark chippings down until I can decide what else to do with it. Put some stuff in pots out there, some of which promptly died.

Got some new glasses out of sheer desperation. Didn't get the hideously expensive ones I loved. Have had these cheap-o ones for almost a year now and still don't think they're quite right.

3. Any births, deaths, illness or injuries?
No.

4. What countries did you visit?
None. Stayed in the UK all year. The furthest I travelled was to my cousin's wedding in Manchester.

5. What events from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory?
The pomelo fad.

The weather. After the seemingly never ending wintry spring (we so rarely saw the sun that I began to have dreams about being bathed in golden sunlight) our summer was so warm, sunny and generally amazing that rain became a remarkable event.

The opening of a sushi restaurant in town - and the accompanying free wine.

6. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Pomelos. Really.

Finally finding a 'normal' hairdresser. After yet another unsatisfactory cut and colour in June at the new salon from girl-who-doesn't-listen, I was lured back yet again in October by a special offer.
Accidentally leaving it too late to get both the colour and cut done by girl-who-doesn't-listen, she only did the colour and I ended up getting an amazing hair cut from someone who isn't intolerant, insincere, shallow or obnoxious.

7. What was the best thing you bought?
Pomelos. Have you spotted the theme yet?

8. What song will always remind you of 2013?
Pretty much listened non-stop to Tame Impala all summer, my favourite track being the Erol Alkan Rework of Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind which I listened to non-stop while laying out in the garden watching the Perseid meteor shower into the early hours.

9. What was your favourite TV programme?
Game of Thrones. Watched 'em all.
Also ran: Justified, Parks & Rec, Mr Selfridge, Sherlock, Almost Human, Suits.
Lots of American shows there. What does that say about British TV?

10. What was the best book you read?
The only book I bought and read was Jane Austen fan fiction, therefore making it the best book I read all year.

11. What was your favourite film of this year?
Star Trek, of course. We even went to see it more than once at the cinema! However, it's not as good as the last Star Trek film and the extras on the Blu-Ray are PITIFUL.

It seems to have been the year of the sequel, as we also saw:
Iron Man 3 - too long. Fight sequence near the end dragged on.
Kick Ass 2 - OK, not as good as Kick Ass (JJ Abrams take note - this is how DVD extras should be done).
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 - entertaining but not a patch on the original.
Thor 2 - Don't remember much of it apart from some good visual effects and the packet of digestives on the breakfast table during the end scene.
Despicable Me 2 - We saw this on DVD. Good, but the minions are irritating. More Gru please.

12. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
Am in the middle of cooking our version of Heston's chicken tikka masala. It's a three day job which has turned into four due to 'the wrong kind of chicken'.
After last year's steak restaurant fail (the music was so loud it drove us out before midnight), this evening's plans involve a quiet night of pizza, films and being anxious about feeling anxious.

Happy New Year!

Comments

[Ian H]

Indeed. Happy New Year. Pomelos are good. I'm a fan. We had one in Taiwan last year. If we come to London in September how about going out for tea/dinner one night with a couple of oldies ?

[Kirsty]

Happy New Year to you too!

I'm up for meeting up in September, depending on who the oldies are ;-) Surely not YOU?!

What else have you got planned for your visit?

(BTW, I emailed a reply to you too)