1. What did you do in 2015 that you'd never done before?
Went to the British Museum.
Walked round the lake near our house.
Went to a motor race (London EPrix).
2. Any births, deaths, illness or injuries?
Not quite an illness or injury, but high cholesterol led to a little NHS adventure; referral to big London hospital, thorough examination, blood and urine tests, ECG, ultrasound on arteries in neck, 30-minute appointment with a nutritionalist. As a result I now check food labels more carefully, attempt to eat more fruit and veg, and take the cholesterol reducing yoghurt drinks.
3. Any travel?
Berlin over the summer. Stayed just outside the city at Griebnitzsee, by the lake. Made trips to Potsdam and Grunwald. Beautiful, but very hot.
4. Memorable events from 2015:
Apart from the events mentioned above...
Met regular commenter Ian one cold evening in January.
At work, several lovely colleagues left. London concert and filming-locations tour with Teresa.
5. What did you get really, really excited about?
Again went to see RHLSTP (twice) and Stewart Lee (twice).
Got so excited about going to Berlin I was almost sick.
Tame Impala - Currents (scroll down to previous posts)
8. Best TV programmes?
The Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winterwatch programmes. More electrocution of Martin, please.
Enjoyed BBC4's slow TV canal trip.
9. Best book?
Don't remember reading any books at all this year.
10. Best film?
Went to see quite a few this year, but the most memorable were Spectre and The Force Awakens.
11. How's the garden doing?
It had a really lovely showing of daisies for a few weeks, then most of the rest of the year was mostly green stems. Now aiming for a white, yellow and purple colour scheme. Bought a lovely white hydrangea which flowered for six months non-stop, a white foxglove, a purple verbena, some sweet peas. No sign so far of any of the bulbs I've planted, but it's been an exceptionally mild winter so far (it has rarely been below 10°c).
In late spring, a neighbour replaced their fence at the end of our garden, saying they may need to trim the beautiful mature evergreen climber which was covering the whole of that back fence. Came home from work to find it cut down to the ground, entirely dead.
12. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
We're going to the IMAX in Leicester Square to see Star Wars in 3D (will be taking my headache tablets) which will hopefully distract me from the usual NYE anxiety. We're due to arrive back at Boblogville station just before midnight, so might see 2016 in on a train. ETA: If you're going to see it in 3D, do it at a proper, huge IMAX and sit right at the back. Fantastic. No headache tablets required.
2004: September 9th
2006: September 21st
2007: September 10th
2008: September 25th
2009: September 22nd (£1.65)
2010: September 25th (£2.00)
2011: September 19th (£2.50)
2012: September 25th (£2.75)
2013: September 7th (£2.50)
2014: September 9th (£2.50) 2015: September 10th. Same snowflake design on the pastry as last year and, at £2 a box, we're back to 2010 prices.
Now conscious of the saturated fat content, one mince pie is ONE THIRD of the recommended daily intake.
It seems there's nothing more effective at chasing away a lingering earworm than blogging about it. No sooner had I posted about Daphne and Celeste when along came Tame Impala.
Ever since our visit to Iceland TEN years ago I've been scouring the shops for skyr - Icelandic yoghurt.
It seems I've been looking in all the wrong places (Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, Whole Foods) because today, while not looking for it at all, there it was in Asda.
There are three flavours; Nordic sour cherry, Nordic mixed berries, and strawberry.
1. What did you do in 2014 that you'd never done before?
Tried snowboarding! It was indoors, a bit of a drive away (Milton Keynes), for a full day.
As well as being extremely physically demanding, it was also extremely personally challenging; it was an effort to persevere. Just the bending down to do and undo the boot fastenings was exhausting.
I wasn't very good at it. It's difficult to relax when you're hurtling down a slope on a piece of plywood.
Weirdly, I'd quite like to have another go. Just not for an entire day.
2. Any births, deaths, illness or injuries?
Births: new Niece!
Deaths: the little cat. From first noticing she had a bit of a limp mid-November to losing the use of her back legs and her last visit to the vets (via the Royal Veterinary College) was less than a fortnight. For the first time in a long time we are a pet-free household. It is taking some getting used to.
Illness/injury: Lost faith in the LovelyDoctorWhoEmigrated's replacement when he was baffled by a common skin complaint. Have recently been to see a different doctor at that surgery who has restored faith in GPs.
3. Any travel?
Stayed in the UK all year. The furthest travelled was to visit my parents in the summer when my Dad's cousin came to visit. We went to Normanby Hall.
4. Memorable events from 2014:
Burst radiator in the living room, soaking our carpet.
Snowboarding.
Closure of the lovely sushi restaurant in town.
Hot Hallowe'en.
The cat.
5. What did you get really, really excited about?
Going to see RHLSTP and Stewart Lee.
Stewart Lee's UKIP immigration routine is spot on:
6. Best thing you bought?
Food: Schwartz Flavour Shots and Square Pie Steak & Ale pies. And pomeloes, of course.
Clothing: These pyjamas. Only bought them last week. They are amazing. Bought a top from Jigsaw, in the sale, for the exact amount left on an expiring credit note. That was a satisfying purchase.
Object: These wine glasses.
7. Best songs?
Gonzalez - Gentle Threat
Alice Boman - Be Mine
The Drink - At the Weekend
St Vincent - Digital Witness
Broncho - Class Historian
Also listened to Damon Albarn's Everyday Robots album quite a lot.
8. Best TV programmes?
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle.
Justified.
Watched Marvellous the other day and cried my eyes out.
9. Best book?
Re-read both North and South and Wives and Daughters.
10. Best film?
Grand Budapest Hotel.
11. How's the garden doing?
We-ell. The perennial meadow seeds went in last December which was probably a little too late. Not everything germinated in the spring, had a sparse showing in the summer, then some stuff waited until Autumn to grow. Completely forgot to cut it back as advised in early spring, but hardly anything had started growing by then. Am hoping next year's showing will be better. At least it's not an entirely bare, muddy patch now.
12. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
Spent most of the day with Husband's family - went out for pizza. Midnight will pass quietly at home.
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