Old Year's Night

 I am writing again today because it is customary to wish everybody a Happy New Year and to look back at the year of blogging.

I wish all my readers of the new blog a sincere thank you for following me here and especially to those who have carried on leaving me comments who are JayCee, Meike, Simone, John, Bonnie and Yael, Jenn and Pip, Jennifer, and Ranee (who is just catching up with posts). I just remembered Bob and The Hatts visited too  Dave has been around and I am hoping he will come back soon and a new face came yesterday called Tink and Ilona who stays in touch via email.    I appreciate all the comments that you leave me and I wish you a very happy New Year. 

The year saw me busy with completing the Masters degree between January and June with classes and workshops carrying on and then from July to September writing up my dissertation and attending supervision with my professor.  That is all now finished, Masters degree awarded, certificate received, and moving onwards,  and I have started a new chapter in my life.  Following the end of the course the legacy is that I am feeling positive and confident, independent more than ever,  and looking forward to 2026.  

I gave blogging a break for a few months as I described in my first post of this blog and will not go further into it again except to say the break did me good and I am pleased to be back writing. 

In early October, after the time I handed in the dissertation,  I suffered a mystery illness which was identified as a virus and I am pleased to say that in spite of all the fears and puzzles that it presented to me and the doctors I am now feeling well again. 

In September, just before the virus, I booked a holiday for next year which is a tour of Azerbaijan.  This is the first time I have ever booked a holiday so far in advance and during the illness I came close twice to cancelling it.  I also had two difficult calls with my travel insurer trying to be honest and explaining things to them, including touching on my refusal to take statins which had nothing to do with the illness, and then being slammed with a £100 extra on my premiun.

On the back of booking the Azerbaijan trip I commenced an exercise regime to get fitter for the holiday which I have now been doing for three months and starting to feel the benefits.  During the virus I was still able to exercise.

In September I resigned from the Adult Education Learning Group committee as I no longer felt that I wanted to be part of this group researching speakers.  This was one of the changes I made on completion of my university course and a direct result of the way I feel now about continuing my life in a different direction.  I am hoping that 2026 will make this clearer. 

Midway through November I started to feel better and now I think I am through the bad times of the illness.   I have upped the exercises and they have now become a part of my life. 

I still go to the cinema regularly, massage once a month,  and meet the girl friends for lunch.

Nothing has really changed in my year and I wouldn't say it has been a bad year for me,  it has been challenging in many ways, but interesting for me and I have enjoyed my life as I live it and resigned myself to the Labour government that we are lumbered with.  There is no quick way out of it. 

I started attending the Women's Institute in November on a three month taster programme and will probably join in January.  It keeps me going in terms of having to make an effort to comb my hair and dress up to go out at least once a month if nothing else. 

I had a six months relationship from January to July with a man 20 years younger than me and that bucked me up no end and I enjoyed every minute of it, even the day he decided that he was going to up and leave in the middle of a coffee and "start a new life" leaving me,  and the man on the next table,  bemused and amused respectively. 

I heard from him over  Christmas as readers will know so no more to be said today on that.  I am unlikely to be doing very much with him this year but the odd coffee and conversation now and again I will not object to.  He is a fine person and I have no quarrels with him.  What is past is past.  He made me feel human again and that new relationships are not just for the young. 

So that is just about it.  If I think of anything else in the meantime I will add it as an edit. 

Have a great Old Year's Night.  I will be in bed usual time and for tomorrow I wish you all a very Happy New Year.