2013 - bridging the years

I have a French friend who sometimes has a New Year's Eve party where dinner is started in the old year and completed in the New Year ... bridging the two .... I think it's a lovely practice.

Here we are on the doorstep of a new year ... and looking back over the past year I achieved quite a lot although at times it felt like I'd done very little.  We had times both happy and sad.

For me the highlights were ...

• starting a community choir again - this has been a delight - really nice group of people all willing to have a go at whatever I come up with.  Thank you guys.  

  

  The Rostrevor Community Choir getting ready for the Christmas pageant

• We had gigs in Denmark, Germany, France, Holland, Luxembourg, England, Scotland and of course Ireland
• started writing songs again and co-wrote with Tom for the first time.
• Recorded an album of bluegrass songs with 4 other women - the Daisy Janes. 
• had a holiday - the first in 15 years - although we travel a lot for work, it was really nice to take the ferry and go away just for our amusement ... of course we did a few gigs while we were there - a bit of a busman's holiday, but it still was grand.

The clear waters of the North of Spain

• took part in a blogathon which was very illuminating and great fun - some posts here and here 
• got back into Morning Pages.
• got to grips with Sjogren's Syndrome - (there! I named it).
• had visits from both of my Australian nieces - Connie at the start of the year and Niamh at the end of year - what a joy to get to know them as adults ... Now, the planning must start again for our trip to visit them.
• We got caught in the snow in England in March and as a result of the road to the ferry terminal being cut off by snow we ended up re routing and spending a fabulous day with my lovely cousin near Chester and had one of the best meals of the year.  
• oh yes - a lot of time was spent on food!!!   Thinking about it, cooking, preparing, eating out, watching TV shows ... yum yum.  
• Tom had a big birthday in June, 
• we celebrated our silver wedding anniversary in January 
• and Fiddlers Green Festival in July was just wonderful - with our international friends joining us for a BBQ at the start of it

us celebrating 25 years on the road together at a concert in the middle of the week 

and us all ending up drenched to the skin at the top of the mountain at the end of the week!!  

All were a laugh...

And now into a new wonderful year .... a blank page ... I love the start of the year - it's like all the Mondays rolled into one ... a big clean page and after a few days of rest it seems like the practices we've been building up all winter now start to come to fruition ... my students will start seriously preparing for their exams, I will start seriously planning tours, the choir will start seriously working on new material for the move through Spring and into Summer and then we'll all settle down into a new routine ....  

What will you be doing this New Year?  I'd love to hear from you.