2025

So here we are . Last day of the year- sunny but chilly. Morning spent on errands, so now I have sometime to think about the last year, focusing solely on the best bits,because why would I want to think about the less good bits.

So in no particular order.

1 Best old house I visited.

And the first- Stoneywell Manor- gorgeous Arts and Crafts house.

2 Best Garden visited– this was tough to choose, but I have gone with

Hever Castle childhood home of Anne Boleyn, and where they had the extremely enjoyable and fun water maze

3 Best Museum visited- not really a museum but the combined Turner and Jane Austin exhibition at Harewood House

The original manuscript of Pride and Prejudice.

4 Best decision- Has to be volunteering to take part in Future Health- the survey to see if hithertoo unknown very early symptoms of long term health problems could be detected in blood. It was here that I discovered that my BP was really too high and led to..

5 Best Purchase-Has to be a joint purchase- joining Slimming World and the gym- without either one would I have lost 2 stones+? No chance.

6 Best book bought? Well I have bought a lot of books this year, and been gifted several. I am going for Self Care in Winter. More on this next week.

7 Most Memorable Occasion- there were no big occasions to home in on, so I shall go with a few smaller ones that have stuck in my mind.

The poppies at the Tower of London, a walk with my son J and a boat trip on the Thames and a day out to the RHS gardens at Wisley with son B and grand daughter P.

8 Best triumph over adversity– fortunately it’s been a pretty straight forward year for me, so I shall blow my own trumpet for the second time in this post for my weight loss.

9 Favourite Project– gosh I am very good at starting things and less good at finishing them

So I shall go with the two projects I completed for the Open Studios weekend my embroidery group participated in. The only way I could finish these two was by taking them away with me to my holiday cottages and taking no other proect with me so I just had to get on with them. althought the one above terrified me.

10 Best walk When we lived in Yorkshire, Dalby Forest was one of my favourite places to walk my dog. This walk to the Bridestones is quite hard and I probably won’t do it again, so I choose this.

11 Self Knowledge- becoming acutely aware of my own mortality

12 Best Outing- tough one this but I have to go with 8 Year old J being an Oxford United club mascot for a match against Derby and one of the few matches Oxford won this season.

13 Best Experience- Again a hard one to choose, but I am going for the first relaxing sound bath I took at the gym. I have since discovered BBC Radio 3 Unwind which I can listen to on Alexa, which relaxes me completely. I cried after that the first one and although I have repeated the experience none have been so powerful.

So there we are, 2025 nearly done, bar the fireworks at midnight which I can watch from the comfort of my own home.

One Word- December

My One Word in 2025 was Appreciate. Chosen for its two meanings.

1 Estimate worth, sensitive to, esteem

2 Rise in value

This month I have become aware that to appreciate something or someone you first have to become aware of one’s feelings and thoughts regarding that person or thing. Sometimes those moments are so fleeting and I have used my One Word notebook to just jot down a word to remind me of that moment.

Awareness precedes appreciation.

At this time of year I re-read all my notebook thougths and what struck me is how far I have come mentally, emotionally and physically since I began in 2022 with Balance.

Most of this year I have focused on my physical health, loosing over 2 stones- 28lbs- don’t ask me the amount in kilos- I don’t know. And going to the gym and engaging with a personal trainer. A year ago I would have laughed out loud at the thought of a trainer, but gosh she has done me good.

Some things you can’t do all by yourself.

2024 my word was Yield. One thing I had to yield was Family Christmas. My sons and daughter in laws quite rightly want to DO CHRISTMAS. I am lucky that they invite me to spend family time with them. Last year I found a way to do Christmas differently. No more turkey hunting, mammoth cooking sessions.. instead I go to Christmas markets, meet up with friends and visit gorgeous houses to enjoy their Christmas decorations- this year It was Hampton Court Palace, Avebury Manor and Blenheim Palace where here these were based on the Wizard of Oz.

Then there was the trip with my youngest grandchild (and her parents) to a Pantomime, and she adored every moment of Sleeping Beauty.

So in nutshell I have to appreciate how far I have come since 2021 when Mr E died.

I have even coped without any angst, the change of my utility meter, the upgrade of the burglar alarm and the wind wrecking the back garden fence. Four year ago I would have had a mini melt down

Now onto Number 2- my aim was to use a lot of the stash I own and make useful or lovely things. And whilst the wool stash has been used for crochet blankets for the homeless and little hats for newborns I have been very guilty of buying more items and my stash is certainly bigger than it was 12 months ago. Well we can’t all be perfect.

And as to the book pile.. I said I would read ten books from my book shelf and give them away. I gave away 3 and have bought and asked to be gifted a lot more than ten. Oh well, we can’t all be perfect, and in all fairness some of them concern what I am aiming for next year.

I will give the link to Kat’s webpage for the round up at the end. Sadly she is unable to continue for some excellent reasons, to do the link up. I am hoping someone will take it on.

I have been a pretty poor blogger this year, mostly because I am struggling to work out the photo link , which is a pretty feeble thing to say.

Anyway I will attempt to write a couple of posts this week to share some of the terrific quotes I have noted and to do a bit of a round up of the best bits.

Thanks for reading. Here’s the link up-

A Year of Yutori | 12.29.25