from Pantperthog to Knockando: And that was 2023... a recap of a busy year

I normally write my annual reviews on a month by month basis but this year have decided to recap it in thematic chunks...

Life events

We celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary in September with family and friends. We had a very enjoyable time and are grateful to everyone who travelled to be with us on the day.

For the second year in a row I started a new job. After 13 years working in the NHS, I applied for and was offered a role working for Diabetes UK. It was a frenetic start, landing in the middle of a rebranding operation for the programme! Highly enjoyable, though.

There have been a couple of sad moments as well. Our friend Colin passed away in February and we went to his memorial service in Haddenham. In September I went to Leeds for the memorial for my friend and former colleague, Margot.

Holidays

This year Cathy and I had our first ever trip to DisneyLand Paris. I followed it up with a weekend in Hartlepool. We also had two week-long holidays in North Wales - in July and in November and a week in Worcestershire in April that included a day on the Severn Valley Railway on my birthday.

Football

I went to 62 games in 2023 - you can read more detail in the recap post. I saw Barry Town win two cup finals and get promoted before the end of April. I did my first ever live radio commentary, in Caernarfon in November. And I went to Oxford, Ipswich, Peterborough, Derby, Leeds and Nottingham to watch Shrewsbury Town.

Culture

My plan to read a book a month fell to the wayside, but I've read more this year than I have since before the pandemic. The one gig I went to this year was Bastille at Cardiff Castle. I watched my friend Rhys in his one man play about Fred Keenor, the captain of the Cardiff City team that won the FA Cup in 1927. I've seen a few films but realise now that I didn't blog about any of them, particularly. I think the best cinema outing was seeing one of my all time favourite films, The Nightmare Before Christmas, back on the big screen as part of its 30 anniversary release.