And That Was My 2013 Was It?

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Saturday 28 December, 2013 by Uncle Spike

What an interesting old collection of 365 days that was! I’m afraid I can’t reel off a list of ‘achievements’, or amazing things I have done and/or seen; not at my age. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not quite ready to become daisy fodder quite just yet, but as one progresses through the decades, the scale and flavour of one’s list of notable “thing’s done” does change somewhat.

For instance, have I climbed any mountains this past 12 months? (err… nope). Have I travelled to some really really exotic places? (err… still nope). Or have I wrestled a Bengali Tiger whilst wearing a tutu made of papyrus? (sorry, alas… it’s still a no).

BUT… I did get through the year, from one end to the other (almost there), basically intact, healthier than some, poorer than 10 years ago, a tad heavier, but happy and contented.

AND… I did notch up a few ‘new things’ on my bedpost of life. And so without further rambling, here is my Top 10 list of notoriety for 2013. By the way, I know it’s a Top 10, but I didn’t number them as all are equal in their diversity and sense of accomplishment.

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HOMEWORK
Cousin Spike Jnr started ‘big school’ this autumn. Having been at kindergarten and pre-school since the age of 2½ this wasn’t ground-breaking stuff, but what I do count as a ‘yay’ is that I managed to coach the small person through his 1-2 hours homework each night (as Aunty Spike works away). My Turkish is poor to say the least, so it was a challenge for me; and personally I feel chuffed at having survived, so far.

HOLIDAY
Clan Spike got away for 12 days back in August!! Yeah, I know we live in a gorgeous area of the world, but everyone needs to ‘get away’ sometimes. Whilst it was just a short 40 minute ferry ride away, our long awaited holiday ‘abroad’ to Greece was memorable, fun, charming and just what we needed as a family 🙂

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HEALTH
No major diseases, calamities or broken bones in the family… ah, except my broken rib; forgot about that. But I guess that’s what comes of pushing down stupidly hard on a power drill until one’s rib goes ‘ping’. Oops. Won’t try that again! (yeah, as if?)

FRUIT
I’m a farmer, I grow fruit. But this year I even managed to sell the main crop. Ok, so my ‘profit’ before my own ‘wage’ is just a couple of hundred dollars for the year, but still progress in my book 🙂

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ANTI FREEZE
I remembered to flush the solar panels on time and refill WITH the required anti-freeze in time for winter. Fingers crossed no repairs in the springtime this time around!

BLOG
This old fart became a blogger; how bizarre is that? I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my new hobby too, and finally have a place for my ‘creative’ side to flourish alongside my love for technology.

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AUBERGINES / EGGPLANT
This was the first year I really sussed out how to grow these! It might be relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of life, but I’m a happy bunny on that score.

WELDING
I still wouldn’t go public and state I am even mildly proficient at welding, but… I have finally gained the confidence after successfully creating three garage doors and frames from scratch. Almost a year on, and they are still hanging there intact 🙂

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HAIRCUT
Weirdly enough, my hair is still growing. Personally I had expected it to be doing a disappearance act right about this stage in my life, but no, life in the sun and shovelling goat poo seems to be making my follicles think again about continuing in their line of work!  I even celebrated by going to the barbers for a ‘proper’ haircut this year; my first for what, 6 years!

SURPRISE RESULTS
And finally. Our mealtime entertainment often includes watching naff reality TV shows such as X-Factor (Australia and UK versions) and The Voice (US version). We have to play catch-up of course, and this year, we managed to watch all of these without hearing the ‘results’ or spotting them by accident on Facebook or from the news.

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So, that was my 2013… not exactly awe-inspiring stuff you’ll agree, but yep, overall, I think I can say that Uncle Spike had a happy and successful year. I tried, and I’m ready to try again for 2014.

How about you, how was your 2013?

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