And That Was My 2014 Was It?

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Sunday 28 December, 2014 by Uncle Spike

Similar to last year, but different… It’s been a very busy but largely uneventful year (that’s a good thing), but memorable all the same. Anyway, here’s a brief recap of the highs n lows…

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SCHOOL

Cousin Spike Jnr changed school as he was becoming increasingly bored and dejected at his last school. Having passed an entrance exam and evaluation, he is now in a smaller school where he is no longer top of the class, and that’s driving him forward as he feels he ‘fits in’ now (thankfully). He also loves learning Spanish in addition to Turkish and English, which as a fully bilingual kid feels like his first time at a ‘second’ language.

HOLIDAY

As with last year, we managed to grab a couple of weeks away in late August. Funds didn’t stretch to anything involving flights, mainly due to the poor state of our currency from political and economic woes, and regional instability (wars and unrest all around us). Even the same hotels cost us 20-25% more this year just because of our poor performing Turkish Lira. However we had a really decent break as a ‘family’, which was so good for us all, especially as Aunty Spike works away for much of the year. But even with limited time and funds, we eventually managed to find ferry schedules to fit our time off, and visited the neighbouring Greek islands of Kos, Kalymnos, Astypalia, Naxos and Syros. Whilst we find Europe (even Greece) is soooo expensive for us, it is also soooo worth it 🙂

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HEALTH
No broken bones this year, ribs still intact and no head injuries from tree-falls. Plenty of cuts and bruises, oh and a cracked tooth after smashing my face on a rock after tripping over a chicken. Thankfully only the back of the tooth was affected, and no nerve damage, so I just carried on (dentists here: a choice between Turkish state hospitals, or private rip-off merchants we can’t afford). 

** UPDATE **
Feels like I’ve cracked left 2nd rib on the day this post went out 🙂
Is that called karma or irony??

CROPS

Fruit farming on our small scale is just about being solvent, as it’s more of a hobby farm. But I did make a small profit, had no real calamities and a successful olive harvest, so all in all, quite satisfied.

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BLOG
My first full calendar year, and still enjoying the ride. A steadily increasing readership has evolved, with no large peaks or troughs in the stats, so I’m counting consistency as a success. There remains a core group of followers who interact a fair deal, and that’s still a big motivator. So much more still to share, but so little time… slowly, slowly I guess works too 🙂

BRAIN

The old grey matter is still being stretched on occasions, with more adventures into business writing (reminiscent of bygone days as a business systems analyst). Add that to copy-editing of academic manuscripts on subjects as diverse as educational psychology, masquerade and intrusion detection in computer systems, mathematics education, medical phobias, funding applications for multinational collaborative projects, social media in higher education, e-tutoring, and a couple of post-grad theses. I love farming life, but sometimes I struggle from sloppy-brain syndrome, hence I seek out new ventures where I can. However that’s not always easy to come by, even voluntarily, but one does what one can 🙂

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FITNESS

Finally, and certainly the biggest surprise – getting in to some sort of shape. You’ll have seen all the very recent posts about this, so I won’t bore you again, but it definitely feels like a new start…. so far at least. And no, you’re safe, I won’t be posting any pictures.

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So, that was my 2014…
A good year I think on balance.
I wonder what 2015 will hold though??

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