Reflecting on 2012

I know its clichéd but retrospection, especially at this time of the year, is a healthy exercise. So as 2012 waves goodbye, I think it is appropriate that I stop and reflect on its adventures and experiences. It’s been a slightly kinder year for us than the previous two but it certainly brought its own share of challenges. I am grateful for the love and support from friends and family, and most importantly my wonderful husband, in overcoming them. Here is a photographic overview of some of the highlights of 2012, which if I haven't blogged about already, I will do soon.

The early part of 2012 brought with it interesting travel adventures, albeit accomplished in a  shoestring fashion. We spent New Year’s in India, travelled the whole length of the country ( mainly for family reasons) and spent a few lovely days taking in Rajasthani culture in the Lake City of Udaipur. In between Spring weekends toiling on our arid allotment, we also managed to fit long weekends in Paris (exploring fashion havens, cafes, farmers markets and gastronomically delightful restaurants like Suffren) and Barcelona ( marvelling at Gaudi’s masterpieces, partaking in Catalonian culture and cuisine, shopping at El Cortes Ingles and Zara, and hanging out at uber cool Bestial). Then came the great flood of 2012 making growing rice a better proposition than potatoes. We will be undertaking an appropriate flood risk assessment of our allotment plan for 2013.
 

The second part of the year was even busier and started with the London Olympics. I went to my first proper football match at Old Trafford (Manchester) as part of the Olympics and it was much more civilised than your regular football matches. Ed bought us a few Paralympics tickets too and attending that was an inspiring experience. The icing on the cake was to be able to witness the Victory parade in between my work meetings in London. During the Olympics period, we went to the Wapping Project which is a old power station converted into quirky and inspiring restaurant. Our allotment in the meantime was largely flooded and there was only so much we could do. Thankfully, my edible flower bed did very well and we had the most wonderful nasturtiums, violets, sweet williams and pansies. Closer to the year end, I visited and blogged about the Finnish, Lincoln and Peterborough Christmas Markets and also started a Charity & Vintage Shops section on my blog.  And, how can I not mention my shopping success at the avant-grade H&M Margiela collaboration!

Like every year, 2012 had its share of many firsts. These included dabbling in jewellery making, eating sea urchins, trying my hand at fencing, my first ever Olympic games, successfully making crab-apple jelly, pushing culinary boundaries with moong masala lasagne, visiting Gaudi's Barcelona, trying out new international recipes and bagging a bargain at London fashion weekend. The most important thing, in the context of this blog, was deleting my old bumbling blogs and starting all over again. And, I'm pleased with my reinvigorated blogging experience. I have a few things I'd like to achieve through this blog over the next year and I am looking forward to the adventures that 2013 will no doubt bring.  A special thank you to my readers (especially the few regulars) for reading whatever I paste out here and for your support. Happy New Year! Ann x

Reflecting on 2012
Rating: 100% based on 975 ratings. 91 user reviews.