My year in review – 2023

It’s not been a great year for me. All work and not enough play made Karen a dull girl in 2023; Artemis’s avian romance ended in tragedy; and there was the major disappointment of not getting Eurovision tickets 😭 But it hasn’t been all bad. Let’s have a look at it.

The upside of being stupendously busy is that I earnt more money than usual, allowing me to buy myself some nice toys, like a better-quality watch when my old one died, and some hydroponic gardens to provide fresh herbs and salad leaves in my dark wee flat.

I’m far from green-fingered, but hydroponics are easier than ‘real’ plants, and they grow much faster. Plants for the non-gardener, effectively.

Since getting into hydroponics I have discovered that hydroponics are synonymous with cannabis growing in  Glasgow. That’s one herb I won’t be growing, because besides the illegality, it smells terrible, and I spend half my life interpreting for young men who have been arrested or jailed for growing it, many of them trafficking victims, and all of them cannon fodder as far as the drugs gangs are concerned.

Culture

I went to the ballet in January with my sister and her family, as is our tradition.

Then to the reopened Burrell Collection in early summer, but unfortunately it was terrible. However, at the start of this month, I went to a Daði Freyr concert at the Academy, and it was excellent, and fitting compensation for missing Eurovision itself. I also met the support act, an Australian girl group called Blusher, who were very good.

I visited the Riverside Museum (not for the first time) while my friends the Rutherdales were visiting, and we took a bus tour where, after a year of editing a book on Glasgow, I felt compelled to correct or add to the tour bus commentary 😂

And after a hiatus of three years, I went carol singing with folk from my church again, along with my friend Ann.

I also took part in Glasgow’s Doors Open Day for the first time, both running my own trail about Hugh MacDonald, and also helping to run an art gallery launch at my church, Adelaide Place Baptist Church, which was a venue in Doors Open this year.

Travel

I didn’t get a lot of time for travelling this year, but I did squeeze in a week in the Cote d’Azur, which was marvellous, and I brought the weather back with me.

The Esperanto Congress took place in Paisley straight after I got back, and although that is far from exotic, the weather was a lot more tropical than usual, so that we all ended up eating ice cream at outdoor tables.

And just a couple of days ago I visited Scotland’s newest train station with my friend Susan, an impromptu trip which we decided upon when we saw how busy Edinburgh was.

East Linton was small but pretty enough, and The Night Owl bookshop was lovely, worth the visit in itself. The owner didn’t mind us hanging around her tiny shop for the best part of two hours, or she at least did a very good job of pretending not to. The hospitality elsewhere was a bit East Lothian, though. We made our way through the dark and the wind and the puddles to the only cafe still open, only to be told in firm tones “We’ve switched off the coffee machine.” You’ll have had your coffee…

Now I’m in Northern Ireland for New Year. I was supposed to go in autumn but then I got covid instead. It was no joke, and made me glad I had avoided it until 2023.

Books

It’s been quite a strong year in reading. There were a few duds, and a period where it felt like a slog (to be fair, that was in the considerable wake of The Running Grave), but looking back over it, it was mostly very good.

The best book was The Running Grave, although it had competition from A Spy Among Friends, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and The Magicians. The most surprising book was H Is for Hawk, which is sort of a parallel biography and memoir, both about goshawks. The worst was It Ends with Us, which I gave up on. It was nothing but unrealistic characters, unconvincing scenarios, and sex scenes. Not all popular books are popular because they’re good.

I started a few series this year, so the following instalments may follow on next year’s reading. I started off this year doing Debbie Macomber‘s reading challenge but gave up on it as it led to some of my worst reads (although it also led to H Is for Hawk.) For next year, my friend Susan helped me to come up with a list of authors I feel I should have read but haven’t. In case you feel like joining in, here it is:

• Andrej Kurkov
• Alessandro Manzoni
• Salman Rushdie
• Kate Chopin
• Miguel de Cervantes
• Brandon Sanderson
• Dodi Smith
• Donna Tartt
• L P Hartley
• Elizabeth Bowen
• Shirley Jackson
• Edith Wharton

Writing

The writing part of my time has mostly been taken up with promoting the 21st century edition of Rambles Round Glasgow, but I also worked, slowly and reluctantly, on the third and final part of the Sarcophagus Scroll series. I’m hoping to finish it next year, but I’ll need to pick up the pace if I’m to achieve that.

I had a few bits published in magazines etc. There was a piece on Ash Wednesday for Premier’s website, which was informative to research, and one on County Lines trafficking for Premier NexGen. I had an article published in History Scotland on Paisley’s Weaver Poets (which not only didn’t pay, but didn’t even send me a free copy of the mag!) and I’m pretty sure I wrote something for Esperanto in Scotland, too.

Next year I really ought to try submitting more work for publication, something I’ve neglected this year, but it’s both time consuming and demoralising, making it an unappealing task.

And maybe – maybe – I will make progress on the much vaunted book on Glasgow’s bridges, but I’m not making any promises.

Crafts

I did finish the enormous kaleidoscope blanket that was nearly finished at the end of last year, adding the edging that made it look very neat.

I added a new square to the patchwork blanket, too.

Started a crochet nativity set – no Mary, Joseph or shepherds so far.

And made a Christmas tree angel for my mother-in-law, which will hopefully not be lost forever in the Albanian postal system.

Plus I made a few fun cards for kids – mostly adapted from YouTube or other internet resources.

Learning

I’ve been trying to learn some British Sign Language, although I can still hardly say anything! But it’s interesting to learn about the different grammar, and often the reason why a sign means what it does is fairly clear. For instance, the sign for garlic includes mining fumes coming out of your mouth 😂

I also went on a wee guided foraging trip in late summer and while there was too much to remember, I can confidently identify plantain now (the weed, not the savoury banana), because that was the card I was assigned. Their seeds are full of B vitamins, apparently.

Other stuff

Apart from that, a friend had a baby and held a garden party on an uncharacteristically hot day for the west of Scotland.

And a niece by marriage had a baby, too, making me a great aunt – ulp! Although I’m sure my nephlets would agree that I am a great aunt 😉

Speaking of which, early in the year I took two of my nieces to use their gift vouchers at Tam Shepherd’s joke shop (Ciara bought a charming wig) and managed to shrink them by the power of Glasgow street art.

So that’s everything I remember or have evidence of from the past year, although I’ve probably forgotten as much as I remembered!

Have a great 2024!