“Everything happens kind of the way it’s supposed to happen, and we just watch it unfold. And you can’t control it. Looking back, you can’t say, ‘I should’ve… ‘ You didn’t, and had you, the outcome would have been different”.

Rick Rubin

Ok – it’s that time of year again. Time to look back at the year just gone – reviewing the aims and ambitions that we set ourselves for it – and to effect a reckoning thereof.

Once that task has been accomplished I will post another missive containing some thoughts about the coming year. No – we don’t make resolutions for the New Year – but we do try to identify some of those 2things that we hope and intend to achieve.

At around this time last year, I wrote the following (with updates on our progress in red):

“Though our 2024 turned out to be better than anticipated, for the rest of the world it could well be argued that the year took a dramatically retrograde turn. We are, naturally, not immune to these external pressures and it may prove – as a result – that 2025 turns out to be the quiet – heads-down – dig-in – sort of year that we might have expected last time around.

Well – there was a certain amount of ‘digging in’ in 2025 – though perhaps less than there might have been. However, the fact that The Girl and I finally found ourselves (involuntarily) retired did lead us to spend a significant amount of time testing the boundaries (financial and otherwise) of our new situation. Let’s face it, we had actually come to Canada to be retired, so the fact that it took us a full decade to achieve that status might seem a bit of a bloomin’ miracle. Moving on…

These things, however, we are anticipating:

• A week in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, during the College’s reading week in February. Right now The Girl and I both need to feel some sun on our shoulders

We duly got our week in the sun – at a rather lovely resort too. Given that we were both in the process of becoming retired this was most welcome. The fact that I had had something of a health scare at the start of the year too, the sun drenched peace and quiet was a great boon.

• Some overdue maintenance on our lovely home. We need a new hot water tank; the roof needs to be de-mossed; I am contemplating putting underfloor heating in my studio and we are long overdue in making a start on dealing with some of the clutter that seems to accumulate through modern living

Maintenance was done; a new hot water tank installed; the roof de-mossed; a significant start on down-sizing our clutter was begun… We also had a new roof put on our garden shed (shop) – but the underfloor heating in the studio has had to wait until we have a clearer picture on financial matters.

• We are hoping to host some visitors this year – which is always fun when it also turns into a holiday for us

We did indeed get to see friends, with the additional boon of us getting an excursion to the Rockies and a trip on viaRail into the bargain. This turned out to be an excellent adventure and significant memories were made (photos and reports of this expedition were posted to this journal during July, August and September).

• The will be music-making – no doubt – and I may serve a turn on the executive of the Peninsula Players (who presented the pantomime with which I was lately involved

There is news on the music-making front, but I will post separately in that regard in a little while. I am indeed serving a term on the executive of the Peninsula Players – and I was closely involved with the 2026 pantomime – for which I re-assumed my Musical Director role.

• We will definitely aim to entertain in our garden just as much as the weather allows”

I am delighted to report that we were indeed able to spend more time in our garden – and I believe that we were suitably entertaining.

Coming soon – our plans for 2026…