2008 - a retrospective

So goodbye then 2008. You weren't a great year.

Thoughts of the year are dominated, inevitably by the illness and subsequent death of my Mum. I remember her, and miss her, as the year draws to a close. My Dad's year was of course not good either - losing his wife during the year and, just at the close of the year, his only brother. He also had his illnesses and particulaly the macular degeneration of his eyesight to deal with.

But of course there were good moments and I hope I have continued to learn throughout the year. I hope I have done my best where I can, helped others where I can and generally tried to be a good person.

I have enjoyed work and feel that I have again made a positive contribution to the continuing success of AGI, the organisation where I work.

I have enjoyed playing golf and tennis, enjoyed the company of friends and enjoyed my travels to Spain.

Andrew has as always been a tower of strength, and I am grateful to him for his love and support during the year.

So it is onwards and upwards into 2009.

Leaving Malaga

The weather hasn't been great, but we have enjoyed our time in Malaga. On Sunday we had a drink with some clients who are on holiday here with Amro and we had an excellent meal at the Vino Mio in the evening. On Monday we met Reg and Gloria and again went for a meal at the Vino Mio. And today, Tuesday, we left to head back to the UK. ironcally, today was warm and sunny.

After a couple of hours at Luton Airport, I headed north to be with my Dad in Keith for New Year.

El Chorro

After an hour of so in Ikea, we carried on via Cartama and Pizarro to El Chorro, my favourite part of Spain. We had an excellent meal at a restaurant at the end of the lake, walked up to one of the miradors from where there was an amazing view of all of the lakes and then drove home via Ardales.

It was cool and very windy, but very enjotable.

Boxing Day on the Beach

It was much sunnier, warmer and calmer today. Perfect for a few hours by the beach. Not exactly sunbathing in speedos, but relaxing, reading and having a couple of beers at the beach bar beside the lighthouse.
In the evening, I cooked a chicken meal from a recipe entirely in Spanish. It didn´t quite look like the picture in the recipe book, but it tasted okay.

Navidad en Malaga

We are in Malaga for a few days over Christmas. Today we went to the Christmas Day service at St George´s Church in Malaga before going for a drive out of Malaga and up into the hills where we had a drink and a picnic lunch. In the evening I did a pork casserole which served as our Christmas meal. It was a good relaxing day.