The plan for the year is gradually coming together, which is good, because I want something to take my mind off yesterday.
First, I’m spending time on getting my health in order. This isn’t really an active choice, after the pre-Christmas admission to hospital it was more or less forced on me. I’m in hospital tomorrow, though I’ve already covered that.
Second, I’m doing more exercise and making sure I get out in the open air. We said we would do it and although it’s a bit patchy it’s going quite well. Having blown a few cobwebs away I’m now feeling a lot fitter. Again, it’s not taking a lot of effort as I like getting out with the camera and binoculars.
Third, we’re putting a few plans in place for holidays- a long weekend in the Lakes and a week on Mull. Last time we had a full week the Beijing Olympics were on. Again, it’s not difficult to manage this.
Fourth, we have the permaculture and nature books out and we’re planning the changes in the garden. We’ll start with a good tidy (we’ve neglected it badly over the last couple of years due to the time we’ve spent on the farm) and see how it goes. This is going to take more effort. I’m starting with a wildlife pond and gooseberry bushes. Well, you have to start somewhere.

Washing up basin wildlife pond
Fifth, we need to declutter the house and do some decorating. (See comments in Four). So far I’ve taken some books to charity shops. Every journey starts with a single step…
Sixth is weight loss. No plan just yet, it’s just sitting their like the elephant in the room. That’s what Julia has started calling me anyway.
The featured picture is a Robin from Rufford Abbey, all puffed up against last week’s cold. It’s hard to beat a Robin photo for cheeriness.
Thanks for the beautiful robin photo!
Glad you liked it.
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The robin is a cherry little bird. I hope your health improves and all your plans come to fruition this year.
They look cheery but they are very aggressive and territorial. However, they do pose well for the camera.
Positive plans. I really liked Mull back in the ’90s, and have spent several holidays in the Lake District.
Looking forward to it – just finalising the plans. Never been to Mull so it will be doubly interesting.
Sounds like you have a good plan ahead of you. By the way, I love the picture of the robin. It’s so cute!
Thank you – we had a group follow us round hoping for food. (We were using sunflower heats to attract them).
Best of luck with all of that! We made a few plans at the beginning of last year shortly after Richard retired. We managed some things on the list but failed miserably with others (though not all fails were our fault). A few extras were forced upon us. It’s best not to get too worked up about the failures. I would definitely concentrate on the healthy options (at our age – and I’m the same age as you – we need our health to get the rest of the list done). Most of your plans look like fun 🙂
Yes, health first. I’m concerned the decluttering and weight loss may run into trouble but most of the rest has potential for success. In fairness, I only added those two because I thought I ought to. I like being surrounded by books and I love eating…
Me too! I have found that stress makes me gain weight – comfort eating and not enough sleep. I spend too long in the car and not enough time working outside. I hope that this year will be a better one for us both!
Yes, let’s make it a better year!
I agree about the robin. Good luck with the plan. It makes me feel quite tired just reading it.
Me too – I went for a lie down after writing it. 🙂
All good things… all familiar!
The test will be what has happened by the time I write the follow-up in December. 🙂