Traditionally a time for reflection and fun, I thought I would have fun reflecting on the year by looking at all the photos I have taken this year on my phone. No, I am not going to show you them all, but I have judiciously picked out one or two from each month which have a particular significance for me. They are not always good examples of the art, or even craft, but I will explain.

Thank you for your patience so far. If you have read any of my blogs before, then now is the time to thank you for that. I like to write and I like to be read: it’s as simple as that.

It’s been a good year generally, despite the sadness of too many funerals, and the onset of age. My husband and I both celebrated our allotted three score and ten and wonder what’s next. We’ve been very fortunate so far, in every important area of our lives – family, finances, health, and long may this state of affairs continue. 

So, back to January.

We were in Poland clearing my dear Mother-in Law’s flat. We had to go several times, as although it is a very small flat, and she was an credibly tidy person, she also kept many things in case they were useful. In the end we managed to whittle everything down to 15 boxes and 2 parcels, but in the meantime we had to sort and search, unpack and pack again, wash and throw, and give away a lot of stuff. That was just in the flat itself. then we went down to the cellar, which was a treasure trove of sorts. It brought back lots of memories, not just for my husband but vicariously for me too.

This picture is a case in point. I had a walking stick from Zakopane exactly like that. The badges I believe are souvenirs of all the peaks you have climbed. I didn’t have that many, as I was only there for a day or two in 1965, but I was given the stick by my father’s friend and proudly brought it back to London, where in years to come my grandmother actually used it for a while on her walks. So Jacek’s stick brought back all those memories of my first trip to Poland. The hat – i know nothing about the hat.

February 23

February in London has a habit of being cold and dreary. Ideally Jacek would have liked to have spent his birthday in Africa somewhere, as he spent his 60th and his 65th there, and we had sort of promised ourselves and our firan Marta, with whom we had gone before that this is what we would do this year. Bur for various reasons it was not possible so we hopped to Lisbon instead. We had a lovely time, just wandering around and finding quirky places to be. The food is fantastic, and there is something different to see and do round every corner. I can’t wait to go back, I must say. We found a very tempting antique shop and also bought lots of tea towels. You can never have too many tea towels – at least the Portuguese seem to agree. I haven’t been able to get them anywhere else!

March 23

This was an exciting month. Birthday celebrations spilled over from February. Our youngest daughter and her husband took us to Amsterdam for a weekend. I had never been before and it was fabulous. We went to some superb restaurants, we stayed in a super luxurious hotel, and we saw some fantastic architecture. What we didn’t manage however was to see the Vermeer exhibition which was on at the time. completely and utterly sold out. It meant though that we had more time to just enjoy and be. It was a marvellous weekend, and I want to go back to Amsterdam. Maybe when it’s a bit warmer, though. We did find the flower market. Full of plastic flowers. Quite funny. I was taken in at first!

March was full of activity. Our eldest daughter’s husband invited us to come and watch him participate in a Charity boxing match in Manchester. Boxing! We were well and truly out of our comfort zones at the very thought of this, but decided to make a weekend of it. I have written at length about the experience previously, but suffice it to say here that we were very proud of him. He did extremely well in the circumstances (turned out he had a broken rib) and raised a lot of money for the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. The whole event was truly an eye opener – and very enjoyable in the end. 

Then we came back to London to encounter a total tragedy. Tomek, my best friend’s brother and my husband’s cousin had suddenly died. I still cannot believe it. Again, I have written about him here and this Christmas brought it all back, I am sure, to all his family as well as us. We didn’t know then that this would be the first funeral we would go to this year.

I am including the above photo because Sister Elizabeth is someone very special to me, since my very early childhood. I have known her since she came to England from Ireland as a postulant at the age of 14, together with Sister Kathleen, to the Convent of the Sisters of the Resurrection, a Polish order who had several houses in England. In 1957 I was sent to one of the nurseries they ran, and that was when I met these lively and lovely young girls with long plaits beneath their white veils. The nursery was a weekly boarding school – shocking to think that now, but at the time many Polish parents sent their children there because for various reasons they could not afford to keep their children at home. I was however extremely unhappy there and I did not stay very long. Sister Elizabeth made a great impression on me, especially as she had to learn Polish. Many years later, when the nursery moved back to Ealing, I sent all three of my children there, precisely because it was a bilingual nursery, and because of its particularly loving atmosphere. What a change from my day!

Sister Elizabeth by then (and sister Kathleen) had become pillars of the Polish Community, and are much loved to this day, for their work with the elderly ( I wonder how many of their erstwhile nursery charges now come into that category?)

April 

Marysia’s 30th birthday. The theme was EXTRA and it certainly was EXTRA’ What a party!

May

44th Wedding Anniversary.

A few years ago we went to Malaga and happened to buy a set of brass canna lilies, which look smashing on our wall above our fireplace. They look like long spoons really, but the flower part or bowl is a wonderful shade of blue green – the patina.

Jacek was fascinated by the technique of making them, and finally persuaded me that we should go to the artist’s studio in Mallorca , so that he could learn how to do it. So for our wedding anniversary this is exactly what we did. The artist, Carlos Tellechea, was more than accommodating, and we had a wonderful time in Soller, spending half a day in his studio. I had a great time just looking at things, while Jacek got down to business. we also managed to stay in the best hotel I have ever been to in my life – if only I could remember its name. An old family villa, it had only seven rooms – but oh, what rooms.

June

More funerals, more packing in Poland, and then some welcome light relief.

Who remembers him in Just an Odd Few? They played at one of our St Augustine’s School dances in Ealing Town Hall. Possibly 1969.

July

I have spent a bit of time doing translations from Polish to English, mainly war documents and diaries, but I was also asked to translate some material for an exhibition about Joseph Conrad, or Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, as he was originally. here is my husband at the exhibition, next to a photo of whom we believe to be his forebear. Who knows. Without dna we cant find the connection.

A little reminder of her amazing funeral. Funny, moving, capricious. Like her, really.

August

August is usually dominated in my mind by my son’s birthday which he often chooses to spend in Cookham.

But I found this photo of his Christening, which I thought I would include here, because many of the people in this photo are no longer with us – but they would all have enjoyed the party.

September 23

What a month this was going to be. I was turning 70 as they say, and wanting to celebrate big time. Lots of people couldn’t come to my big party, though many did.

Several times a year it is nice to meet with friends. Very nice indeed. this group of friends couldn’t come to my party. So we went out together instead. I love this photo as we are all giggling like school girls. We didn’t giggle half as much in those days.

As I said, I wanted a party. and my goodness did I have one. I love surprises, and though the party itself want a surprise, my children ensured that that there were many on the way. It was incredible. My son in law sang. My children had prepared a film collage with various people miming to the Rolling Stones. There were cakes with all my favourite themes. There was a blow up portrait of me in my more dazzling days. My son in law made a speech which made me cry (in a good way.) People came from far and wide, and I felt very honoured and blest. I like being 70.

I received so many thoughtful cards and gifts – thank you again to everyone.

October

Party time over. Now I was beginning to panic. I had an appointment at the eye hospital to see about my cataract – the joys of aging – and was given an appointment in the near future. I am absolutely terrified of anyone approaching my head or face ( think hairdressers, beauticians, dentists, opticians) d here i was going to have to succumb to surgery under local anaesthetic. I begged to be put to sleep but to no avail.

So Jacek in his supreme wisdom said we should go to Valencia for our 44the wedding anniversary to take my mind off things. What a cunning plan. It worked a treat. We first went to Valencia for our honeymoon in 1979. We satyed in a decidedly grotty hotel, but we had a marvellous time – most of it. Valencia was a beautiful city, and it has changed a lot, for the better possibly, but then it was old and decrepit in many ways. After we had decided to go there originally, I thendiscovered that my new husband had arranged to meet some friends there, who were travelling from Poland in their little caravan. No phones. No mobile phones. No semaphore or Morse code. The arrangement was: meet on the steps of the cathedral at 11 am.

I was annoyed. No loving wifely feelings here. We waited on Monday. We waited on Tuesday. We waited on Wednesday. Finally they arrived. Oh what joy. We spent the day with them. We spent the evening with them. Lovely people. They had brought a lot of vodka with them. I don’t drink vodka. We watched the 15th August fireworks with them. They finished the vodka. I asked for some wine. Eventually they got me some. By this time no one was a in a fit state to go anywhere. I was tired and hungry. They were tired and drunk. did I say we were on the beach in their caravan? Our honeymoon hotel was in central Valencia. An hour’s bus ride away. Brainwave. Let’s stay the night in the caravan.

I have never been so cross or uncomfortable before or since! A night to remember.

So when we went to Valencia this year we had to go and find those ominous cathedral steps.

Then I had my cataract done. I behaved very badly, but the operation was successful. I am going to have the other eyed done soon.

And then November. This was the most exhausting but also the most exhilarating month. Some years ago I had promised to do some fundraising for an organisation I volunteer for and I decided to present a concert in one of the most beautiful museums in London, Leighton House.

The delightful pianist John Paul Ekins agreed to play, and the evening was a great success. But my goodness was I tired afterwards,

December.23

A week later I was part of another event at the RAF church of St Clement Danes in the strand. A wonderful concert, Carol of the Bells, back after a few years. This is a high point in the Polish Christmas Calendar. Organised by the Polish Knights of Malta, the money raised goes to help the Ukraine war effort in the sense of supporting the wounded and children and orphans

No more photos.

Christmas this year was wonderful, but is not over yet. We had Christmas Eve in Cookham, Christmas Day in Islington and now we are waiting for the feast of the Magi, so that we can celebrate with Kasia and Terry when they come down from Bolton. 

If you have read this gallop through the year this far, then thank you.

It’s been a good year, sometimes very sad, but mostly very positive. I am looking forward to 2024, and hope you are too.

No resolutions, no plans; just to make the best of things, enjoy opportunities, keep in touch with as many people as possible.

Happy New Year!