Arnie Skelton

Highlights of the year?

- Nathan being accepted into Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service

- David getting a new job with a firm of Manchester solicitors

- Two fab holidays in Barbados (the second won by entering our customer satisfaction survey form at the end of the first holiday!!)

- Seeing the best American Football live game ever, in October, at the Wembley Bowl

- achieving one of my ‘50 things to do….’ by seeing the West coast of Ireland, at Galway Bay

- Rocking to Eddie and the Hotrods with about 50 other people, in Sheffield and Bury

- surviving a massive thunderstorm, including pretty scary lightning, camping out overnight on the Cumbrian Fells, as part of our annual ‘Sunshine Walk’ - hah!

- attending a Ukranian wedding, with all the traditional trimmings (and dancing!)

- spending a long weekend in Amsterdam, on a NLP course, but still managing to enjoy the city

- running a ‘Touching the Void’ party for all those going on this year’s sunshine walk

- seeing Johnnie Walker, Stevie Winwood, the Eagles and Santana live, and the stage shows of ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Hairspray’ in London

- seeing Man U just beat Hull 4-3, live, at Old Trafford - and, as David and I were standing in the restaurant area before the game, having a member of staff walk by, within touching distance, carrying the Champions League trophy…!

- a great trip to Whitby for the weekend, with three women (!), and a fish and chip meal to die for…

- going to the town I grew up in - Whitehaven, in Cubria - to see……Status Quo live.  That WAS an experience - the town has never had a gig that big..!

- a fabuous wedding (Karen and Derek) in Majorca; wonderful friends, wonderful weather, and a tremendous venue.  Perhaps the less said about the evening’s entertainment the better - but suffice it to say that the Abba fans (including of course, yours truly) gave an impromptu rendition of the musical highlights from ‘Mamma Mia’….or so I’m told….

- a terrific 50th birthday party for a friend, Julie, which was celebrated on a canal boat for 3 hours, including a cruise along the Bridgewater Canal and a full 3-course Sunday lunch.  Terrific!

- helping (?!?) Caroline in her first year as ‘Allotment Virgin’……if you remember Penelope Keith in ‘The Good Life’, then you get the picture.  Product count at the end of the season: a reasonable crop of spuds, about 30 pea pods, about 5lbs of runner beans, 4 strawberries, and that’s about it….maybe next year (she’ll give it up..!)

I enjoyed that, looking back: it’s been a great year, with lots of happy memories.  There have been sad times, too, but for me life has been far happier than sad, and that’s got to be good….

For example, as I’ve been writing, this has been the previous hour or two’s experience. We’ve just finished decorating the tree - well at least all 4 of us in the same room - one doing and three offering comments. (This year David has been in charge of the decorations).  Caroline has then gone off to change for a hair appointment, and come back down and had a duck fit because David has used the tree’s snow spray to ‘decorate’ the study patio windows.  She’s apoplectic, he’s in the bath!!  He’s since come down and good naturedly cleaned it all off, while I’ve watch Sale lose a cliffhanger of a match at Bath.  As I’m writing this, I can now hear David and Nathan chatting and laughing in the other room….really, these are the best memories of all…