As every year, I am starting my review with Christmas of the previous year:

December

As you may remember from last years review, I had a hip replacement surgery on the 6 December. After a few days in hospital I was sent home. For the next 6 weeks, my best friend was an ice machine, that pumped 20 minutes ice water through a cuff wrapped around my hip and thigh. I started off using it every 2 hours and as time went on I did a bit less, but with the hot weather it was a life saver. Between my ice treatments and daily 3 times exercises and physio there wasn’t much time for a lot of other things. I had chosen December on purpose, knowing it will be quiet at work and therefore a good time for recovery. I am very happy to report that it was a great success and has enhanced my quality of life dramatically. 

Christmas

So Christmas was just a small event, since I couldn’t sit very long. Verna and John got both Covid and therefore Albrecht offered his home for a Christmas meal with Ross, Margaret and myself. Knowing it will probably be the Christmas with Ross where he will be still himself, I really wanted to be there. 

Beach

At the end of January I started some very careful bike rides again. Not that I couldn’t ride my bike, but I was more afraid of being knocked off. As I gained my confidence I hopped more on the bike and enjoyed dips in the ocean.

Of course throughout the year I continued to visit the beach as often as I could, always riding my bike. Often going on longer rides and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Crafting

Well, I already said last year I didn’t craft as much and this year it was even less. With two bigger holidays and all the renovation preparation and also setting it all up again afterwards, I really struggled finding time to craft. Of course I made cards, but not as much as I would have liked. At a craft afternoon with friends I made a macrame bag. I also tried myself with stamping onto fabric. I created a number of bags, that made great useful gifts. In November I had short notice my friends Jude and Jon here for a visit and Jude organised a “resin pouring class” with a few friends. I really liked it and I am sure I will be doing this again. Unfortunately I haven’t done any acrylic pouring all year long, but I have the feeling next year will be a very crafty year again.

East Coast Holidays

Because I wanted to show more images I have put them in a separate post. I also wanted to write more about it, but have run out of time, so please enjoy the images.

East Coast Trip 2023

Renovations

I had already started last year looking into getting my kitchen, bathroom, laundry and toilet redone, but in January I really started to get the ball rolling. I had multiple companies out to look at my house and giving me ideas and quotes. Since I already had a very good idea of what I wanted in my kitchen it was mainly refining it and coming up with a bathroom layout. In February I signed a contract. The next step was to finalise the plans – which was very challenging with my German perfectionism – and selecting all materials, surface etc. I managed to finish everything before I went on my East Coast Holiday.

Given that I couldn’t stay in my house for at least 5 weeks, I decided to get the works started while I am away on holiday, as I didn’t want to stretch my friendships excessively. So it was decided to start mid July to coincide with my holiday to Germany.

The next few months I was busy emptying my kitchen and laundry cabinets, sorting out and packing everything in boxes in my guest room. Meanwhile my new fridge, tiles, vanity, fixtures etc started to arrive. My living room looked like a warehouse. Before I flew out I covered my furniture in all rooms with plastic sheets. The last step was to tape the doors of my bedrooms shut to avoid as much dust as possible.

My renovation company kept me updated with photos and also could ask questions via a Whatsapp group, which was handy. After 3 weeks I came back and visited almost every day my house to see the progress. It took another 3 weeks before I could move back into my house. Unfortunately there were quite a number of hiccups that had to be sorted and fixed and the whole process was rather stressful than exciting, but I am now very happy with the result.

Here some impressions of before, during and after the renovations:

new Kitchen

A special mention goes to my lovely friends Adrian and Alessandro who put up with me while I couldn’t stay in my house. They were such good hosts and I really enjoyed my time there. It was also lovely to have their “kids” around.  Johny and Buster already loved me and used each opportunity to snuggle up with me. Bob, the cat, slowly but surely warmed up to me until one day he finally decided to jump on my lap for some cuddles. I was also spoilt with lots of yummy food and of course we had to play some games.

Germany

Mid July I was off to Germany to visit my family and friends. As always, the visit was packed with seeing relatives and friends and most importantly spending time with my mum. A few highlights were some trips with my friends from my apprenticeship time, a visit to Weimar with two old girl friends, my sister and brother in law big birthday party, celebrating my mum’s 86 birthday, a visit to my friends parents in Ruedesheim and a visit to the Otto Walkes exhibition and of course catching up with family. 

Work

Work has been good and other than taking on some new tasks to assist my boss with company secretarial work it was a rather uneventful year. Probably the only thing worth while mentioning ist that while I was in Germany our company also undertook major renovations and we now all have sit/standing desks and a flash new office. It also meant that I was relocated to another area, that is slightly less affected by the air condition and best of all, further away from the entrance.

Cooking & Baking

I continue to enjoy my Thermomix and with my new kitchen I am getting more adventures. Finally I can try recipes which also need the use of the oven or cook top. Obviously I did have an oven, but it took 30 min to heat up and it was also not cooking/baking evenly. With my cooktop being located in the corner it was just not handy to use. Now it is all perfect and I love cooking and baking. My colleagues have enjoyed numerous cakes I tried on a Sunday and brought to work on Mondays.

Friends

As always I try to spend time with my friends, but the renovations this year have definitely taken up a lot of time. Unfortunately my good friend Ross has declined in health and we (Albrecht and I) could no longer take him with us to our regular dinner and movie outings. However as it was Ross’s biggest fear when he moved into aged care, that he will be forgotten and hence I have made a conscious effort to visit him every week in the aged care facility. He always seems to be happy to see me, even so there is hardly a conversation possible nowadays. It’s a sad reminder, that we have to live now, as we don’t know what is coming.

Even so the year was busy with renovations and two big holidays, I was spending time with my friends over coffees, dinners, game nights, movies, craft sessions etc. Here some impressions:

You probably still wondering why it has taken me so long to get my review finished. Well, in October on short notice my good friends Jude and Jon booked themselves into my guest room for 3.5 weeks in November. While they have plenty of friends in Perth, we still spend a fare bit of time together. In the second week of their visit I got sick with Covid and even with being super careful – it almost felt like I was in “hotel quarantine” again – I passed it on to Jude. Jon thought he got away and went on a camping trip, but he came home with Covid. I needed 2 weeks to recover, while Jon and Jude both had it mild and where rather quickly back to normal.

After 3.5 weeks I dropped them at the airport in the afternoon and I just had enough time to change the bed sheets and do a quick clean of my house before I had to rush to the airport again – on the same day – to collect my next visitor Knut. I knew we only had one week together and therefore we spend most of the week together.

Originally my plan was to use November to prepare for Christmas, with writing my cards, organising presents, write my review of the year and get ready for my next trip to Germany. Somehow I managed to write most of my cards, but I didn’t have time for the review nor to arrange all my presents.

As I wanted to spend Christmas with my mum and family I had arranged with my company, that I can work remotely from Germany in December. So I was all packed and ready to fly out on the 2 December, but the snow chaos in Germany at the same time resulted in my flight being cancelled and rebooked for 2 days later. I made it without further delays two days later to Germany and could still experience the massive amount of snow. Unfortunately the weather has warmed up again and almost all snow has melted away since. It doesn’t look like I will have a white Christmas! Nevertheless it will be a great Christmas with family!

Have a wonderful holiday season, Merry Christmas and have a fabulous and happy New Year!