2022: Our Year

This is the yearly roundup post - as I've done almost every year for 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 seems to be skipped as I got to grips with mothering two little ones, and 2015.

What a busy year we've had, after Covid... much did happen, even more almost happened but didn't, life was full here and we travelled again. 

Travels

We started the year with a week in Spain in February - getting back to travelling to sunnier climes in the darkest days of the year felt wonderful. That's how I met Mr. so many years ago, going to Fuerteventura in December! This year, we used an Easyjet flight I had booked before Covid and re-booked many times. All we needed and wanted was a few days in the sun, so I booked the cheapest available destination and got an Airbnb there. And as things sometimes come together, my sister (the van dweller) just happened to be in Spain at the time too and spent the week with us. That was a fantastic treat, as we knew we wouldn't see her in Vienna this year!

With Banksy, my sister's dog

Another summer in Vienna followed - six glorious, hot weeks (temperatures in the high 30's that challenged even me!) - the kids' German took another leap forward, new friends were made and old friendships continued as we met up with my mother's best friends, and members of my family. There are lots of posts on our Vienna trip, starting here. The best time started of course when Mr. joined us for the final few weeks...

My mother's best friends, whom I make sure to see every year

... but, there was also sadness as Fred our beloved dog died very suddenly, a week before Mr.'s arrival. He had to cope with it all by himself, in the empty house; and we had to get to grips with it while far away. It was a heart-wrenching time. 

Goodbye, Fred.

Finally, just a week after returning from Vienna, the kids and me went to Germany for a week with Churchear, a European charity for hard of hearing people. For me it was work, and because Mr. was unable to get the time off, the kids came along - they had a great time, though for me it was a lot of work! Definitely a learning point for next time, I need Mr. to come along.

Visiting the Wartburg

Faith

This Easter, Mr. was officially received into the Catholic Church, was confirmed and received his first Holy Eucharist. A very special moment for us all!

Kids Activities

Of course the kids have been busy. We've continued with the Christian home ed co-op where we are building wonderful and strong community ties, deep friendships that I hope will last for years to come. The kids are sporty, too: gymnastics continues, and after the summer N(8) began to play football and as a family we all now do karate together!

Since Cody the dog joined our family in late September, we've also been going out into the nature reserve behind our house much more regularly. We used to visit the tadpole pond there during lockdown, but hadn't really explored the rest of the area, which we are now enjoying very much! And we are able to watch the seasons change as we walk, using the time to have deep conversations as well.

Of course it's not just the nature reserve behind our house, though that's the most convenient - Cody makes us go find new places, forests, beaches... he's a joy to have.

Tadpole pond iced over!

The Move that Wasn't

We went to Vienna halfway through the house buying and selling process: lawyers were completing searches, I had decluttered quite a bit and was thinking about the practicalities and boxes... and then, a week into our time in Vienna, the buyers pulled out and the sellers followed suit.

It was clear as day, so sudden and so final: this move was not to be.

We withdrew the house from sale and took some time to think. The reasons we need to make a move haven't changed - Mr's parents are still half an hour's drive away, and while there isn't a crisis at the moment, they will need support in the coming years. But of course we couldn't know, in the summer, just how much turmoil in the economy was to come: and because we had already arranged a re-mortgage in anticipation of the move, we locked in an interest rate in the summer that was several percentage points lower than we would have had in November, which is when we would have had to renew our mortage anyway. So I look at this whole exercise as God's way of blessing our finances! And preventing us from making a huge mistake. As it's become a very cold winter this December, I am immensely grateful that we are in a comfortable, heated home that we love - as opposed to a total fixer-upper that didn't even have a boiler or radiators!

We count our blessings. The house we are in was never the problem: we love it, Mr. can cycle to work, everything's on our doorstep: from Bristol city to the nature reserve behind our house, several beautiful estates, a wonderful home ed community. But, Mr.'s parents. 

So while we have stopped looking at the moment - partly also due to the housing crash it seems safest to just sit it out for now - there is likely a move to come eventually. Hopefully by then, my in-laws will be open to moving in together (with a separate annex for them) so we can eliminate the distance and support them as they age, as well as being able to afford a good-size place together. Perhaps not in Bristol, of course, that's outside our budget; but we do love South Wales and are still open to that, if the in-laws will agree to that. Or the Forest of Dean, or even the Weston area. It all depends, really, on Mr.'s job and how soon we need to get a move on as dictated by my in-laws' needs. Commuting would be very difficult, costly and time consuming so we'd really prefer to avoid that.

The Van - less a business, more a passion

When we got our van just before the summer, we were full of plans for renting it out and making an income from that. Turns out there's a lot of red tape, insurance worries, and time investiment to market it which we just haven't been able to do. I posted about it on various social media accounts, but it all amounted to just one hire this year. 

Meanwhile, we have used it occasionally to get away spontaneously - it's a great blessing to be able to do that. Though perhaps not really sustainable, as we still face the costs of insuring it for commercial hire! So while we enjoy it very much, this coming year we've got to get a move on with hiring it out more.

And so we look forward to 2023 - hopefully another busy year, we've already booked a winter holiday to Spain again, Spring Harvest have booked me again for April, and summer in Vienna is all booked. Bring it on!