2012 in review

As another year draws to a close, minds inevitably turn backwards to cast a critical glance over the successes, highlights and happenings of the preceding 12 months. It's also, of course, an opportunity to identify those things that remain on the 'to do' list.

For me, blogging was stuck obstinately on the 'to do', rather than the 'done' list, so here's a quick catch up of 2012, to bring my adventures back in Britain up-to-date.

Monasterio de piedra
(Zaragoza, Spain)

January - the year opens in Zaragoza with a bicycle ride and a visit to magical cascadas (waterfalls)

February - snow fell and out came the black and white film to capture Birmingham's spellbinding industrial past

March - David Hockney takes me back to Saltaire and reminds me of the perennial beauty of the English countryside

April - spring blossomed and Birmingham burst into bloom

May - Brunel's mighty feats of engineering made themselves felt in marvellous Bristol

June - the heat of summer in blazing Spain 

Meet the parents at
Lincoln Cathedral

July - graduation time, family time and another dislocated knee!

August - a welcome return to the Jewellery Quarter

September - getting back on the horse (or learning to drive again)

October - turning 30 in Paris

November - a return to the eternal city

December - Birmingham is at its most magical at Christmas-time