Review of 2013

Previously: review of 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, here is the summary of my blog posts 2013… as ever please note this is only to help me remember things I really don’t know why anyone else would be interested:

MOVIES (cinema)

• Jan: Jack Reacher
  
• March: Arbitrage

RESTAURANTS, blogged about (I don’t blog about every restaurant anymore)…

• March: BiBi Cantina
  

BOOKS read this year….

• Jan: David Baldacci “Hour Game”
• Jan: Denis Avey “The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz”
  
• March: Stuart MacBride “Dark Blood”
• March: Stuart Woods “Lucid Intervals”
• April: Stuart Woods “Bel-Air Dead”
• April: Stuart Woods “Son of Stone”
• June: Stuart Woods “DC Dead”
• October: Peter May “The Blackhouse”

Holidays…

• June: Isle of Lewis
• November: Crieff Hydro

Other Highlights:

• April: Son
• July: Started Cycling to Work
• Sept: Lewis Dedication

Running Totals:

• 2009 – 23 books – 6 Movies – 4 gigs
• 2010 – 33 books – 13 Movies – 10 gigs – 6 restaurants – 4 holidays
• 2011 – 18 books – 2 Movies – 3 gigs – 1 restaurants – 3 holidays
• 2012 – 16 books – 7 Movies – 3 gigs – 3 restaurants – 4 holidays
• 2013 – 8 books – 2 Movies – 0 gigs – 1 restaurant – 2 holidays – Plus 1 son who is wonderful!

Books: Peter May “The Blackhouse”

Still trying to catch up on stuff I should have posted last year, I read this around August / September time.  My reading habits have changed a lot with the birth of Lewis.  The times when I used to read have been taken over by other more important things meaning for now I just wont be getting through as many as I used to.

That said I picked up this murder mystery for the obvious reason that it was set on the Island of Lewis a place I have a lot of connection with and have some knowledge of.  The story opens with a murder in a small village on the island, and the Police computers assign the case to DS Fin MacLeod currently in Edinburgh but originally from this village (coincidence?) because the murder resembles a case in Edinburgh he is already working on.

So Fin finds himself back on the island he left 20 years before and had never intended to return to.  The book then starts to switch between the present day investigation and Fin’s past growing up on Lewis with the two stories gradually coming together with many twists and surprises along the way.

I really enjoyed this story and the characters involved.  Peter May’s description of the scenery and the ways of life on the island ring true with me and brought the place itself to life as an integral part of the plot.  This is the first book in a trilogy of this character and I look forward to reading the others.

Catch up (part 3)

Lewis attended his first book signing…

Julia Donaldson book signing

children’s books have become a big part of our life – usually reading 4 books to Lewis each night.  Toddle Waddle is always the last book and Lewis seems to take it in like it is some kind of religious creed which is so important to his future that he must strive to understand it and take it all in.

It wasn’t till we went to this signing by Julia Donaldson that I actually realised how many of the books we read to Lewis and look forward to reading to him all come form this one author.  I had heard of the The Gruffalo before Lewis came along but never had cause to read it – its a really nice wee story.  And the first time I read the snail and the whale I totally choked up.

I look forward to reading these same books for the next few years as there will always be something in the story or illustrations to talk to Lewis about.  Whether he ever appreciates a few of them being signed by the author, only time will tell.

Catch up (part 2)

November 18-22nd

We went for a short break to Crieff Hydro, our first time there and wont be our last.

crieff hydro

High Tea at crieff hydro

crieff hydro

Lewis in a ball pool

crieff hydro

Lewis underwatter at Crieff Hydro

 

Catch up (part 1)

No excuses, I’ve simply not got around to blogging much but there might just be time to catchup before the end of the year….

In July  (9th – 16th)  we took young Lewis to the Isle of Lewis…

	Lewis’s first filght
	Lewis Meets a Dog – Ben
	Lewis visits one of the many beaches on Lewis.

Also, in July – partly due to the great weather and partly because my Aunt started nagging me about cholesterol and heart disease – I started Cycling to work.  At first only  three days a week but it didn’t take long to get up to 5 days. It did get hard when the clocks change and it got colder but still going and really enjoying it.

September (8th) we Dedicated Lewis to God during a service at St Silas, asking Ali and Alison (we didn’t deliberately choose them because they had similar names)…

	Lewis’s dedication
	family
	cake.

November 3rd  Lewis’s first fancy dress (Halloween) party..

Also in November Danar and I celebrated a significant decimal anniversary – 1000 days married!  We went to one of our favourite restaurants, the wonderful Bibi’s Cantina.

more to come…