12 Things for 2020

New Year greetings! There are many people who are heralding a new decade as well, though it may be argued that the decade does not start until 2021, but I will save my pedantry for another day. 🙂 I recently reported on the reasonable success that I had with goals [if that is what they were] for 2019. Today I want to “go public” with my 12 Things for 2020 …

Here is the list:

1. get a new bed
2. participate in a gig
3. no socks for summer (Jun/Jul/Aug)
4. do a one-day brewing experience
5. set up a photography website
6. try archery
7. swim in Cotswold lakes
8. master making cookies
9. attend a rugby match
10. have a dairy-free month
11. make sausages
12. sample every Chinese take-away in Malvern

Some notes:

1. This is something we have talked about for a while. A good night’s sleep is quite a priority, IMHO. By putting this on my list, I am [somewhat] committed to taking action.
2. Late last year I started taking lessons in playing bass guitar. If I can develop some proficiency, I have the opportunity to play with some other musicians.
3. I like being barefoot and often wear sandals and have been on vacation taking no “real” shoes at all. I thought that it would be interesting to see whether I’d enjoy extending the habit through the summer. Of course, I might need to make exceptions for any formal events.
4. I enjoy drinking beer and liked visiting a brewery. So, when I discovered that it is possible to have a day-long visit that includes participation in the brewing process, I was interested. Samples of product are also available.
5. For some time, I have had an idea for a website offering a number of services to amateur photographers. Most of the planning is done. This year, I must make it happen.
6. A few years ago, I went on an afternoon class that was an archery “taster” session. I really enjoyed it and found that I had the “knack” – i.e. I actually hit the target occasionally. I want to investigate this further and there is a local club that I can contact.
7. The last couple of summers I have enjoyed “wild swimming” in some local rivers and made a few friends who also participate. There are some lakes, about an hour from my house, that I am told are worth visiting.
8. Last year I made some cookies from scratch for the first time. The results were very satisfactory, but I am sure that I can do better. My goal is to develop the technique/recipe to reproducibly make cookies the way I like them.
9. I am not really a fan of sport in general. What I have seen of football [soccer] games seems very unexciting and the very unsporting attitude of fans is, IMHO, deplorable. In the area where I live, rugby is quite popular and the game seems more exciting. I have watched a match on TV, but now want to go to an actual match in real life.
10. In 2019, one of my Things was to have a dairy-free month. I successfully executed this one, but the experiment was marred by my having a cold. I wanted to ascertain whether my catarrh level was reduced by not having dairy and the cold masked that. So, I decided to re-run that one.
11. I am a big fan of English-style sausages and prefer the ones made by a butcher instead of the mass-produced product. My local butcher is closing down, as people seem to think that cheaper food from supermarkets is a better option. So, I decided to have a go at making my own sausages. I have purchased a kit …
12. We do not get take-away food very often. I quite like Chinese food. There is much debate about which Chinese take-away in my home town is best. I plan to do definitive research. There are, I believe, just nine places, so I only need to sample about one per month.

I will report back on my progress later in the year. I noticed that, although I had no intention to do so, none of this list are things that span the whole year. Last year there were a few that I could not check off until the end of the year because they related to my ongoing behavior. I may think of an additional Thing [#13] and update my list – as I am re-running one, this will make sense.