Friday, 31 December 2010

Where I was 2010

2010 ended as it started - with snow here in East London.

 Wellies in the back garden - January 2010

Footprints on the way to school - November 2010

But in between these two monochrome episodes, there has been sunshine, travel, colour and adventure.  So much more than I expected, in what I considered at first to have been a largely quiet, reflective, undramatic year.

My feet have seen a great deal of London throughout the year.  Sometimes just part of everyday life, and sometimes exploring.

Walking home from the tube - March 2010

Yomping over Hampstead Heath - Mothering Sunday 2010

Colourful scarf and coat, outside school - January 2010 

Shadows at Kew Gardens - April 2010

Shadows and late summer sunshine in Walthamstow Market - September 2010

Tottenham Court Road tube station - September 2010

Greenwich Observatory - October 2010

I made a couple of trips to Oxford to see my family, but not as many as I would have liked.  Our longest trip was over Easter, when I took the children to the fantastic Black Country Museum in Dudley, near Birmingham.

On a coal heap at The Black Country Museum near Birmingham - April 2010

On a pontoon by the edge of Port Meadow in Oxford - April 2010

Oxford shadows - April 2010

We had just two camping trips this year - to Exmoor in May, when we travelled light with great success and wild camping in Sussex, with friends, in July.

Feet and friends around the campfire at breakfast time - Sussex, July 2010

Summer sunshine on the South Coast - Sussex, July 2010

Camping weather - Sussex, July 2010

Pyjamas and crocs - I must be camping - Exmoor, May 2010

Poor nail varnish choice - Exmoor, May 2010

Coffee at dawn - Exmoor, May 2010

And the reason we didn't do so much camping this year was because I decided I wanted a much bigger adventure than usual, in what might well be the only school summer holiday where I don't have to work. 

In July the four of us drove down to the South of France, where we stayed with my parents for two weeks.  Then G flew back to London and I stayed on another week in France before driving to Switzerland with the children for adventure and exploration.  While we were in France we did some very long, demanding hikes with the children - and then made it up to them by letting them swim in the pool for hours at a time.

Walking boots and hiking pole on our long Espinas walk - Tarn-et-Garonne, France, July 2010

A glass of something nice in the evening sun - Arnac, France, August 2010

 Poolside - Arnac, France, July 2010

Trying to keep my toes in the shade - France, August 2010

Much better nail varnish choice - France, August 2010

My trip to Switzerland was the realisation of a very long-held dream.  And happily it exceeded my expectations, and I am currently plotting how I may be able to get back there very soon.  I loved Switzerland.  I found it a little surreal - neither German, French nor Italian but somehow a mixture of all three, plus an essence of something completely Swiss.  I loved the walking signs, the delicious yogurts, the mountains, the lakes, the wood carvings, the efficiency, the politeness, the madness and the flowers.

O and me on the deck of the boat crossing Lake Thun - Switzerland, August 2010

On the platform at Interlaken Ost train station - Interlaken, Switzerland, August 2010

My favourite 'Wanderweg' walk sign - Switzerland, August 2010

Muddy boots and jeans, halfway down Harder Kulm - Switzerland, August 2010

Evening relaxation in our appartment in Interlaken - Switzerland, August 2010

Boots and alpine flowers, high up a mountain - Switzerland, August 2010

On a Postbus - near Brienz, Switzerland, August 2010

Alpine flower - Switzerland, August 2010

I also managed to sneak in a very brief visit to another place I've always wanted to go to - the city of Nancy in Eastern France, near the border with Germany.  A good name for a city I think.  We stopped off there for a night on our drive back from Switzerland to the channel ports.  After the refreshing mountain air of Switzerland, the 40 degree heat that greated us in Nancy was a shock to the system.  But the city was as delightful as its name, and is another place I want to go back to and explore more.

In some much needed shade, under a tree - Nancy, France, August 2010

And the rest of my year was mostly spent at my sewing machine.  I have no photo of my right foot on the pedal, but there are plenty of pictures of me trying to get a good shot of something I've made.

New summer top, with fabric from the V&A - London, June 2010

Sewing with jersey - London, November 2010

It has been an extraordinary year.  A precious year.  A probably never-to-be-repeated year, which I shall always look back on with great delight. 

Happy New Year!

7 comments:

  1. What a lovely round-up of a lovely year. Your summer adventure looked fantastic, I have some relatives in Switzerland, would love to visit one day.

    You have some great outfits!

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  2. That's quite a year!

    I have to be honest, I'm not sorry to leave 2010 behind - at least the second half of it. There have been good bits, of course, but a heck of a lot of sadness and illness as well. Roll on 2011!

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  3. My lord. You do own a lot of shoes.

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  4. Happy New Year to you and yours, Nancy. I always love seeing a recap of your year like only you can do. It's just marvelous. Love the change of your shoes with the seasons. Thinking of you all and still wishing to visit again one of these days.

    Take care!!

    Ann

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  5. happy new year Nancy, hope you have as much fun in it!

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  6. What a fabulous year--and some super pedicures! Best wishes for a very Happy New Year! K x

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  7. Happy New Year to you. It's really lovely to see all these images - and I'm with Coffee Lady, I envy your shoe collection.

    My favourite image is that flower - I think it's an astrantia - one of my favourites. I have one in the front garden but you've seen one growing wild! Brilliant.

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Even though I often do not have the time to reply to everybody, I really appreciate all your comments so much - thank you for taking the time to read my blog and share your thoughts on what I've written.