13/3/2025
1st January 2025 was my 79th birthday, so I am now in my 80th year. Instead of waiting till 2026 for a big celebration, I am making this a year of challenges, and comparing notes with my bonusbarnbarn Ellie who is working on her own list of “30 things to do before I am 30.”
Andrea is coming up to 60, and she and Andrew will walk the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage path to celebrate.
Last updated 2/1/2026
My list as of 13/3, with updates in italics:
[1] Revisit Gothenburg as locum chaplaincy for March. Arrived on Thursday (27/2), and am rediscovering my way around. A good crowd in church this morning (2/3), lots of new faces and a few familiar ones. My diary is filling up nicely with things to do while here.
[2] A pilgrimage walk of at least 80 km, possibly from Dieppe to Rouen. 22-27/9, My niece Lucy joined me for the first 3 days walking, when we stayed in Rouen and used the train to and from each day’s walk.
[3] Following [2], Attend Mass at the newly reopened Notre Dame de Paris. 28/9, 8 am. Because I didn’t receive Communion there, I also went to St George’s Anglican Church.
[4] Keep my Inbox below 80 items. Not so easy to file items when away from my computer. New rule: Every time I log in to my computer, reduce Inbox to 80 items. Even so, I don’t always succeed!
[5] Meet the new generation, including two born this January (Harry) and February (Isabella). Also Florence, born 29/6. Elder siblings Ada and Ella celebrated their 3rd birthdays this year. I attended Isabella’s christening in Winchester 31/8, and visited the Sheffield family in August and the Cambridge family in October.
[6] Read 40 books already on my shelves, and discard 40 others. Record titles and reviews on my To Be Read shelf on goodreads.com. 10 read and reviewed by 31 Jan. At this rate I might make it 80 TBR (to be read) in the year. Slowing down now. 16 by the end of February, when I was making slow but steady progress with a 300-page krimi in Swedish, set in Gothenburg.
This challenge looked a bit different in March, as the bookshelves I was browsing were not my own shelves. By the middle of the month, I had finished three books and have two on the go. Two of the three I had finished were donated to St Andrew’s by another locum Chaplain, describing his work among Romani first in Kent, then in Luton. The third, and one of those in progress, were on the shelves in the study in the flat. I picked up the other one from an ad hoc community library in a shed on the island of Vrangö where I had three quarters of an hour to wait for the next boat on a cold wet afternoon.
There was a long gap after the end of March (27 read), but I reached 40 by the end of September. By then I had given away 28 read and 20 unread books, mostly to a book sale at All Saints Blackheath. I ran out of steam and didn’t review the last 5, but I did give away another 32 to Age Concern and St George’s Christmas Fete.
[7] Walk a National Trail. No. Booked Hadrian’s Wall with Ramble Worldwide in July, but had to cancel as I could not renew my travel insurance following an operation. Hoped to finish Pilgrims Way westbound, Otford to Winchester, with Friends of Southwark Cathedral, but they still have two stages left for next year, because of anticipated heat waves. Can I try to finish it off on my own? No, try to walk Hadrian’s Wall in 2025.
[8] Visit a new country. Cyprus in April with McCabe travel. Yes, I got there, but only had one full day to enjoy it before being admitted to hospital for the operation.
[9] Renew English Heritage sub and get my money’s worth (5 visits) out of it. My sub did not expire until June, so I may have got my money’s worth (5 visits) on the initial sub: Whitby Abbey and Eltham Palace last year, Down House 18 January. Also a Members’ Lecture on Zoom about Hadrian’s Wall. Visited Eltham Palace again in May, with a group from St George‘s, and Lullingstone Castle Gardens with Lucy, so just about got my money’s worth. But I don’t think I will in 2025-6, as there aren’t many EH places in the London area you have to pay to visit.
[10] Complete a full year of daily Duolingo lessons. I switched to Swedish in preparation for my visit to Gothenburg, but ran out of lessons and resorted to Daily Reminders. Switched to Greek before trip to Cyprus. Completed Greek, but didn’t learn much, as there’s no speaking exercise, and hardly any writing apart from picking words from a list. So many long words, too. But it helped with the Nicene Creed. Now back with German, which has a lot more lessons.
[11] Visit a museum every month. No. January was the Silk Road Exhibition at Brtish Museum with Imogen, 21 Jan. February was British Library’s exhibition on Medieval Women in their own Words – talk on Medieval Women on Pigrimage on 13 Feb, visit to exhibition on 24 Feb. March in Gothenburg: Apocalypse exhibition at Kunstmuseum and visit to Sjømannsmuseum. April in Cyprus: Ikon and Archaeological Museums at Salamis. Then I gave up.
[12] See a film or play every month (on average)
2 films seen in Jan, The Ultimate Theory of Everything and A Complete Unknown.
Two plays in February. Impropaganda at Greenwich Theatre, Abi directed two of the sketches. Death Mountain: a Murder Mystery Theatre performance in February, directed by myself.
I thought of seeing A Real Pain, about two young men, cousins, on a trip to Poland in memory of their grandmother, at Greenwich Picture House before I left for Sweden, but too busy. So I saw it at Bio Palatset instead. I saw Macbeth at Bio Roy – I think it’s NFT Live (though not really Live as they are showing it twice).
Nothing in April, Ocean in May, The Salt Path in June, nothing in July or August, Inter Alia at NFT live and Good Will Hunting on Netflix in September, nothing in October, then in November Frankenstein in November, and Death and the Maiden at Bromley Little Theatre, with Abi starring. That makes 12.
[13] A walk every week (on average).
[14] Lead 12 walks during the year. No, I had to cancel 3 walks already advertised and did not submit any for the autumn. Now recceing for 2026, but total for the year is lead 2 recce 3, plus 1 with Mick and 4 with Lucy where I was leading one person. See if I can fit in two more recces or walks with friend.
[15] Morning Prayer almost every day unless attending a live service. I have missed a few.
[16] Make 12 cross stitch cards with animal or bird themes. I have given two to members of the Craft Group, had eight ready for the Christmas Fair, and finished another two.
. . .
[And finally] Record my progress by updating this blog every week. More like once a month! Not even that!
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