Well, 2021 was certainly quite a year for us. Mostly good, but some challenges along the way. But I guess challenges are the Lord's way of showing you just how good the good bits are and how he supports you through the bad bits.
My round up will be sprinkled with pages from this year which will help me remember my story when I look back on this post
I see this, really, as the year we got to boyz. We did collect them on 22nd December in 2020, but they were so lost and timid that we can't really count those first few days. Our lives with them really began this year,
We saw them blossom from timid nervous little kittens into big boys who are so loving, so well behaved (even the vet says he thinks they don't know they are Bengals) so loyal and devoted to us, as we are to them.
It saw them have their little operations in February (which had its own issues as Indy was accidentally cut when being shaved and had to wear the collar of shame) and it saw their first and second stays away from home. The cattery is truly amazing and they were so loved and spoilt there but it was hard for them and for us. We will need to build up stays very gradually as the most we have managed are 3 nights! Just as well we can't go to the USA at the moment.
It saw 100 days of terrifying worry too as one of the foods they were on, thankfully only a supplementary food, was one of three brands recalled over potential links to the dreadful pancytopaenia that was killing so many cats. We became experts on blood and the awful thing was knowing that once cats began showing symptoms of the hideous disease it was often too late to treat and save them. I followed every update and joined a very supportive but heartbreakingly sad facebook group as we watched and waited and prayed for recovery for some, offered prayers for those lost and prayed our boys might be spared. The two weekly then monthly blood tests were an awful ordeal for the boyz as it had to be a jugular sample but even through that they were so very very good. And we waited for the magic 100 days which was believed to be the time they would be out of danger and thankfully, they were clear. My heart goes out to the hundreds and hundreds of people who were not so lucky and who lost their fur babies even after horribly invasive treatments. It has made me paranoid about everything the boys eat.
In September they celebrated their first birthday and they have just enjoyed their first real Christmas
We have enjoyed our local area with lots of beach walks, lots of visits to the forest, to Kingston Lacy and just round and about here and really explored the Stour
We have enjoyed visiting further afield with day trips to Lyme Regis, West Bay, several National Trust properties, Stroud to meet family,Bekonscot to name but a few of our day trips
We enjoyed the different seasons visiting sunflower fields and pumpkin patches
We had our final windows replaced, a new kitchen and Nigel got his dreamed of car and we were fully vaccinated - three times!! And we had trees removed in the garden, painted the fences and planted a Buckley!
and we went away for three days to Wales visiting Portemrion at long last
and four days in Cornwall
Nigel became an official pensioner, getting his bus pass and his state pension ... and there were days we felt our age and days we didn't. Speedway restarted at long last after a whole year away and my art resumed.
We have stayed well, being very very careful about what we do and who we see. We have had outdoor meetings with family and friends and really just kept to ourselves.
And all in all, it's been a great year for us both.
All that remains is for me to wish all of my readers (who must have been bored out of their minds with this post) a very happy New Year's Eve and I hope your 2022 is filled with health and happiness, love and laughter.
Today I am thankful for
2021 - all of it. The ups the downs, the highs, the lows and the people and animals who have filled it.
