It’s been an interesting one, not going to lie. With a new job, a new relationship, very few ‘ Kettle List’ tasks completed, but plenty of life growth occurring, 2025 has been a year of contrasts.
Some months have certainly been more interesting than others, but here is 2025 in pictures – the plan for 2026 is to have an adventure of sorts at least once per month. (Particulary in March/April… I’ll let you know about that soon).
January
The first month of the year is always, for me, the worst of the year. It is cold, dark, and as everyone is skint. they are not keen to come out for events or adventures. Evenings out are even harder to plan.
Having said that, in January 2025 I managed to convince a few people to come out with me.
Early in the month we went to the Bristol Hippodrome to watch ‘and Juliet’. It was a very enjoyable ‘what if’ jukebox musical based on Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. In the play the titular characters of the original story do not die, but go on to live their best (and very nineties song filled) lives.
Would certainly recommend, although it did spoil us for others shows we would go on to see later in the year, that will not make an appearance on this list based on how horrendously bad they were ‘(Now that’s what I call a Musical’ – I’m looking at you; I want my 2 hours back!)
February
2025 saw us attend a lot of concerts too, with one of the earliest in the year being the farewell tour of Kawala. We had first seen the band as a support act to Dodie back in March 2019, and had since seen them every time they had visited Bristol. During Covid we even attended the illicit, ‘under the Cumberland Basin Bridge’, socially distanced gig. Sadly the band have decided to go their separate ways, but at least we got to see them one last time… and there is always Youtube
March
Famously the best month of the year, but not because of my birthday this time.
Han and I went off to London to see the ‘Inside Number 9’ show ‘Stage Fright’. Despite having never done so before Hannah asked if we could wait at the stage door as she is a huge fan of both Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton.
I wasn’t sure where we need to go, or how long we would have to wait, but we miraculously came out of the Wyndham Theatre at the exact spot, putting us at the front of the queue. Han was able to get her ‘Psychoville’ DVD signed, which now has pride of place in the museum of artefacts that is her bedroom.
And because March IS my birthday month, I get an extra picture. (Plus I love this picture, only thing I would change are the random legs on the left. Perhaps I need to have a go at photo editing on my phone before saving pictures)
We joined the Royal West of England Academy Art Gallery with annual membership, so I got to spend my birthday walking around looking at art, drinking coffee and generally having a wonderful chilled out day.
April
In April we attended the Hippodrome, once again, to see the musical that shall not be named (see January!)
The highlight, however, was that I gave my first public talk entitled ‘ A Jaunt around Japan’, It was given to the St George WI, and I received very good feedback. Iris was very keen to try on my kimono, which has inspired me to invest in a few more so that I can give a specific talk on the history and traditions of wearing them.
This year I am hoping to work on getting a few more bookings for talks with other groups, as well as developing my haiku workshops.
May
Apart from being the month of a special birthday in the family, May 2025 saw me fly off to Spain for a week with my Mum and aunt (For aunt read, my mum’s cousin’s wife, which is basically an aunt, right?)
My mum and I developed a style of photos where I am facing away from the camera. We tried to come up with a name for them, but everything just sounded like a sexual inuendo… from behind, a back shot… I may need to work on coming up with a proper name for it, as we did takes loads of them. (oo er!)
June
In June I whisked Fumio off to Cheddar, as he had never been there before. In fact, while I had been there plenty of times, I could not remember ever going into the caves or the museum, so we had an amazing day exploring and discovering new things.
Due to the heat, the caves were the perfect place to wander around on a sunny day.
Writing this now, in January, it feels so strange writing about it being so hot when I am currently freezing cold!
July
The majority of my Summer photos involved either Wallace, Gromit, Norbot or Feathers as 2025 saw the third Gromit Unleashed event. The aim was to complete the list on the app and collect all of the statues in the various locations around the south west.
While I was able to get photos quite easily of the ones that were placed around Bristol, some were located in areas that warranted a full day out.
This Wallace was on the hill above the Bristol Suspension Bridge and was one of 5 I managed to collect on a walk around town on one of the hottest days of the year – you can see how dried out the normally green and vibrant grass is.
August
August was still a month of wandering around looking for Gromits, but it also involved a few other trips.
Firstly our last minute trip to Exmoor Zoo:
We went to this zoo in particular as they have both a Maned Wolf ( one of Hannah’s favourite animals) and a Shoebill ( Ethan’s favourite and possibly one of the coolest birds I have ever seen!)
It was a fantastic day out; we loved how overgrown the place was. The zoo was made for the animals and human guests are an afterthought, just as it should be.
Another trip we took in August was our annual WI day out. This year we went to the Donkey Sanctuary and then on to Sidmouth. This meant that I got to tick off another coast on my “Visit 50 coasts” Kettle List task. I however did not risk getting in the sea.
September
September was an arty month. Not only did we attend both the BS5 and South Bristol Arts trails but we also visited the Zinezilla event for the first time in the Trinity centre.
And September would not be complete without a long drive to the Lake District for us to attend our fourth LICAF: Lakes international Comic Art Festival . Every time I attend I feel inspired to keep writing, and this year was no different as it has inspired me to start a new book, which I am currently working on.
Another highlight of September was that my new partner and I finally agreed that we WERE actually going out rather than just meeting up as friends every month, so my single life is now over and I now have someone to attend all of the arty events my heart will ever desire with me.
(Also drove all the way to Hereford to tick a county off. It was Sunday so everything apart from McDonalds was closed, but I still ticked a county off, and a ‘place of worship’ for my list).
October
Han and I took Harri to Birmingham to see Stage Fright again. Han ended up seeing it about 7 or 8 times in the end, It was certainly an entertaining watch.
October also saw Fumio and I return to to the Royal West of England Academy ( because we have to use those passes we bought on my birthday!). This time there were some pieces that really inspired me to try my hand at art – I’m was debating between watercolour and the paper art that we saw. Either way, I plan to have a go at it.
November
We started the month by attending the Stroud Book Festival. Fumio held a Manga workshop and it was fascinating watching him work with the group; Seeing someone ‘at work’ is always interesting.
Later in the month, sadly, the weather was not with us and my attempts at introducing him to my friends was thwarted by the rain and our unreliable train service. Our theatre trip went on with just the 3 of us. (We have since been able to get together. So together in fact that we were all locked in a room!)
Of course, in terms of relevant to the blog and the Kettle List, the most important happening this month was that I achieved my Green Belt in karate. It is now 2 years since I began learning the martial art, and while nowhere near as flexible and agile as the younger members in the class, I feel I am progressing nicely.
December
I always take lots of pictures in December; there are various carol services and events, plus I obviously had a ‘first Christmas’ this year. But the best bit was hearing Han as she walked with her friend around Longleat’s Winter Light Show. I heard her exclaim that this was the ‘greatest day of my life’ as she got to interact with illuminated Wallace and Gromit’s.
Another bonus was that I was served the greatest hot chocolate have ever tasted. All-in-all a fantastic day out.
Oh, and I randomly popped to Cornwall for a weekend, so that was another county ticked off of my list.
So that was 2025 – very excited moving into 2026, but very aware of how much I need to get done.
Lots to look forward to, even with the pressure of completing a few more tasks, especially as I am now in the final year of the Kettle list. Having said that, I have plenty of ideas for new things to add to a potential 60 x 60 list for next year…
Not sure I will come up with 60 things, but we all know that ‘ finish the Kettle List’ will be on there!