Farewell to 2021 – in photos

As we say goodbye to 2021 and look towards a new year, I wanted to share our experience of 2021 with you – family life, food, and plenty of fun.

A brief word on the pandemic

When I wrote about the craziness of 2020 this time last year, little did I expect that we would be in the midst of Omicron, with the potential for increased Covid measures just around the corner. We have fortunately once again managed to avoid Covid, although I sadly personally know of more people who have lost loved ones to it. Thanks to the scientists who have vaccinated and boosted us, and offered us some protection against the pandemic.

Home school

2021 started off pretty horrifyingly for any parent with school closures across the country for over two months, and my first blog posts of the year all mentioned how we were doing our best to cope. In retrospect, I can see the benefits of getting such an insight into Ioan’s school day as it has helped me to understand how he learns and what he learns. But god I hope we don’t see any more home schooling for 2022.

We started a new habit of feeding the local squirrels on the way home from school, which Ioan loves:

And the odd ice cream on the way home, when weather allows:

Living with lockdown

We did manage to develop some of our skills during lockdown, alongside ‘teaching’, and ‘baking’ (the inevitable sourdough):

I even braved ‘hairdressing’ with Ioan, although Andrew would not let me lose on his barnet!

Restaurants at home

Following on from several restaurant boxes in 2020, we followed up with a few in 2021, including a Sri Lankan feast:

Another Hawksmoor at Home:

Dishoom bacon naans:

Made in Oldstead:

Real life restaurants

The pleasures of real life in person socialising became a reality again as lockdown lifted and Covid rates settled down. In the early days my girl friends and I went wine tasting in Kent:

Andrew and I went to Brindisa for my birthday brunch celebration:

I went out with work colleagues to Sushi Samba:

My friend Lara and I had a lovely posh dinner out at Aizle in Edinburgh when we were on holiday there:

Andrew and I had an utterly gluttonous and joyous treat of a meal at Le Gavroche with our friends Jo and Billy:

 

Let me tell you that the soufflé suissesse is the best thing I have ever eaten in my life and I still dream about it:

The girls and I went to Angela Hartnett’s Murano for an Italian feast:

Back to work

Not only did I return to work at the flagship 22 Bishopsgate office in the centre of London:

But I also returned to Paris, which was my first time abroad since 2019. Even the Eurostar was a wonderful novelty:

And I promise that really is the Eiffel Tower in the background:

Holidays

Taking a break from London and going on holiday was a great pleasure for us, even though we didn’t go too far afield. We took advantage of plenty of trips to Mum’s caravan in Sussex:

And visiting Andrew’s family in Wales and doing day trips from there:

Plus a trip up to Edinburgh to visit friends, which was just wonderful.

Kittens

Losing Alfie at the end of 2020 and Betty at the start of this year was so sad for us, but we were delighted to welcome Star into our lives in March:

And Biscuit in July:

The two are firm friends, and bring us such joy. We’ll never forget Henry, Alfie, Betty … and even Trampy, but Star and Biscuit are wonderful new members of the family.

Family

And speaking of family, the greatest pleasure of the year has been spending time with ours. Ioan has enjoyed all the cuddles, with Mum:

With Uncle Jason:

And with Mamgu and Grandad:

Here’s hoping that 2022 will not keep us away from family and friends. I wish you all the best for 2022 and beyond.