2021: In Review
2021 was the lost year. The pandemic still going on, hope on the horizon in the form of vaccinations.
January: Head
January began much as December ended, more Zoom meetings with Camera Club and RPS, and more time spent entering salons. There was a virtual work social at the end of the month, and I opted for the chocolate tasting. Some of them were pure unsweetened chocolate that was quite bitter!
January also saw a change of project at work for me – a quick discovery project for a government department around front end technology.
Given the new, more contagious strain of Covid that emerged over Christmas, we decided to no longer shop in person. We switched to doing our food shopping via click and collect, or having it delivered from Morrisons via Amazon. It felt safer!
February: The Caged Key
February saw us both take part in zoom quizzes, some with work, some with band. The PAGB ran some Audio Visual distinctions over zoom which was really interesting – it’s not something we’d have chosen to travel to, but it was something we would take the time to watch from home.
March: Ocean Explorer
We had a couple of days off work for my birthday this month, but we didn’t go far. We did venture out to a local park which is the furthest we’ve been for a while!
April: Forest Glow
The Covid vaccinations got as far as us this month, with Tim having his at the start of the month and Sharon towards the end. Tim also ventured out to the dentist, having not been for over a year. Our old dentist retired during the pandemic, so we moved to one within walking distance of home.
Towards the end of the month we had our busiest virtual day yet – we were joined in a Camera Club twinning event with Hobart in Australia, at the same time as been logged into the YPU Virtual Assembly, where we discovered that we had won the best club overall for this year’s digital only exhibition.
May: Waterfall Moon
May was more of the same that we’ve become used to – this time with added Eurovision. Tim moved onto a new project, this one challenging and working for a high street electrical retailer. New technology to learn!
June: The Magician’s House
June saw us both getting our second Covid jab, but unfortunately saw a deterioration in my dad’s health. He was in and out of hospital before being allowed home with 24×7 care.
July: The Opening
Sadly my dad passed away in July. His funeral coincided with a relaxation of the restrictions around Covid. The funeral was the first time we had seen so many people for over a year.
The government seemed to have got bored of the pandemic and decided to go back to normal and ignore it. Only time will tell if this was the right approach.
August: Two Sugars Please
August gave us the great benefit of the pandemic and the new working from home world – lunch in the garden in the sunshine. We did managed to get out a few times for walks with my mum.
September: Two Butterflies
In September, we agreed to judge our local village show’s photography competition. This was thankfully outside in a marquee, though we did have a parent coughing near us which was a little disconcerting!
We also spent a busy day with people – first at an outdoor antiques fair, and then at an outdoor event for my sister’s birthday.
We managed to get down to Wiltshire to stay with Sharon’s parents for a week – the first time we’d slept away from home since the pandemic started. There were many tests done before we travelled to make sure we were covid free.
October: Barcode Trees
October saw us out at a local park photographing Zombies again. We’d missed it. This time they put on a scare trail on in conjunction with some local scouts.
November: And The Light Illuminates
November we had a slight car disaster. We were due to go out and pick up some click and collect shopping, but the car wouldn’t start – it was completely dead. We ended up calling out the RAC who replaced the battery for us. Turns out the boot wasn’t quite shut, the light was still on (though we couldn’t see it) and as the car hadn’t moved for a couple of weeks, the battery had gone completely flat.
December: Squares
In December we both managed to get our booster jabs in before Christmas. Sharon’s parents came up to stay with us (again with copious testing before travelling!). After much prevarication from the Government, they decided that anyone could mix however they like over Christmas. We opted to reduce contact and stay safe.
I also managed to get my application in for EFIAP/silver this should come through in the middle of 2022. In the meantime, I can try to build up enough acceptances so that I can apply for EFIAP/gold the following year.