2022 Recap

 Another year of Covid, but still good outweighed the bad

Good

• retired in August
  
• a granddaughter in September
  
• a trip to Munich after Oktoberfest
• tulip picking at Holland Ridge farm
• a new tax man
  
• viewing NYC parade of ships (Fleet week)
  
• sumo tournaments
• Le Tour
• consistent 5 days a week exercise routine post retirement
  
• Foraging class at the Conference House as a BD gift
• trips to Conference House and Mt. Loretto parks
• get together with friends (K&M)
• get together with a cousin and his wife (J&Y)
• touched base with people from past workplaces.
  
• expanded take out (sushi, ramen, Chinese, shake shack)
• trips to Keyport Fishery
• 42 garlic bulbs harvested
• seeing seals off the Staten Island's coast with friends (G&D)
  

Bad

• Continued Covid
• People not wearing masks
• Uncle in Michigan aging and getting lost
• Ukraine war
  
• Volunteering postponed
• Supreme Court tossing out precedent (Roe v Wade)
  
• a trip to Michigan to sort out an Uncle's single wide trailer
• Spotted Lantern flies
  
• the economy
  

Fixed/Made/Improved

• small metal shelf under basement stairs
• replaced dryer control panel face-plate
• replaced kitchen sink spray hose
• re-glued 2 dining room chair legs
• extended life of backyard gate
  
• new toilet fill valves and flappers up and down
• kitchen faucet seals replaced
• bottle opener from railroad spike
• made a gallon of mead (just OK, maybe it will improve with age)
• made a 2'x2' soil screener
• made a small wood shelf
• cleaned and lubricated a bathroom vent fan motor
• created a gingerbread house, with just simple royal icing decorations
• made broom attachment for a Scott's garden handle
• made another carpenter bee trap
• re-soldered distortion box wires
• installed guard for table saw
• cleaned and repainted Japanese Lanterns
• fixed an old white-noise sleep bear
• made a personal fan using a box fan
• refinished BBQ grill handle and BBQ table top
• ash basket for grill, easier to clean out ash prior to each use
  
• planted 2 new peony(dwarf and blueish) and tulips
  

Songs Learnt

• Black coffee, Julie London
• a  few Grateful Dead songs
• Carpe diem, Aldebert
  
• Two of us, When I'm 64, Yellow Submarine, Beatles
• Miles Beyond, Mahavishnu Orchestra
• Josie, Steely Dan
• Caught in a dream, Be my Lover, Alice Coopoer
  

 

2022 Books

 This year there were some new characters and a new series to read, the Ian Fleming James Bond collection.

 Mr. Croft and Mr. Bude(real name Ernest Carpenter Elmore) were crime writers in the early 1900s and it is interesting to compare how investigations were done in the old days, in books anyway.

Most of the books this year were murder mysteries/investigations and for the most part were set in Italy (17 of 39 by authors Donna Leon, Andrea Camilleri andAntonio Manzini). 

I believe I read Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene again this year, though I did not write it down. It may have been over the summer. If I did it will have been the 13th reading.

1.     Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman

2.     The Talent of Mr. Varge, Alexander McCall Smith (AMS)

3.     Drawing Conclusions, Donna Leon (DL), Inspector Guido Brunetti

4.     Full Dark House, Christopher Fowler, A Peculiar Crimes Unit Novel

5.     The Seagull, Ann Cleaves

6.     Falling in love, DL

7.     The Wings of the Sphinx, Andrea Camilleri (AC), Inspector Montalbano

8.     The Hog’s Back Mystery, Freeman Wills Croft, Inspector French

9.     Black Diamond, Martin Walker (MW)

10.  The Track of Sand, AC

11.  Trace Elements, DL

12.  Potters Field, AC

13.  The Devil’s Cave, MW

14.  Adams Rib, Antonio Manzini (AM), Inspector Rocco Schiavone, pot smoking inspector based on Inspector Montalbano

15.  Scarlet Fever, Rita Mae Brown, DNF

16.  Out of Season, AM

17.  Aunt Poldi and the Lost Madonna, Mario Giordano (MG)

18.  Dance of the Seagull, AC

19.  Upstream, Dan Heath

20.  Angela’s Smile, AC

21.  The Sussex Downs Murder, John Bude, 1930s novel

22.  Casino Royale, Ian Fleming (IF)

23.  Live and Let Die, IF

24.  Transience Destiny, DL

25.  A Voice in the Night, AC

26.  Moonraker, IF

27.  Pyramid of Mud, AC

28.  Death of Sea, AC

29.  Hello Everyone Again, Gail’s book

30.  The Overnight Kidnapping, AC

31.  Diamonds are Forever, IF

32.  The Resistance Man, MW

33.  From Russia with Love, IF

34.  We Took to the Woods, L. D. Rich, book from Allie

35.  Unexplained Deaths, Bruce Goldfarb, about Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962) and her crime scene dioramas

36.  Sumo, David Benjamin

37.  Monsieur Pamplemousses, Michael Bond, first book in the series

38.  The Other End of the Line, AC

39.  Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories, AC

2021 Recap

 2021 was another year of Pod living.  Here are the highlights.

Good

• Got vaccinated
• Nice weather walks 
• Met friends in the Park for food and drink
  
• Cousins gathering in July, mostly outside
  
• The Eldest in for a visit in July
  
• Paella with friends (K&M)
• Seal viewing with friends (G&D)
  
• Grew Celeriac, though they were quite small
• Acquired a 4 piece drum kit
• Re-watched Poirot series 
• Had a good Tomato crop, plum and heirloom
• Le Tour
• Sumo tournaments
• Worked from home
• Read some good books
• Takeout (Brothers Pizza, Forest Thai, Keyport Fishery)
  

Bad

• Attempted Coup
• COVID
• Voter Suppression
• Stop the Steal Lunatics
  
• Mushroom log present did not produce mushrooms
• needed 2 caps
• Garlic crop was disappointing

Fixed/Improved/Made

• Rewired silver desk lamp
• Installed an entryway hand rail to support aging in place
• Replaced Volvo drivers seat side panel
• Boot jack improvements
• Replaced nook crawlspace entry hatch
• Attic clean out 
• made a carpenter bee trap, caught 2
• new Big Green Egg gasket
• Garage side window, frame fixed, window pane re-seated and painted
• power washed driveways
• Repainted toy box
• Dryer control panel adjustment
  
• Added a few hidden hangers to north side gutters while cleaning
• planted English Bluebells, Dwarf Iris, Snowdrops and Grecian Windflowers
• fixed yard gate
• added new towel bar to master bath
• Re-soldered Temperature gun battery clip
• Made a work light on a height adjustable stand from stuff lying around
• Modified another book to have a storage compartment
• Primed office ceiling patches
• Bacon
  

Interesting

• 5 Things that made me Podcast, these are mine
  

1.     1972 – 1992: The Farm
2.     Craftsman Toolbox circa 1976
3.     Univox Les Paul/Fender Twin Reverb amplifier 1977/78?
4.     Marriage June 2, 1984
5.     December 1995 – November 2018: Lump 1963 Land Rover IIA 5 door

• Secret life of "things" videos, by Tim Hunkin. How things work cars, radios, electric components.
• What we do in the Shadows, TV show about 4 Vampires living in Staten Island

2021 Books

 This year I finished the last of the Maigret books, finished the last 2 Raymond Chandler books and this summer I reread Travels with my Aunt for the 12th time. Way fewer books read this year than last, I think the 16 Maigret books last year helped with the numbers, they are on the short side.

1. The Little Sister, Raymond Chandler
2. Still Here, Elaine Stritch
   
3. A Well Timed Murder, Tracee de Hahn
4. The Shape of Water, Andrea Camilleri (AC)
5. Taste for Vengeance, Martin Walker (MW)
6. Telling Tales, Anne Cleeves
7. Hidden Depths, Anne Cleeves
8. The Sneak Thief, AC
9. Aunti Poldi and the Handsome Antonio, Mario Giordano
10. Odessa Sea, Clive Cussler
11. Silent Voices, Ann Cleeves
12. Excursion to Tindari, AC
13. Maigret's Mad Woman, Georges Simenon (GS)
    
14. Sherlock Holmes, The Valley of Fear, A. C. Doyle
15. The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
16. Maigret and the Informer, GS
17. The Girl in the Castle Well, MW
18. Maigret and Monsiour Charles, GS
19. Rat King, Michael Dibdin
20. Dressed for Death, Donna Leon (DL)
21. Bruno Cheif of Police, MW
22. Aqua Alta, DL
23. The Old Success, Martha Grimes
24. Travels with my Aunt, Grahame Greene
25. Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, Sax Rohmer First of many, 1913
26. The Death of Faith, DL
27. The Scent of the Night, AC
28. The Dark Vineyard, MW
29. A Nobel Radiance, DL
30. Rounding the Mark, AC
31. Doctored Evidence, DL
32. Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie
33. The Patience of the Spider, AC
34. A Question of Belief, DL
35. A Crowded Grave, MW
36. Mystery in the Channel, Freeman Wills Croft