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