Every year for as long as I can remember I have posted some sort of review of the year this has taken many forms over the years but the one thing in common is that I normally pluck out the details from the previous entries I have made over the last twelve months. Looking back at the archives I have posted very little this year so instead I will have to use my memory and check back on any photos that I have taken over this year.

I did not set myself any goals or challenges for 2012 and wonder if this was a bad idea as sometimes it can be good to have it written down somewhere so that it can prompt you during the year but after ending my 101 things project three years later than planned maybe I needed some time without any goals.

2012 saw me volunteer at the Books For Free store in Carmarthen and it started off well and I met some really nice people while at the store but I soon felt that the rot was creeping in with the certain volunteers having the ear of the lead volunteer and with no clear direction as to where the store was going I handed in my notice at the start of October – I do feel that my time and effort spent at the store was not valued and even with my visits to the store since leaving I can see that nothing has changed.

January 2012 also saw the lost of my nanna, truth be told I was not as close to her as I should have been and don’t really know the reasons for this. As a child I would spend holidays up in Cardigan with her and my aunts but in recent years had only seen her occasionally at family occasions – normally funerals or weddings! I suppose as one of the children of my Great Grandmother her death only a few months after her brother felt like a link to that generation being severed, from a family history point of view those memories and stories have gone for good. The death was something that I had started to create an entry for on here but I just could not find the words to complete it.

Talking of family history I did venture across the border to England to carry out some research on the Whatley family and spent a few days at the Wiltshire Record Office going through records for baptisms, marriages and burials and have started going through all that raw data now and cross checking but time is something that has escaped me this year. During my trip I was also able to visit Stonehenge, somewhere I have always wanted to go and visit but one of those places that have always eluded me as has much of the great places to be found in the United Kingdom.

May saw me elected as a community Councillor in Llangunnor, I had stood for the position back in 2001 when it came down to a vote that I lost by 32. This time no election was held I’m sure this is a sign of the times with so many people lethargic about politics etc. Have to admit that since May I have not managed to change the world or even the community and I suppose this is something that I did not expect to happen overnight but I have learnt a great deal about how the council works.

Around the same time I signed up to be a Tidy Towns Litter Champion and have spent a fair few hours at the weekend picking up litter in the community of Llangunnor, I had hoped to have been a little more visible so that I could promote the work that I am doing and maybe find some others who might take an interest to keep the community clean and tidy.

Took another trip to Snowdon, cheated this time and took the train to the summit but did take some great photos and spent the night in Caernarvon visiting the castle before the journey home.
A lot of my time over the last twelve months has seen me doing research for the project that I spoke about this time last year, basically I am trying to build a resource site about the community of Llangunnor at the moment I have transcribed census records from 1891 – 1911 but have loads more information that needs to be uploaded but it all takes time, I’m hoping to get a lot more information online within the next few months. Over the last twelve months the local press has had a number of articles about sites springing up of Facebook which seem very similar to what I am doing but to date I have not gone to the press regarding Llangunnor Network.

November I decided to grow a beard, it was all part of Movember and a few people in work growing moustaches to raise awareness of cancer. I don’t think I look at good with a moustache so decided to go for the full beard and it was not that bad – it split opinion in work with some people loving it while others hated it.

Again I’m generally happy with how I’ve been managing my finances over the last twelve months there is of course room for improvement and I will need to keep a better control over certain spending. Over the last twelve months I have gained interest of £92.10 which is again up on the 2011 figure of £88.97. Let’s see if I can get over £100 interest next year.

So as I approach midnight my reflection on the past year must come to an end and I will need to look forward to 2013. On the whole 2012 was a good year.