Etc,  Life

2025 – A Review

January 10, 2026 / 44 Comments

Apologies for the recent silence. Between urgent doctors’ and hospital appointments (not for me) and the arrival of a new family member, the past couple of months have been quite busy.

​New Family Member

New family member, you say? Yes! Meet Teddy!

A tuxedo kitten called Teddy.

I wasn’t looking for another cat, but the Cat Distribution System had other ideas! This poor little tuxedo kitten appeared from nowhere and moved himself into one of the hedgehog houses in the back garden (I can only assume a hedgehog wasn’t already living in there!). He wouldn’t let us near him, but he would sit on the windowsill watching Sugar & Silky.

We finally managed to catch the kitten, and after a sleepover at the vets for blood tests, etc., he came home; however, he is currently being isolated from the other two cats. He was half the weight he should be for a kitten of his age, and so we’re having to fatten him up so he’s big enough to be neutered and have more tests just to make sure he’s not carrying anything which may be detrimental to my two senior cats.

For a stray kitten, it didn’t take him long to become a cuddly cat. He’s very playful, too.

Concerts etc

I attended a total of 9 concerts in 2025, as well as a few other events throughout the year. It was a pretty full-on year! I began the year with back-to-back concerts in February – James Blunt in Manchester for his “Back to Bedlam” 20th Anniversary tour (a fantastic show to start the year!), followed by John Barrowman at my local theatre the following night.

James Blunt at Manchester Arena.
James Blunt at Manchester Arena.

In April, I saw Michael Ball & Alfie Boe in Manchester, and Swedish rock band Ghost a couple of weeks later at the same venue.

May was a busy month with 3 concerts in total – Gary Barlow in Wolverhampton (the best show of the year!), then a couple of weeks later, back-to-back concerts in Liverpool with Olly Murs and Bryan Adams (where we got fist bumps from Bryan!).

Gary Barlow at The Halls, Wolverhampton.

In June, I was back in Manchester to see Robbie Williams for my birthday (he always puts on a brilliant show!). Then in July, it was down to Cardiff to see Alice Cooper in concert (which is where we were when we heard the sad news about Ozzy Osborne’s death).

In September, I travelled down to London to see magicians Penn & Teller at The Palladium for their 50th anniversary show. Funnily enough, I actually bumped into Penn the next day while getting fish & chips, and he was lovely! The following week, I went to Birmingham to see former F1 drivers Mika Hakkinen & David Coulthard discuss their careers (I was also lucky enough to meet them).

Out & About

With the concerts & events being in various cities around the UK, I made the most of my time out & about. Four of the concerts were in Manchester, so I got to see more of the city’s street art. I also took my niece for a trip, and we visited CuppaPug – The Pug Cafe, which was a bit of a change from my cat cafe visits.

Pugs!
Pugs at CuppaPug.

Whilst in Liverpool for a couple of concerts (and again for a trip with my niece), we ended up back at my favourite cafe there – the Cat Cafe. It’s always a joy to spend time there, despite now having 3 cats of my own.

The entrance to Charles Dickens Museum.

In London, I visited the Charles Dickens Museum and The Postal Museum, as well as some wonderful stationery shops for a few treats. It was my first time there in a few years, but I’m hoping to go back again soon.

Penpals & Snail Mail

A stack of envelopes with Christmas stamps on.

There’s nothing quite like sending and receiving snail mail. For once, I kept track of the letters, postcards and cards which I received in 2025 (and I am continuing to do that this year). In total, I received 81 letters, cards & postcards, and I sent 97. Some recipients were friends & family, others were penpals, and some were members of a Facebook group I’m in where we send each other mail every now and then.

Postage costs are getting evermore expensive, but I think it’s a worthwhile hobby.

The Garden

The garden did really well this year. There was one point in July when the heat nearly killed some of my beloved dahlias, but, thankfully, they bounced back pretty quickly once we’d had some rain.

A bee in flight by dahlias.
A bee in flight by dahlias – 22nd August 2025.

The bees, butterflies and ladybirds seemed to have a great time in the garden, too. I love watching them flitter around the garden. I’m also still enjoying watching our feathered friends on the bird feeder camera.

————

2026 is here already. I only have two concerts lined up so far, but I’m hoping to do a bit more travelling instead.

Happy New Year!

A forty-something year old blogger from the hills of Mid Wales.

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