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| Without doubt the best bit of 2014 for me |
Well there we have it, 2014 is (almost) over and done with and all that's left is to do now is to watch Jools Holland's Hootenanny on BBC 2 - if I can stay awake that long!
So, 2014. What a year - moving house and a new arrival to the family.
The birth of our daughter, Isabelle, has been a huge change for both of us; it's made us (well me!) less selfish and given us something to nurture, support and love in a way that neither of us had expected or could understand before having her. It's been seriously tough at points but pretty bloody amazing all told and we've started taking her out walking with us (the Old Man of Storr was her first real mountain, what a place to start) and next year have some camping planned already!
Izzy has given Donna the inspiration to set up her own photography business,
IsabelleFearne.com, which is doing great things already - who knows what the future will hold there.
As for walking, mountaineering and all that's outdoors there's been less of that this year than in recent years but I guess that's understandable and hasn't dulled the edge for me, I still want to get out as much as possible and in 2015 we'll have plenty of time to do that as a family.
Notable moments of 2014 (aside from Isabelle of course) were my week with Frontier Bushcraft on the Elementary Bushcraft course (read about that
here) - I improved, learnt and discovered a huge amount of knowledge and skills over that week and made some great new friends along the way; the trip to Skye in September with my family and finally climbing Blaven with Donna (read that post
here), raising over £30,000 for Naomi House Children's Hospice and the start of our training for the 2015 Crosses walk.
Rather than recover all of the events and moments of 2014 I thought that, in the way of Google, it would be easier to look at a few pictures!
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| The first walk of 2014 and a good test for the new jacket |
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| Monty's first frosty walk of the year |
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| Training for the 3 Peaks on the SDW with colleagues from work |
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| Our first walk with Isabelle |
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| New wheels! I've always wanted Zipp's so yes, it's a moment for me!! |
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| 4 generations of Donna's family - sadly her Grandad passed away this year but luckily he got to see Izzy |
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| Our new bundle |
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| Despite running up the fell in North Yorkshire I had a moment to enjoy the view |
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| Paddle boarding on Hayling Island with G |
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| Jo and Mike's amazing wedding in Cornwall |
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| Paul from Frontier Bushcraft showing firelighting techniques |
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| Bushcraft - everything's better with fire! |
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| Building a shelter |
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| Teaching bushcraft skills to the Scouts |
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| Black Mountains, Wales |
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| Isabelle enjoying the sun and the beach |
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| Honeycomb rock - Elgol, Skye |
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| Isabelle at Lock Coruisk - where Donna and I married in 2013 |
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| Seafood so fresh it was amazing, Skye |
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| Blaven Summit |
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| 200 mile Stoke to Basingstoke charity ride |
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| Isabelle's first Xmas tree |
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| Training on the North Yorks Moors |
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| Testing the Trangia |
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| Walking on the Oxdrove Way |
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| Old Winchester Hill with Isabelle and Donna |
Despite this year feeling like it's flown by we still managed to pack in a fair bit! So what does 2015 hold?
Well in no particular order;
- The Crosses walk - 53 miles in 24 hrs - and the training walks leading up to it
- 100 mile London-Surry ride for Naomi House Children's Hospice
- Ben Nevis Triathlon
- Isle of White circular walk - hopefully
- Camping with Isabelle
- Wild camping with Donna
Add to that my personal "need" to finish off my Mountain Leader award and dedicate more time to Scouts I think 2015 is going to be a fairly busy year.
However it pans out and wherever we end up as long as we have fun along the way that's all that really matters - Happy New Year and good luck for whatever you do and plan to do in 2015
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