2023 in pictures

As we finish 2023 and look forward to 20024, I have had an enjoyable time looking back at the photos I took throughout the year. As with the last 10 years, I have managed to take a least one photo every day as part of my Project 365, which allows me to remember what happened during this year of my life and reflect on the year as I usually do.

January

I like to start my year with a photography trip and this year was no different with a trip to the SVR. I’m hoping to do this same in 2024. There was the inevitable flooding in Worcester and I also managed to catch up with Gary.

February

We went to Madrid in February and made coffee & churros our thing while there. I attended OpenUK’s first State of Open conference and also spoke at the PHPUK conference. The PSVR2 turned up in our household, but didn’t stay the course over the year, though I have high hopes for Apple’s Vision Pro next year.

March

We had snow at the start of March and a highlight was visiting the KWVR with Kevin. The biggest disappointment was catching Covid just before QCon and so missing the conference and forfeiting the rather expensive ticket price. I realise that some people would have gone to the conference anyway, especially given the cost of the ticket, but I wasn’t prepared to.

April

April was all about photography. I spent a day in Somerset at Tucker Mill and in tunnels with Stuart in early April taking photos and also took three separate days for railway photography. James spoke at the PHPSW user group this month too.

May

May is birthday month as both our kids have a birthday in the first half and again we went to Liverpool for lunch with our sons. I spoke at the Endpoint conference in May which was fun as it was 10 years since I last spoke there. The day after, I had brunch with Juliette and visited Keukenhof to see tulips. May also included the phpday conference in Italy and I had a great afternoon with extended family on my dad’s side towards the end of the month.

June

The highlight of June was spending 3 weeks on holiday in Spain. We had ice cream every day and know Santiago at Jijonenca quite well now! A very lazy holiday where I did very little, except to make headway in Tears of the Kingdom.

July

We celebrated eldest’s gradation in July. He gained a 1st class honours degree in Computer Science and started work with a games development company in September. I’m incredibly proud of him. I also caved and bought a Studio Display which is lovely, with the exception of the terrible camera. I also started doing more railway modelling as it’s a hobby that takes me away from the computer.

August

The highlight of August was my sister’s wedding. We had a very enjoyable time celebrating with them. With my eldest having left home, I took over his bedroom as my new office, starting this month by clearing it out and decorating it. We also had a few days in Derbyshire celebrating a friend’s birthday and visiting places.

September

In September, I attended the apidays London conference and visited the SVR for railway photography at their Autumn Gala. I also attended PyCon UK with Georgina. She’s been to this conference before and it’s rare that we go to a conference together.

October

We visited Sylvia in Tallinn in October and I spoke at the Platform API Summit in Stockholm, also catching up with Michelle and visited Skansen. The day after I attended TechMids conference in Birmingham; it’s my local conference and I enjoy the mix of talks.

November

In November, we visited Elgar’s birthplace. I like Elgar’s music and he was born and lived in Worcestershire, so we probably should have visited The Firs before now. We also met my grand-nephew for the first time this month when he was only a couple of months old. My parents are besotted with their first great grandchild!

December

In December we said farewell to my wife’s grandmother who died aged 103. She was tack-sharp and with it until the end. We enjoyed visiting her and will miss her. I did a photography trip to the Birmingham Christmas Market and my final steam train photo of the year was of Flying Scotsman. We had a great Christmas with family and plenty of time for Zelda!

Another year passed and this one had many more highs than lows. I’m looking forward to 2024 and taking many more photos!