{"id":112336,"date":"2021-12-31T16:00:12","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T16:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/?p=112336"},"modified":"2021-12-31T08:40:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T08:40:21","slug":"review-of-the-year-and-first-look-at-2022-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/debbie-flint\/review-of-the-year-and-first-look-at-2022-deals\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of the year! And first look at 2022 deals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Achievement of the year – working at the vaccine centre<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well I kicked off the year – when we were all thrown back into an intense lockdown, if you remember – by volunteering at the local vaccine centre in the GP hub side of the mass vaccination centre at Epsom Grandstand. I loved the camaraderie, how everybody was so grateful to be getting this amazing new vaccine that would save so many lives, and helping to wipe down the chairs and show people where to sit. That\u2019s all I did, but I did it regularly, every Tuesday, for as long as I could through to late spring. Our family all got involved gradually as they needed more people, and we ended up being featured in a newspaper as \u2018The Jab\u2019em Family!\u2019 Made me feel very much like I had done my bit and I\u2019m really proud of what we achieved, all the volunteers who helped up and down the country. Thank goodness for speedy medical advances and please, if you have not had your jab or you know someone who hasn\u2019t, please encourage them to do so. One of our lovely guests at work just recently lost her old mum because the mother had read something on the internet and refused to get the jab. So sad when who knows what might have been avoided. Anyway, had to mention it as it set the tone for much of the year, and what a year it was!<\/p>\n

Family highlight<\/strong><\/p>\n

Had lots of these! Obviously, top individual experience was the entrance of little first grandson and third grandbaby, Kaleb Carter, to our family in late August, and another one due from my lovely daughter at the end of January, can\u2019t wait! Top get-together was at the start of December when we went ice skating all together near the Natural History Museum and spent our little annual family Christmas weekend at Brad\u2019s. Got some absolutely lovely family group photos and adored seeing the little granddaughters playing together, plus me playing the Friends board game with the grown ups! Brad won! Lovely seeing them grow and as I said to my daughter at Christmas, if there was a choice between having my career\/doing all I have done, and having children, it would be children every time, and weekends like this one show me why.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Top picture I took<\/strong><\/p>\n\"\"\n

I just love this photo of the two little granddaughters climbing up the gate when we all went on our annual trip to see Lauren in Wales in the summer. I will try to get one like it every year as they grow, if the gate holds up! It was so hot when we were there, and we had some lovely time at the beach and in the hot tub outside Lauren and Nick\u2019s \u2018Hiveaway\u2019 cabin. This photo was taken when they had just had an alfresco supper under the trees out of the heat. I can\u2019t believe it was not long after the absolute downpour we experienced mid-June when we all went to the Chessington World of Adventures and it almost monsooned! Still had lots of fun though. Such lovely memories. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Doggy highlight<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apart from the charity I\u2019m an ambassador for, Medical Detection Dogs, finally proving that their dogs can detect Covid in people, I enjoyed a fur-fest photo with these four on a little family trip to the caravan site in Hastings, where we all rented a van and the dogs came along. This photo was taken of me and all four of them – my Daisy, who obviously still lives with pup Beau with my little niece Evie in Kent, Maggie – other niece\u2019s spaniel, and Ziggy – my brother Glenn\u2019s dog. Had this picture as my header on my Facebook page for ages! It was nice to have my daughter\u2019s two cocker spaniels, Luna and Baloo, for a few days at Christmas here in my flat, but my goodness did my Dyson<\/strong> V11<\/a>\u00a0get up some serious fur from the carpet afterwards!!<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Best break<\/strong><\/p>\n

Has to be the five nights I spent in July at the Somerset juice fast\/yoga retreat, Amchara, given I have not been away anywhere abroad this year. Hoping to make up for it next year though and maybe go to the Malta version! Obviously UK holidays were a big thing for many people, fortunately for me as my holiday let in Devon was very busy, and it\u2019s now mainly a holiday let as I only do six to eight writing retreats a year. Going down there once a month is much better, I find. And I\u2019m still loving my new flat next to Mum in Surrey. I will see how this year goes and then decide whether to keep Devon up for another year or get somewhere nearer to Lauren in Wales, which would make more sense because I could be down there more often and kill two birds with one stone, rather than having to be in Devon. Although, I do have a lovely life in Devon and I love my friends down there, so I will always make lots of visits there. \ud83d\ude42 Plus, while my little dabble into the world of very small scale local politics continues for a while, I do not have ambitions as I once did, I think lockdown has changed all that and made me realise what my priorities are. And it\u2019s grandchildren\u2026 And getting that fifth book written finally #FrenchOrDutch!<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Best book <\/strong><\/p>\n

Again there have been many, mostly on audiobook. Billy Summers by Stephen King was brilliant, and I really enjoyed books by my fellow presenters Julia Roberts and Jackie Kabler, and friends Merryn Allingham (cosy crime set in 1950s) and Claire Firth (raunchy regency.) I\u2019ve also been really pleased to discover the Jackman crime books by Joy Ellis. Such a good series, looking forward to reading the next one. But the best books of the year, considering how memorable they are for me, are firstly, The Spirit Engineer by A J West, who has promised me an interview at some stage, based on real characters just after the First World War and set in the world of psychic investigators.\u00a0 I loved how he interwove fact and fiction. Tied winner this year was \u2018Will\u2019 – Will Smith\u2019s autobiography. Unusual for me to love an autobiography, as I don\u2019t choose them very often. But this one is a mixture of philosophy, revelation, and personal discovery, and it ranks highly because of his frank openness and honesty about his journey to inner peace. I love how funny he is and how he incorporates some of the music and clips from his career in the audiobook. Look out next year for Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone, one of the big tomes from Diana Gabaldon\u2019s Outlander series, possibly my favourite book series of all time! Can\u2019t wait for the new season of Outlander on the telly box too!<\/p>\n

Other highlights\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n