Skirting Round My Life 2021 My Year On The Blog

As I look back on the events of 2021 I have to say that it wasn’t the year I or anyone hoped or expected it would be. These past 12 months have been a difficult year for us all and this continues to be reflected in Skirting Round My Life as it has in every blog, journal , magazine or other news outlets.

On looking at the statistics, this year has seen Skirting Round My Life on a bit of downward trajectory which I think was to be expected given the circumstances. Hopefully this will change in the next 12 months. Though that will, to a certain extent at least, depend on things opening up a bit post Covid and providing me with more opportunities to enjoy myself and post about my exciting experiences.

The first thing to say that Skirtingroundmylife gained 2, 507 views in 2020. This represented an drop of 16% from it’s 2020 total of 3,018. Though disappointed with the drop I am not in the least bit surprised as continued uncertainty from Covid19 played havoc with our lives and restrictions on what we could and couldn’t do meant opportunities for growth were very severely limited.

This lack of opportunity resulted in a very dramatic drop in the number of posts in the last twelve months as they fell by almost half from 98 to 50. It can also be said that the number of both visitors to the site and comments on posts are both down with the later dropping from 28 to 16 and likes falling by more than 60% from 83 to 36

Topics covered in the last twelve months included Acceptance, Age, Bisexuality, Childhood, Christmas, Coming Out, Ceilidhs, Concerts, Covid19, Crossdressers, Dancing , Dating, Death, Discrimination, Equality, Faith, Fashion,  Friendship, Grandparents, Holidays, Lockdown, Love, Memories, Mental Health, Poetry, Relationships, Secrets, Sensuality, Sex, Sexism,  Sexuality, Stereotypes,  Transition, Transphobia, Visibility, Women,

2021 again saw a slight dip in my global reach as visiting nations were slightly down from 31 in 2020 to 27 last year. The top five countries were UK , USA, Ireland, Germany and Finland, with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Guernsey, and Sweden. making up the top ten. There were also readers from countries including France, Croatia The Philippines, Denmark, Colombia, Peru, Norway, India, and Poland amongst other nations who paid this a visit

As all the statistics have now properly evaluated it is time to bring this review to its conclusion but before I do so I just want thank all my readers. Whether you subscribe to the site or read the posts on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter it doesn’t really matter, the main thing is that you read them and find them entertaining, enjoyable , thought provoking and maybe in some cases challenging. I really hope you’ll continue to do so as that’s what makes blogging so enjoyable for those us who put our opinions out there on the blogosphere for you to read. So all that remains is for me to wish you A Happy, Successful, and Peaceful New Year and I hope you’ll keep skirting round my life throughout 2022 and beyond .

Till next time

Gayle X

Chilled Out ( For Nicola Docherty)

In this poem I look the value of friendship and show that even in this winter weather real friends will still find a reason to smile. It was inspired by a photograph posted on Instagram by Rangers and Scotland international footballer Nicola Docherty who was enjoying some quality time with her Rangers and Scotland teammate Sam Kerr and their former Glasgow City And Scotland teammate and now renowned football commemtator Leanne Crichton. I’ve given it the title Chilled Out, I hope you enjoy the read.

Chilled Out (For Nicola Docherty)

The warmth of friendship
on the coldest of days.
Three chilled out stars
share fun times
in a local snow covered park.
Smiling for the camera
placed on the branch of a lightly dusted tree
they capture a scene straight from a Glasgow winter wonderland.
The postcard image of the season
gives us a reason to remind ourselves
it is not yet spring.
Though I can’t help but speculate,
as to who will win the snowball fight

© Gayle Smith 2021

Sanhaim Star (For Lee Alexander And Glasgow City FC)

In honour of their qualification fot the Quarter Final of the UFEA Women’s Champions League, I’ve written this poem for Glasgow City who despite losing on the night made it through to the last eight of the tournament for the second time in their history. For the record it should be said this is twice more than any Scottish men’s team have ever managed. I had hoped to go the game but ended up having to watch it on BBC Alba as not having a rich boyfriend I had to prioritise the mortgage over the game. . I hope It captures the emotion of a truly wonderful not to mention dramatic night in which my nerves were jangled more than shopping tills on Christmas Eve. I’ve given it the title Sanhaim Star as I believe one player stood out with a brilliant and in my opinion match winning performance and that player was our goalkeeper Lee Alexander. I hope you enjoy the read.

Sanhaim Star (For Lee Alexander And Glasgow City FC)

With the mortgage just paid
money was tighter than I’d like
so I watched the girls
not from the stand where I had hoped to be
to cheer them to glory
but the comfort of my living room
on this Halloween night
as I prayed to whoever was listening
I asked for the mission to be accomplished without fuss
and victory delivered with maximum ease
but then I remembered that on Sanhaim
things just might get spooky
and sure enough it started like
the script from a horror movie
as Brondy scored early
at times it seemed like 100 yellow jerseys
were pressing down on our goal
rather than just 10
but we had Lee between the posts
and on this night when ghosts
rise from the grave
she was making save after save
to keep us in the game
and even though the Danish champions scored again
to level the tie at 2-2
she was determined to do
what she had to do
to limit the damage
and trust me half time couldn’t come quick enough
we needed the break we just weren’t slick enough
our confidence needed lifting
during the interval I somehow convinced myself
we would control the second half
and turn the game around
It’s a good job I never made it to the ground
I would have been having palpitations
you never get on Football manager
or anything else on play station
I prayed again for inspiration
as the second half started
all hallows eve is not a night
for the broken hearted
and faint hearts never won
a place in the quarter finals
of the champions league
after a slow start
we finally got up to speed
starting to dominate and play the way we can
though our opponents posed a threat on the counter attack
our girls stuck to the manager’s plan
coming close to getting the goal
we needed for qualification
we should have got a penelty
when their player had her arm up
to stop a goal bound shot
though whether we liked it or not
it wasn’t given
this time I asked Jesus Queen Of Heaven The Blessed Virgin Mary
and the spirit of Laura Inglis Wilder
from little house on the prairie
to intercede on our behalf
I was on the verge of driving myself daft
as I stood in front of the telly giving it welly
arms folded like a manager
roaring encouragement to the players
knowing full well they couldn’t hear
my rants and screams
well they didn’t have a satellite to my TV screen
which is probably just as well
I was going through hell
every time Brondy got in to our half
I pushed the panic button a good few times
though we were keeping our line tighter
and playing further up the park
most of the time we were in their half
yet still the goal wouldn’t come
so we headed for extra time
and Brondby got their second wind
I was beginning to have a halloween nightmare
honestly this game was giving me the frightners
in a way that Dracula or Freddy Kruger could never quite manage
so when extra time finished
I knew the drama would be ramped up
for the death or glory penelty kicks
which would decide our fate
this was the spirits lending a hand
and when Lee saved three penelties in a row
it was up to Jo Love seal the victory
she did it by striking as cool a penelty
as you could ever wish to see
we had qualified for the last eight
of the champions league
and in a team packed with heroes
the night belonged to Lee
for the saves she made from first minute to last
saves that made her the Sanhaim star
as she proved to the world
that even some scary movies can and do
have very happy endings

© Gayle Smith 2019