It’s that time of year again – and this year I’m trying to be ecologically aware so if you’re reading this, I’ve saved several trees and the exorbitant cost of a large letter stamp, and if you read this on screen, you’re also saving the planet from the loss of more trees!
Last Christmas was very strange – for the first time since we had the family, we spent Christmas day on our own. I was SO depressed! Tom woke up all happy and jolly (!!) and I was grumpy. I did cheer up later and spoke to everyone wherever they were. The plan had been for Andy, Ninx and Ninx’s parents to come here for a few days between Christmas and New Year and it DID happen, a day late and with all of them full of cold! – which they then passed on to us and we were ill all over New Year! We didn’t get to Amy’s for New Year, as was the plan but they came to us for a couple of days before we left on our Great Adventure.
Several of you, we know, followed our blog avidly from the antipodes from January to April. Those of you who missed it can still see it on this website – if you have a strong constitution and hours of nothing to do.....but you can dip in and out at your leisure. Since all our adventures are there, I shan’t go into it all in detail but just say that we had the most amazing time. It was truly wonderful. Even being with Tom for 24 hours a day, for three and a half months did not detract from the splendour of it all. We met some lovely people and were shown hospitality of the highest order. We only really touched on the vastness that is Australia but managed to cover a fair bit of New Zealand. Wherever we went, we brought the rain – not so good for us, but welcomed by all the areas we reached – they have been having the worst drought for many years in both countries.
We arrived back in the UK just in time for the first May bank holiday and both children descended upon us – with families!
It was a hectic but a wonderful welcome back. The weather was perfect and everyone was well. The following weekend, we all travelled up to Andy and Ninx in Sutton upon Derwent, near York, for Scarlett’s first birthday celebrations
– they had a full house with several of us sleeping on floors! and again we enjoyed wonderful weather. Scarlett was just starting to walk so was tottering about, delighting in her newfound ability.
Home again (it was almost like being on tour – unpacking the suitcase once more!) and on his first night back at St John, the centre held a “welcome home” party for Tom, which we thought showed how much they thought of him.
Then we had to catch up with our medical checks – blood testing for both of us and retinal screening and diabetes clinic for me. Thankfully we were both given the all clear – I had even managed to lose weight despite all the “stickies” we enjoyed on our travels!
Both of us were asked to go back into work so I had 4 days at CATAC near High Wycombe – the journey was still a pain – when I taught Caroline and 2 others how to make the specialist lifting harnesses I had developed. It was the only thing Caroline had not managed to grasp before I left. I haven’t heard from them since then, so I presume that they are now coping without me! Tom has continued to do several days a month at David’s, working on the 1st Call Mobility website. He also has his name on the books of an organisation that employs ex-service personnel to fill admin jobs while troops are away filling various war roles, but nothing has transpired from them yet. (I’m not really encouraging him to go to work, you understand, but it is nice when I can have a few days to myself!)
At the end of May, my brother Jim and his new wife, Jan came to visit before setting off on their new life in South Africa. (They got married in Cyprus on February 29th). My other brother, John and his wife, Jane came from Ramsey (Cambs NOT Isle of Man) for Sunday and Amy, Mario and Izzy came too so we had another houseful. Jim and Jan flew to Cape Town in June and have now bought a large house with visitor’s annex. They are having lots of work done to bring it up to their requirements and they post photos and their latest news on Facebook so we can keep up with them. We hope to go and visit them in the next couple of years – depending on the finances! John and Jane have bought a house in the Dordogne which requires quite a bit of work and they hope to move into it next year – another holiday destination for us!!
I caught up with some of my old (Bedford) CATAC colleagues in June – we all have found we miss the comradeship we shared; all the laughs and the sharing of troubles too. We all feel lucky that we had such a good working relationship. Only Vi has gone back to work, and now works longer hours than she did! (much to her disgust).
We had the (dubious) honour of looking after Izzy for 4 days in June while Amy and Mario went to a wedding (only kidding, honest!) The terrible twos are well named! Most of the time she was a pleasure to have around – however.....she decided that the early hours of the morning were just right for playtime.............One night we were watching “Shrek” at 4am! Tom and I did shifts – he got up first and gave her breakfast, we both did the day, then I took over to let Tom go to bed early – we were shattered when we took her home! How these women cope who have children in their 50’s and 60’s I just cannot imagine. At 2yrs 3months old, she definitely knew her own mind. She is very quick to pick up knowledge and talked in her own language which was a real test for us. But she’s still lovely nonetheless.
We also met up with my old schoolfriend Lorna and her husband Brian whom we saw in Sydney, for lunch in Bedford. They were home to see Lorna’s mum who is in a home near Hatfield. They had followed our blog and given us some recommendations for our trip around Oz.
Amy had arranged with Ruth’s daughter, Angela, to meet up at our house – being halfway between their homes – with Izzy and Ange’s son, Mitchell, at the end of June, but unfortunately Izzy developed hand, foot and mouth disease so we had Ange and Mitchell all to ourselves. Mitchell was born last November with amniotic bands round his arms and legs restricting the blood flow and the proper development of the limbs. He has since had one operation to relieve the restrictions and is developing well. He has to be one of the most placid babies we’ve ever known – a really sunny child with a smile that lights up his whole face.
Next we went to Didcot to meet Sophie for the first time. She was also born last November, and is the daughter of Debbi, the daughter of our oldest friends, Hugh and Maggie. She is also a smiley baby and cute as can be. Our extended “family” is growing fast.
July had a sad start when we went to Ruth’s mum, Evelyn’s funeral in Teeside. We had known Evelyn almost as long as we’ve known Ruth (over 32 years) and seen her regularly over the years. It was an emotional day but I’m glad we were there for Ruth, and we stayed on for a few days afterwards. Ange and Mishael were there of course, the first time we’ve seen them all together since Ange got married in 2001. On the way home, we called in for the night to see Andy at their new house in Everingham, nr York. Ninx and Scarlett weren’t there and Andy was so tired as he’d been working on the house prior to them moving in, but he’d done a really great job – isn’t it a surprise when you find your children doing grown-up things like tiling and plumbing, etc?!?
Home once more and I had a colonoscopy after having a few problems – which I won’t go into! – all I can say is “thank goodness for private health cover”. A not so nice experience was made far more bearable in very nice surroundings with individual nursing care.
August saw us gadding about again after a very damp and cold weekend for Bedford Proms (which Tom attended with St John) and Soul Sunday to which I went. The weather had been so bad that the organisers had considered cancelling it but although it rained, it was bearable although very cold – and this is meant to be high summer!! The music kept us all active. After that we drove over to Shropshire to stay with my sister and met our new grandnephew (or should that be greatnephew?) for the first time – Lewis, Jean’s son who was born 2 days before Scarlett. Then we stayed with another of my old schoolfriends, Glenys and her husband, Ean in Bridgnorth just for one night and we went out to dinner with another schoolfriend, Rae. Poor Tom was a bit like a spare whatsit at a wedding – we were all chatting away catching up with news and he didn’t know who we were talking about! But he was very well-behaved!
The next day, we drove to Gloucester – this time to stay with ex RAF friends so Tom and Peter could talk “shop” and Jane and I could gossip. We went to their daughter, Angela’s wedding in 2007 and we hadn’t seen the official wedding photos so Jane and I pored over them while the men ignored us. Peter and Jane gave us lots of good information about NZ as they have family there. We visited their son, Nick and his family while we were in Wellington (see the blog!). It was a nice relaxing visit.
After 2 days with them, we set off to Devon to Judy and Glen’s (Ninx’s parents) cottage near Barnstaple. All this time the weather had been horrible and the next few days were no different, so we didn’t see Devon at its best. We did get around however and could see how pretty it would be when the sun was shining. The cottage is lovely and the village pub did some very good meals. As we were leaving on Thursday, the sun came out!!
The rest of August was very quiet, but September was busy with car servicing and MOT, a trip to Brighton, lots of duties and courses for Tom and a trip to St Mark’s hospital, Harrow for me to have a proctogram – follow on from my colonoscopy. It wasn’t the nicest experience in the world and the journey there was horrible. We had forgotten what a pain the London traffic could be. Coming home was much better for some reason, even though it was during end of school time – there’s no logic. Teh weekend after, we had a visit from Pat and John with whom we normally take our summer holiday – they’ll miss out this year as they’ve taken all their hols already AND they won’t be able to come next year either as they’ve organised themselves a 3 week tour of South Africa in April (they’ll get to see Jim and Jan in Cape Town before we do!)
In October, we visited Andy and Ninx, now settled in their lovely home in Everingham. Scarlett is such a bright little girl and we baby sat for her
while Andy and Ninx had some time to spend together – something they rarely get. Andy still has a job but it’s been touch and go (and still is) for the past few months. The firm has had to make several redundancies and Andy is now working 6 full days 3 weeks out of 4, and has had to forego his commission until some semblance of normality returns. He and Ninx have made the decision to try to get back down south where Ninx will have more support and back-up so Andy has set the wheels in motion to find a new job. Not the easiest thing in the world at present, but while he still has work they can at least make the best of things in Yorkshire. They both love it up there and had things been different, there would have been no reason for them to move, but such is life.
Then we went to David’s villa in Spain for 2 weeks with Bruce and Carole, our good friends and neighbours. We drove, extending the holiday by 3 days each way, staying in Chalons-sur-Champagne and Perpignan on the way south and Girona and Beaune coming home. The journeys were troublefree, if somewhat tiring. We arrived in Moraira to beautiful weather
which continued until the last 2 days of our stay, so we swam every day and even sunbathed! We were so lucky weatherwise, as the week before we arrived, there had been torrential rain and flooding in the area where several people had lost their lives. We showed B and C many of the places of interest we’ve found on previous visits and they so enjoyed it that we’ve got to arrange for them to come with us next year! We’ll have to take 2 hols a year at the villa – one with P and J, the other with B and C!! That’ll be so difficult!!.......The return journey through Spain and France was again uneventful. Beaune is a lovely town and the Best Western hotel we stayed in there was very pleasant. It was raining heavily when we disembarked from the train at Folkestone, then it snowed just after we emerged from the Dartford Tunnel – in fact it was quite a blizzard and we were all reduced to silence as Tom negotiated the M25. We stopped off at S Mimms services for a P break and could hardly believe how quickly the snow was falling. 
However, once we got to Stevenage, there was no sign of it at all – crazy British weather.
November started off quietly. I had a last appointment with my specialist and everything has been pronounced clear, thank goodness. On the 15th we drove to Didcot, staying o/n in a Premier Inn (quite pleasant and comfortable) and meeting up with Hugh, Maggie, Debbi and Steve for Sophie’s christening on the 16th. Amy, Mario and Izzy came too and we all had a very good meal together in the Applecart restaurant attached to the Inn. Sunday was a lovely day, lots of family and friends and bags of children. After the service in RAF Benson church, we retired to the Sergeants’ Mess for lunch and a quiet afternoon of chat and drinking.
The last 2 weeks of the month have been quite hectic with the build up to Christmas. We’ve got involved in a regular quiz night at the RAFA Club in town, and also go for Sunday lunch occasionally. What with that and one or two parties, we’ve been gadding about quite a lot! December is busy for Tom with lots of St John duties and for the first time in 5 years, we’re putting on pre-Christmas drinks so I have to get organised for that.
As I write this, we have some sad news to impart. Amy has lost the baby she was expecting in June so the year is not ending on as high a note as we would have wished. She is fine but the next few weeks are going to be hard for her and Mario as they come to terms with the loss.
Christmas will be spent once again with Judy, Glen, Andy, Ninx and Scarlett at Wellington College then we all go to Amy and Mario’s on 28th for a couple of days before spending New Year we don’t know where yet!!
We hope you all have joy and peace at Christmas and that we manage to get to see some of you next year. We’re always open for house guests so don’t forget to give us a call. We may be in touch with some of you for the odd overnight stay when we go touring later, when the weather hopefully is warmer - so be warned!
Lots of love to you all.Maggie and Tom xx
Last Christmas was very strange – for the first time since we had the family, we spent Christmas day on our own. I was SO depressed! Tom woke up all happy and jolly (!!) and I was grumpy. I did cheer up later and spoke to everyone wherever they were. The plan had been for Andy, Ninx and Ninx’s parents to come here for a few days between Christmas and New Year and it DID happen, a day late and with all of them full of cold! – which they then passed on to us and we were ill all over New Year! We didn’t get to Amy’s for New Year, as was the plan but they came to us for a couple of days before we left on our Great Adventure.
Several of you, we know, followed our blog avidly from the antipodes from January to April. Those of you who missed it can still see it on this website – if you have a strong constitution and hours of nothing to do.....but you can dip in and out at your leisure. Since all our adventures are there, I shan’t go into it all in detail but just say that we had the most amazing time. It was truly wonderful. Even being with Tom for 24 hours a day, for three and a half months did not detract from the splendour of it all. We met some lovely people and were shown hospitality of the highest order. We only really touched on the vastness that is Australia but managed to cover a fair bit of New Zealand. Wherever we went, we brought the rain – not so good for us, but welcomed by all the areas we reached – they have been having the worst drought for many years in both countries.
We arrived back in the UK just in time for the first May bank holiday and both children descended upon us – with families!
It was a hectic but a wonderful welcome back. The weather was perfect and everyone was well. The following weekend, we all travelled up to Andy and Ninx in Sutton upon Derwent, near York, for Scarlett’s first birthday celebrations – they had a full house with several of us sleeping on floors! and again we enjoyed wonderful weather. Scarlett was just starting to walk so was tottering about, delighting in her newfound ability.Home again (it was almost like being on tour – unpacking the suitcase once more!) and on his first night back at St John, the centre held a “welcome home” party for Tom, which we thought showed how much they thought of him.
Then we had to catch up with our medical checks – blood testing for both of us and retinal screening and diabetes clinic for me. Thankfully we were both given the all clear – I had even managed to lose weight despite all the “stickies” we enjoyed on our travels!Both of us were asked to go back into work so I had 4 days at CATAC near High Wycombe – the journey was still a pain – when I taught Caroline and 2 others how to make the specialist lifting harnesses I had developed. It was the only thing Caroline had not managed to grasp before I left. I haven’t heard from them since then, so I presume that they are now coping without me! Tom has continued to do several days a month at David’s, working on the 1st Call Mobility website. He also has his name on the books of an organisation that employs ex-service personnel to fill admin jobs while troops are away filling various war roles, but nothing has transpired from them yet. (I’m not really encouraging him to go to work, you understand, but it is nice when I can have a few days to myself!)
At the end of May, my brother Jim and his new wife, Jan came to visit before setting off on their new life in South Africa. (They got married in Cyprus on February 29th). My other brother, John and his wife, Jane came from Ramsey (Cambs NOT Isle of Man) for Sunday and Amy, Mario and Izzy came too so we had another houseful. Jim and Jan flew to Cape Town in June and have now bought a large house with visitor’s annex. They are having lots of work done to bring it up to their requirements and they post photos and their latest news on Facebook so we can keep up with them. We hope to go and visit them in the next couple of years – depending on the finances! John and Jane have bought a house in the Dordogne which requires quite a bit of work and they hope to move into it next year – another holiday destination for us!!
I caught up with some of my old (Bedford) CATAC colleagues in June – we all have found we miss the comradeship we shared; all the laughs and the sharing of troubles too. We all feel lucky that we had such a good working relationship. Only Vi has gone back to work, and now works longer hours than she did! (much to her disgust).
We had the (dubious) honour of looking after Izzy for 4 days in June while Amy and Mario went to a wedding (only kidding, honest!) The terrible twos are well named! Most of the time she was a pleasure to have around – however.....she decided that the early hours of the morning were just right for playtime.............One night we were watching “Shrek” at 4am! Tom and I did shifts – he got up first and gave her breakfast, we both did the day, then I took over to let Tom go to bed early – we were shattered when we took her home! How these women cope who have children in their 50’s and 60’s I just cannot imagine. At 2yrs 3months old, she definitely knew her own mind. She is very quick to pick up knowledge and talked in her own language which was a real test for us. But she’s still lovely nonetheless.
We also met up with my old schoolfriend Lorna and her husband Brian whom we saw in Sydney, for lunch in Bedford. They were home to see Lorna’s mum who is in a home near Hatfield. They had followed our blog and given us some recommendations for our trip around Oz.
Amy had arranged with Ruth’s daughter, Angela, to meet up at our house – being halfway between their homes – with Izzy and Ange’s son, Mitchell, at the end of June, but unfortunately Izzy developed hand, foot and mouth disease so we had Ange and Mitchell all to ourselves. Mitchell was born last November with amniotic bands round his arms and legs restricting the blood flow and the proper development of the limbs. He has since had one operation to relieve the restrictions and is developing well. He has to be one of the most placid babies we’ve ever known – a really sunny child with a smile that lights up his whole face.
Next we went to Didcot to meet Sophie for the first time. She was also born last November, and is the daughter of Debbi, the daughter of our oldest friends, Hugh and Maggie. She is also a smiley baby and cute as can be. Our extended “family” is growing fast.
July had a sad start when we went to Ruth’s mum, Evelyn’s funeral in Teeside. We had known Evelyn almost as long as we’ve known Ruth (over 32 years) and seen her regularly over the years. It was an emotional day but I’m glad we were there for Ruth, and we stayed on for a few days afterwards. Ange and Mishael were there of course, the first time we’ve seen them all together since Ange got married in 2001. On the way home, we called in for the night to see Andy at their new house in Everingham, nr York. Ninx and Scarlett weren’t there and Andy was so tired as he’d been working on the house prior to them moving in, but he’d done a really great job – isn’t it a surprise when you find your children doing grown-up things like tiling and plumbing, etc?!?
Home once more and I had a colonoscopy after having a few problems – which I won’t go into! – all I can say is “thank goodness for private health cover”. A not so nice experience was made far more bearable in very nice surroundings with individual nursing care.
August saw us gadding about again after a very damp and cold weekend for Bedford Proms (which Tom attended with St John) and Soul Sunday to which I went. The weather had been so bad that the organisers had considered cancelling it but although it rained, it was bearable although very cold – and this is meant to be high summer!! The music kept us all active. After that we drove over to Shropshire to stay with my sister and met our new grandnephew (or should that be greatnephew?) for the first time – Lewis, Jean’s son who was born 2 days before Scarlett. Then we stayed with another of my old schoolfriends, Glenys and her husband, Ean in Bridgnorth just for one night and we went out to dinner with another schoolfriend, Rae. Poor Tom was a bit like a spare whatsit at a wedding – we were all chatting away catching up with news and he didn’t know who we were talking about! But he was very well-behaved!
The next day, we drove to Gloucester – this time to stay with ex RAF friends so Tom and Peter could talk “shop” and Jane and I could gossip. We went to their daughter, Angela’s wedding in 2007 and we hadn’t seen the official wedding photos so Jane and I pored over them while the men ignored us. Peter and Jane gave us lots of good information about NZ as they have family there. We visited their son, Nick and his family while we were in Wellington (see the blog!). It was a nice relaxing visit.
After 2 days with them, we set off to Devon to Judy and Glen’s (Ninx’s parents) cottage near Barnstaple. All this time the weather had been horrible and the next few days were no different, so we didn’t see Devon at its best. We did get around however and could see how pretty it would be when the sun was shining. The cottage is lovely and the village pub did some very good meals. As we were leaving on Thursday, the sun came out!!
The rest of August was very quiet, but September was busy with car servicing and MOT, a trip to Brighton, lots of duties and courses for Tom and a trip to St Mark’s hospital, Harrow for me to have a proctogram – follow on from my colonoscopy. It wasn’t the nicest experience in the world and the journey there was horrible. We had forgotten what a pain the London traffic could be. Coming home was much better for some reason, even though it was during end of school time – there’s no logic. Teh weekend after, we had a visit from Pat and John with whom we normally take our summer holiday – they’ll miss out this year as they’ve taken all their hols already AND they won’t be able to come next year either as they’ve organised themselves a 3 week tour of South Africa in April (they’ll get to see Jim and Jan in Cape Town before we do!)
In October, we visited Andy and Ninx, now settled in their lovely home in Everingham. Scarlett is such a bright little girl and we baby sat for her
while Andy and Ninx had some time to spend together – something they rarely get. Andy still has a job but it’s been touch and go (and still is) for the past few months. The firm has had to make several redundancies and Andy is now working 6 full days 3 weeks out of 4, and has had to forego his commission until some semblance of normality returns. He and Ninx have made the decision to try to get back down south where Ninx will have more support and back-up so Andy has set the wheels in motion to find a new job. Not the easiest thing in the world at present, but while he still has work they can at least make the best of things in Yorkshire. They both love it up there and had things been different, there would have been no reason for them to move, but such is life.Then we went to David’s villa in Spain for 2 weeks with Bruce and Carole, our good friends and neighbours. We drove, extending the holiday by 3 days each way, staying in Chalons-sur-Champagne and Perpignan on the way south and Girona and Beaune coming home. The journeys were troublefree, if somewhat tiring. We arrived in Moraira to beautiful weather
which continued until the last 2 days of our stay, so we swam every day and even sunbathed! We were so lucky weatherwise, as the week before we arrived, there had been torrential rain and flooding in the area where several people had lost their lives. We showed B and C many of the places of interest we’ve found on previous visits and they so enjoyed it that we’ve got to arrange for them to come with us next year! We’ll have to take 2 hols a year at the villa – one with P and J, the other with B and C!! That’ll be so difficult!!.......The return journey through Spain and France was again uneventful. Beaune is a lovely town and the Best Western hotel we stayed in there was very pleasant. It was raining heavily when we disembarked from the train at Folkestone, then it snowed just after we emerged from the Dartford Tunnel – in fact it was quite a blizzard and we were all reduced to silence as Tom negotiated the M25. We stopped off at S Mimms services for a P break and could hardly believe how quickly the snow was falling. However, once we got to Stevenage, there was no sign of it at all – crazy British weather.November started off quietly. I had a last appointment with my specialist and everything has been pronounced clear, thank goodness. On the 15th we drove to Didcot, staying o/n in a Premier Inn (quite pleasant and comfortable) and meeting up with Hugh, Maggie, Debbi and Steve for Sophie’s christening on the 16th. Amy, Mario and Izzy came too and we all had a very good meal together in the Applecart restaurant attached to the Inn. Sunday was a lovely day, lots of family and friends and bags of children. After the service in RAF Benson church, we retired to the Sergeants’ Mess for lunch and a quiet afternoon of chat and drinking.
The last 2 weeks of the month have been quite hectic with the build up to Christmas. We’ve got involved in a regular quiz night at the RAFA Club in town, and also go for Sunday lunch occasionally. What with that and one or two parties, we’ve been gadding about quite a lot! December is busy for Tom with lots of St John duties and for the first time in 5 years, we’re putting on pre-Christmas drinks so I have to get organised for that.
As I write this, we have some sad news to impart. Amy has lost the baby she was expecting in June so the year is not ending on as high a note as we would have wished. She is fine but the next few weeks are going to be hard for her and Mario as they come to terms with the loss.
Christmas will be spent once again with Judy, Glen, Andy, Ninx and Scarlett at Wellington College then we all go to Amy and Mario’s on 28th for a couple of days before spending New Year we don’t know where yet!!
We hope you all have joy and peace at Christmas and that we manage to get to see some of you next year. We’re always open for house guests so don’t forget to give us a call. We may be in touch with some of you for the odd overnight stay when we go touring later, when the weather hopefully is warmer - so be warned!
Lots of love to you all.Maggie and Tom xx
