Yet another year has nearly gone and we seem to have been as busy as ever.
The boys have both had a great year. Nicholas is doing well at Weston College, studying Music Technology. He has just applied for University next year, so we will have to see how he gets on. His main achievement this year is to pass his Driving test. He is still only 17, so we were very proud of him. He has saved up and bought a small red Renault 5 which he loves and which gives him a tremendous amount of freedom. He and several friends went down to Newquay, in Cornwall for a few days in the summer and had a great time.
Christopher is doing well at School. He is in the middle of his GCSE year and has already passed a half GCSE in Information Technology with a Grade B. He has also just been made a prefect, which is a great achievement. Next year he is hoping to go to Weston College to do computing, and from there....who knows?
We are finally getting to grips with the house. This year Stephen completely gutted the bathroom and loo and made them into one super-bathroom. He did a fantastic job as always. This means that all the major rooms have been done and now we are planning the hall and stairs next year. Stephen has also started landscaping the front garden. He has started digging out for a bigger driveway and has put in some low walls and planting areas. Next year is also meant to see a start on the back garden, but that is a mammoth task.
In May Stephen and I went to lake Maggiore, in northern Italy, for a week. It was "Ab Fab"; the scenery is stunning. However part of the reason for the visit was to try and get to see his uncle Stephen’s war grave at Genoa. Not only did we achieve this but we also visited the church and village where they were looked after and Stephen was taken up to the crash site, on a tractor, by a gentleman who had been a child of four at the time of the accident. Since then we have written to the villager, and received a reply, but the translating is taking some time.
Workwise this year can only be described as TRAUMATIC, at least as far as I am concerned. At the beginning of the year we knew that there were likely to be some cuts in the Library service, but the way it was achieved did nothing for staff morale or confidence. It was announced in the early summer that there would no longer be Librarians in each of the branches, even though several new posts would be created. In essence this meant that ten professional posts would be going. Luckily eight people decided to take early retirement, but this still left too many. We all had to decide which posts we wanted to apply for then we sat 5 hours of tests and then I had 2 hours of interviews just to get a job on the same pay scale, but with responsibility for four Libraries. Luckily I did get one of the jobs, and it is running libraries on the side of Bristol that I know. Most of my colleagues have been moved across the city. All this change happens at the beginning of January, so I am now in my last few weeks at Clifton. I am going to miss it and all the people.
While all this was going on I was also doing the foundation year for the MA which I am studying with the Open University. Perhaps the high spot of my work year was getting to the Youth Libraries Group Conference in London. It was excellent and I had the added pleasure of meeting a friend who I worked with in Hampshire, 24 years ago!!! , as well as all my friends from Hillingdon. It made me feel very old.
Stephen has also had a hard year, but he is now settling down to his work at the police headquarters. He has been away on a couple of courses and visits and yesterday went to London for a visit to the BT Telecom Tower. I was definitely a bit envious of that one. Stephen is still flying and this year managed to do about twenty hours. Most of this was quite local, but he did do a two day outing. Firstly he flew up to Yorkshire and flew over his old school, Scarborough College, and then went on to Blackpool. He left the plane overnight at Blackpool while he visited his father, who is now very fragile, and his brother. The next day he flew back down south. It was a tremendous experience and next year he hopes to go to Cornwall, or even the Scilly Isles.
It has been a wonderful year for catching up with people. I was about to open up the Library one day when this voice said "Hello". It was Mike Peters (from Cyprus). His head office is about four doors away from the Library. So "Hello, Mike and Yvonne"; it was great to see you. We have also managed to attend two major family gatherings. My cousin Margaret and her husband Bill, both had important birthdays, so we went to the party in London, despite a three hour traffic jam. Later in the year her daughter Celene had her second child and we attended the Christening, where we met another cousin, James, who had been four years old last time I saw him and now he is in his twenties.
Finally I must say "woof", from Lucy our dog. She is now three years old and an absolute joy to have, although she does not get left in the house on her own - it is too dangerous, after she started eating the new kitchen last year. She loves going to the kennels when I work, because she is such a sociable dog. She is very good tempered and even does as she is told - MOST OF THE TIME.
Anyway I had better close for now if I ever want to get this sent off.
