This
year has passed more quickly than any I can remember, Christmas is far too
close. Anyway it has been a momentous
year for the Pembertons.
Nicholas is now in his second year at LIPA and doing very
well. He went skiing to Austria at the
beginning of the year with several friends from the local ski club. During the
summer he was working for his old firm in Bristol and was working at the
Glastonbury Festival and the Bristol Balloon Fiesta amongst the many venues. Stephen and myself attended the balloon
nightburn and had the pleasure of seeing our son on the stage, engineering for
'Louise'.
Christopher
finished at Weston College in the summer and did very well, getting
Distinctions and Merits for all elements of his work. He started at Bournemouth University in
September, doing Computer Software management. Whilst at Weston he also worked
in Topshop during his spare time and the holidays, and should be working for
them over the Christmas holidays as well. He also had his 18th birthday and went on
holiday to Ibiza with some of his friends.
For
Stephen and myself it has been a very busy year, both at work and at home. In
March we went back to Cyprus for a week and has a wonderful time meeting up
with old friends. It's amazing how much
is the same, even though some building work has been finished. I even managed a visit to George's, which is
THE fabric shop in Limassol. The
upstairs is very smart now, but the downstairs is still the same mass of fabric
bolts; I bet some of the materials are the same as when we were living there.
During
the summer we were working hard and Stephen (and sometimes the boys) started
digging out at the back for a patio. We
now have a building site out back because it started raining and just hasn't
stopped for several months, still maybe next year. Stephen also went flying up to Scotland for a
few days in June. He had hoped to get to
the Shetlands, but the weather was too bad and he ended up staying in Inverness
for a couple of nights. I think he would
still like to make the journey some time, but it is very weather dependant.
In
September, the day after we took Chris to university, we went off on holiday to
New England, to see the Fall colours. We
flew into Boston and then drove north, through New Hampshire.
We stayed 3 nights at a beautiful hotel on the shores of Lake Winnepesauke and were able to go and visit Lake Squam (where they filmed the movie 'On Golden Pond'). We went on a boat trip and one of the other passengers was a man who hires the exact cottage from the film every year for his holiday, we were very envious.
After this break we drove across to Vermont, having a trip on the Mount Washington Cog Railway en-route.
Then we drove down to Massachusetts and along the Mohawk Trail arriving back in Boston. The highlight of this final section was going to a concert at Boston Symphony Hall. Unfortunately by this part of the journey the weather was getting much colder and wetter, so we did not really enjoy the city. The best part of the trip was definitely seeing the amazing colours of the leaves. We just don't have the vivid reds and oranges that they have there.
Our hotel on Lake Winnepesauke
We stayed 3 nights at a beautiful hotel on the shores of Lake Winnepesauke and were able to go and visit Lake Squam (where they filmed the movie 'On Golden Pond'). We went on a boat trip and one of the other passengers was a man who hires the exact cottage from the film every year for his holiday, we were very envious.
The gazebo in the film "On Golden Pond"
After this break we drove across to Vermont, having a trip on the Mount Washington Cog Railway en-route.
Our train on the Cog Railway ready to take us up Mount Washington
Then we drove down to Massachusetts and along the Mohawk Trail arriving back in Boston. The highlight of this final section was going to a concert at Boston Symphony Hall. Unfortunately by this part of the journey the weather was getting much colder and wetter, so we did not really enjoy the city. The best part of the trip was definitely seeing the amazing colours of the leaves. We just don't have the vivid reds and oranges that they have there.
We
also started planning our Silver Wedding celebration, which was
8th November, with a party on the 11th November.
Luckily we found a really super hotel, set in the countryside, but just off the motorway and about 20 minutes from Weston-super-Mare. In the end there were about 34 of us gathered on the big day and some of our friends and relatives were able to visit us at home during the weekend. It was a very tiring few days, but absolutely wonderful seeing so many people.
There had to be a cake
Nick Chris
Stephen Margaret
Luckily we found a really super hotel, set in the countryside, but just off the motorway and about 20 minutes from Weston-super-Mare. In the end there were about 34 of us gathered on the big day and some of our friends and relatives were able to visit us at home during the weekend. It was a very tiring few days, but absolutely wonderful seeing so many people.
Whilst
all of this was going on, I was doing the final year of my MA (or so I hope). I
had to do a dissertation of 8-10,000 words, which was why we could not go on
holiday until it was finished. At the
moment I am waiting to hear the result; they usually arrive just in time to
almost spoil Christmas.
At
the moment I am feeling less than charitable towards my husband. He has just persuaded his employers to let him
do a 4 day week, so when I get up on a Monday morning, he stays in bed. Some things in life are not fair are they? Still I'm sure he won't spend all of his time
flying, or playing on the computer.
Both
of the boys will be home for Christmas. I am collecting Chris and his friend Dave next
Friday, so I hope the weather improves by then. They share a house with two other lads, and it
is quite close to the campus so they can cycle to lectures. Nick is also sharing a house this year, and he
will be driving down with all his keyboards etc. The next major event will be
Nick's 21st birthday in the middle of January, so a hectic time will be
had by all.
Anyway
I had better close for now as I still haven't written any of your cards. We
hope that all our friends and family have a very happy Christmas and a very
prosperous New Year.
