Christmas 2013


Happy Christmas to all our family and friends.

 Well firstly I am delighted to say that Stephen is doing very well at the moment.  He is in good partial remission, which means he is able to carry on nearly normally and he is full of his usual energy, even going for longish walks in the local hills. Last year he built a garden shed and this year he has provided a small greenhouse. 
Components as collected and costing £13 !

Once painted and re-assembled

The boys laid the foundations but Stephen got it from eBay, painted it, fitted the glass and did the general construction. So next year he will be growing the tomatoes and peppers!

 The year started with the brilliant news that Nick and Louise were expecting a baby in September, as you can guess we were thrilled and it has given us something to look forward to.  Finley Oliver was born on 16th September, weighing about 9 ½ lbs and he has continued to enchant us all since then. H is now holding his head well and is very inquisitive about the world around him. Whilst he won't understand Christmas we should have a great time next year, and we can still enjoy spoiling him this festive season.
A small selection of Madeira Wine in Blandys
It seems to have been a very busy year for the two of us, especially when I listed things we have done.  Holidays have been a welcome break, starting with a week in Madeira in February and followed by visits to Cyprus in April (when Chris joined us for a week), Cyprus again in June (Stephen only as I had to work) and then a week in Cyprus in October.  The latter was so that we could go and pay a new property tax so we had a lovely morning queuing at the tax office; hopefully it will be ok next year as we are now on their computer system.

The beautiful Church of All Saints at the Stavrovouni Monastery

We have managed to see a few members of our families this year beginning with a bit of a round Britain trip in July; we started in Cheshire seeing our nephew and family and then it was over to Yorkshire to see cousins.  We then came down to East Anglia and stayed with another cousin near Norwich. They kindly took us for a lovely exploration of the old city and the cathedral.  We then visited friends in Huntington before the journey home.  Unfortunately we had to return to Yorkshire  in September to attend a family funeral but thankfully this was the only sad occasion this year.  I managed to visit family in London during one of my work visits and it was great to catch up with all the news.

 During the summer I had the opportunity to use my Christmas present from Christopher, it was a tour of the Harry Potter studio near London.  I went with Nick and Louise and we had a fantastic time.  The sets are quite incredible and there is so much information about the background work.  It is a real tribute to the whole crew, not just the actors.  We all came away with loads of photos, but no souvenirs; the prices were truly horrendous.  However it was so good that I really do want to go and see it all again – maybe next year??
The magnificence of Stourhead

The Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetland Trust Centre

Considering the fantastic places around this area we really don’t go to as many as we should.  However during the summer we had a day out at Stourhead gardens and they were looking really good, the walk around the lake is beautiful, even if it was rather hot.  Then last month we visited the Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre (which was created by Sir Peter Scott) to look at the many migratory birds.  It is the first time we have done this and it was truly amazing, with loads of birds posing for their photos.  They seem really chilled with humans around.  We both decided this was somewhere we will have to bring Finley in the future.

 October and November turned out to be very busy months, with me being away/out for five weeks out of six!!  I had a conference in Birmingham, then we went to Northampton for a family naming ceremony and then we were in Cardiff for a Myeloma conference.


Dedication Ceremony graced by His Eminence the Bishop
Fausto Martinelli (now sadly deceased), Elisabetta Manfroni, Stephen, & Major Sig.Carlo Mazza
True hospitality provided by Fausto and his wife Fiorella

Finally, last weekend we went for the biggie?  As many of you know Stephen has developed a website (HF694.org.uk) to commemorate his uncle who was killed in the war.  At the beginning of this year he sent a letter to Italy asking his contact for some information, this email was passed to a gentleman named Fausto Martinelli, who owns the land on which the aircraft crashed.  After many messages it was arranged that we would go out for the 70th anniversary on 24th November and place a plaque on the wall of the church where the crew were buried. We travelled from Gatwick on the Friday and got back on Monday evening.  What a trip.  Our hosts and their family and friends were so hospitable; we had great people, great food and truly emotional events.  Stephen is putting a full account on the website as well as photos, newspaper cuttings and maybe a video from the local TV station (yes, they really made a fuss).  This was a very special occasion.

 I am still at work and looking through the diary it seems that I had quite a busy year, although you could always ask for more business.  I had various visits up to London for events such as the Carnegie book awards, the Puffin Summer Party (full of famous children’s writers etc.), and a party at the Orangery at Kensington Palace (we even got a look around the part of the palace open to the public).  Back in Bristol I managed to arrange some author visits, the most well-known being Darren Shan  and Charlie Higson.  On top of that we have been doing a fair bit of advice work and also quite a bit of training.  Still it keeps me out of trouble.
Each year celebrity authors visit Margaret, In 2011 the Fonz, in 2012 Simon Mayo.
This year it was the turn of Sir Tony Robinson
I have also kept my book blog going, although it has not really become very well known; it is called "Margaret’s Reading Shelf", so you are very welcome to visit if you are interested, the link is on this blog. I am also still doing my reviews for several journals which helps keep me up to date with everything.

 We are now on the countdown to Christmas but I don’t think we will get the decorations up for another week or so, unlike Nick who got his tree down from his loft yesterday.  Our cake has been retrieved and has had its first dose of brandy this year.  I have got the ingredients to make mince pies and sausage rolls, so I think next weekend could be for baking.

 Anyway I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas and that next year turns out to be a really good one for all our family and friends