Greetings to all of our family and friends in this most unusual of times.
The first thing to say is that we hope that all of you have
managed to stay safe and well this year.
I am sure that like us, you have not been doing the things that you
thought that you would. I had imagined that this year my letter would have been
about the two fantastic holidays that we had planned. The first was to have been a cruise along the
Norwegian Fjords with Fred Olsen lines and it is something we have wanted to do
for a very long time. The second holiday
was a train tour around Switzerland; somewhere that Stephen has never been and
that I have not visited since I worked in Geneva as an au-pair in 1970. Both of these had to be cancelled, but
luckily, we had chosen well with our travel companies and we got a total refund
on the Cruise, whilst opting to carry forward the Swiss holiday to next
September. The company is Titan travel
and they have given us the freedom to move dates or cancel if circumstances
change, so we are very content.
We were lucky enough to have a family Christmas but it seems so
far away, still I am very glad that we were able to have both the boys as well
as Louise and Finley staying for the festive season. At the beginning of
January, we had Gary and Amanda, as well as Charlie and Alisha come to
lunch. They were on their way back to
Cheshire, so it was great to see them as always.
February saw the arrival of 7 very large boxes of information books for children.
I am Chair of the award judges this year and this was the
start of the process; so, sorting through the books has kept me busy.
At the beginning of March, I went to Harry Potter World with Chris. It was amazing as always and we had a great time.
We could see that there was more hand sanitizer about and a few people were wearing face coverings, but it was the calm before the storm.
The following weekend we went down to Verwood to stay with Nick and see Chris and that was the last time that we have seen them this year. We speak to everyone on a very regular basis, but we all know it is not quite the same.
My final foray out into the world before it all closed down was a trip to the Tutankhamun exhibition in London. It was my second visit, but I am not likely to get to Egypt anytime soon, so I thought I would take the opportunity.
I also went to an exhibition at the Queen’s
Gallery that as about George IV, there were some jaw-dropping exhibits.
April turned into a very sad month as my brother Barry’s wife Carol died at end of the month, it was a long-term illness, not COVID. She was several years younger than me, so died far too young. Thankfully Barry has a wonderfully supportive family, although Carol was at the core of their lives.
I am still involved with being on SLA board and am a school
governor. The only change with these
things is that I do not have to go out to meetings, but can sit in front of my
laptop and talk to everyone. I have also been involved in writing for Blog tours,
reviews, and two lots of online training, as well as attending lots of online
conferences, webinars, book launches etc. It is amazing how busy things still
are and of course I am now familiar with GoTo, Teams, and Zoom for these
sessions.
Having retired in 2019 as a Magistrate, Stephen sought something else to occupy his time. Following interview, he was accepted for training as a Samaritans’ volunteer listener. This rightly required a lengthy course of training and mentoring and Stephen found the role immensely rewarding.
The local
Samaritans branch is in our local town so commuting is not an issue and he
routinely volunteered for the night shifts which ended at 2am. It was thus with considerable disappointment
that when Covid-19 emerged and the need for him to shield that he had to
suspend his involvement. Then, as the
restrictions were lifted, Stephen also needed further treatment for his
myeloma.
Although he couldn’t attend Samaritans, Stephen was able to volunteer for a challenge called Samarathon. This required that during the month of July, he complete 26.2 miles (marathon distance) walking or running. He decided to undertake this in six stages each featuring the flying of his drone. He then published a series of videos on his YouTube channel PEMPILOT. Through the generosity of family and friends he collected almost £650 for Samaritans.
As a postscript, his research led him to feature two more videos; one about the former MoD weapons testing site at St Thomas Head, and the other about two ships which had been intentionally sunk in Woodspring Bay during 1944. These can also be viewed on his YouTube channel
As I write, Stephen is now requiring more treatment for his
myeloma. He attends multiple
appointments in Bristol for blood tests, scans, radiotherapy and
chemotherapy. It is abundantly clear
that he has to be fit to be ill! The
latest update is that he has got a blue badge, which makes things a lot easier
for parking at the hospital.
At the beginning of November, we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary (Sapphire) but of course it was very low key because of events. Hopefully we can treat ourselves to a nice break next year. I really can’t believe it is that long. The next target is to reach 50 years !!
Our Christmas tree is decorated with mementos of holidays and experiences. This year it was only fitting to add this sapphire coloured bauble.
Christmas is going to be celebrated at a distance this year, but I am sure we will spend a lot of time talking with each other and watching things such as “Muppet Christmas Carol” in our respective homes. We haven’t put up any decorations yet, but the middle of December might see them being put up. I have made the cake and puddings and I have all the ingredients for the sausage rolls, so we just need the fresh food for Christmas week and we will be ready.
We hope that everyone will have a happy and healthy time
next year and hopefully we will be able to catch up with some of you.
Very best wishes
Margaret and Stephen
