Well, yet
another year has whizzed through our lives and I really don’t know where the
time has gone.
Life seems to have got back to ‘normal’ for most people, but for us that is not the same as it was prior to the pandemic. We are still being very careful and wearing masks whenever we are out in public spaces. However, we have been lucky enough to fulfil one of our wishes and that was to have a proper holiday. We got back to Cyprus and had a lovely week in Pissouri, relaxing and meeting up with friends. Because we had not been away for such a long time, we treated ourselves to a stay at the Columbia Beach Resort, something that we could only dream of in the past. It must be said that it was a lovely experience and very relaxing.
Stephen at our favourite beach and restaurant (Kyrenia). Someone had to take the picture!
That was our only break this year, but we
have managed to see the boys on a few occasions; this has included visits in
both directions for all of us. We have
also been able to undertake some “dog sitting”, looking after Chris’s dog
Indy. This has been lovely, but means we
don’t have to commit to having a permanent resident pooch!
Christmas is
getting ever closer, but I still seem to be waiting for the Christmas spirit to
take effect. I did manage to make a
couple of Christmas cakes in the summer and they need another feed with some
brandy. I still need to make some of the
other usual foodstuffs, but I do have a pudding that was made last year. Hopefully Nick and his family will be with us
on Christmas day, and we will be having Chris and Tina to stay over the festive
period. It will be lovely to see
everyone, but especially Finley (who is now 9) and Indy the dog.
Our Christmas tree, which we've had for almost 30 years, has always had the same decoration, a robin, at the very top. It can no longer support itself and so will become a normal hanging decoration. Looking for a replacement, Stephen found the idea of a Tomte (Swedish name) and set about giving birth to one from scratch.
To explain, a Tomte is a mythological creature often associated with Christmas. These little spirits are treasured by all, wherever you may live.
Stephen has continued to benefit from the CAR-T cell treatment he received last year. Blood tests and biopsies have continued to fail to identify any myeloma. During the autumn he operated his drone over an area of the River Severn near Sharpness. After a period of editing, he published a video on YouTube entitled “Severn Rail Bridge Tragedy”. If you wish to view this search for Stephen as Pempilot. Completely without explanation, the video has been viewed thousands of times, over 70,000 views as I write this and received multiple comments – extraordinary. His next project is to re-write the Wikipedia page about RAF Locking which he feels does not reflect the significance of the former training establishment that launched the careers of so many service personnel.
Perhaps our main project of the year was decorating the dining room. It is something that Stephen has wanted to do for a couple of years, but his health had not allowed him to do. Luckily, he felt fine in the autumn and Chris and Tina helped move the furniture out of the room and I moved all of the books from the bookshelves (a mammoth task). He then decorated the room in a dark green/peacock colour, which looks fabulous. We are currently taking a break from decorating and doing other things.
I have been able
to get to a few conferences this year as well as a book festival in Bath and an
award ceremony in London, the first time I have been there since the beginning
of 2020. I finally got to travel on the
Elizabeth Line, which saved me a lot of time going to Tottenham Court
Road. Usually, Stephen likes to tell
everyone about the famous people that I am lucky enough to meet, but this year,
that has not really happened. The high spots were seeing Michael Morpurgo again
as he never disappoints and also seeing the historian Janina Ramirez speak; the
last time I met her was at a launch for one of her books about 5 years ago.
Margaret's involvement with the Carnegie and Greenaway Awards and....
....Margaret again surrounded with books being reviewed for the School Library Association's Information Book Award
I think the most important thing is that we manage to keep busy and keep in touch with our family and friends. I feel lucky that I am part of a fantastic library and book world and can keep up with people and what is going on. The boys have both been brilliant and we know we can always depend on them for support if we need it.
We hope that
this coming year will allow us to get away for a nice holiday at some point,
but at the moment we are still trying to decide what would be best. We had been
booked to go on a Norwegian Fjord cruise with Fred Olsen, to replace the one
that was cancelled with lockdown; however, we have had an email to say that it
has been cancelled and that the ship has been put up for sale!! We
will let you all know next year about what transpires.
We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and that next year will be full of joy.
Best wishes
Margaret and Stephen
