Oh dear! Another catch up is long overdue! Those of you following this blog know not to hold your breath!

Possibly the next event of importance on my calendar was the carol service in the marquee on Charles and Tanya’s lawn. Everyone had worked hard, the marquee went up without any problems and Julian was looking forward to a nice rest on the day itself and enjoying the service in the evening. No chance!
The first snowfall of winter appeared during the night, to which the marquee roof took objection and part of it collapsed! Not easy to rectify. A hog roast on the menu sounded simple. Many things sound simple in theory. It duly arrived and Julian was asked to buy a car battery to enable it to be turned on the rotisserie. Said battery lasted 5 hours with 3 hours further cooking to go. So followed an attempt to remove the battery from Charles’ bus with no success but fortunately Penny’s car proved easier. All this time they were waiting for the generator for the heating which turned up 3 hours before the service started only to be found not to work! So another one had to be called from London. This one worked but only if someone stayed out in the freezing cold to kick start it every time it gave up…which was quite often! With one problem after another Julian and I eventually managed to make the service just in time to hear Charles; but the sound of Ben’s playing, along with Tanya on the cello, Simon on the flute and the girls with their violins accompanying the singing could be heard from the multi-storey car park and it was beautiful. In spite of the snow and many people sadly not being able to make it the marquee was mostly full and we are grateful to God for such a lovely atmosphere…and that the hog roast was perfectedly cooked. We are still eating it every church lunch and it still tastes delicious! Jimmy I don’t know if you are following this but if you are then thankyou for coming! It was great you and Kathy were there.

Christmas found us making our way down to spend a few days with Steve and for me to see his new house for the first time. That was due to the fact I was waiting for the heating to be installed! He assured me there was a bath, for us only to find that it was actually in a cardboard box in the breakfast room! Not exactly much use there! So Christmas Eve saw Julian and Steve using all their plumbing skills and by the end of Boxing Day (less than an hour before we were due to go out!) it was actually ready for use with running hot water! (They didn’t work on Christmas Day!) So we were all able to turn up sparkling clean to be with Lynsey’s family where we had a really enjoyable evening playing cluedo! We spent Sunday with the Rees family and Monday Lyn and Ben went shopping (a bad idea!) while I stayed behind to carry on with some much needed painting. We travelled home that evening with a huge mirror and wooden nest of tables and several rugs (bought in the sales) along with Christmas presents (including an antique gramophone found by Steve for Ben) and we tried to squeeze into the tiny spare places wherever we could.

It was a real joy to stop off at Ben’s both on the way down and on our return to break the journey and see all the improvements he has made. It is homely and cosy…except we know to wear most of the clothes from our wardrobes because of the cold. How come it has been the coldest winter for 30 years and he has survived in a house with no central heating or double glazing! Some mornings there has been ice on the inside windows and temperatures indoors noted as freezing!

Our news for January was the engagement of Steve and Lynsey with a wedding planned for June. We are hoping to get down to see them all next week to hear about all the arrangements so far!

And not to be outdone with excitement Ben managed to get himself arrested for breaking and entering his own house! In the end it was actually the police who forced entry but it is such a long and funny story you will need to ask Ben for details! The best thing of all is that the very next morning after breaking 2 panes of glass a firm had been booked to fit his double glazing. Perfect timing so well done Ben and thankyou for the laughs!