Tag: Xmas

December, 2008

Another age defying, action-packed year from the Johnston family, though the older members are starting to need ever longer periods of recovery time after each outing.

January involved lots of treats including two trips to the ballet for Judith with one each for Graeme and Fleur, and Graeme started the process of being prodded about by consultants following a small TIA last December; this eventually resulted in changes to medication rather than anything worse so he now has to take a daily dose of rat poison. He can now stop a rat dead in its tracks at ten yards with but a single sideways glance…

February was a wonderful month as we went to Orlando for two weeks with Fleur and Keith. We thought we had better take Keith’s sons (Keiran and Joshua) with us as well, just to add legitimacy to the trips to the Orlando amusement parks. This was their first long haul flight and their first experience of the land of Mickey Mouse; I think they liked it just a bit! (They also liked the extra week off school. Ed) We had a huge villa with surplus bedrooms, a swimming pool and a large games room. Best of all, we had lots of sunshine and managed a bit of shopping along with the cocktails and far too much food. Once home, our ‘Not the Burns Night Supper’ (same as any other Burns Night supper, but nae poetry, Ed) has become so popular that we had to hold two and we can see that growing to three quite soon. And, having finished the redevelopment before he went to Derby, we had the pleasure of seeing Rory’s Farnborough house on the BBC, featured on the ‘To Buy or Not to Buy’ morning TV show. It sold, thankfully, quite soon afterwards.

March seemed to involve a great many convivial lunches, most of them mega-calorie. We travelled up to Derby to see Rory and Kathryn and inspect progress on the house there, and they managed a brief holiday in Las Vegas. We also fitted in the ‘From Russia’ exhibition at the Royal Academy and the ‘First Emperor’ exhibition at the British Museum, both very special. Judith acquired a new laptop with go faster stripes and has been using it to research and make contact with school friends from a few decades ago; the inevitable consequence was more lunches…

We calmed down a bit in April but had the joy of a friend’s daughter’s wedding reception in a giant marquee just the other side of a carefully maintained hole in our back garden hedge. This proximity allowed Judith to change into a second outfit during the course of the evening. (Only necessary because a certain husband managed to tip a spectacular volume of red wine over the first one, Ed). We also travelled to Paris with Judith’s WEA Art History class but went off piste by spending a most enjoyable day going round the Palace of Versailles.

May saw us away in Tenerife with Fleur and Keith for a vegging out week, sun and sangria and a big bag of books. We got home in time for the local Open Gardens event, a brilliantly hot day with gardens at their best and the village teeming with visitors, probably the best weather of an otherwise dismal summer.

In June we managed to see ‘Gone with the Wind’, a fairly short-lived musical that would really have been better without the music but it did have an amazing 180^o set; it lasted a bum-numbing 3+ hours (and that was the honed-down version they created after a considerable amount of adverse audience feedback, Ed). We also took in Buyers’ Day at the Royal Academy and the Tutankhamun Exhibition at the 0² Dome, excellent even though some of the exhibits we saw last time round in the 1970’s were now too fragile to be brought over. Finally, we enjoyed the Lion Dancers (and free beer, Ed) at the Tai Chi centre in Maldon, a bit exotic for a sleepy seaside town but great fun.

July was memorable in lots of ways but not for the weather which was dreadful. At the Rotary Club President’s night we met up again with Deniz, the belly dancer we sprang on the unsuspecting attendees at Fleur and Keith’s wedding reception. Little Baddow held a summer fete in torrential rain but the run up to it was enlivened by a village scarecrow competition. So, for weeks before, we had scarecrows in various guises and costumes appearing in front gardens, behind trees or on street corners. We had a kilted scarecrow (not ours, Ed), a skiing scarecrow, traffic speed checking scarecrows at each end of the village, a chef, a mandarin, well over thirty in all. Unfortunately a few got vandalised or stolen and after one was spotted being bundled into a black car that took off at speed, the owners were expecting a ransom demand… Judith at last managed to escape the workplace shackles by being made redundant (but was out at a party within an hour, Ed). From this point on she could have become a lady of leisure but over at Fleur and Keith’s house many projects awaited; Rory came down from Derby and contributed a few frenzied days of carpentry and plumbing, after which Graeme took over as chief carpenter (to everyone’s total amazement, Ed) and Judith resumed her role as chief painter and decorator. Theatrical highlight of the month was a day we spent at the National Theatre enjoying the ‘Wizard of Oz’ matinee followed in the evening by ‘Never so Good’, the story of Harold Macmillan’s political life, an enthralling tour de force by Jeremy Irons.

Early August saw us in London to combine a visit to the War Cabinet rooms with a reunion lunch and then it was time for our annual trip to Edinburgh. We travelled by way of the Bowes Museum to see the famous silver swan in action and had an overnight stop near Alnwick. Edinburgh gave us the usual opportunities to catch up with family and friends, a joy as always. The Edinburgh Book Festival was excellent and we enjoyed seeing John Prescott, Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith; Judith found herself sitting beside the last named at another show so now we are old friends and have to call him Sandy (dreadful flirt, that girl, Managing Ed). Ticketing for the Fringe was beset by computer problems so we spent much time retrieving tickets that hadn’t arrived or getting cash refunded for shows that had disappeared into the ether, but as always we found good things to see, notably Simon Callow who performed Dickens monologues, Kit & the Widow, Lunch with the Hamiltons, Pam Ann and the Great American Trailer Park Musical. We also met Louis de Bernières at Valvona & Crolla’s, before trying out VinCaffé, their newish restaurant, and awarded ourselves a day out to lunch at the original Loch Fyne seafood restaurant before visiting Inverary Castle. Back home, we were delighted that Rory was able to come down for a few more days to do electrical and plumbing jobs both for us and in Fleur and Keith’s house; they now have a working alarm system plus fully functional radiators and we have a wonderful ceiling fan in our bedroom just in case the hot nights ever return. Rory also started on the process of purchasing the house in Derby from Kathryn, the first indication, later confirmed, that they are likely to be parting company.

September saw plastering work being carried out on a number of interior walls in Fleur and Keith’s house, followed, after a decent interval by all hands to the painting pump so that the house could be ready for new carpets to be laid. We were all delighted with the transformation (and very glad to get to the end of that long running piece of work, Ed). We drove up to Derby again to see first of all the Joseph Wright of Derby paintings in the municipal museum and then the work that Rory had been doing to his house; great progress internally but stunning outside. He has built a conservatory, terraced part of the back garden, wood clad the garage, put in decking and steps, and the overall result is, as they like to say on TV, a Wow! factor. And there are chickens! Monica, Phoebe and Rachel have a fine coop with carefully protected run, which blessing they are repaying with eggs at the rate of three a day. Next day we took Rory to the nearby Sudbury Hall where we were fortunate to be able to join a weekly tour led by Curtains the butler who stayed beautifully in character throughout. During the rest of the month we fitted in a trip to Sonning to see Plaza Suite at the little Mill theatre restaurant, and a two night trip to Cambourne from where we drove to Burghley to visit the house. We also managed a day in London to go to Buckingham Palace to see the State Banquet exhibition (stunning, Ed). In the midst of all else, Fleur’s car started to display alarming tendencies to cease functioning in heavy traffic, and that led to a rethink about their vehicular requirements. The end result was that they replaced both their cars with a large, 7-seater Zafira, now known to the family as ‘the bus’, which will allow them to take all of their children and aged parents out for the day once in a while (hint, Ed). And to end a slightly full month a local friend of suitable ethnicity decided to celebrate his 60th birthday with a ceilidh in the village hall, in the middle of which we were all flabbergasted to see a pipe band march in. (Well, an eight piece pipe and drum combo though that’s still pretty good for deepest, darkest Essex, Ed). Even Graeme was forced to join in the jiggin’…

October was, thankfully, a little less frantic though Judith treated Graeme to a birthday day out in London (Apsley House followed by afternoon tea at the Lanesborough) and then the Royal Academy kindly gave us a places on a private tour of the Byzantium exhibition led by the curator. We also took in ‘Female of the Species’ which beautifully rubbished Germaine Greer to resounding cheers from the audience.

November saw us back in the groove, however, with Graeme taking Judith to London for her birthday – lunch at Fortnums, Byzantium exhibition again, Coutts cocktail party and a last trip to see Spamalot (thanks, Karen, for the theatre vouchers, Ed) before it comes off early next year. We had a second overnight trip to Cambourne so that we could go round the Fitzwilliam, a day in France with Fleur and Keith and a wonderful day in Richmond with lunch at a trendy French restaurant followed by ‘Calendar Girls’ after which Graeme got to chat up three of the stars (now who’s being a flirt, Ed). Later in the month, after Kathryn had moved out we took ‘the bus’ up to Derby packed with stuff Rory had stored in our attic. Amazingly we got in a wardrobe, two tables, two sacks of logs, bedding, towels, food parcels and a large assortment of other essential items; we also got Judith in, tucked into a little padded nest in row two…

December, and we have almost run out of steam; we know that we are fortunate still to be reasonably active and we are doing our best to make the most of that while we can. Already, we are well into the Christmas party round, which starts early in this village so that everybody can find a slot, but otherwise we have managed only to fit in a day at the Imperial War Museum and a couple of dinner parties. Christmas is almost upon us, and this year’s letter has to come to its end. So, wherever you are, do go out and enjoy it, but first let us wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous year in 2009.

December, 2007

OK, mea culpa, too much work last year to get round to the newsletter so, you lucky people, it’s a double dose this year. The management has insisted on brevity, so, for 2006, here goes.

January 2006 saw us in Palma for some winter sun. Judith and Fleur went to the ballet and Graeme did his ‘Immortal Memory’ at the Rotary Burns night. In February we became honorary bellringers for a village quiz and fitted in several theatre trips. In March we had a family photo session courtesy of Rory, went to Venice with the WEA, managed more theatre trips and Graeme did e.Bay University. April saw us in Marrakech with the Luncheon Club, where we stayed at a wonderful riad, and our cultural treat was the Three Emperors at the Royal Academy.

In May Hearts won the Cup (hoorah) [wonders will never cease, Ed] and we had to exercise our little grey cells at an evening event with a Latin-speaking stand up comic, during which Judith was required to wear a fluorescent jacket for (a) blatant name-dropping and (b) displaying far too much knowledge [completely unfair, Ed]. We then took Fleur, Keith, Keiran and Joshua [the boys’ first ever flight, Ed] to the Isle of Man for the pre-TT practice week and had a glorious time staying in an eccentric Swiss chalet in the grounds of a castle. We were blessed with perfect weather and the motor bikes and sidecars were pretty good as well.

Following an unexpected windfall from Graeme’s father’s trust fund, June saw us spending some of the loot at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, and later in the year we were pleased to find that the RA had used our acquisition for one of their Christmas cards which we sent out in 2006. The month was busy for Judith in two other areas, the centenary reunion of the County High School [it’s been a great year for renewing old friendships, Ed] and after a very disciplined training programme she improved on her 2005 time by six minutes in the annual ‘Race for Life’. In July Graeme bought a Sat Nav system, and Hanoi Jane superseded Judith as in-car navigator [or so he thinks, Ed].

August saw us back in Edinburgh for our annual foray to the Fringe, this time with Fleur and Keith; our highlights included lunch with Christine and Neil Hamilton, Momma Cherri’s soul food and gospel, Four Poofs and a Piano, The Goodies, the Harry Potter books condensed into 50 minutes and a day out in Glasgow where Keith distinguished himself at the Willow Tearooms by having two breakfasts, the first involving a large schooner of Drambuie to pour over his porridge.

In September we drove to France to stay with friends in Notre Dame de Hamel, south of Rouen, and managed three good theatre trips and a few other treats during the rest of the month. Fleur and Keith celebrated their first wedding anniversary with a trip to Oxford and are clearly getting the Johnston travel and treats bug. We also noticed a damp patch in Judith’s study, the starting point for a long saga as it took some time to diagnose the likely cause and then even longer to get it fixed. Eventually the study floor had to be dug up so that the broken pipe could be found and bypassed, and then the drying team got to work and that led to the scope of the work growing exponentially until eventually the redecoration work encompassed the study, the downstairs loo, the cloakroom, the boiler room, the hall and finally the stairs and upstairs landing. Just as well we have very supportive insurers but the house has been in chaos for months!

October was a month of film, theatre and food treats, and Graeme got taken for afternoon tea at Claridges as part of his birthday celebrations. Film, theatre and food featured prominently in November as well, and we had a highly enjoyable few days visiting old friends in Weymouth, Whitchurch Canonicorum and Rustington; we are now looking forward to Terry and Rita joining us in Edinburgh next August. December was, as always, a round of parties and meals.

Those of you who have not nodded off by now will have noticed that I haven’t mentioned the young laird. 2006 has been a very full year for him as well; in addition to doing a demanding job with Cable & Wireless he sold his house in St Albans and bought another in Farnborough, Hampshire as a development project. He has also been working towards the graduate tests for fast track entry to medical school having decided that it’s now or never if he is to pursue his dream of studying medicine. In Rory’s case this meant doing the equivalent of two ‘A’ levels in about three months and the good news is that by year end he had done well enough in the tests to get two interviews, a brilliant achievement and we are very proud of him. He is living in Sandhurst with Kathryn, several cats (lost count last time we were there) and a pair of matching BMW Minis.

In September Fleur started a three year degree with Anglia Ruskin University (where she is the Criminal Records Bureau Administrator) for a BA (Hons) in Learning, Technology & Research and is loving it, so both of our children are students once again but fortunately self-supporting this time.

Judith has reduced her working day and continues to work afternoons only for a small firm of independent financial advisors in Chelmsford; she is busy training them up to do things her way [no, the right way, Ed]. Graeme’s e.Bay business is still going strong, and he is the Treasurer of a local counselling charity which has grown over the past few years into a substantial business.

2007 has been pretty full as well. January included more theatre trips (Spamalot the highlight) and a few days in the Algarve with Fleur and Keith. While we were there, their cars were both written off by a neighbour who stepped too firmly on to her accelerator one icy morning, so we returned to a serious car crisis. And Graeme was at last able to use the generator he bought some months back when we suffered a series of lengthy power cuts; it proved to have been a great investment.

In February, at long last, our redecorating work started and continued into March. At the end of the work the carpet fitters arrived, laid carpets and completely destroyed the wallpaper in Judith’s study. Back came the loss adjusters and we started the long process of negotiating which of the many subcontractors of subcontractors in the chain should be paying for the re-redecoration. While this was going on we naturally fitted in a few theatre trips as well as a trip to the wonderful Electric Cinema in Harwich, a restored 1930s cinema with films projected the old-fashioned way from reels (sometimes a reel falls off, we were told). We also had a few days in Berlin with the WEA Art History class. Air Berlin from Stansted were spectacularly good; on arrival at Tegel airport just thirteen minutes after our wheels had hit the tarmac we had disembarked, got through passport control, collected our suitcases and were standing in the airport lobby!

In April Graeme was asked to take over until year end as Chair of Trustees of his charity due to the ill health of the then incumbent, which meant a double load of work as he is still Treasurer. After interviews Rory received two offers of medical school places; he accepted the offer of a fast track place at Nottingham University which meant that both Rory and Kathryn had houses to sell in order to move to Derby, where the medical faculty is based, by September. And we fitted in a few theatre trips including a day in Brighton to see a memorable, if somewhat unlikely, play about Mother Teresa and Robert Maxwell.

May saw us in Benalmadena with Fleur and Keith for a week of sunbathing and sangria [some of us overdid both, Ed]. Meanwhile, Rory and Kathryn headed off for San Francisco and Las Vegas and liked LV so much that they will be going back next year. June had the sadness of the funeral of Graeme’s cousin Paul, but it did provide an opportunity to catch up with other cousins that he had not seen for many years. We also went to Bruges with local friends for a few days of relaxation and spent some more of the children’s inheritance at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Judith completed another ‘Race for Life’ in rain, cold and mud but improved her time yet again; if she can improve as much every year from now until 2012 we may be seeing her at the Olympics!

In July we watched some of the Tour de France time trials along the Embankment from the new Skylon restaurant in the South Bank before watching Bryn Terfel cutting throats in Sweeney Todd, an incongruous set of experiences. This was the month when it seemed to rain non stop so we didn’t get in the swimming pool; the rain didn’t stop us going out to cinemas, theatres and art exhibitions, however. More painfully, this was the month when Rory had his car written off in a flash flood that inundated his company’s car park, so that is a dismal hat trick of sorts.

August saw the re-redecoration of Judith’s study finished and the long saga brought to an end just in time for us to set off to Edinburgh for the Fringe with a welcome stopover at Neville and Lorna’s house in Yorkshire on the way up. Really nice to have Terry and Rita in Edinburgh with us this year, though they embraced the opportunity so comprehensively that we saw much less of them than we had expected. The highlights for us were the Andy Warhol exhibition, Debbie Does Dallas, Pam Ann, a spoof Eurovision contest and a midnight feast with the Hamiltons, whose show this year (fortunately, we didn’t know beforehand) featured the Boyz in the Buff, the Naked Comedy Duo and Puppetry of the Penis [more dangly bits on stage than one could shake a stick at, Ed]. We were both on stage a bit as well during the week, though not with the Hamiltons, thank goodness, and we fitted in a fine day out in the Highlands on the only day it wasn’t raining. Good as well to have time to catch up with family and friends, and time to look at art exhibitions, though that proved expensive this year [we need more walls, Ed].

September brought the joy of a friend’s daughter’s wedding, an occasion made memorable by the groom having four best men. We also fitted in an anniversary lunch at Fortnum & Masons followed by a tour of London in a yellow amphibious ‘duck’, all planned to give Judith a good day out before an operation which left her foot in plaster for eight weeks [all better now, Ed]. At the other end of the spectrum we visited Jimmy’s Farm for a ‘Sausagefest’ and met a Hairy Biker! Rory and Kathryn moved to Derby, Kathryn having sold her house easily, but Rory’s still needed some work done before it could go on the market; his estate agent subsequently arranged for it to be one of the properties featured in a morning TV show and it has now sold. Rory started his course but has so far resisted Graeme’s offers to buy him his first skeleton on the amusing but spurious grounds that he doesn’t have a closet to keep it in [in retaliation Graeme is now threatening to leave Rory his own skeleton when he dies, now wouldn’t that make an interesting talking point, Ed].

In October we all went to Chester for nephew Jamie’s 21st birthday; we do seem to have become a very large family but it was a joy to observe how relaxed and comfortable we all are with one another across a wide range of ages. As part of the weekend we managed a day out to Llandudno which was a delight, can’t wait to go back to North Wales, and on the way home we visited Rory & Kathryn’s house in Derby which abuts the hospital grounds so that Rory has just a ten minute stroll to get to the faculty. They have great plans for modernising the house and it has the potential to be quite special in a few months time.

For his birthday Graeme was taken to see La Bayadère at the Royal Opera House [he understood little but is a ballet virgin no more, Ed]. Judith’s birthday was, however, a much more flamboyant affair. To begin with, after having the date in her diary blocked out, Judith was fed snippets of disinformation, over time, about the shape of the evening; this led her to an entirely plausible but entirely wrong conclusion. It was in fact a Black & White party organised in devious secrecy by Graeme, Fleur, Keith and sundry friends; this allowed everybody to dress up (mostly in DJs and LBDs) except of course for Judith who had been persuaded [with extreme difficulty, Ed] to wear red. The element of surprise was maintained right to the end, to the point at which she opened the door to a roomful of friends and family, some of whom had come from distant parts of the UK. Fleur managed to keep a couple of party secrets from Graeme, and Fleur and Keith also produced personalised party bags for guests. A few days later, for the birthday itself, Judith got taken away by Graeme for a mystery weekend; Compton Verney, Warwick Castle, Ann Hathaway’s Cottage and a nice spa hotel with electric beds [make up your own jokes, Ed]. Later in the month we drove to St Omer with Fleur and Keith to stock up with essentials for Christmas, and the four of us also saw ‘Hairspray’ which was one of the best theatre nights we can remember, can’t praise it too highly.

So now it is almost Christmas and the party season is in full swing; wherever you are, go out and enjoy it, but let us first wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous year in 2008.

December, 2005

Another year, another newsletter, perhaps next year we should just maintain a Blog…

This year, even more than last, has flown by in a flurry of mostly Fleur-related activities. In January we flew to Tuscany for Burns night at a little Scottish oasis called the Borgo di Colleoli and met a beautiful young Scots harpist (Katie) who had played for the opening of the Scottish Parliament and will appear again later in this year’s story. While there we heard from Fleur that she and Keith had found the perfect house. On our return we saw it, agreed, and within a couple of weeks, subject to all the usual legal stuff and delays, it was Fleur and Keith’s.

In February we had the opportunity to use some of Graeme’s stash of Airmiles with a trip to Marrakech; nice to travel Club class again and it turned out to be a wonderful holiday. A few crinklies passed to the concierge at our hotel found us an English speaking driver (who had driven Posh & Becks the previous year) plus comfortable car for two days, and that allowed us to do a couple of interesting trips – Essaouria 200km away on the coast and the following day a shorter distance up into the High Atlas to visit Berber villages. We learned about argan nuts and carpets, cornered the market in local spices, and Judith invested in pointy toed shoes and a large tajine; she also inadvertently took camel riding lessons but that was a mistake anybody could have made. And everywhere in Marrakech we travelled by caleche, clip-clopping along in great style.

March saw the annual WEA art class trip, this time to Paris; three days of culture and a welcome break from the various house, wedding, honeymoon, etc planning then well under way. It took until late in the month to complete on Fleur and Keith’s house, at which point they moved in and Judith, then between jobs, started decorating.

In April we treated ourselves to a dirty weekend in Brighton, an opportunity to visit the Pavilion and also Charleston farmhouse, one time home of Vanessa Bell and weekend retreat for the Bloomsbury set, now nicely conserved with much of their furniture (and art) still in place. And in May we travelled with Rory to Crete to stay with old friends Maggie & Phil who now live there year round. They have worked wonders with their house and have built an apartment beside it for paying guests. The lifestyle is utterly seductive – wonderful unobstructed views across Souda Bay, Greek food and wine, convivial, relaxed lifestyle – no wonder Phil has gone completely native. Rory drove us to Knossos to look over the excavations and we enjoyed meeting Maggie’s aged but very lively parents and hearing about their lives. The other highlight of the month was a tour round Legal London which included lunch at Middle Temple sitting at high table which was an oak trestle made from wood given to the Temple by Queen Elizabeth I.

In June we visited Normandy for a long weekend with a group of our friends who comprise the Little Baddow Luncheon Club; this included a trip to Monet’s garden at Giverny and a superbly gastronomic lunch in Honfleur. Later in the month Judith again took part in the Race for Life at Hylands Park in Chelmsford, finishing in a better time than last year – all that fitness training is really paying off. August, as ever, is our opportunity to let our hair down for a week at the Edinburgh Festival. This year we managed to fit in with the tides in order to stay overnight on Lindisfarne, and in between rain squalls we were able to enjoy the views and get the feel of this special place. Thanks to the wonder of the Internet (and pre-booking) our time in Edinburgh was fully utilised – we visited the Scottish Parliament, the Queen’s Gallery and the RSA, and managed between three and five shows a day. It sounds a lot but there’s so much to try and fit in and a week isn’t nearly long enough. On the return leg we stayed at Karen’s house in Chester so that we could visit the Lady Lever Gallery at Port Sunlight to see the collection of Pre-Raphaelites.

And then it was September, Fleur and Keith’s wedding, and all of our planning through the year was about to be put to the test. The Big Day was Saturday 17^th and the weather was close on perfect – just warm enough, dry, sunny but not so bright that people would screw up their eyes for the camera. The wedding dress had been finished with only hours to spare but Fleur looked wonderful as did the Mother of the Bride [that’s enough sycophancy, Ed]; Graeme and Rory were kilted, as were all the male Johnstons and a good few of our local friends. Keith, his best man and many other guests were in morning dress along with Keith’s two small sons. The bridesmaids, Jodie and Karima, had both flown back from trips to Australia and so had great tans to go with their outfits, and our youngest niece Hannah was a scene-stealing flower girl. And all this was of course complemented by a wonderful array of posh frocks and stunning hats. If you haven’t already done so, you might like to have a look at www.wedding2005.co.uk and its linked photo gallery.

The wedding was held at Vaulty Manor near Maldon with civil ceremony, wedding breakfast and evening reception all within the Manor and its grounds. The aforementioned Katie played Celtic music before and during the ceremony and modern material during the pre-meal reception. Fleur was piped in to ‘Flower of Scotland’ and the wedding party and then the bride and groom were piped in to the meal, all of this co-ordinated and stage-managed by Royston, our brilliant toastmaster. During the evening we had the Julie Cooper Band, old friends from school dances about twenty years ago, and during their rest break Graeme smuggled in a belly dancer called Deniz who astonished us with her ability to belly dance with a large sabre balanced on a love handle [children, don’t try this at home]; so that’s what they’re for…

Being gluttons for punishment we held open day at St Martins on the Sunday to clear up the leftovers and provide a comfort break for people travelling home, a nice chance for Keith and Fleur to parade around in their ‘Mr Mitchell’ and ‘Mrs Mitchell’ tee-shirts. A few days later, well before dawn, we drove the Young Marrieds to Heathrow for the first leg of their honeymoon; they had a few days in New York before joining a cruise up the Canadian coast, then back to New York for another couple of days, and from the photographs and souvenirs they brought home (though no cash) they clearly had a wonderful time. By early October, with all that excitement behind us, we felt in need of a complete rest and managed to arrange at short notice a week away in Rhodes; weather not great but otherwise a pleasant and much needed break.

In between all the cracks in our calendar we have managed to fit in lots of theatre, cinema and art exhibitions. The London theatre highlights this year have been Cirque du Soleil and Carmen, both at the Albert Hall, Mary Poppins, the Far Pavilions, Billy Elliott and Woman in White. We seem to have been to the cinema a good deal, and there have been trips to Southwold, Aldeburgh, Runnymede, Frogmore and Boulogne (twice). The Little Baddow Luncheon Club has been very active and apart from local meals (and the trip to Normandy) we had a riotous evening at Sarastro in London – good food plus opera babes, and the most amazing balcony table imaginable. And we seem to be increasingly involved in local Rotary events which involve eating, drinking and frequent kilt-wearing. As Christmas fast advances we are into the usual round of local parties and taking a group of 36 family and friends to the Panto in Grays, an annual not to be missed treat.

Graeme’s little e-Bay business continues to be nicely productive, in between holidays, and Judith is now working afternoons for a firm of IFAs in Chelmsford – easy commute and free parking but not nearly enough holiday allowance!

No year seems to be without sorrow and during the past few months we experienced the loss of our good friends Ivan and Emer’s daughter Fiona, sadly a victim of the London bombings. We also lost Peter Wolstenholme, a dear friend, and Keith’s mother Yvonne who had been in ill health for some months but who held on until Keith and Fleur returned from honeymoon. They will all be missed but not forgotten.

The Young Marrieds and the Young Laird have each supplied their own perspectives on the year but before you get to those we want to wish you a very happy Christmas and another happy, healthy and prosperous year in 2006.

From the Young Marrieds…

This is our first time writing in the renowned Christmas letter.

2005 has been a roller coaster ride for us, white knuckled at times. We started the year by moving into our first house together in March, we were so glad finally to find the perfect house after so much looking. We have had to do very little to the decor, our local painter (mum) popped round one morning and by the time she left we had a new colour on the walls in the kitchen and utility room. Our other must-do room was our third bedroom; it was to say the least a bit on the pink side as it was floor to ceiling pink Barbie wallpaper and is still known as the Barbie room! This has now been transformed into our study. Keiran and Joshua’s room has not been touched; the previous family did a fantastic job on this room and every night the boys go to bed in their own little universe.

Of course the highlight of our year was the wedding! We had a fantastic day and couldn’t believe how lucky we were to have so many friends and family turn out to support and show their love to us. We honeymooned in New York and then cruised to New England stopping in Boston and Portland and then on to Canada with stops in Halifax and Sydney. We can now say we have been to both Sydneys. We really enjoyed our time away and are still going through the 750 pictures we took.

On our return from honeymoon we had our saddest point of year with the passing of Keith’s mum, Yvonne. Yvonne had been fighting several illnesses throughout the year but she was determined that she would be there for Keith on his wedding day and see her youngest child settled.

And now here we are with Christmas approaching and a New Year just round the corner, we have many plans and dreams to fulfil so best we get started.

We wish you a happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

Love from the old Mr Mitchell and the new Mrs Mitchell xxx

P.S There are lots more photos on our website, www.wedding2005.co.uk . . . have a look.

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Hello All!

It has been a busy year for me. I have finally made the move from T-Mobile after receiving an offer I couldn’t refuse from Cable & Wireless in Bracknell. I am now doing the same job as before, but managing performance management for eighteen mobile networks instead of just one – mostly in the Caribbean if anyone’s interested! So far I have only been to Jamaica, Jersey & Guernsey with C&W, sadly we sold Sakhalin before we had a chance to visit (bonus points if anyone has the faintest idea where it is!), and for next year I will be studiously trying to avoid a trip to visit the network we part-own in Kabul. Apart from work, I have also been on holidays to Crete, Majorca & Barcelona.

I completed decorating my house in St Albans and put it on the market (sadly too late to sell it this year). If anyone wants a house in St Albans look at the My House link below. Currently I am a connoisseur of the M25 and M4, just waiting to move round to somewhere near Bracknell (preferably Wokingham).

So what have I wasted my money on this year? Purchased my first kilt this year in preparation for Fleur’s wedding, and so far all this commuting hasn’t made me too fat, so hopefully that will last me a long time. Most frivolous purchase was my new number plate: R100 RRY; yes, sad, I know…

On the good works front I am still an IEE Ambassador for Science & Engineering, and have given two talks in Hertfordshire to promote this as a worthwhile pursuit for further and higher education. I am still in the St Johns Ambulance, and (thanks to me) our division has now at least joined the 20^th century with a website: http://www.sja.org.uk/stalbans (*gone now*)

Happy New Year!

[email protected]

My House (in case anyone wants to buy it…): Frosts estate agents (*gone now*)