Happy New Year 2009!

Wishing you all calm seas, gentle breezes, sunlit shores and good health to enjoy them throughout 2009.

Déjà vue ?

On Saturday I went to the sorting office to collect an item which had been sent to me with too little postage paid. The Sorting Office was crowded with others in the same situation. I had to pay £1.27 to retrieve the item – a Christmas greeting from a friend who had forgotten to attach a stamp. Now I don’t mind friends having senior moments (I have enough of them myself!) but I don’t see why I, as the intended recipient, should have to fork out what amounts to a fine for someone else’s mistake. With the complicated new charging system, I suspect that the Post Office will make a tidy sum this Christmas. And, yes, I know I could have looked at the item, identified the sender and then refused to pay the excess, in which case the item would have been returned to sender. But shouldn't that have happened in the first place?

And then I got to thinking, isn’t that how the postal service started? Wasn’t it the recipient who paid the carriage on receipt of the item? And didn’t poorer folks send “empty letters” so their family members could see the writing on the envelope, know that their loved ones were ok, but then refuse to accept the item to avoid payment?

I am being very careful to weigh and measure the hand made cards I send out this year, but if any of you do receive one that I've underpaid, please do let me know!

December 2008: looking back, looking forward ...

Retirement beckons!

After 35 years in education, David will be taking early retirement at the end of December. For the last two years he has been Premises Manager and Health and Safety Officer at his school, and has really enjoyed his work. He completed his NEBOSH Certificate earlier this year. But the school has been running a deficit budget for several years, and after cutting back the teaching staff in previous years, this year it was the turn of the admin staff, and David became one of the casualties. He was offered an alternative post which was basically the same role and responsibilities on fewer hours, and therefore less pay, so he said “no thank you I’ll take the redundancy”. His 35 years as a Staffordshire employee have been recognised in his redundancy package, so he will effectively get a year’s pay, plus a very modest pension already payable on his most recent post. He can draw his teacher’s pension from October 2010. All of which gives him breathing space to decide what he wants to do next!

What next?

Well, we’re in the process of buying a cottage in Wales which we plan to make our retirement home. At the moment it needs complete refurbishment, but we intend to spend the next year bringing it up to standard, before putting our house at Linton on the market. (This will hopefully give the housing market time to stabilise somewhat before we sell).We have been looking for a place for a while, having decided that we don’t want to stay in the Midlands in retirement. We’d both like to be nearer the sea, and having looked at the British coastline for places we like and can afford, South Wales seems to be a pretty good option. Ian spotted this cottage near them, and we viewed it during October half term. After a nail-biting week when we were matching another buyer bid for bid, we eventually emerged triumphant, and our solicitor is now doing the paperwork. We hope to get the keys early in the New Year. The cottage is in Godre'r graig, in the Tawe valley, about 15 miles from Swansea and a few miles outside the Brecon Beacons National Park boundary. It is a couple of miles by road from Mum and Ian & Nina, but there is a shorter route on foot. It’s thanks to Mum’s and Ian & Nina’s generosity that we have been able to buy the cottage without selling our house at Linton – they’ve loaned us the shortfall between our savings and the purchase price, to be repaid when we finally sell 12 Highfields Close.

Other news in brief:

Lesley’s Crafts

Lesley and a group of friends founded their club just over a year ago and it goes from strength to strength. We’ve been joined by several new members this year, and have melded into a very caring and supportive group. We cover a range of crafts including paper crafts, beadwork, painting, knitting and crochet, and swap materials, share ideas and pass on skills, We mounted a display at a local Craft Exhibition in May, which attracted a lot of attention and brought us several new members. A group of us travelled together to the Hobbycraft “Crafts for Christmas” show at the NEC in November, and next week we’re going together to the Carol Service at Lichfield Cathedral. Even on days when you don’t feel creative, it’s good to go and spend time with friends. Three of us are also currently enrolled on a City and Guilds Creative Machine Embroidery course, which we are thoroughly enjoying. We’re exploring lots of techniques, including recycling plastic wrappers and foil for use in creating texture and colour!

David’s Boats

David is still enjoying his modelling and sailing. He completed the building of his sea-going tug “Irishman II” in time to sail it towards the end of this season. It has drawn many compliments from his fellow enthusiasts. It was entered into the annual festival of lights in September and finished second in its category (working lights, ie boats lit realistically as they would be when working). The other category is “Glamour”, which basically means all lit up like a Christmas tree where anything goes, realistic or not!! “Irishman II” has since been displayed at the International Model Boat Show at Leamington Spa. His next project, already started, is a model of the coastal protection vessel HMS Clyde, which has a 5 foot hull – his biggest so far!

Lesley’s Mum has now been in her new home at Ystalyfera a year. She is just up the lane (literally!) from Ian and Nina, and has settled very happily into her new life. She still enjoys good health, and is lucky to have three lovely carers who provide social and domestic support 6 days a week. She goes to craft classes twice a week, and church (at Neath) on a Sunday. On other days her main carer, a lovely lady called Carol, takes her shopping, or on trips to The Mumbles, or anything else that takes their fancy! Mum will be 90 in February and we are planning a family celebration. Before that, Mum’s coming to spend Christmas with us at Linton.

David’s Dad continues to live independently in his bungalow on a sheltered housing estate, and is supported by ladies who clean and iron for him. His health has not been so good this year; he can’t walk as far as he used to and has an inhaler to help him when he gets too wheezy but he remains cheerful. We see him regularly, either at our house when he comes to share a meal, or when we drop by his bungalow in passing. Kelvin and Tanya visit every couple of months, and Dad goes to stay with them two or three times a year.

Holidays We had a lovely long break in the summer, despite the dreary summer. In fact, we were quite lucky with the weather. We had five days at Barnard Castle, from where we visited Durham to do family history research at the Record Office, and at the Regimental Museum of the Durham Light Infantry, both of which turned up some useful information to further our research (visit our website www.williamsland.com for more information). We then moved further north to Powburn for a few days, during which time we revisited Alnwick and the famous second-hand bookshop in the old railway station, as well as spending a lovely warm afternoon on our favourite beach at Embleton Bay. We moved further north to Lauder for the Bank Holiday weekend, from where we explored areas associated with David’s Swan ancestors (again, more details on the website), before heading to the coast at Berwick on Tweed for the last stage of our holiday, where we enjoyed lovely views from our elevated site, long walks on the beach every day, and more successful research at the Berwick Record Office! We had another week away in October, when we took the caravan back to Brecon. The weather was cold and bright. We woke one morning to find our water barrel frozen, but glorious views of snow on the tops of all the mountains! It was during this visit that we found the cottage which we are buying – a notable holiday souvenir! We had two visits to Mum in that week, plus time with Ian and Nina discussing property development, and a lovely meal together to round off the week.

We're at home for Christmas this year, and are looking forward to entertaining Lesley's Mum and David's Dad. We’re also hoping to link up with the Graham contingent, based around Guildford, at some time over the festive period. Emily and Ben, with Leo (3) and Angharad (18 months), returned home from Oz in October and are now living back in their old home just a short distance away from Jenny and Alex. Ian and Nina will be joining them for Christmas, and we’re planning to take Mum to see them all en route back to Ystalyfera.

We send our warmest greetings to you all, wishing you peace and joy at Christmas, and good health and happiness in the New Year. With love to you all, from us all: David & Lesley (the humans), Zoë & Quinn (the canines) and Freya & Tiffany (the felines).