Patsy |
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2012 has been an up and down year. We have had the birth of our second grandchild, a couple of very good holidays and a successful visit to the Olympics. We continued the modernisation of our house by converting Stephen's old bedroom into a study with a decking veranda. This has already seen considerable use even though it wasn't complete until September. However, the year has also seen John's cancer return and he is back on treatment. |
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| February saw us go back to New
Zealand, this time to see the South Island. The flight
took us into Christchurch which as you probably know, has
been devastated by earthquakes Our motel was right on the
edge of the 'red zone' (the no go area) but had escaped
any major damage. We then toured the island in our compact Hyundai Getz rental car, taking in the traditional tourist destinations such as Hokitika, Fox Glacier, Queenstown, Doubtful Sound and Dunedin. We enjoyed our first ever helicopter flight at Fox which only lasted 10 minutes but was a great experience. Our other unique adventure was a close encounter with the very rare baby yellow eyed penguins at Natures World, a wildlife reserve on the Otago Peninsula. We travelled around the reserve in an 8 wheel off road vehicle which was pretty exhilerating to say the least - John was shaken so much that he was concerned that the metal plate in his back might come loose. Rather than bore you with lots of detail, I have simply included several photos to cover the rest of the trip. .
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Shortly after returning from New Zealand,
John's regular blood tests indicated that his Cancer was
starting to return. However, it didn't prevent our annual
trip to France to enjoy good walks, fine scenery,
excellent food and a bit of culture. It also enabled us
to stock up with the odd bottle or two of wine at a price
that would be acceptable to any Yorkshireman.
Not long after returning, we were off to the Olympics. We had selected our list of events and applied for tickets last year. Jan and Dave had also made identical applications. I was 100% unsuccessful as was Jan but fortunately Dave got one event - the Saturday evening session of the athletics on 4 August. Dave is not a great fan of athletics so Steve ended up joining us for the trip. Needless to say, we could not have picked a better session with Jess Ennis, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford all winning gold. We stayed on for a few more days, mainly to see the the Brownlees compete in the Men's Triathlon.
The rest of August and September saw a major
revamp of what used to be Stephen's bedroom into a study.
John had just completed the decorating when his
consultant decided that his cancer had reached the point
where treatment was necessary. As it is based on
thalidamide, John has had to sign a declaration that he
will not have sex with anyone of child bearing age. The
treatment is not chemotherapy but it does affect his body
and it could take up to 6 months for it to settle down.
The good news is that it doesn't result in hair loss. |
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Jan is still
commuting to London from Breedon on the Hill. She and
Dave have started to personalise both the house and
garden. This includes having only purple and white
flowers in the garden. Unfortunately, this was thwarted
by a couple of buddlea bushes which turned out to have
orange pom pom flowers instead of the (assumed) normal
white or purple. She is at last learning to drive and now
has her own car, a Ford Puma (John and Steve had
suggested a Ford Fiesta but apparently these aren't
pretty enough). Dave is still at Rolls Royce and keeps
fit by cycling to work whenever possible. Neither
particularly enjoy having their photo taken hence the
individual pictures.
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Stephen and partner Clare
are still teaching at a school near Durham although Clare
is currently on maternity leave having given birth to
Seren on 10 September. She appears to be quite a
contented baby and tends to mutter rather than cry. Seth is now three and three quarters and has rather a lot of energy. To ensure that some of this is put to good use, he now attends. Taekwondo and swimming and is progressing well in both. As you can see from the picture, Seth enjoys visiting our local wildfowl park and shows no fear in feeding the ducks and geese. In fact when we visit a local lake, he shows the same lack of fear as he feeds the mute swans which still tower well above his head. Stephen and Clare are now preparing for their wedding which will take place in January. John is proud of Stephen as he is at last showing that true Yorkshire spirit (weddings are cheaper in January). In November, Seren was taken to her first rugby match - in reality, the family went to watch Scotland play New Zealand which featured Tim Visser, the player that Jan and John sponsored when at Newcastle. Although Scotland lost heavily, Tim did score two tries. We are now looking forward to Christmas which this year will not be held in a stable but in an old barn close to Derby. The manger will be replaced by a travelling cot and the three wise men by John, Dave and Steve. Clare will be doing her impression of Mary and Jan and Patsy will be a right couple of Angels. Seth will be playing all of the other parts.. |
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| Link to 2011 'Letter' | |||||||||||||||
| Link to 2010 'Letter' | |||||||||||||||
| Link to 2009 'Letter' | |||||||||||||||
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and
John's 
Web-site
