Christmas 2006
As we welcomed in 2006 with Jason and Yvonne in Scotland, we had little idea just what the year would hold for us. Early spring started quietly as Rosalie spent time in the garden and Doug pottered, as usual, doing bits and pieces of DIY around the house. South Felldyke’s first visitor of the year was granddaughter Hannah, who spent her Easter school holidays with us. Whilst here she attended a three day dance workshop at a local theatre, which she thoroughly enjoyed – She was rightly proud when she received her certificate! Our first trip abroad was a visit to see our old Hong Kong friends Lyneth and Scott, who now live near Bergerac, France. We spent a lovely week with them in their beautiful home. Anne (Rosalie’s oldest school friend) and Mike Moran were, as usual, great fun when they stayed with us in early May. The men spent the time with chainsaws and manly things whilst the women seemed to have a great time reminiscing! Jason and Yvonne’s May visit was enriched by a bit of father-son bonding as the two men worked away putting a level floor in the washhouse. We had a very brief overnight stay by Martin and Sandra Buck and their beautiful golden Labrador Ella. It was then a delight to welcome newly-weds Martin and Kitty Radford and Kitty’s parents, Tommy and Ming, for a few days as part of their UK tour. It was wonderful to see how happy Martin and Kitty are since their marriage. We were fortunate to have been able to spend two weeks in July in Spain with Hannah, Jason and Yvonne at Matthew and Laura’s apartment on the Costa del Sol. Nigel and Sally Wilson and their boys Oscar and Hugo were next. We all enjoyed some time together doing “touristy” things around this beautiful part of the world. The remaining weeks of summer were very family oriented. Delia arrived early August with Max and Oskar. At one stage we had all five grandchildren staying with us for a week, in the middle of which we also had Lyneth and Scott staying – hard work but how we loved it! – And Lyneth and Scott survived it! We were very proud parents towards the end of August when Matthew completed an Ironman Triathlon in Penticton, British Columbia in the remarkable time of just a minute over 14 hours (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run!) September saw us grandson sitting again! We joined Dominic and Delia in a rented cottage in Essex for a week and looked after Max and Oskar whilst mum and dad attended two weddings, one at the beginning of the week and one at the end! In October we were delighted to join Jason and Yvonne in celebrating their marriage in Maybole, Ayrshire. Later this week we are going up to Scotland again to help them move to a slightly larger house which is closer to Glasgow, where they are now both working. Next week we are off to visit Dominic and Delia in Dubai for the festive season. Hopefully we’ll get some rest! We hope you enjoy reading this little snapshot of our year. Every year when we come to this season we hope that the next year will see a more peaceful and less stressful world. We sometimes think this is a forlorn hope, but there’s no harm in trying! All the very best to you and yours. Rosalie and Doug
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