Tina
My involvement at St John’s church has ramped up a bit since our minister retired in April; otherwise I continue with court sittings and various kinds of dancing.
I attended a reading party in Cambridge in June, a week in September with Gemma and Lucy (exploring parts of Birmingham that Phil wouldn’t be interested in) and the Early Dance Festival in Hereford in October.
Phil
I also continue to pack electronic kits for MERG – this has expanded yet again and I’m now also their Inventory Manager; managing 40 ‘elves’ (who pack the kits) and around 1000 parts used by the kits.
I continue to help managing the building and equipment for our Scout Group – see 2nd Orpington Quartermasters.
My involvement with the Orpington Liberal Club has continued to take a lot of my time. As beer “purchasing manager”, I have quite a responsibility to get it right! I also look after most of the technical stuff there including CCTV cameras, a Point of Sale system and new ‘smart’ heating.
I still find time to work on my Model Railway and visit my local railway club, the Orpington & District Model Railway Society.
Finally, I still do the odd bit of work for my former clients on “Zero Hours” contracts but am (finally) pretty much retired.
Rocco
Rocco is now seven, and has really become a really well behaved dog (seen here guarding the Houses of Parliament). He still attracts attention by his friendly demeanour and youthful exuberance (particularly first thing in the morning) and of course his liking for sticks.
I now often take him when I’m running the bar at Orpington Liberal Club – I put his lead on a wall fixing in the corner and he just sits there watching what’s going on. And of course is quite happy when someone comes over to say hello, or even better, if someone offers him a dog biscuit.
Holidays
Yet again, we didn’t organise any serious holidays this year, concentrating on days out with the odd week away.
In January, we had a long weekend in York, culminating in Lucy’s PHD Graduation ceremony:
In May, we rented a cottage near Dorchester and enjoyed nice walks in the sunshine, strolls along the local beaches and good meals in the local pubs:
After a number of years, we finally returned to walking the Jubilee Greenway, following the Thames from Woolwich to Buckingham Palace:
In June, we caught the train to Rye, going out via Ashford and back via Hastings, which made a nice round trip:
We also visited Eltham Palace, somewhere I’d walked past but neither of us had visited:
We had a “National Trust” day, visiting Scotney Castle & Sissinghurst:
We’d been meaning to travel on the Thames Clipper boats for a while, and finally organised a trip from London Bridge to Barking Riverside:
Barking Riverside is a new development; all looking fairly empty at the moment, but I’m sure this will change:
As well as the boat, there is a new train service:
From there, we changed at Wanstead and got an Elizabeth Line train to the end of the line at Shenfield for a beer:
Our last day out (due to family commitments) was to Standen, a National Trust property that we’d not visited for ages:
