Tina
This has been an exceptionally busy year as we continued to guide our church through the vacancy (i.e. no minister!) There has been loads of extra admin, but I have also enjoyed the opportunity to lead worship. After an extended visit by a potential new minister in mid November, I was delighted – and relieved – to tell the congregation that he will be joining us in March and our vacancy will come to an end after just shy of two years.
I continue to develop my proficiency as a country dance caller, and also enjoy Scottish and historical dancing. Keeps me fit, as they say. I also was able to watch Gemma dancing at Upton in May – a chip off the old block!
In February, I drove up to take some things to Lucy, calling in on an old school friend, Jill, in Grimsby on the way back, which was lovely. Phil has documented my trip to Greenbelt with Lucy further down, and then in October, I went to the Early Dance Festival, which was in Hereford again. This time there was an opportunity to have lunch with Vicky, a friend from University, which was very special.
I have completed my training as a “Presiding Justice”, which when confirmed will mean that I will be able to take the chair of court sittings. I have found it very nerve racking, but other people seem to think I’m doing OK. Amongst all this, I still manage to find time to stick my nose in a book and occasionally do some sewing or craft! Phew!
Phil
I continue to manage my “elves” and pack electronic kits for MERG – including 3D printing some kits and building a new 3D printer from a kit:
I also continue to help managing the building and equipment for our Scout Group – see 2nd Orpington Quartermasters.
My involvement with the Orpington Liberal Club continues to take a lot of my time, with both technical and beer management. The club continues to win awards for the best Real Ale club in both Bromley and Greater London. Running the bar remains fun.
I still find time to work on my Model Railway and visit my local railway club, the Orpington & District Model Railway Society. We’ve recently starting to build a new 009 scale layout. This is one of the two boards, complete with holes for the various connectors on the sides:
The inside is filled with insulation board, which provides a lot of rigidity for very little weight:
I also made two 3D printed control panels for the layout:
Finally, I still do the odd bit of work for my former clients on “Zero Hours” contracts but am (finally) pretty much retired.
Dogs
Rocco is now eight, and remains a really well behaved dog . He still acts like a puppy at times – particularly at the start of a walk when he has a stick.
I take him when I’m running the bar at Orpington Liberal Club – he is now permitted to be off the lead and wanders around the customers to see who will give him crisps, then goes to sleep in a convenient (or inconvenient) corner.
We fostered a young dog in January. Maltby was a 2½ year old Labrador with boundless energy:
We were doing very well, then after a couple of weeks, he stopped eating (very unusual for a Labrador). I took him to the vet, who gave him some antibiotics and suggested we feed him on cooked chicken.
There was no improvement after a week, and after much deliberation, the vet decided that he probably had Tetanus, something dogs rarely get, but quite serious. He went off that evening to the Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire, where he was treated for a week then spent three months with Labrador Rescue volunteers in Devon before recovering sufficiently to be re-homed on a farm in Kent, where he is fully recovered and enjoying life.
Finally, my brother lost his dog, Toby, in September. He and Rocco had been the best of friends and we all miss him:
Holidays
In May, we took Rocco to stay in a hotel on the coast near Broadstairs:
We had a lovely time exploring the cliffs, beaches and pubs in the area:
We visited the local Riverhill Himalayan Gardens for the first time:
And in June, went on the train to Birmingham to visit Gemma and Paddy, including a trip on the Parry People Mover in Stourbridge:
It was nice to watch Gemma dancing with her Morris side, Blackadder:
We stayed in a converted barn near Wincanton in July:
Rather challenging local walks, but nice local pubs and places to visit:
August was busy, starting with our annual visit to Hastings by train:
We then helped move a Scout narrowboat down the Grand Union Canal:
Then Tina and Lucy went to the Greenbelt festival near Kettering:
Finally, we headed off to Germany on the train, starting with an overnight visit to Cologne:
Then on to Wernigerode in the Harz Mountains:
including trips on the local narrow gauge steam railway. One of this was to Brocken, a local mountain. We timed this well, as a serious forest fire a few weeks later closed the line.
Wernigerode itself is very picturesque:
We walked up to Wernigerode Schloss; nice view over the town:
and visited the local Miniaturenpark with a working model railway and lots of fantastic models of local buildings:
We then got a coach and two trains to Assmannshausen, on the River Rhine:
We got the chair lift up the hill to a lovely forest overlooking the Rhine:
then had a nice walk through the forest to the gondola going down to Rudesheim, the next town along:
After a nice lunch and a visit to an interesting museum, we caught the local bus back to Assmannshausen.
We also had a day cruise on the Rhine:
In September, we returned to our favourite cottage in Suffolk, joined by my brother:
In between holidays, we’ve gradually been walking along the Thames Path (south) westwards:
