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CHRISTMAS 2001

We started to prepare this letter a couple of weeks ago but before we could complete it Doris - Duncan’s mother - became ill and we have spent all our time being with her and Harold.   We have returned to this letter-writing a little subdued, but it is good to remember all the things we have been up to over the past year, and hope you enjoy reading about them.

--oOo--

Surely it cannot be December already - it seems hardly any time since we were writing last year’s letter.   Nevertheless it is time to study our calendar to see what we have been up to over the last year.

We had a few highlights this year - first was in April when we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.   We left Michelle at home to fend for herself while we went to Paris for 5 days.   What a beautiful city Paris is - we had such a wonderful time and we are determined to return.

June saw Mandy’s grandmother Queenie Lea celebrating her 90th birthday with a party where 250 people attended from all over the country.   So much family we didn’t know!   We have a lovely group photograph of the occasion, so we shall have to work out names for the faces.

Another memorable occasion was Harold’s 80th birthday in October.   What made it so special was the family took the time after a busy day at work to make their way to our home for a surprise gathering in his honour.   Harold was delighted and so were we.

Apart from our Paris trip, Mandy and Michelle had a week in Bournemouth (for the dance festival), and we all went to Criccieth in North Wales for our main holiday in August.   This year it rained every day bar one.   We did still manage to get on the mountains a few times, but it was quite disappointing really.   We became experts at staring out of the car windows!   It was nice to be in each others’ company though, so it wasn’t all bad.

We came home to an awful week.   Mandy’s mum, Pamela, was in hospital to have an operation, the dishwasher broke, and a rabbit was ill.   Fortunately Pam’s operation went well, and the rabbit became better.   The dishwasher, however, proved a problem that still hasn’t been sorted.   We could probably write a book on our experiences of dealing with different companies, but here’s the short version.  

The dishwasher had been leaking for months and we didn’t know because the water had gone behind it and under the kitchen units.   The concrete floor was a mess and the vinyl was marked and rotten.   The kitchen units had taken in water and had become weak so plinths and other bits needed replacing.   The water had seeped under a wall and into the dining room, making the carpet the other side of the wall soggy and (by the time we discovered it) rotten.   We claimed for the carpet, vinyl, dishwasher and kitchen units under insurances, but we have spent about £3,000 putting right other things due to the leak.

After spending a whole day listening to taped messages of different insurance companies (isn’t that annoying?), we could instigate repairs.   We found a carpenter, electrician and decorators, chose carpets, vinyl, paint colours, had units mended, a screed laid on the floor, rooms decorated.   At last the day when everything was going to start to be put back together - the 2nd of November - when the carpet and vinyls were to be laid.   But alas, the vinyl was fitted so badly it needed to be replaced, and the carpet was about four inches too short.   It was three weeks before the vinyl was laid, and four and a half weeks before the carpet was eventually fitted, along with the utility vinyl.   We had another seven complaints that one day alone.   But at least after 7 weeks in storage we can start to unpack, and move fridges, washing machines, microwaves, dishwashers etc back to their designated spots.   We still haven’t got everything sorted - the utility vinyl needs sorting out because it undulates, and the fitters forgot the replacement underlay and didn’t replace the mouldy gripper rods.   This has been going on since the 21st of August.   Grr!

Here are some of the other things we have been up to this year:

Michelle continues to dance (of course!) although things have changed greatly over the last term.   She continues with the second (and final) year of the Dance Foundation course at Swindon Dance, and has passed the As level exam which is part of the course.   Michelle also continues to dance with the Judith Hockaday School, but has cut down from 11 lessons a week (plus festival and exam lessons) to just 2; she has taken all the Modern, National and Tap exams, and there is only one Ballet exam left to take.   She was awarded the Student Jazz Award at prizegiving this year.   Michelle decided to give up dance competitions, but not before winning 23 medals and 7 trophies, including third at the All England finals with a Russian Duet.   As if that wasn’t tiring enough, in August she went on a week’s summer school to the Northern Ballet School in Manchester, where she had a super time and finished up exhausted and nearly voiceless with all the laughing she had done.

This year Michelle has been in three shows and also danced in other events.   In March she stepped in at the last minute to dance a Tango in the Wootton Bassett Light Operatic Society’s production of The Boyfriend, and in October she was in the Swindon Amateur Light Operatic Society’s 50th anniversary production of Oklahoma!

Michelle has a back injury at the moment, so is mainly resting and waiting to see if more treatment is necessary.   It’s frustrating for her, especially as she still attends dance lessons but cannot join in.   This is bad timing because it is time for her to be auditioning for a place at the dance/stage school/college courses.

  Now Michelle has reached 17 she is going to start driving.   How scary!   She will start lessons after Christmas and use Mandy’s car to practice in.   Mandy wants her to pass the test as soon as possible because until then Mandy cannot have a new car (the current one is well over 17 years old).   Mandy has been promised a new car for her birthday, but she doesn’t want Michelle to be learning in a new one.   Michelle has been driving a couple of times with Mandy and is very nervous.   But not as nervous as Mandy!

Mandy has not been needed so much as a taxi driver since the number of Michelle’s dancing lessons have declined and, apart from joining a choir, she has used this time to work on our website.   The church photo side of it is now more or less up to date until next spring (the light isn’t good enough for photographs at this time of year), so over the winter she will be working on the family history side of it.   We have started to put photographs of family members at the site - if you would like your photograph added, perhaps you would let us know and preferably send us a suitable photograph.

Mandy gave up French lessons in November due to having to miss three in a row, and thought it was too much to have to catch up.   And, after all, the reason for the lessons was for the trip to Paris, which has now happened.   Mandy enjoyed the trip apart from all the walking.   She managed to limp home with blisters all over her feet - even under her toe nails, which later ‘popped’ (yuk!) and became infected.   The nails were removed and the toes were very painful, especially if anything touched them.

  Duncan - this year has been a very busy one for Duncan at work.   In fact he hardly seems to find time to do anything else - just as well he enjoys his work!   He has managed to go to French classes each week and he (and Mandy) are now the proud owners of certificates to say we passed the course tests.   Nous sont très content.


We wish you a Happy Christmas and a peaceful and healthy New Year

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