Health
Christine is still doing very well after her cancer treatment and we hope will soon be down to annual checks.
We have had good health all year for once!
Families
The high point of the year was the wedding of Christine's youngest brother Christopher Clwyd to Michelle in August with our niece Diane as one of the bridesmaids. They had a wonderful summer day with superb settings for the wedding in Wales and the reception over the border in Cheshire.
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The low point was the death of Christine's aunt Olwen at the end of September
Menagerie
No changes with the 5 indoor cats, 2 dogs and the outdoor stray cats.
We rushed the senior cat Samantha to the vet one foggy night because she had bitten her tongue and could not get it free.
We did have a scare with our dog Jo when she started coughing blood and vomiting at 4am on a Sunday morning but a quick trip to the emergency vet brought that under control...unfortunately the trip back was a lot longer than expected as a series of motorway diversions caused a 5 mile trip to turn into 34!!
Jobs
No changes at Trafford Bibliographical services for Christine
Ramesys Travel were burgled, just before Easter, with several computers taken. So early one Saturday morning, Douglas was called out to rebuild machines and generally wait for the police, SOCO and glaziers.
This had been a bad year for software jobs generally. Then the catastrophic events of September 11th occurred and were blamed for many problems in industry especially the travel industry...on October 18th, Ramesys Travel made many of its employees redundant. Douglas just held onto his job ( he is now the sole developer ) but both his team-mates were escorted from the premises without even being allowed to clear their desks - one has found a permanent job in the Isle of Man, the other is still looking.
Home
This was the year we decided to redecorate and add more shelves and storage by way of room dividers. We constructed these in September and were gradually getting back to normal.
On October 22nd we were burgled during the daytime. Someone had simply used a crowbar to lift out the centre of the back door - the locks and bolts were still in place!! The only good thing was that none of the menagerie were harmed. Initially we knew only money and CDs were lost but knew the burglar had opened most drawers, display cabinets and the jewellery boxes but had to wait for fingerprinting. After the SOCO (the same one that came out to Ramesys) left, it was clear that some 80 CDs had gone, lottery money, Christine's Digital Camera, the CamCorder, many of Douglas's collection of cameras (including some of his father's cameras and all his Olympus Pen Ft camera, lenses, bellows and adapters - gear which had taken several years to gather), Douglas's step-grandmother's Rolex watch, Christine's rings, watches and necklaces and worst of all Christine's 21st Birthday presents (including a silver watch and a silver-gilt card ).
Oh well the doors have been replaced with even more locks and bolts and we have had a railing installed within the largest window.
Holiday, trips, cars and concerts
We had to abandon our plans for a trip to Vancouver for our 10th wedding anniversary due to work pressure, however we did manage a day trip to Jersey with Douglas's mother and were happy to see Joan and Martin again and visit as many places as possible in the time available.
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Once again we visited many National Trust properties ranging from Erddig, Lower Alderley Mill, Tatton Park, Lyme Park and our local Dunham Massey all the way over to Hardwick Hall (and ate Mulberries there for the first time !) and had other trips to Eyam to see the wells dressings and Tatton Park for the RHS show. Douglas went to the Botticelli's Dante exhibition at the Royal Academy in London on it's last day and wished he had gone earlier. |
We went to an open air Chris de Burgh concert at Ragley Hall in July...the day after the Volvo's gear box gave up. The gear box was insured but it looks like we will not be getting any of the £700 replacement cost back. Once again we got to Ragley a bit later than we hoped and so missed the meeting with people we knew and their meeting with Chris de Burgh himself.
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We booked a mini-break in Cologne for mid-November as it was just before the Christmas Markets opened. Our plan was to visit as many of the Roman sites as possible and go to a special concert . Unfortunately after the events of September and October Christine was understandably unwilling to travel. Douglas spent many hours walking round the city looking for the roman and medieval sites. He managed the spiral staircase to the top of the cathedral tower and went on a guided tour of the oldest part of this awesome place going close to the shrine of the Magi. It was amazing being the only person walking round the Praetorium which is preserved beneath the old town hall. It was an interesting experience to walk along a hundred yards or so section of a roman sewer (disused!) but fascinating too. The concert at the Cologne Arena was a part of the Nokia Night of the Proms series which travels over much of continental europe with a mixture of classical and pop music...this year the pop section was provided by John Miles, Martin Fry of ABC, Chris de Burgh and Meatloaf. An amazing experience ! The most unforgettable part was the ensemble singing of Yellow Submarine just after Land of Hope and Glory |
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We hoped to be whizzing down to Wincanton on 2nd December for a Terry Pratchett event ( but our big soft Grey cat decided to go missing for a few hours !) however we had met him twice earlier in the year. Later this month we hope to see the play of his story 'Carpe Jugulum' at the Stockport Garrick theatre and have booked for the usual Carol concert with the Hallé and an evening of 007 music after Christmas
Good wishes for a happier 2002
Douglas and Christine
