Apr 19 2008
Christmas 2001
I’m trying to remember what’s happened since last Christmas. Oh yes, we came over to South Africa at Easter but only to the western Cape. The weather was quite mixed and we almost froze to death walking in the Cederberg mountains and the Kalahari desert was greener than England but we had a wonderful holiday. The highlight was a 4-day canoeing trip down the Orange river starting near Springbok, sleeping under the stars and cooking over open fires. Cape Town was as beautiful as ever too and I was quite emotional on the tour of Robbin Island, which I’d looked out over every day when I lived there.
My eldest, James, now has a girlfriend who was brought up in South Africa. His Company has been taken over by a plc, which could potentially be a very good deal.
My other son, Dougal, has settled in Barcelona, Spain and they are expecting their second child (my second grandchild) in May.
My eldest daughter, Nicola, has decided not to continue at college and has started working. The younger one, Alisa, and Sue’s two daughters are all still at school. So the house is quite stressful at times with 4 teenage girls!
Our Welsh holiday homes have done well this year in spite of the foot and mouth epidemic and we in the process of purchasing a third. The four siblings (me, Chris, Rosalind and David) got together in one of the properties for a few days holiday. Chris’ multiple sclerosis has unfortunately deteriorated and he was unable to climb the mountains like he used to but we all had a good time.