Christmas 1999 News Letter

Dear All,

Another year has flown passed. Each year I think how nice it would be to write personal letters to everyone but I know that the reality of that would be that I would still be writing Xmas letters at Easter! I am even more spectacularly late than usual with sitting down to write this year. Christmas cards are already arriving on our doorstep.

We had our usual skiing holiday at Easter although this year only one member of my sister's family joined us. My older nephew was studying for school exams and stayed at home in London with his parents. The younger one, Alistair joined my parents and us in Verbier in Switzerland. We were lucky enough to be able to get the chalet we had had the year before. This time we had more space as there were only seven of us. We had two weeks there and were very lucky indeed with the snow conditions. In fact we had rather too much snow and the snow was so deep in places that Jonathan had some difficulty in skiing. This was a continuation of the extreme conditions last winter which had already seen some devastating avalanches earlier in the season. The evidence of the resulting destruction was still there to be seen. The amount of new snow also meant some rather poor visibility and on one run Jonathan, rather alarmingly, skied over the edge of the piste. The drop although very steep, was not dangerous but was bad enough to give us a fright. Jonathan was rather non plussed by the whole event as, with the poor visibility, he could not see where he had been. Both boys skied very well. Richard decided that the time had come to try his hand (or should I say legs) at Boarding. He was determined to like it but, because he is such a good skier, found it difficult to find himself a beginner again. He also found all the falling over physically exhausting and one day was enough for him. Not to be outdone David also had a go but saw the light and gave up at lunchtime on the same day.

We had decided, for our summer holiday, to visit our friends in Norway as on our last trip there we had been in Winter. This time we decided to go further afield and see more of the Norway that we all see in the holiday brochures. (Our friends live in Oslo where there are no fjords.) Our trip took us first to Oslo, then to the south of Norway for a few days where our friends have a summer cabin by the sea. From there we went across to the West to fjord country. We were a little cautious about the weather as the West of Norway can be spectacularly wet. (In one visitors book we read a comment by a lady saying that she had been to this particular tourist spot the previous year and seen nothing because of the low cloud and the rain but that this time she had seen the truly spectacular view.) We were so lucky and had only ½ hour rain in the whole fortnight. We saw some stunning views and the quote of the holiday, slightly tongue in cheek, was "not another waterfall". Each one was more spectacular than the last.

Britain was, this year, gripped by 'eclipse fever'. In Edinburgh we were only to experience partial darkness although in parts of the south of England there was to be total darkness and a very spectacular sight assuming a cloudless sky (not something that can be taken for granted in Britain). This was due to take place just three days after we returned from our holiday in Norway. The publicity had been incredible and there were warning of chaos on the roads in the South of England with warning to stay away from the area because of the expected congestion. In fact, the whole thing backfired. Because of all the scare-mongering people did indeed stay away and a lot of businesses missed out on expected income due to the additional visitors they had expected. The weather was also poor and so the full effects were not seen. In the run up to the eclipse some of the newspapers ran articles on where the best viewing locations would be elsewhere in the world. One of those was in the North of France. David happened to read one of these articles and madly decided that since we were in Norway "we might as well stay away a bit longer and see the eclipse". The only drawback to this was that to get there we would have to take the ferry back across the North Sea, drive down to the South of England only to take yet another ferry across the English Channel to France!!!!!!!!!!!. Crazy?……well I won't put in writing what I said to this suggestion! To cut a long story short, that is exactly what we did. It was a LONG journey and we had to cram two small tents into our car in addition to what we needed for the main part of our holiday. Let's say that the camping in France was 'slightly basic' to say the least (no table, chairs or beds. A one ring Primus stove and some plastic cereal bowls). We did, however, see the total eclipse in all it's glory even though the previous day it had rained continuously and threatened to ruin everything.I have to say that it was worth seeing and was just like it had been described in the many articles.

As a surprise for the boys and to reward them for this additional long car journey we secretly planned a trip to Disneyland Paris the following day. We did not tell the boys about it until we got into the car to drive to Paris when the eclipse was over. They were so excited. We spent from 9am until 11.30pm in the theme park and had a very exciting day. The queues for the rides were, of course, stupendously long but then it was August and we knew to expect this. Jonathan & Richard got a real kick out of the simple things like meeting Mickey Mouse etc and having their photographs taken with them. Jonathan was quick to point out that you could see Minnie Mouse's knickers showing below the hem of her skirt. (but we decided not to tell her!). Understandably we got back from this trip rather poorer than when we left!

In January we heard the delightful news that my father had been awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List. He was thrilled as were we. This was to recognise the work which he, and my mother, do with teaching limbless ex-servicemen to ski bob. Each year for several years my Dad has been an instructor teaching ex soldiers to ski bob. These are soldiers who have lost limbs whilst in the army and are now on rehabilitation. The award was to be given at an investiture at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh by the Queen in July. It is a very formal occasion and I went along with my parents and my sister. It was a very memorable day. We were all dressed in our finery: my father in a morning suit and top hat and 'we girls' in posh clothes; hats & all!! The weather was perfect and it really was a proud day. I have to say that the Queen looked more like somebody's Auntie/Mum rather that someone terribly important! She made a point of looking really interested in each person and really talking and listening intently……a real pro! We have the video to prove that it was not a dream.

Richard & Jonathan seem to be growing up faster than ever. Richard is approaching his eleventh birthday this month and is in his last year at primary school. School is not his favourite pastime but he has a very nice teacher this year and he gets on well with her. They recently went on a five day intensive trip to London. Richard had a wonderful time and wrote a very nice assignment about it afterwards. He is still involved in his beloved Judo and recently went up yet another grade. He still attends his swimming club twice each week, plays the bassoon, rugby, badminton………….. We seem to spend our lives taking him to and from these activities. That probably rings a few bells with a lot of you! Jonathan has just turned six and enjoys everything he does. He does not have so many extra activities yet. He enjoys school (but would never admit it of course) and is doing well. The boys are very similar in some ways yet so different in others.

The much talked of Millennium is approaching rapidly. I hope you are all 'Y2K compliant' as they say in the trade. I am sick hearing about it!! I hope I have checked out all the systems at work properly. I will find out soon enough! We intend to spend the new year with friends from Lincoln who are coming to stay with us and will go into the city to see the massive fireworks display with 250,000 others. I just hope the crowds are not too overwhelming. It is a ticket only event but will still be packed.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and, for those of you who are computer dependant, a 'bug free' New Year!