July 2017 to February 2018 – A catch up entry

 

I had thought that people had lost interest in the goings on of Annie and Gerry Willis and so decided to let the Blog wither on the vine so to speak.  However, I am assured that people do read it and wish for us to continue.  So a long catch up entry to bring us up to 28 February 2018.

Jon and Jess presented us with our eleventh grandchild Felix Montgomery Henderson on 31^st July (the same date as our grandson Callum’s birthday). A week later in an unplanned gathering the five youngest grandchildren at the time were all sitting with Annie at Jon and Jess’s home. It was a magic occasion for Annie. The second photo is of Felix, Jon and Oscar taken in January 2018.

Early September saw us head off to Uzerche in France for a week’s walking. The weather was pretty diabolical with much rain! However, we did manage a few of our favourite walks and felt the long drive there and back was certainly worth it.

Later in September we headed to Pickering for three nights. As creatures of habit we went for a walk in our favourite Yorkshire Dale, Farndale, as well as visiting Whitby for a walk and lunch. Our favourite restaurant, The Magpie, was still closed following the major fire earlier in the year. We enjoyed a good meal at another restaurant but the food was not as good as at the Magpie.

In October we stayed for three nights in Bishops Lydeard. We travelled on the west Somerset Railway to Minehead where we bought lunch in a cafe and were allowed to take the food and cutlery etc on to the train for the return journey to Bishops Lydeard.  Not quite like the old British Railways dining car service but nevertheless, very acceptable. During our stay we managed a circular walk from Stogumber railway station. The station is really lovely and a great place to sit and enjoy a coffee and cake which of course we did at the end of our walk.

October also saw another indulgence. We had to replace our garden shed and so had one built that incorporated what we call the bus shelter. It will allow us to sit (where we used to) and catch the evening sun whilst enjoying a glass of wine. Importantly we will be able to sit in the dry without bird droppings everywhere!

 

Gerry finally managed to get Annie to go and see Jo and the children in California for a week during November. She thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Jo, Alexander, Oliver and Sienna although Jo was working and the children at school for most of her stay (the photo was taken nearer Christmas). 

Annie also managed to see our friends Sharon and Cliff Watts who drove from their home in El Sobrante to have lunch with Annie in San Jose.

Three days after Annie returned from California, we set off for a week in Malta. We stayed in the same hotel as previously and used local busses to travel all over the island. We managed lots of walking and some lovely seafood meals. The weather was good for walking and we only had rain on one day and it did not spoil our enjoyment.

 

For his birthday, Jenny and family had given Gerry a pie making evening in Melton Mowbray. We went and stayed the night and then had a wonderful day exploring Melton Mowbray, Cattle Market and a Christmas Tree Festival in the parish Church. We were very impressed with the town and the farmers market and street markets and concluded the town was well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Our next break was to Devon for three busy days early in December. We had dinner with Annie’s sister Pam and husband Neil, visited Pam and Dave Nelmes in Cornwall, had pasties sitting on the edge of Mevagissey harbour, visited a Christmas Tree Festival at Bodmin Church as well as the National Trust site at Lanhydrock. The grounds were decorated for Christmas – the photos show the flowerbeds and the pots made to look like Christmas puddings.

 

On 16 December 2017, Louise and Martin presented us with a new grandchild Archie James.

He was born on his due date and mother and baby both did very well!!  We visited early in January.

 

 

 

Before our visit to Cheshire we had enjoyed a lovely Christmas. We visited Lucy, James and Emma in Bath for lunch on Christmas Day, James, Hannah, Rosie and Ptolemy, and Jon, Jess, Oscar and Felix stayed with us at The Nook after Christmas. We also had a visit from Jenny, Mark, Bethany, Callum and Elsie.  After a long walk around the lakes at Fairford we had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch at our local Italian Restaurant.

January also saw us visit North Yorkshire for three nights. 

As usual we stayed in Pickering and went for various walks in the 4 inches of snow that greeted us one morning! Farndale was as beautiful as ever.

We also managed lunch at The Magpie in Whitby. The restaurant had recently reopened after the terrible fire last year and the food was as good as ever!

We have also enjoyed recent trips to Montreuil-Sur-Mer and (yet again) to Devon. France was not brilliant weather wise but we did manage a couple of good walks and plenty of excellent French cuisine to make the journey well worthwhile. Our trip to Devon was a short one staying just two nights but it enabled us to have Lunch with Pam and Neil and to accomplish one of our favourite walks to Brentor Church. It was bitterly cold but sunny for our walk and it proved most enjoyable.

We arrived back in Fairford to flurries of snow and bitterly cold temperatures with the threat of more snow to come.  However, the relatively mild autumn and winter have enabled us to get out and about an incredible amount.

Health wise, Gerry’s recovery continues to go better than expected with kidney and thyroid functions recovering such that the consultants are very pleased. Annie had a terrible bout of polymyalgia rheumatica in late autumn but has responded well to medication. Both of us therefore feel on track to make the most out of 2018.