This letter was written on a December evening; on the way to school that morning, the frost was sparkling on the hedges and verges and I spotted some deer in a field, together with about a dozen partridge.  The deer reminded me of Rudolph, he of the red nose, and the partridge, though foraging on the ground and not ensconced in a Pear Tree, also brought to mind the realisation that Christmas was once again nearly upon us, and as usual, there was still so much to be done.  I decided that I would forego a Christmas letter this year, and prioritise.  After school, however, while out prioritising by buying gifts for Canada, which should have been posted a couple of weeks previously, I met a friend I had not seen for quite some time.  She also had to hurry on, but said she was really looking forward to receiving all the news in the Christmas letter - so here’s the letter after al!

I’ll start by saying that Roger, Gill, Sally and myself are all well and carry on much as usual - school, Church, bands, holidays, computers etc etc.  The doctors seem to be keeping Roger's leukaemia at bay, together with his other aches and pains, Gill has settled very well into her new school at Harnham, where she is teaching a combined class of Years 5 and 6.  Sally celebrated a "big 0" birthday in June, and celebrated on various occasions with friends and family. When I wrote last Christmas, Richard had been staying with us for a couple of months.  In February, he announced that he and Dee would be moving into a flat in Bournemouth, much closer to his school, a much better arrangement altogether.  What he failed to tell us was that he was moving out in order to accommodate Fiona and Bob who were  about move in.  The story begins.....

The latter pair had decided to build a garage adjacent to their house.  Then they decided to make it a double garage, to accommodate both cars.  Then they decided that they might just as well build a flat above the new garages, to make best use of the space.  Then they decided that, while the builders were about, they might make some alterations to their own house at the same time.  Then they decided that they might just as well have the whole of their house gutted and re-vamp the entire interior.  Then they decided that they would have to move in with us for a couple of weeks, while the digging etc was going on, so when Rich moved out, they moved in, on February 11th.  Then they reported that the builder estimated that with the escalating plans, it would take a couple of months longer than anticipated - then a couple more, then a couple more.  Then, eventually, at the end of August, six months later, they moved back home again to a beautiful new house, next door to a very nice studio flat, rented out to a lodger.  Both house and flat looked beautiful, all their own design, and tailor-made.  What more could a person want?  We were all very pleased.  Then, the next week, Bob decided to accept a new job at Lords MCC,  so then they moved to London!!!!!    To be continued???

The big family news of the year, however, was the arrival on 10th March 2006, of Miss Alexandra Caroline Stevenson, who weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz at around 4 a.m., a daughter for Andy and Shannon and our first grandchild.  The "Alex" bit had been decided from early on in the pregnancy, to be adapted according to gender.  The two latter names also depended on gender.  Had she been a ;boy, the surname would have been "Cook" and the middle name would have been a family name from Shannon's side of the family.  As it was, being a girl, she will take the Stevenson surname and my name as the middle one - Shannon had retained her maiden name of "Stevenson" after they were married.  It's all very confusing to an old person like me!!!  In any case, we had the privilege of meeting Alex at three weeks old, which was a delight, but since then, of course, we have had to make do with pictures emailed to us.  Roll on Easter, when we plan to make another trip.  We are now into Cicely Mary Barker flower Fairies in a ;big way.  One of my favourite series of books since childhood, Andy and Shannon requested something related to them as a present for Alex.  After hours of searching, and coming up with nothing I liked, I eventually bought and dressed a doll myself, shortly before I was introduced to Ebay, where I found a constant supply of Hornby Flower Fairy dolls dating back to the 196s, some of which are in mint condition.  Fairies have been flying in to Gomeldon ever since (and I have become addicted to Ebay!)

As well as Canada at Easter, we've had various other good holidays over the year, including the annual trip to Mull, where Sally and Finty joined us for a couple of days which was nice, a very satisfactory visit to Tiree from where we visited Skerryvore lighthouse and encountered dozens of basking sharks, two separate weeks in Cornwall, a brilliant mini-cruise to Spain on the Brittany Ferries new flagship, the Point Aven, and a three weekends on the Isle of Wight, where we also spent New Year, in a very cosy Boathouse right on the beach.

Solly is becoming very old, having had a stroke while we were in Canada, but all the other animals are fine, including Dylan, Fiona's cat, who decided to go and explore London on his own shortly after moving to the city, causing a temporary panic.  Reports indicate that he had spent quite some time sitting on the edge of a pavement on a very busy thoroughfare watching all the cars, buses and lorries thundering past.  Thankfull, after Fiona and Sally had walked the streets in icy wind and rain, into the small hours of the morning, to no avail, a message from the RSPCA the following day informed us that some kind person had eventually taken him in and that he was fed and awaiting collection.  Another few lives gone, I suspect!!

Well, that's it for the time moment.  Keep a lookout for updates on the rest of the Web site.  There is quite a bit of material nearly ready to upload!  Wishing you all a very happy and fulfilling 2006!