Round Robin - 2007.
Hope you are all well. Rather than send round robins and Christmas cards we thought we would reduce our carbon footprint by doing it all online. This year has been very much like the last. Work, Work, Work! No let’s be positive, we have done some play too.
I guess the first event was the new addition to the family. Jess. Against all the advice we got her from a farm and she was the timid one at the back. Sorry Ian, you did warn us! Having said that, she is a fantastic pet and makes us, well most of us, get out on the fells more. She did go through a spate of chasing sheep. This was sorted with a dose of aversion therapy. Collies will be Collies!
In Feb we had a nice time skiing in North America. The snow was awesome and we got into the “powder hound” spirit. We were based in Breckenridge where we rented a condo and armed with a hire car we could also visit Vale, Beaver Creek and Keystone. The complex had some nice outside hot tubs, which came in handy after a days skiing.
In the spring we had our annual gathering with the Pattersons and the Browns. Good old “Banks of Dee”. Canoes and fishing rods were in evidence and some nice pike and trout were had. True to form Ian slaughtered the poor devils and they were served for breakfast next day. We went back to Galloway in the summer and had some fantastic weather. Karen and I got out for a couple of long runs. On one we spotted an error on the map which threw us off course. I am sure it was the map, not our navigation!
Olivia and Rufus had staring roles in the school musical Zoom. A tale based on the tortoise and the hare. Olivia played Shelly and Rufus played the butler. We enjoyed the musical, and you are welcome to borrow the DVD, all one hour and fifty minutes if you are interested!
Other activities the kids have been involved with include drumming, the guitar, snowboarding, climbing, dancing, computer games and TV. Of all of these the two that inspire the most passion from our offspring are the later two unfortunately! In all of this Olivia has started at secondary school. This comes with the obligatory slide towards teenager hood with the related issues such as Dad turning into an idiot, grumpiness and slurred speech. I guess these are issues for us; for Olivia the main issue involves catching the bus at 8am which is quite a challenge. Rufus has graduated to year six and will be joining Olivia at secondary school next year. Karen and I hope this wont have the same affect on him. Help!!
In September Karen, I and two friends spent a week in the Alps learning the ways of the alpinist. We had a guide and based from Saas Grund in Switzerland learned the finer points of tying knots and rescuing people from crevasses. Along with this we also had a go at climbing a couple of high peaks. The weather knocked us off one, but at the end of the week we managed to bag a 4000 metre one. I won’t steel Karen’s thunder as she as written an account with all the gory details which you can read here. Needless to say the experience has left us all fired up and since we have been back we have dragged the kids up Scafell and High Street and put a few climbs up. They will enjoy the mountains!!
I can’t really believe it but Christmas is just around the corner again. I am sure it comes around quicker each year; it must be an age thing. We are at home, and will hopefully have the kitchen finished in time to cater for the Morgans who will be descending on us for the festive season. I guess all that is left to say is “have a very merry Christmas and healthy New Year”. As always if you are passing drop in and see us.
