I continue to work 2 days a week for Cambridge Assessment, and they seem to continue to value my contribution, which is nice. A lovely place to work, but I'm glad I'm commuting to Cambridge only 2 days a week!
I've continued to do lots of walking, even on working days when I walk to the office from the Park&Ride rather than taking the bus. Mostly with Joyce's Weekly Walks, which is a lovely sociable small group, but also with the Bury St. Edmunds Ramblers and, newly this year, the Long Distance Walking Association. Highlights have included...
- The Mallorca Walking Festival
- The LDWA Challenge walks - the Daffodil Dawdle, the Wolsey Waddle and the Flower of Suffolk.
- Several walks in the Suffolk Walking Festival.
- The Norfolk Coastal Path.
- Another trip to the Marbella Walking Festival
- And lots of Joyce's walks - I think this Sheringham one was my favourite.
Tassel Nanobrewery has remained active with a few new brews this year including Diablo, a Suffolk Witbeer and a Chestnut Brown Ale.
Dawn's gardening prowess has provided us with an unprecedented crop of chillis to process, (not to mention the mini-pumpkins and sweet peppers) which kept me busy for several weeks. I need to update the Tassel Enterprises Catalogue for our new lines [edit: I have now!]. Inspired by my walking friend Barry, who gave me some of his, I've made some chilli jam for the first time this year, as well as some Chilli Chutney and Peri-Peri Sauce. The resulting jars took up most of the dining room table before I put them away. No prizes for guessing what people will be getting as Christmas presents!
In my other main hobby of crosswords, I continue as a blogger and regular commenter for Times for The Times and repeated my visits to the Sloggers & Betters weekend and Times National Crossword Championship from last year. I was pleased to finish all 3 puzzles in the hour in my preliminary round for the first time and make it to the semi-final.
As for music.. well I fear my singing voice is maybe gone for good and I've failed to do the saxophone practice I planned to do, but I've enjoyed going to concerts that Sarah and William have performed in, as well as Jazz concerts at the Hunter Club. The Suffolk Youth Orchestra were as good as ever and it was good to hear Sarah and William playing with them in Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony at the Snape Proms in August.
And what about the rest of the family?
Dawn continues to teach maths at Thurston Community College and enjoys doing the garden. She and William came out to join me for a few days in Marbella at the end of the walking festival and we had some lovely days out before returning home. We also had a few days in Jedburgh while Sarah and William were away with the Suffolk Youth Orchestra, visiting Jane, David and Bethany in their new place near Melrose and doing some walking along sections of the St. Cuthbert Way.
Laura is in the final year of her PhD in Portsmouth and now has her own flat. We're looking forward to catching up with her when she's home for Christmas.
Sarah is now in her second year at York University studying Maths. She continues to play violin in the University orchestra and, following her sister's example has taken up korfball.
William is now in his 'A' Level year and continues to play Dad's cello in various school ensembles. He has also taken up choral singing, which he enjoys too. He was in the band for the school's excellent performances of We Will Rock You recently. He already has some university offers and is hoping to study Economics and Maths.
Well I've probably rambled for more than long enough. It only remains for me to wish my readers a Merry Christmas and all the best for the new decade in January.
No comments:
Post a Comment