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- PRIVATE
- Lived in Durban, South Africa for many years.
2007: Living in Kent, England. Teaches Mathematics at 'Cranford' grammar school.
2013: Living in Debden, , England
It's hard to believe that it's less than a month until Christmas - again! Ron and I are really looking forward to being with Anna, Rebekah and Simone in icy N.Y. once more. Anna and Rebekah are both teenagers, and for the first time we have a High School student to share the festivities with. Last year Dael and Martin and family were with us, here in Debden, their first Christmas away from USA. This time we hope to share in their school Carol Services and end-of -term functions and even hear Dael's oboe as she plays with local orchestras. She's really been enjoying getting back to her music.
We are booked to fly on Dec 12th and should be back on New Year's Day. It's so hard to leave Yvonne and Taegan on their own after having all the celebrations with them too last time. But we've had an amazing year, seeing all the family for more than a couple of days at a time. The biggest disappointment was that we missed Farrah's arrival in Cape Town and so haven't yet met our youngest granddaughter
At the end of January Ron turned 70 and Yvonne, Taegan and I gave him a surprise trip to Norfolk to celebrate. We hadn't bargained for the fact that Cromer was to be the coldest place in the UK that weekend. Luckily we stayed in a beautiful National Trust cottage, a converted gatehouse of a large estate, and it was warm and cosy with Ron and Taegan happily entertained keeping the fire blazing with the logs they provided. Otherwise, after arriving via a farm road with a middel-mannetjie of six inches of ice, we enjoyed snowy walks, building a snowman and Taegan, sledding!
Then in March/April the family in South Africa gave Ron a trip out there to celebrate with them. We left Debden in falling snow and very grateful that Mike (Woods) was driving us to Heathrow. (We had the pleasure all over again when he picked us up on our return 5 weeks later.) We started our long holiday with Brendon, Liezel, Kaitlyn and Jessica in their new home and with their new boys, Ryan and Dylan. Ron had a great time with the Chapman twins who were still aiming at crawling, but very cute, and smiling at anyone who even glanced their way. We were also so lucky that our arrival coincided with a visit Di and Peter Haarhof, dear friends from Port Elizabeth and then Westville days, were making to their son and family in Pretoria. It was great to link up and find they also have an Afrikaans speaking daughter-in-law and 3 totally bi-lingual grandchildren whose ages slotted in with our older Chapman girls!
The twins kept us entertained while Kaitlyn and Jessica were busy at school and we enjoyed the wonderful sunshine and warmth of their new, spacious home - very different from what we'd had in U.K. I also squeezed in a couple of days with my sister, Coralie, flying to East London to see her in her beautiful new home, bought since her Ron's death. A trip to Jo'burg enabled us to see Judy and Dick and also to visit Felicity (Craig's mother), Beth and Quinn. It was soon after Quentin's death and Felicity's big op and we were so thankful to find her cheerful even in her recovery. She has since made great progress physically, sold the family home and is due to move to a smaller home nearby, still close enough to watch Quinn's 18 month old antics.
At the start of the school holiday we, all 8 Chapmans, flew down to Cape Town and inundated Natalie and Craig's elastic home. What fun to be with both families together and to see the delight the cousins had in each others' company. Conor and Kaitlyn paired up to organise Jessica and Thomas, and everyone took a break to feed or play with Ryan and Dylan! Natalie was 8 months pregnant, but with Liezel's help she kept us fed and entertained without complaint. What a great holiday for Ron and me - just keeping grandchildren happy!
We had Easter all together in two lovely beach cottages at Onrus, near Hermanus. We loved the walks along the rocky stretches and swimming on the sandy beach, in the lagoon and in the splashy inlets. The weather kept us guessing with Cape storms and gales and idyllic, sundrenched days. We had a great morning with Ali and Alan Toombs, seeing their lovely home with its stunning view of coastline and of mountainside behind. Ali and I went on AFS together and then continued at Natal Univ (PMB).
We had a last weekend, all of us with Craig and Natalie in Hout Bay, but it also included the special treat of being at Ron's nephew's wedding near Paarl. Evan and Christy had bravely asked all the little girls to be fairy flowergirls much to Kaitlyn and Jessica's delight, and I think they ended up with 12 tutu clad dancing sprites! The wedding was set in the mountains of a wine farm - unforgettable venue - and was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with Ed(Ron's brother) and Judy, Paula and Gavin and even Leigh and fairy Kara all the way from Australia. We had good chats with cousins Thelma and Heather who kept Dylan and Ryan happy for long spells, and with Rob and Sharon down from Jo'burg. Ron really enjoyed being with the Thomas/Chapman clan again. Later we managed to fit in a great dinner and catch-up with Tom and Sharman in their lovely home in Hout Bay. (We wonder how they are finding France this time round.) But sadly we had to leave Cape Town before Farrah made her first appearance on Apri
Back in the UK we landed in a very late, cool Spring which transformed into a wonderful summer! This is the first time I've experienced a full summer - what a great, sunny, dry couple of months we had! Judy and Dick were back in their Oxfordshire home and we all went away to another cottage near to Cromer, Norfolk, for a long weekend! Long sunny days and evenings - what a contrast from January! Between unhurried chats visits to stately homes, gardens, paddling on beaches, a boat trip to see seals kept us entertained.
Ron has had a splendid crop from his hard, daily work on the allotment. We've had a huge variety of veges and have potatoes stored and beans frozen for the winter. We also have oodles of bean and tomato relish, plum and blackberry jam, but our excess gemsquash and butternuts have to line up along the tops of our kitchen cupboards. We had strawberries and ice-cream for dessert, replaced by raspberries (my favourite!) almost every night until mid-
November! Now we're into the apples.
In September I started my tutoring again and at present have 4 pupils a week - just about perfect! I'm sure there'll be another rush come March with the exams scheduled for May/June. I do still enjoy the pupils and the subject. I've recently joined a weekly walking group and also a monthly birdwatching group, both from Saffron Walden.
Yvonne took Taegan to Korea over Easter so he could see Young Hoon and his extended Korean family and create real memories of Seoul. They had a very happy time, the highlight being a vist to Cheju, an extinct volcano, now a world heritage site. After managing the usual hectic summer courses, Yvonne has embarked on a professional course (15 months' study) on management of EFL courses and schools. She is working extremely hard and so we have the pleasure of even more of Taegan's company than before. He is coping very well at school (yr 4 now) and is keen to play any sport he can fit into his afternoons. So he's playing tennis, cricket, football, rugby and hockey, and also fits in club swimming and karate. You can imagine he often has more than one practice, match or tournament per day. He also runs in the school cross-country meets as he is the fastest in his year group. He's certainly very fit - and keeps Grandpa fit too, training in our back garden. It's our consolation to have at least one grandc
For Ron and me the year has been happy. So many of you have had to face big changes and challenges this year. My prayer list keeps on growing! Our neighbour, a young woman just turned 40, is facing spending the rest of her life in a wheelchair after having had several back operations, two in the two years we've been living here, neither successful. Her bravery and positive attitude are an inspiration to me and Ron, and we give heartfelt thanks for the health and strength we've experienced.
There are so many of you we have not seen or been in contact with for AGES! some we have been lucky enough to see this year -We send love and prayers to each of you for your Christmas and for the year ahead! We'd love to see any of you who may be somewhere near Essex, Cambridgeshire or even as far away as London. Even a call - 01799
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1946 - 2017 (70 years)
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