Graham and Dylys' news in 2011

We found New Year 2011 to be a humbling time, when our next door neighbour died – he was younger than either of us. He left a widow and two lads, who have been picking up their lives without him. Then in April we had to say goodbye to Aunty Jean – we made the trip over to Loughborough for the funeral, a big family occasion – we know that she is now in a better place with the Lord Jesus Christ. On a happier note, we were delighted to be able to take part in our niece’s wedding: Sandra and Simon were married in Betley near Crewe on a beautiful summer’s day in July.

In terms of breaks, we only managed one trip to Cornwall to see family (a few days in March), and a week’s main holiday in Northumbria (in May), as Graham’s holidays from work are getting fewer and more restrictive. That said, the week in Northumbria was excellent – it is a very quiet corner of the country, very pleasant driving, very relaxing, and a good variety of walks and sights to see.

We celebrated Graham’s 50th birthday whilst we were in Northumbria: on his big day, he chose to climb the Cheviot – a very decent walk, although wind was up and the clouds were down on the summit, so there were no views. Then went out for a meal in the evening.

Conquering the Cheviot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . conquering the Black Bull

Back at home, Graham wanted a bread-maker for his  birthday; however, despite the ready supply of nice fresh bread through the rest of the year, he has not grown big and round like his age.

At our home church, Graham was elected as a deacon at the AGM. We both took part in Child Safeguarding training, and Graham needs to organise a review of our church Safeguarding policy. Dylys is the building fund treasurer, and is helping out in Sunday School and with services at a local sheltered housing centre. Graham continues to maintain the church web site and sermon podcasts.

We both took a week off work in October. We took the opportunity some tidy-up work in the bathroom during that week. We are not sure that we would use grout restorer again – it looks very attractive when it goes on, but it soon cracks and starts to fall off.