Graham and Dylys' news in 2014

Church

We have been kept especially busy in our church this year. The Pastor retired in September, and so we are currently “in interregnum”, looking for a new Pastor. In the meantime there is extra for the rest of us to do. Graham has welcomed the opportunity to lead several Sunday evening meetings this year, although it is quite demanding in time to prepare. He has also picked up overall responsibility for the Conversational English Class which takes place on Thursday evenings, and in which Dylys is also involved. Dylys was elected to be a deacon at the church AGM (she has served previously, but took a few years off when her last term of office came to an end). She takes responsibility for preparing communion, and helps out with the church cleaning.

The aforementioned English class is aimed at people from the local community whose first language is not English. The current students are all migrant workers from different countries in Eastern Europe. It is disappointing that we do not have more students to justify the effort that we put in, but those who do come along are extremely appreciative, and have become more proactive in requesting topics for study. Most weeks we use formal worksheets, but the intention is to stimulate discussion and help our students gain confidence in their spoken English.

Holidays

Our main holiday this year was in the Lake District - on a caravan site which was literally carved out of the hillside in the middle of Great Langdale (the road to our caravan was on a 30 degree incline, and there was a digger parked on the vacant caravan slot opposite us). Despite some mixed weather, we had some great walks; and with the caravan being strategically located, we never had very far to drive to find those walks. We had a very memorable walk from Tilberthwaite - we parked the car close to a row of cottages and a slate quarry, and although the parking area became quite busy during the day, once we had climbed past the quarry area and crossed a stream, we did not see another soul until we had completed the circuit. All that remote gorgeous hillside scenery was just for us on that day.

Dylys approaching the waterfall
at New Dungeon Ghyll, to
capture a video on her smartphone

Fantastic walk, whilst the rain holds
off  (near Elterwater)

We also made a family visit down to Cornwall in the autumn - the weather was excellent and we managed several nice walks along the coast and on Bodmin Moor - all around the fascinating rocky outcroppings on Roughtor.

Work

Graham started a new job in December. For seven years he has been working for GPC Computer Software in Cheadle, developing systems for taxi businesses. He has moved to Waters Corporation in Wilmslow, developing healthcare laboratory systems. Graham had been looking for a move, Waters provides a new challenge with better benefits, and it is also rather closer to Dylys’ place of work for the past 13 years - the Information Commissioner’s Office, also in Wilmslow.

Home

We have recently indulged in a new washing machine and a new freezer for the kitchen. The new washing machine sounds like a very modest light aircraft, and replaces the old one which was sounding like a Boeing 747. We had learned that the old freezer was consuming £120 electricity per year, and economics dictated that we replace it.