Graham and Dylys' news in 2024

A sad loss

Graham’s sister Wendy had an adventure with cancer last year, with operations to remove much of it, and much recuperation to follow. We visited her in her home in Tamworth on New Year’s Day – she was able to converse with us, but she warned us that she might fall asleep.

Then she went downhill, and back into hospital in the West Midlands. We joined a sizeable family gathering, visiting her in hospital at the beginning of February, and we took it in turns to spend time with her in her room in the hospital. She was conscious but not responsive. A few days later, she died. We met with family again for the funeral at the end of February.

It has been a sad and difficult time especially for Wendy’s father (Graham’s father), her daughter Amy who lives in Cornwall with her own daughter Rosie, and Wendy’s son Jason who has been based out in the far east for the past few years.

Home

It has felt like we were still settling into the new home (we moved in April last year) – there was so much to get sorted out. Unexpected and unplanned, the washing machine broke down in January. We quickly established that it would be at substantial cost just to get a call-out to inspect it, and we made the decision to replace it instead. Of course it was quite urgent to get it sorted – the dirty laundry just keeps piling up. Dylys was not well at the time, so Graham went on his own to check out the offerings at Curry’s – he agreed a purchase and arranged for delivery, which went to plan.

Last year, we were going to get a whole new kitchen fitted, but the supplier postponed the arrangement on the day the installation was due to be fitted, and the next we knew was that the supplier had gone out of business. We had already paid for three quarters of the cost of the new kitchen. We duly put in our claim to the administrators for the failed business, and we are still waiting to hear more on that.

We still needed a new kitchen, and we had decided to get the job done in the summer months this year, rather than having to manage several days without the kitchen facilities in the winter. We went to a new sup-plier, agreed on the cupboards and appliances that we wanted, and we took out a new credit card, having learned that this is the way we should have paid for the kitchen last year – it offers protection in the event of businesses going bankrupt. The kitchen installation went ahead smoothly in June. Subsequent to this, our home has been decorated to our satisfaction.

Fun for Graham

Graham broke a molar tooth in February. It felt like a case of déjà vu: he did something similar a few years ago. He made a dental appointment, and had the tooth cleaned down and filled. However, the tooth broke again a couple of months later – the dentist identified that it was the earlier filling which had come out. It could be replaced, but the dentist recommended a crown as a more permanent repair. So Graham now has a crown: he has no sense of royalty, you will not see it unless you look in his mouth.

Then in August, Graham was checking his body and found a small lump where there should not be a lump. He made a GP appointment and was advised that, whilst the lump appeared to be benign, he should get an ultrasound scan at the hospital as a double-check. The hospital appointment confirmed that there was no real problem, for which he is very grateful.

Holidays

We managed two holidays this year. We went to Kilkhampton in Cornwall, just north of Bude, in May. We are motivated to go to Cornwall, as this allows us to meet up with Graham’s Dad and Val who live in Wadebridge, and with niece Amy and her family in Saltash. We also enjoy the coastal walks in Cornwall.

Then we went to Porthmadog at the end of September, early October. This is a good base for coast walks or hill walks. We had a sobering experience when we chose a walk from an Ordnance Survey book which took us on a route around Rhinog Fawr. It felt really remote – we had to drive along several miles of single track road before reaching a farm with a car park and camp site where the walk started. We got two thirds of the way around, and then could not match up the route instructions with the map. We tried following the instructions, the map showed that we were off-route, we tried cutting across rough heathery, boggy ground to get to the route on the map, but this was clearly leading us in the wrong direction. The after-noon was getting late. We had no mobile signal. We agreed that we would retrace to a farm house and ask if we could call for a taxi. To cut a long story short, the taxi businesses let us down, and a man from one of the farm houses offered to drive us back to where we had parked the car – an even longer route through mainly single-track roads. So we did get back, thanks to a very kind gentleman, but we want to be much more cautious about selecting our walks in the future. During all this Dylys managed to lose her phone: she has replaced the phone and kept her number. Will anybody ever find the old phone? We do not know.

Family events

Our nephew Craig (on Dylys’ side of the family) celebrated his 40th birthday in February. We joined the family gathering for the party at a Chinese restaurant in Newcastle-under-Lyme. It was good to meet up with family; and Dylys got a surprise as she spotted somebody she works with when doing her voluntary work at the hospital in Macclesfield.

Graham’s mother died two years ago, and following the funeral there was a small family ashes-scattering event at Bradgate Country Park just outside Leicester – a place Mum frequently visited, being close to where she used to live. We had not been back to Bradgate since then, but decided that it would be ap-propriate on the day after what would have been her birthday this year. We consider it a family event, although we did not meet with other family on this occasion. We made the trip over toward Leicester and spent the day at the park, walking around the area where the ashes had been scattered, and to see her memorial “leaf” (pictured). Bradgate is a lovely place to spend the day – lots of wide open space. One of the landmarks there is Lady Jane Grey’s house, and it is the first time I have been aware of the grounds of the house being open to the public. We were able to look around the chapel on the site, which has been turned into a museum.

We had a further gathering with family on Dylys’ side at Tittesworth Reservoir at the end of August. This is relatively close to where we live, in comparison to the journeys we have to make for most family events. We had a good walk around parts of the reservoir, and relaxed in the park areas.

In November we were delighted to take part in the engagement party for Matt (nephew on Graham's side) and Sarah, down in the West Midlands.

Church

Dylys helps out at Bethel Bunnies – the weekly parent and toddler group is feeling more established now. The Sunday School aims to do one Sunday a month outdoors – and the arrangement goes ahead even in wet weather unless it is very bad. It is Dylys who helps out on the outdoor-designated weeks.

Graham was called upon to preach on three occasions during the year, all in the latter few months. Our Pas-tor had a hip operation at the end of September, for which he needed recuperation and has not been able to get out to the church through the autumn, and so had to arrange cover over a number of weeks. 

Graham says he does not preach, he gives a presentation. It takes time to prepare a message with slides, and he more or less reads his notes like a script. The messages seem to be well-enough received.