Family News (April 06)

Hello dear readers, it’s wonderful to be back blogging again!

‘R,’ ‘Z’ and I have just come back from a lovely vacation in Krakow and Zakopane (Poland). Poland was Z’s choice of European places to visit. Krakow being one of Poland’s most beautiful medieval market cities, with underground vaults, ancient baroque style buildings and a castle dating back to the 1500’s. We stayed in Krakow for a few days, before heading south to the Tatra Mountains for a week of skiing, which was a lot of fun!











Some of you readers will remember that we were supposed to go to Ghana, unfortunately, this was not possible. On one hand, we were both very reluctant to leave ‘Z’ behind, in her fragile state of mind. The other deciding factor was that two weeks in West Africa, was simply not long enough. Part of the reason for our visit was for ‘R’ to do some business out there. This would not have been viable in the time available. We are planning a trip to East Africa (Kenya/ Tanzania) in September – so we will now have to add Western Africa onto the September trip. We will not be going to the Sahara – but, I suppose, looking on the bright side, the views may have become a tad monotonous after a while…. sand, sand and more sand!


Z’s News:
Our 17 yr old daughter ‘Z’ is so much happier. Our time away, seems to have revived her. It’s lovely to see her bubbly personality back. She has applied to go back to school in September and has decided to gear her A-levels towards dentistry. Before our trip, she got a job waitressing at the local hotel, which she is keen to get back to and is scheduled to see a counsellor next week.

As far as testing her for bi – polarity, I still haven’t received a letter from the hospital. We were told that the wait may take months – a prime example of the UK’s struggling NHS (National Health Service).


A’s News:
Our 20 yr old son, ‘A’ finishes the 3rd year of his degree at the end of next term, (Aero Space Engineering). Next year he must do a one year Masters in order to become a chartered engineer. Once this is completed, with any luck, he wants to work for either NASA or the European Space Agency.

We are all terribly proud of ‘A’ who has achieved a ‘first’ class in all his exams to date (which is really hard to achieve in maths and physics related subjects at this high level!) In this set of exams, his result was an overall 78% which put him ahead of all his other class mates. The really lovely thing about ‘A’ is his modesty - unlike mine ;)

It’s a great shame that ‘A’ couldn’t take the time off and join us, since he is quite an avid snowboarder. When he completes his finals, we will have to plan a long week-end away, hiking and camping in the Scottish highlands.


R & C’s News:
Poor ‘R’ works very hard and I’m pleased to say that the two week vacation has done him a lot of good!

Before our vacation, he installed a wood-burning stove into our kitchen and sanded the kitchen, scullery and pantry floor. The red (mahogany) dust from the parquet floors got quite literally everywhere… up all three flights of stairs! I ashamedly admit, that my behaviour was very disrespectful towards him. I would rather not go into details and unmask my weaknesses, but safe to say, I have learnt a big lesson about my need for a positive attitude! I’m only sorry that on top of all the DIY hassle, ‘R’ also had my negative attitude to contend with!

Before we left for our vacation I dusted the house from top to bottom and dusted the inside of all the cupboards as well (the dust got into all the drawers, cupboards and wardrobes!) We came back from vacation to find that all my previous efforts were in vain. There must have been loads of dust in the air, since it has all settled again! Aargh!!

At least I can re-tackle the dust with a more positive attitude ;)

It’s really great to be in touch with you all again!

C