Sunday December 11th 2022

Lois and I wake up to a light dusting of snow outside, one that wasn't in the forecast we saw yesterday. 

the street scene that we see from our bedroom window when we wake up...

.. and the view from one of the back bedrooms.

It isn't a lot of snow, but Lois finds out later, when she logs in to take part in the first of her church's 2 services on zoom, that the local train company has cancelled services between Gloucester and Tewkesbury because of the weather, and as a result the church's large contingent of Iranian Christian refugees will not be able to take part in today's services in Tewkesbury.

What wimps we are in this country! How would the train companies manage in a country that gets proper snow? It's total madness !!!!!

It's nice, however, to be able to send pictures of the snowy scenes to our 9-year-old twin granddaughters, Lily and Jessica, in Perth, Australia. The family moved to Australia in December 2015, when the twins were just two and a half, and they have no memory of the snows we got in the UK before they left. 

It never snows in Perth, needless to say. And it's really hot there at the moment. Earlier today Sarah took them to a futuristic playground, and sent back a couple of photos.

the futuristic playground near Perth, where our 9-year-old

twin granddaughters Lily and Jessica went earlier today

There couldn't be much more of a contrast between that and the scene today in Malvern, could there! My goodness !!!!

15:00 After our afternoon nap I suddenly realise that we have only 36 hours to choose the photos for the 2023 calendar that we're sending to our daughter Sarah's little family in Perth, because the massive discounts on Photobox will come to an end at midnight tomorrow.

Oh dear - busy busy busy!

We want to include photos of all the different "arms" of our family - ourselves, our daughter Alison's family in Hampshire, our daughter Sarah's family in Australia, and also the family of my sister Gill in Cambridge. And we don't want anybody to feel they've been ignored or undervalued, so it's a bit of an impossible task really - my goodness (again) !!!!

In the end we manage to select 13 photos from 2022, which makes 1 for each month in the new calendar, plus an extra one for the cover. 

my sister Gill and her daughter Lucy, at our old house in Cheltenham

a zoom with Sarah and the twins

lunch with Alison and Ed and family

Francis, our son-in-law in Perth, having a sneaky "go"

on one of the twins' scooters

us having a pub lunch in Malvern on a house-hunting trip

Lois with my nieces Maria and Zoe, at Maria's wedding in August

Alison with daughters Rosalind and Josie at our former Cheltenham home

us celebrating our golden wedding at Buckland Manor in August

our daughter Sarah with the twins

me, as we prepare to leave our Cheltenham home

after 36 years

our twin granddaughters in Perth, getting ready for Halloween

my sister Gill meeting her daughter Maria in London for lunch

our daughter Alison's husband Ed with their son Isaac

at the Spurs Stadium in London

I realise it's possible that you don't agree with my choices, but at least now there's a proper procedure to follow if you want to object, which is nice! Just write to me enclosing a stamped addressed envelope and I'll send you the terms and conditions that you have to sign agreement to before your objection is considered, and then Bob's your uncle, the formal process can commence!

So much simpler than last year, when my poor old local postman had to deal with a ton of angry letters! The poor guy !!!!!!