I finished this Hands cross stitch picture and framed it in time to give it to Carolyn for Christmas 2023
We rang handbells for half an hour before the Christingle service 2023. Mike conducted - Robert rang the accidentals.
Sarah did a drawing of the handbell rehearsals - which made it on to the cover of the Ringing World towards the end of 2024.
Linda came to stay between Christmas and New Year - we enjoyed some lovely walks on the moor, and her ringing skills were much appreciated on the tower outing and to help score a first QP for one of our locals.
Roving Ringers reunion was based in Tewkesbury - and Mike got to ring at Pershore Abbey where the bells are rung from a cage high up in the roof. All the risk assessments were done and permissions given by the Abbey authorities for the chair to be hauled up by rope, while Mike was carried up by Peter - they shut the public access doors while the chair was going up. So refreshing to have people in authority doing all they can to make things happen rather than just saying no.
Video of the chair going up https://photos.app.goo.gl/T3mHRUhy94o9QS4A7
World book day at school
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| Bethany, Amanda & Harry |
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| Aidan |
The Guild of Devonshire Ringers celebrated their 150th anniversary this year with a formal dinner with speeches etc and I was in the handbell band which rang 150 changes of spliced Plain, Little and Yorkshire.
Video - https://photos.app.goo.gl/e8j5SUMbsf7gUHca7
I crocheted a blanket from all my bits of spare wool - some of which we were given for our 7th "wool" wedding anniversary. It was a pattern I had tried a couple of times before and given up as I couldn't get the hang of it, but this time I persevered and finally cracked it.
We looked after Arlo for 10 days while Lee and Emma took their girls to Faliraki for a holiday. He was a nightmare to begin with, howling. running around the house and pulling on the lead when we were out, but eventually he settled down and was completely at home with us by the time they picked him up.
Intrepid - 6 days of boating with ringing and one day of boating (no ringing) with the week one crew, four days of boating and three days of drinking with the week two crew! (See Christmas newsletter)
Met up with Janet Qamar, whom I hadn't seen for about 15 years. We are friends from when we used to work together at the Inland Revenue. She was on a family holiday at an AirBnB in Dartmouth and I whisked her away for lunch at The Moorland.
Dudley, Lorraine's campervan, was finally finished - the curtains were made by me and Amanda.
Mike went to a Magdalen College Gaudy at Oxford
Roving ringers
Barnes Summer Trip
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| QP band at Whaley Bridge |
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| Lunch at the start of the trip |
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| Dinner at the end of the trip - youngest attendee gives a speech |
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| Tony leads the singing of Flanders & Swann songs |
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| Handbell QP in the pub garden |
We get a carry rucksack for Bruce - and use it when we walk to Lustleigh with Steve and Mary for a lunchtime concert by our friend's brass quartet, followed by a wonderful cream tea and walk home again. (I have since made Bruce a booster cushion for it!)
I also got Bruce a cool pad for the hot weather
used Suki's harness to keep him cooler on walks (not sure he liked the pink!)
Mike tried the climbing tower again at Christow show - got a bit higher this year I think - and some axe throwing
My friend Wendy came to stay for a few days - we went for a walk to the Obelisk in Haldon Woods with a great viewpoint over the Exe estuary
Meanwhile the family in London were keeping up the tradition of a meal on Dad's birthday
Mike finally got to ring at Brent Tor - ground floor ring but the tower is on top of a hill! He went as part of yet another Bovey tower outing and took the handbike to facilitate getting up the rough track to the church.
September saw the kids all starting a new year - plus Amanda who started a year's maternity cover at a local nursery school.
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| Harry year 4, Bethany year 6 |
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| Aidan year 4 & Zain nursery |
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| Ollie - year 10 GCSE year |
Anne and Sam came to stay - we went on the South Devon railway taking the steam train from Buckfastleigh to Totnes, and back again.
Aces Hockey Club formally disbanded this year and a party was held to which as many players from across the years were invited as could be. Everyone was asked to upload any photos they may have - here's one I found from 1999 when we had just won the Middlesex Div 4 League.
There was eventually hundreds of photos in the album, but I didn't seem to be in any of them! Not sure why. We didn't even get to the party in time to be included in the photo there !!
My brother wasn't able to come to the Silver Wedding celebrations as he and his partner Gill were on a cruise to Norway in search of the Northern Lights, but they both came down at the beginning of October for a couple of days for an early celebration.
When the family came down at half term (including Lisa, Lorraine's long-standing friend, and her two girls), Robert very kindly gave them all an introduction to bellringing session.
More family visit photos -
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fRGDKbLvJphDbHMb7
Silver wedding lunch
Exeter Bach Choir concert - 2 November 2024 - Mozart Requiem
Anniversary QP band at Barnes - and me!
We finally got round to re-covering a needlework box/footstool - with some material that was going spare at the sewing group. It took all day - and Mike did most of it although I had to get my new sewing machine out to join the side pieces.
We had a whisky tasting experience at the local Dartmoor distillery courtesy of a voucher given to us for our anniversary by Lorraine and Amanda. There were three whiskies and a gin. Mike didn't finish his so I polished them off - and then bought two bottles at £89 and £59 each.
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Mike reading the tasting notes
We also got a free pint when we arrived! |
We rang handbells in the high street for late night shopping - but it was too wet to ring outside so we stood in Robert and Katie's porch (the roof of which fell down two days later!).
And we once again rang for half an hour before this year's Christingle service
I have been widening my crafting projects this year to include more crochet, and I have also recently got a new sewing machine, which does 200 different stitches. I am hoping to learn to do free machine embroidery next year - someone from the sewing group has offered to teach me. I have made quite a lot of progress on the quilt and it is now at least a rectangular shape but it is a long way from being finished. However I have just finished the tapestry that the convent gave me to finish at the same time as the quilt, and I will be turning it into a crafting bag, again with the help of someone at the sewing group.
Mike did a few jigsaws!
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