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In a new, chatty letter from the UK, Lyn writes... Weather in England - "summer must have passed by during the night !".
When I wrote in June we were hopeful that summer
was on its way. If it was, it must have passed by during the night! I can
never remember such a poor summer with strong winds, heavy rain and
fluctuating temperatures. For example, we have only had one BBQ this summer
so far and we needed our jumpers. To be fair, there have been some warm
periods but they seem to have been so infrequent that one could not plan to
enjoy the outdoors. As a result of the rainfall, the garden is a jungle of
plants, many of which have simply failed to reach their full potential.
Yesterday it rained almost non-stop from 9am until the evening and it was so
damp and miserable, that we actually put the central heating on for an hour.
For a person who hates high temperatures, that has to be an all time first.
I mentioned in June the high cost of food in
Britain this year. Official figures show that they have increased over 10%
this year and the high cost of oil is blamed. Certainly our farmers are not
reaping the benefits and they are struggling with the world shortage and
increased cost of grain. I continue therefore to invent new recipes and
consider our food budget - something I have not needed to do since I was newly
married with a growing family.
We have entered the 'open house' period of the year
when all our grandchildren visit during the vacations. When we had them in
groups life was simple but now they come individually, sometimes with girl or
boy friends. To date we have had five grandchildren with a variety of
interests from the countryside, birdwatching, golfing, horse riding, cinema
and other entertainment. On Saturday our son visits with his two youngest
children and we will have a family day at my daughter Heather's house when the
grandchildren can have a get together. It will be particularly good because
our eldest daughter celebrates her Silver Wedding today.
I went on a pastel painting weekend two weeks ago.
The tutor was the same as I have on my Open College of Art course. It was the
first time I had used pastels since starting the Hons. Degree course and when
I mentioned how little time I have to do pastel work now, he asked why on
earth I was interested in obtaining a degree. A good question which I found
hard to answer. I suppose there are two reasons. The first is the challenge
and the ego trip involved in achievement. The second is to increase my
knowledge of the subject and explore different media. The problem is time!
If I could spare one full day each week I would have no problem. However
during school and university vacations, I have to work three or four days to
get ahead of myself, leaving no time to paint in pastels which is my main
love. So after a great deal of thought, I have decided to stop the degree
course and concentrate on my pastel painting. It came as a great relief and
last Sunday I finally did one which was ordered by an old friend many months
ago. What a joy it was to do something I enjoyed at last.
We are still considering our route around your
lovely country. The problem is that you are spoilt for choice and we could
really do with staying for months instead of weeks. Julie our granddaughter
is also planning her stay in N.Z during her world trip. She has already
booked and paid for a voluntary job in Peru and hopes to work in New Zealand
fruit picking or other seasonal work. In order to afford the trip she has
just obtained a full time job as a waitress in a rather good restaurant in a
city near her home. She only started two days ago and cycled the seven miles
in torrential rain, finally having a puncture two miles from the restaurant
and having to push the bicycle to complete the journey. She arrived wet to
the skin but only two minutes late, only to find that the training was
cancelled due to a computer failure. However, she is still full of enthusiasm
and anticipation. She has been accepted at her choice of University for the
September 09 start and hopes to qualify as an Occupational Therapist. She has
always been a people person and will be ideal for the work.
That appears to be my news for the moment.
Our good wishes to you all.
--
Lyn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||