Jane 1 December 2021
It seems some time since we all exchanged news so I thought I might start the ball rolling and check that everyone is surviving the weather and the government, both of which appear to be similar to a curate's egg.
We lost two tiles before Storm Arwen (is that a Welsh name and can we expect the next alphabetical sequence of storms to be in Gaelic?) but no damage as far as we know since, apart from a garden full of sycamore branches from the trees beyond. The good thing about the storm is that it brought down, and apparently damaged, the chimney of the wood-fired hot tub in the small backyard of the airbnb two doors away. Just before the storm it had been fired for over 5 daylight hours on two consecutive days and the evening before as soon as new tenants moved in, which meant we had to close all windows because of the sickening smell. A neighbour told me of the airbnb site where you can complain about all sorts of disturbance, and I have had a reply to say that the owner (who has the very expensive bakery in town) has been advised of the problem. Again. Perhaps he will take the hint now that a hot tub is quite inappropriate in the small backyard of a listed building in a residential conservation area.
I also wrote to the agents who manage the flats above ours to say that, as we would be the last to be affected by ingress of water, we were not prepared to organise the roof work. To our unbounded astonishment the agent for the second floor was in touch with the agent for the attic flat and we have had an estimate for the work. Not sure when it will be done as there are a lot of roofs in the town needing far more attention, so we feel we have escaped lightly.
But we are overrun by grey squirrels who steal the birds' food, dig holes in, and poo on, the grass, and are not put off by blasts from a large water pistol. I do have a pellet gun (which good friend and co-author bequeathed to me) but dare not use it for fear of hitting the community 'veggie' gardeners who have taken over the nextdoor garden or being reported by squirrel-loving students all round about. So they can watch the old bat running down the garden firing abuse and water at small furry animals running and jumping along the walls to the trees behind. If only they were red squirrels I would happily watch their antics.
On the bright side we have had lots of visitors recently using our ground floor flat - a University friend and her husband and two dogs who seemed perfectly at home exploring our garden (but did not chase the squirrels!), then co-author's friends and executors who had never been to St Andrews, and for David's birthday on Guy Fawkes' day younger son and granddaughter. While the American couple were staying in the flat before that, we had to have our cherry tree cut down (it was interfering with our telephone wires as well as everyone elses) and they bought us a rowan sapling which the family planted at the bottom of the garden so it should be safe from wires - and will keep the witches away. We gave two lengths of the cherry tree to a local wood turner and now have several mementoes of the tree.
We had thought of taking a cruise to Amsterdam for David's birthday but are glad we decided against it. We have also decided not to have a pre-Christmas trip to Bath - nearly £900 return with railcard to Bristol! And Boris and Nicola want us to travel by public transport. Flights would have cost about £100 according to Douglas but David refuses to fly. Again, a good decision we feel in view of the new restrictions. I renewed my railcard in the hope of one day travelling further than Edinburgh or Dundee. Whether we will see Peter and Laura or Amsterdam in the near future is very doubtful. Even sending them parcels costs money - huge postage charges then they have to pay duty even on gifts. The EU is really taking its revenge on the UK for Brexit.
So, yes, Sylvia, I am fine as I am still Grumpy. A feeling made worse by empty shelves in supermarkets unless you need bottled water - which should be sent north at the moment for those without water because there is no power to operate the pumps. I had a dental appointment yesterday (with another for removal of yet more teeth on Friday) so called in to Morrisons which is next door, and was pleased to find that at last they had the sherry which I like. I was not going to pay 30p for a paper bag so was to be found in the shelter waiting for the bus home, clutching an unwrapped bottle. That got me a funny look from another occupant who giggled nervously when I pointed out to her that at least I wasn't drinking it there and then.
Also feeling Very Old. I was nearly scammed over the phone by someone who claimed to be from Visa Verification. With David hovering in the background muttering 'scam' I finally agreed with him when I told the caller I was going to check in the bank branch and she slammed the phone down with a 'Be like that'. All sorted now with a new card and pin but in the meantime I managed to muddle the pin numbers on two other cards (well, there was only one number different) and wondered why I could only scan with them. Oh dear!!
Hope you are all OK and not as old, potty or grumpy as me. l look forward to getting your news. Love Jane
Lesley, 1 December 2021
Dear Jane, Just wonderful to listen to the unabridged you - love it! Many thanks.
And we do have lots of red squirrels, as you'd expect, here and very few humans of whom we can feel grumpy...just the immediate neighbour, but everyone feels the same about his mood swings....and also those of the Primary School bus driver (takes our grand-daughter) who is anti-vax (what impact on his little passengers and their families???) and is now in hospital on a ventilator!
Other than these, we are safe so far this winter so counting our blessings.
Love to all, Lesley
Ian, 3 December 2021
Hello Supsliskans, wherever you may be.
I was on the point of chiding you all for your lassitude, as the last message I can find is 28 August (unless you have been speaking of me behind my back); then Peter and Maggie's card arrived - the first of the season and then Jane's letter, so I am joining the fray and wishing on you, as it's that time of year, our card and newsletter. I can't remember whether you all received our newsletter in the past as we have been restructuring our mailing lists, dismantling "Maxted Travels" as the Maxteds are no longer travelling since covid and the consequent disposal of Modestine. We are dispersing members into other groups such as "Supsliskans", "Colfeians" (my old grammar school), "Local studies", "Book history", "Family" etc. It all takes longer than expected but is a way of spending these tedious days of what we are not allowed to call the third (or is it fourth?) lockdown.
As you will see from the newsletter, we are surviving the ever-changing restrictions, although it is getting to Jill more than me. I have the Civic Society plaques and book history activities to occupy my time, sometimes far too much of my time, but Jill, without our travels and with restrictions on meeting up, and activities further limited by her sight problems, finds that time hangs heavy. She cannot read for any length of time, the computer screen strains her eyes and she (and I) feel left behind by the constantly changing computer technology, phone apps and social media. Friends of ours who managed to get to France and back recently say that they could not have managed it without accessing documents on their phones, so that effectively closes the rest of the world to us, and we were horrified to hear Jane's diatribe on the cost of rail travel.
But we do make a point of getting out most days, even if it's only for the best coffee in Exeter down by the quayside where we watch lunatic canoeists getting soaked in the freezing waters of the river Exe, or catching a bus to Sidmouth for a "pensioner's special" fish and chips followed by a walk along the beach and a climb to the cliff-tops to the beautiful Connaught Gardens, or a brisk walk along by the canal for a drink at the Double Locks pub, or even dragging the remains of our porch brough down by storm Arwen through the streets to the local tip. Anne and Sylvia will recognise some of these excursions. We mask up even outdoors in the city centre, but many do not. I can't help making pointed remarks sometimes, and Jill drags me to one side and says that, if I don't stop, she won't go out with me in future. I will have to take a collateral flow test to see whether I have been infected with Grumpyjanitis.
Things have got to the point that I have even started to read Proust, whose A la recherche du temps perdu in eight volumes I had started to work through in French some time back, but very soon gave up, not then having had the doubtful benefit of encountering a neighbour who has just published an abridged version entitled The shorter Proust in one volume, based largely on Scott Moncrieff's translation, a veritable doorstep of a book containing more than 600 closely printed pages where I am getting lost in the middle of his interminable sentences packed with extended flowery imagery and full of introspective self-analysis taking place in a milieu where fine social distinctions matter intensely, resulting in what may be a literary tour de force, but alien to my way of seeing the world, so I may give up until I can find The shortest Proust, but not before I have been infected with Proustian verbosity as I notice that this whole paragraph is itself a single sentence.
Well, that's more than enough from me. We all have our ways of keeping sane, some madder than others.
Twenty-five neighbours, including the Proust editor, have combined to produce an advent calendar, each putting a display in their front window on a different day, so perhaps locally there will be a traditional Christmas feel far removed from the Black Friday hype and soppy Christmas songs. Whatever happens, we hope you enjoy Christmas and the New Year as best you can, and that 2022 will finally see us emerge into a post-covid world.
Ian and Jill
Sylvia, 4 December 2021
Wow, Ian, you really are ahead of me and, I would guess, most of the rest of us with your Christmas card and newsletter. I have only just started writing mine and it won't go out for another week or so if previous experience is anything to go by. Persuading myself that the "festive season" is fast approaching is always difficult, but during Covid it's harder than ever when the days, weeks and months seem to merge.
Since our last general communiqué, 3 members, or probably 4 have experienced Covid. My oldest grandson, now nearly 15 brought it home from school and very generously passed it on to my son-in-law, who had at that time been double jabbed (jagged, Jane). They seem to have had the variant of the Delta variant in that they experienced just a headache and a sniffle. When Sean's brother displayed the same symptoms and showed a positive lateral flow test, Helen took him for a PCR test, which came back negative, so of course, he was able to go back to school. It was only 10 days later that Helen was "pinged" and told that the PCR tests which they had done had been sent to the Wolverhampton lab which was in the news as having sent out false negatives. By that time it was too late to do anything about it, but it's almost certain that Zac contributed to the number of Covid cases in the secondary school in Church Stretton. The other case was my daughter-in-law in Hitchin, also double jabbed, who displayed the symptoms of the original Delta variant. She was extremely strict about isolating and fortunately no one else in the family caught it.
I'm delighted that masks have to be worn in shops, public transport and other crowded places, but nothing has changed for me since I've been doing that all along. Now that I'm "of an age", I have no compunction about telling others off for not complying. Where I shop is quite close to the local colleges and there are often young people there buying snacks. Yesterday I had to point out to one girl that wearing her mask over her chin didn't classify as mask wearing. She did raise it, but only temporarily. I saw her later at a distance with it over her mouth, but not over her nose. She was with her friends, all of whom were complying with the rules, so why they didn't say anything to her, I don't know.
Oh dear. It looks as though you no longer have a monopoly on grumpiness, Jane, as both Ian and I are joining the club.
I was delighted to hear from you, Lesley and to know that things are OK with you and the family. Maybe the bus driver's Covid has been a blessing in disguise for the children on his bus. Let's hope that if he ever does return to driving them, he will have been vaccinated.
I'm aware that there are lots of people we haven't heard from in months. Maybe our communications don't interest you, but it would be lovely if everyone touched base, just to confirm that you are all alive and well!
There will be another message from me before Christmas, so I'll just end with the injunction to stay well. Love, Sylvia
Jane, 4 December 2021
I was pleased to hear from you Lesley, Ian and Sylvia as I was beginning to wonder if I had been ostracised for being too grumpy or complaining about our politicians. As far as they go, I have to admit that Nicola has done better than Boris as we in Scotland have never abandoned masks, although there are still those who refuse to wear them. I went to a University graduates' 'in-person' meeting a week ago and was surrounded by elderly gents whose masks did not cover their noses. Pointless. I don't actually tell people off for that - only those who do not give me room to pass safely on the street or walk in front of me are muttered at. David walks ahead to disown me!
Your mention of Proust, Ian, brought back memories. One of his volumes, possibly the first, was a set text in General (1st year) French here. I had not a clue what it was about but read two books on Proust from the reading list and wrote the required essay. The tutor gave me a delta and said he would have marked it epsilon if he could. Well, how was I to know that the two books argued from different standpoints?! I gave up French after that year.
That's enough from me! Love Jane
Howard, 4 December 2021
It is good to hear from everyone as Sylvia mentioned.
Mandy and I are both basically OK except we are both seeing doctors about health problems.. Getting older as we all are. We have avoided Covid so far but we are also keen on wearing masks most places.
Covid has reached Sark and it is quite bad in Guernsey and Jersey.
I feel we have treated South Africa pretty badly. Omicron is everywhere or at least many places. A case of shoot the messenger.
Following the grumpiness trend - I wonder what goes through the heads of the anti-vaxers. I know two people who are in their 60s and not vaccinated. Is it a form of Russian roulette?
We will be in Sark for Christmas - no family but we will have fun I am sure. Strictly no turkey though.
We both wish you all a great and healthy Christmas. Let's hope for a better 2022. Howard.
Janet, 5 December 2021
What a relief to hear from Jane and Lesley that they are not among those unlucky folk in Scotland who have been left without power for days on end; to know that Ian & Jill, and Sylvia are OK so far - though not without Ian & Jill suffering some storm damage to their house and various of Sylvia's family having been ill with Covid, though now recovered; and to hear that Howard & Mandy have so far escaped the Covid that was reported to be rampant in Guernsey, though I am sorry that they do have other health problems.
For myself, I have been keeping a low profile whilst waiting for things to improve around here but it has been a bit of a long wait and so it's time to join in with the latest sharing of news, kindly set in motion by Jane.
Where to start? Perhaps by saying that we did at last have a visit from our daughter, Penny, and our youngest grandson, David (11) in July. It meant PCR tests for both of them before boarding a plane and on the 2nd and 10th days they were here, and on them quarantining here with us for the first 10 days of their 15 day visit but we were so glad to see them and the weather was very kind for their second week. We had begun to think they were not going to make it as their Easy jet flights were cancelled and rescheduled 3 times and then even when they decided to pay the extra for Swiss Airways, their first booking was cancelled and rescheduled - so their eventual arrival was at their 5th attempt. Pen's older two, Alexander (17) and Philip (now just 16), felt they couldn't risk coming in case they couldn't get back in time for school - which began again in early August. Pen and David didn't dare go anywhere or have any visitors here in case they picked up any bugs which might delay their return, other than our son, Peter, and his wife, Alison, who came only when the quarantine period was over and insisted on socialising only in our back garden. They were able to stay for 2 nights in Penny's holiday home in Frodsham as Pen and David were staying here, with exclusive use of 1 bathroom, whilst we used another and Pete and Ali had exclusive use of the downstairs facilities - the only part of the house they would come into. Outdoors they sat under Dora's awning.
We all did daily lateral flow tests and wore masks indoors except when eating or drinking and even sat at separate tables, albeit in the same room. But we felt it important to do all we could to keep one another safe. However, one does begin to wonder how long we can all go on with this treating one another as though we are all plague ridden. We are still planning to go out for a U3A Christmas dinner in a country pub next week and to a quiz night in the local community centre, albeit with only half the usual number of tables permitted. We are just hoping everyone there will have been triple jabbed, though we are set to travel there under our own steam and not avail ourselves of the communal minibus, so are still being party-poopers to some extent.
But all the sitting at home, communicating by Zoom and email, whilst helping avoid Covid has resulted in a health problem for me all the same. I got badly bitten by horseflies on 3 occasions in July and August so kept out of the garden for a while. The next thing I knew I had a badly swollen lower left leg. It was diagnosed as cellulitis but the antibiotics I was being prescribed were getting stronger and stronger and causing worrying side-effects without seeming to be able to effect a cure. They gave me a scan to see if it was a DVT but it wasn't. Eventually, after 2 months of getting nowhere with the NHS, I opted to see a dermatologist privately and she realised straightaway that it was not cellulitis at all but lipodermatosclerosis, which has similar symptoms but which is caused by poor circulation, usually in the lower legs and which is not curable but can be managed by the continual use of grade 2 compression stockings, lymphatic drainage therapy, and by doing everything one can to increase blood flow - eg using an exercise cycle for 15 minutes 4 times a day. So that was a bit of a shock.
I didn't want to give up on travel, though, especially as a lifelong friend who lives in Devon has recently been diagnosed with Lymphoma, for which she is having chemotherapy. Lucklily, we were able to find a mini-exercise cycle which I could use whilst sitting on a cushion in the dinette seat in Dora, our trusty campervan, and John kindly agreed to drive me to Devon and back. I managed to pedal for about 15 minutes during every hour of the journey, sometimes a bit more, so we made the trip without ill effects and John has since agreed to drive to Switzerland in the spring, Covid travel restrictions permitting, as we very much want to be there to help celebrate Alexander's 18th birthday. This will be especially important as Penny and her husband, Andreas, are separating after 19 years of marriage and he is moving in with a new partner. They will continue to co-parent their 3 boys but it will not be an ideal situation (and hasn't been for some time) so we very much want to be there to offer some support.
We will all be having Christmas in our individual family groups but are going to get together for a 3-site game of Cluedo over Zoom on Christmas day - perhaps with me using a mini exercise machine under the table at the same time.
As for storm Arwen, we had a very lucky escape as neither we nor either of our cars were damaged and our power supply was not cut off but a huge beech tree at the top of the main driveway was blown over, taking the telephone wire and the electricity power cable with it and pulling up half of the driveway next to it. It fell right across the top lawn, crushing a summer house, a wooden bench and a wooden swing seat as it went and ended up blocking the driveway on the other side of the garden as well. It was several days before we could clear enough fallen branches away to be able to drive a car out on that side and it will be months before we can get the main driveway re-instated.
It was weird having no land-line and no internet access other than by a 2 to 3 G smart phone and a constant worry till we could get someone from Scottish Power to answer our calls about the downed power cable. But BT came on Thursday and did a temporary fix, then Scottish Power came yesterday, disconnected the cable, pulled it out from under the tree, brought scaffolding and a cherry picker to reattach it to the wall of the house and across to the telegraph pole, high above the fallen trees. Whilst the power was off and they could work safely, BT came back and re-fixed the land line, so now we have both power and a landline an a way out for a car - so we can get groceries tomorrow. But it will be months before we can get all the work done that is going to need doing. I have attached a couple of photos so you can see a little of the problem but also a cheering photo of Alexander smiling proudly beside the Christmas tree he and his brother have decorated.
With all best wishes from Janet.
Sylvia, 5 December 2021
My goodness, Janet. You've really been through the mill! I do hope things will look up for you and that your lipodermatosclerosis, which I'd never heard of, doesn't limit your activities too much.
My experience of Storm Arwen is so minor, it's hardly worth mentioning in that it involved 2 watering cans and a garden chair going walkabout. Friends who live just outside Hereford lost power for 3 days after which they were given a diesel generator for 24 hours until they were put back on grid. Considering how rural Herefordshire is and the fact that 86 trees came down to block roads in the county, normal service was resumed fairly quickly.
Let's hear from more people, please, Love, Sylvia
Val, 5 December 2021
Wow, Janet, a good job that tree fell away from houses! Do you have a log burner?!! These things then take so long to put right too.
So sorry to hear about your health problems & yours, too, Howard & Mandy.
I had hoped your eye would have improved, Jill, but that sadly seems not to be happening. I’m also sad that presumably Maxted travels will no longer be stopping by at Barnard Castle.
Otherwise, I’m glad to hear everyone is surviving.
Jane, you make us laugh! We particularly liked the vision of you skulking in a bus shelter, bottle clutched in your hand!
We have weathered the storms here, although villages only two miles away are without power after nearly two weeks & politicians of all hues seem to have woken up to this fact at last. As is frequently mentioned resignedly that if it was in the South East………!!!!
Cars & lorries were trapped on the A66 a mile from us for nearly 14 hours in dire conditions. Not a mention on the news! One doesn’t realise the full impact, for example, an elderly man trapped upstairs because his stairlift is electrically powered. In places in Northumberland, their water is pumped, therefore no water either!! Cows desperate to be milked. Troops have been deployed but to Weardale, not Teesdale. Sue will remember Winters up the Dale! We’re used to it, but not for this long! We have been told that so many telegraph poles have come down because round the bottoms are no longer injected regularly with creosote or some such so rot quickly.
Anyway, sorry, the grumpiness is catching!!
We had a lovely two weeks on the West coast of Scotland in August with the entire family & the weather was phenomenal! Shorts & no sweaters at all & crucially no wind, very unusual for Scotland.
The second week we revisited Kintyre, so the three grandchildren spent many hours on the beaches our three played on for many years when they were little!
We’ve had Charlotte & Hermione (& cats!) here a lot & I’ve been at hers a lot as Kieron was deployed in Bahrain for 6 months from the end of January. Chris stayed here quite a lot as he has been so busy with work, online courses that should have been face to face plus a big expert witness case.
We’ve had a difficult time recently as my sister died unexpectedly on 13th October, Her health wasn’t hugely good, but none the less it was totally out of the blue, (& absolutely nothing to do with covid!) so of course the Coroner was involved.
As she lived in Northampton, we have been up & down the truly awful M1 a few times & organising her funeral & wake & clearing stuff out at a distance has been challenging. It was lovely to meet so many friends & ex-colleagues from the University who have only been names at her wake though.
I am Executor so have spent much time on the ‘phone or online although it does have the effect of keeping me from thinking what has actually happened. Roger was up & down from London dealing with her car & suchlike & the girls have been a huge help too, although less easy with little ones in tow. I feel a bit like Sisyphus! Her house to sell too. All very upsetting.
Christmas will be very strange & sad without her here too. Roger will be here for Christmas itself (he & his girlfriend have just split up sadly) & as it’s the various in laws turn, both girls & families will be in Dover or Orpington & then up to us on the 27th for a few days.
We have Charlotte’s 40th first in York next weekend! There is barely time to draw breath.
Well, I’d better go & get the Christmas cards out which I haven’t even started yet. So lovely to hear from you all…….I see Tony has just popped up whilst I’ve been typing this!
Love to you all, Val
Angela, 7 December 2021
It is so good to get a round up of news from so many people. Thank you Jane for starting the ball rolling and I just love all the grumpiness – long may it last!
It must have been an awful shock to Val, losing your sister. I am sorry and do sympathise with all the work as executor, but as you say, it can take your mind off things for a while. I was so sorry to hear of Janet’s condition and on top of it all the huge storm damage. We got off lightly over Arwen with just our normal strong North Norfolk winds. All our various health issues, are sadly a sign of increasing age but people do seem to be soldiering on bravely. Hopefully some extra wisdom may come as part of the package?
I am definitely becoming a member of the grumpiness brigade especially after experiencing BT Openreach installing our ‘Fast Fibre Broadband’ last week which has turned out to be more like ‘Slow Fibre Narrow Band’ and without phones. Lots of hype from BT but poor delivery resulting in a grumpiness factor of 10! However, when I hear about Janet ‘s experience over loss of communications as well as the poor people who are still without power after so long, I think I had better keep quiet!
How lovely that Lesley has Red Squirrels as neighbours. I can empathise with Jane over tackling Greys with a water blaster. We used to do that in Welwyn until we discovered that one cheeky individual just loved it and sat on the branch rubbing the water all over himself.
We are generally keeping well, part from eyes. I had an operation on my right eye in the autumn which needs further treatment, but am very lucky as I am now under Moorfields Eye Hospital in London getting NHS treatment ‘remotely’. Drops are couriered here and consultations are by phone with subsequent follow up to be done locally. It is an amazingly good service and I feel extremely fortunate when you hear of the shockingly long waits for NHS treatment. Leo has to have cataracts removed in January. He noticed there was a problem when he started missing spotting birds which for him is quite serious!
We have also experienced the fast spread of Covid through primary school aged children. The false negative result was really bad luck Sylvia. Our grand daughter Freya is just back in school in Ealing after having to isolate following a positive test but fortunately didn’t have any bad symptoms. Heather and Nick didn’t get it but feel it is only a matter of time as so many families they know have had it. We just hope it keeps away over Christmas.
The idea of Advent windows seems to be spreading. We have over 100 this year in Cley in aid of the Cley Harbour appeal and in Hanwell, Heather’s neigbourhood the Advent windows were mentioned in the Guardian. They are very attractive and we had a very full and amusing description from Freya over Face Time on the various methods of removing glue from the previous year’s efforts.
We have seen a lot more of the family this year and have had some lovely breaks up here with brilliant weather. We had a long break from going to Hertfordshire during the first lockdown and had family members from our next door neighbours shielding there. They used the house again this year but we have now started going down to Knebworth again to see the family and friends in Welwyn. We haven’t ventured into London on public transport yet, but did have a very nice break in the Yorkshire Dales, based in Richmond in June. We are planning a holiday with friends in North Wales in the Spring, staying in my home town Llandudno and re-discovering Snowdonia and Anglesey. It was sad to see that so many trees had been lost there with the storm as well as in Janet’s area.
We don’t seem to have too many problems with people not wearing masks up here, but that probably reflects the average age of the residents, especially now that the second homers and holidaymakers are not around. We recently discovered that Cley now has over 75% second homes which is not good news for anyone, especially local people wanting houses.
Life has gradually crept back to the ‘new normal’ with book group, art and Leo’s badminton back to ‘real time’. After being on Zoom last year, ballet has also re-started. It is a very gentle version called ‘Silver Swans’ but is excellent for balance and stretching and useful for memory training too! We do get together with local friends but are still pretty cautious and do lots of lateral flow testing, especially after being away. Now that the garden is dying down, we are getting on with photobooks of past holidays, family history and I am doing some pebble painting using acrylic paint which I have found very absorbing. Cley beach is an excellent source for pebbles too.
We are hoping to spend Christmas in Nottingham as Heather’s partner Nick’s sister Becky has invited everyone to be with them this year. They also have a new Cocker Spaniel puppy which will be a huge attraction, especially for the children. We and Nick’s Dad Mike will be staying in a hotel nearby so we hope everyone stays well and that no new restrictions come in. We older folk are all double jabbed and ‘boostered’ and apparently Heather and Nick can now qualify for boosters so we are keeping fingers crossed.
Well, I can’t put off tackling the Christmas cards any longer, or they will turn into next year’s effort.
I hope everyone manages to keep well and warm and has as good a Christmas as is possible. Let’s hope for a much better 2022 and whatever happens I look forward to keeping in touch with our brilliant group of SUPSLISKANS.
Love, Angela
Ian, 9 December 2021
Dear Supsliskans
It is a sad message that I am sending at the end of a sad year. Maggie has just phoned me to say that Peter died this morning after a long struggle with lung cancer. Over the past weeks he had become very weak, and she said that the end was a relief, as he was suffering and wanted to go. I was touched that she phoned us so soon after the event, as she was quite distressed when she started to talk, but her brother, who is a priest, was with her. She ended up thinking of Jill and her eye problems which typified the caring and concerned relationship each had with the other.
I offered to let you all know, and she was grateful that I did. In memory of Ray, some of us made a donation towards the Devon Libraries Adopt a book scheme, and we will be going in to the library tomorrow as they currently have an exhibition featuring several of the books up for adoption. My current favourite is the Infant's letter box. An appropriate way for me to remember Peter, I think.
This is the third friend named Peter that we have lost since the outbreak of covid - none of them due to that scourge. In our Peter's case it was particularly cruel as he had never smoked and was such a gentle person.
Take care of each other, Ian
Anne, 9 December 2021
Thank you Ian, I am shattered to hear this sad news. My very first Christmas card this year, received on 1st December, was from Peter and Maggie, written by Peter obviously with great difficulty. I was very touched. He had always written quite long letters, by hand, and full of news. I will be in touch with Maggie. RIP Peter, as you say Ian, such a gentle person. Greetings to all, Anne
Sylvia, 9 December 2021
This is such shattering news. Peter is the second friend in the last two months who has never smoked but who nonetheless died from lung cancer. It seems so unfair.
I’m thanking my lucky stars that I’ve been my usual tardy self and hadn’t yet got round to sending my Christmas card to Peter and Maggie. Instead, I’ll be sending a condolence card and a letter.
Anne, I was getting quite worried that we hadn’t heard from you in this round of emails. At least that’s something less to worry about. There are still a few people I’m hoping will touch base with us before Christmas. Love, Sylvia
Jane, 9 December 2021
Life is very unfair. Why should someone as kind and gentle as Peter with his lovely sense of humour have such a horrible disease when he had never smoked. I am only glad that I had not started writing the Christmas cards. It has been a horrible two years with so many friends lost. Jane
Janet, 9 December 2021
I, too, am saddened by this news. Though I did not know Peter well, I always found him very personable and kind and was sorry when I heard he was ill with cancer. Thank you Ian for all the years you have kept us up to date with what was happening in Peter's life and for letting us know that it has now come to an end. It has been good to be able to remain in touch, if only vicariously, all these years. Friendship is one of life's absolute necessities and I am grateful for the note of Peter and Maggie's address so that I can send a condolence card.
Best wishes, Janet.
Val, 10 December 2021
Very sad news indeed. Thank you for letting us as all know, Ian, no time is good to lose someone, but it seems especially cruel near Christmas. Peter was lovely. Val.
Pat, 10 December 2021
Fond memories of Peter, both in class and in the library. So long ago, but we stick together in remembering Peter with love and feeling sad to lose one of our original bunch.
Pat
Margaret, 11 December 2021
Thank you, Ian, for letting us know of Peter' s passing. I did not know him well but always thought of him as a kind, gentle person. And now I feel so sad that he has died in such a horrible way. Some years ago, I stayed with my cousin in County Cork when she was in the final stages of lung cancer - she died a few days after I came home. I still think of her and what she went through but she had been a big smoker. I gather that Peter wasn't, which makes it all the harder.
Well, I have been enjoying reading the latest flow of Supsliskan emails with an increasing sense of guilt that I had not yet contributed. So here goes!
I am still living in my garden room with a live-in carer in a bedroom 2 floors up. It's a strange life but has become the norm and I have to confess to rather enjoying it. If you were all dashing around going to the theatre and concerts, and off on wonderful holidays abroad, I might feel different but as it is I know I am not missing much. Cristina from Romania is looking after me very well and meals are something to be looked forward to, definitely. Even so, I hope that one day I might be able to refresh my culinary skills. Cristina has gone for a walk on Port Meadow this afternoon. Like most of my carers she is making the most of rural Wolvercote on her time off.
I keep the front door unlocked during the daytime so friends can pop in and out. Penny was here the other Sunday and helped me complete an application for a Blue Badge. Evelyn is now living in Maidstone but spends some weekends in Stroud so breaks her journey here. I haven't seen Manda since last December, when she flew over from Malta for my 90th birthday celebrations. It has taken some time to come to terms with the fact that I am that old! But there are days when I am in no doubt!
Amanda, who recently retired as librarian at Queen's College, was at Sheffield and was surprised and impressed to hear how our year have since kept in touch, even for a 50 years reunion.
It is going dark and I see spots of rain on the patio door, so no doubt Cristina will soon be back. I have found a condolences card which I will send to Maggie. I remember a lovely chat I had with her and Peter at a weekend reunion at Sheffield about 15 years ago.
Here's wishing you a Very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year, With love from Margaret
Priscilla, 11 December 2021
Dear Susplikans
Although I am not one of you really, I am glad to be included in your messages, even when they bring the sad news of Peter’s death. Peter was very good to us when Ray was dying, with frequent letters filled with friendship and kind thoughts. And he was instrumental, along with Ian, in instigating a memorial for Ray in the form of a rare book restoration of one of the volumes in Exeter City Libraries. Coincidentally, this volume was one of the first published Welsh botanical works, which would have pleased Ray. I am feeling for Maggie and her loss, and know, only too well, what she is going through. Your friendship with each other after all these years helps to keep me close to Ray.
With best wishes for Christmas in this strange world in which we live, and for the new year, when it comes as the Scots say, Priscilla.
Sylvia, 13 December 2021
Dear Priscilla, It was really good to hear from you, and from Margaret and to know that all is well. There are still a couple of people we need to hear from, but on the whole this has been a very good response to my plea for news. Sue and Liz - it would be good to know you and yours are well.
You mustn't feel that you are on the edge of the group looking in. We need to keep the group together as much as possible, and as we lose some dear friends, their partners will more and more become the glue which holds us together. Unfortunately Maggie can only hear about us second-hand, but Ian has always been very good at keeping Peter informed, and I'm sure he will continue to do the same for Maggie.
That's it for now. I need to get back to Christmas preparations, assuming of course, that it isn't cancelled again! Love to all, Sylvia
Sue, 15 December 2021
Good to get news of you all, even if it is tinged with both sadness and distressing news of bouts of ill health. I guess we have to expect health issues to increase as we continue to age...
NZ has now moved to a traffic light system, whilst I see the UK is now using "levels". Anyway, Aucklanders have been released from captivity and are surging out to other parts of NZ including Christchurch. So it is to be hoped that the fact that they need to be double jabbed, have a vaccine pass, and observe the rules about masks keeps us all safe. Having started everything late, down here, we do have the advantage of observing the mistakes of other countries, whether we have learnt from them is another matter. But I was pleased to hear on the radio that one of the bikie gangs (I think it was the Mongrel Mob) have asked for a separate vaccination clinic; the gangs are over-represented in the infected persons statistics, and by the look of some of them, will have other health issues. Our vaccine passes look to be really easy to fabricate, so it is to be hoped that some mechanism for electronically checking their validity will be provided at events. There is some backlash at the "us and them" aspect of requiring passes; I'm afraid I have little patience with this, I must be grumpy, too.
Like elsewhere, we are suffering from supply chain issues, so finding suitable toys will be a challenge for Santa. Though it is relief that probably much of the Christmas tat is also held up, which is good news for the environment. As a recent cartoon said - "We may have to make do with goodwill and bonhomie"... We'll chose not to meet up with our son and his family who live in Wellington because whoever travels it would require flying, and planes seem to us too crowded to provide a sufficiently safe environment. I think it will be some time before NZers of our age learn to live with the virus.
And of course the nation is still reeling after the All Blacks were defeated this year by France and by Ireland. To have the cricketers hold India to a draw in one of the Test matches was a welcome relief, though the defeat in the second Test put us firmly back in our place.
I hesitate to talk about the weather after your stories of the impact of Arwen; best wishes with the aftermath. The stories reminded me of my time as a student in Leeds. I was in "digs", sharing an attic room with a friend. The terraced house was on a slope, so when a storm hit, each chimney and its pot fell onto the next house all the way down the slope. Fortunately the frame of the skylight between our beds was robust enough to prevent the neighbour's chimney from falling on either of us. But as each room still had a fireplace, the soot that spread through the house was pretty amazing. During that same storm, a steeple was knocked off one of the little churches near the university, and I overhead a local saying to his friend, "I always did say that gravity has a tendency to fall."
But enough of the nostalgia! Back here in NZ, we are having a very wet start to the summer, so don't picture Christmas barbecues in the sunshine. As you can imagine this is very good news for the weeds, so it is all hands on deck in the garden in between the bouts of heavy rain. But this rain is also good news for our "native" plantings which are thriving. And staying on the natural history theme, we have 6 pupae from the very few Monarch Butterfly eggs laid on the very tatty "swan plants". Usually the caterpillars migrate to the garden table and pupate there, but this time they've stayed on the plants themselves. No squirrels, though - not sure if anyone tried to bring them across and failed, or just didn't feel sufficiently strongly about them to bother.
More than enough for one sitting. I'm so glad we are all still in touch, I've enjoyed your messages and found them supportive.
Have a lovely Christmas, and best wishes for a good year, in every respect, in 2022. Love Sue
Janet, 15 December 2021
It is so good to hear from you - seems ages since you last wrote. And it's good to know you now have enough water for all your plants, though perhaps not so good that your barbecues are off the menu for the time being.
I'm sorry you won't be able to see your family again this Christmas, at least not in person. We won't either because, as you say, it's just too risky. When Pen and David came here in the summer they kept their masks on the whole time on the plane and didn't have even water to drink till they got to our car. They drank it outside and then we all wore masks for the journey home. We were all as careful as we could be but it did take the shine off things a little, having to do so. Luckily, the weather was glorious for their second week so we could all be outside during daylight hours and could then take our masks off. Still no hugging though.
Pete and Ali, like all the Royal Holloway staff, have had to take their turn at helping with the degree ceremonies this week, and thereby being somewhat exposed, so they felt it was safer to stay at home for Christmas, as they did last year. But we will all be getting together on Zoom for a game of Cluedo on Christmas Day, using text messages to secretly "show" cards one-to-one as required.
Hopefully, come this summer for us and next Christmas for you, we will have all developed the PPE habit and also will have enough immunity via numerous jabs that we can lead a more normal life again.
With all best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, from Janet.
Jane, 18 December 2021
Grumpy Jane and David (who is not grumpy) send best wishes for Christmas and 2022. She is not writing a letter this year as you have all heard quite enough from her in the last 12 months.
Love Jane
Pat, 18 December 2021
Ha ha Jane. Very droll. Having just watched Maggie Smith in the film the “Lady in the Van” I am reminded what grumpy can be.
I wish you and every other ex Sheffield Library School member 1968 the best for Christmas and for 2022 to come. Love Pat
Sylvia 19 December 2021
Some of you will already have had my personal greetings which I have sent regularly over the years, but of course I echo what the others have said in that everyone deserves to receive extra greetings and good wishes for a happy and healthy 2022. We're so close to Christmas and still facing uncertainty as to whether we can carry out our plans, but I'm sure we'll make the most of whatever we're allowed to do!
With Love to all, Sylvia
Janet, 20 December 2021
Thanks everyone. John and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy New Year, however you manage to make it so, whether it's by actual visits, or telephone calls, Zoom meetings, emails or exchange of letters. It's been really life-affirming, sharing all our highs and lows over the past year or so. Yes, we've all had problems, doubtless sometimes more than we may have mentioned, but mostly I think we've got through them one way or another, and there's been a lot to celebrate, though, of course some sadness too.
To your good health, cheers! Love from Janet.
Angela, 21 December 2021
Just adding to all the other festive greetings by wishing everyone as Happy a Christmas as is possible and a very Healthy and positive New Year. Looking forward to continuing our really wonderful correspondence into next year. Love Angela
