I spent the first half
of 2016 gainfully unemployed. In June the time came to seek employment and I now work 4 days a week in a school in Bishop Auckland. Not only is the school 'a nice place to be', I’m also doing what I like: Management Information Systems
and data alongside human interaction.
A new adventure (or rather new since my twenties) has been commuting by bike, albeit twice a week. How technology has moved
on! Aided by the ‘cycle-to-work’ scheme, I now have a 21st
Century winter jacket and some amazingly bright-easy-to-recharge lights. So
much so that my ‘dark return route’ takes in an old railway path. Highlights of the night ride home include the
shadowy trees, mottled leaves and a low flying owl.
Our garden continues
to evolve. I’m still growing my beloved vegetables, whilst
gradually improving the rest of the garden. My 2017 project is to finish
the front. Katie Duff designed the final strip, not an easy task given the John-Emma wish-list. But she did a ‘Good Job’! (A new Ellam Avenue
phrase which we have adopted from Monday pilates).
John and I visit the
fells regularly but once there tend to do our own thing, meeting up at the end
for tea or beer. Whilst John very much enjoys
all aspects of fell racing, injury has led me to rediscover my love of remote
areas (which doesn’t tally with ever more crowded races). I’m still hoping to run cross country by the
end of the season – and satisfy my penchant for 'Destruction' (another Ellam Avenue phrase) - but I’d like to keep the fells quiet and
competition free. That said, I miss the fell folk, so who knows?
Young adults: Emily
is learning Chinese in China after 4 years of maths at Cambridge. Graduating
the day of the Brexit result was not ideal.
Alison is in her final year at Oxford where she has plenty of time to
visit refugees and work in a cafe. Cameron is also at Oxford (maths and
computing) but he essentially works a standard week. His running is going from strength to
strength, or rather he takes less and less time to go once round the track.
’That’s all folks!’
The END
With apologies for
lateness
