Christmas 2010
Christmas greetings from North Yorkshire!
Like many places we have had a lot of snow both at the beginning of the year and again more recently. As I write we have lost one lot and are bracing ourselves for the next.
2010 has not been without its difficulties and sadness in our family, but there have also been a lot of good times. We had a lovely week’s holiday in Cornwall in early July with most of the family.
In the last few months we have both reached our 60th birthdays, each celebrated in a fitting, but fairly low-key way. We look forward to our bus passes which follow next year!
Wynn successfully completed a sponsored coast to coast cycle ride over the August Bank Holiday Weekend. He has continued canoeing and also spent time climbing at the newly opened Harrogate Wall. We have enjoyed a lot of local walks together on our Wednesdays off.
After a shaky start church has gone on from strength to strength, giving us one of the best years so far. Approximately 35 people have joined us and the church has a healthy feel to it. It keeps us very busy, but it is worth it.
Our three grandchildren continue to delight us. Dominic and George will both start school next September. Jessica will be two in January. She is full of character and chatters all the time.
Lucy is still living at home, but hopes to move out into a flat before too long. She completed her Leadership Academy course at the end of June and now works more or less full-time at Ripley, looking after the confectionary side of the business, including making delicious fudge.
Wynn’s Mum reached 90 in January and all the family travelled to South Wales to celebrate with her. At that time she was still living in her own home, but there have been several changes during the year. She moved to a residential home just down the valley, but after a spell in hospital she needed nursing home care. For a month now she has been in a lovely home near Swansea where it is easier for Gareth and Judith to visit her. Wynn visits monthly and we spent some time in the summer emptying her house. We plan to visit just before Christmas, snow permitting.
That just about brings you up to date with the doings of the James clan over the last 12 months. All that remains is for us to wish you a very happy Christmas and a blessed New Year.
With Best Wishes from,
Wynn, Mary and Lucy
Friday, 24 December 2010
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Christmas Letter
Christmas 2009
The past twelve months have been eventful to say the least.
In January Bethan gave birth (in usual dramatic fashion) to Jessica Louise who is our third grandchild. Eleven months on and, apart from being delightful, she is displaying all the signs of having a strong character and could be walking any day now. She gets on very well with big brother George, who has nearly perfected the technique of redirecting her attention so she doesn’t spoils his games and wreck his toys. We have a great deal of fun with them, the best thing being that we can hand them back to their parents when we have had enough. David made a visit to Ghana during October for a friend’s wedding, and he was also able to visit people and places he had come to know well when he lived there some years ago. Much of his time continues to be taken up with running and developing his businesses. Apart from looking after the children Bethan is very much involved in the church, leading worship on Sundays, running a Toddler group and a number of other ventures. Dan, Kim and Dominic are still living in Huddersfield where they seem to be very settled. Dan still works as a recruitment consultant, fitting in his trombone playing in church and local bands and orchestras during the evenings and weekends, whilst Kim works as a carer in the local college. Dominic recently had his third birthday. He is a lovely little chap who loves toy cars and trains - a typical boy who plays so well on his own. It is always a source of amusement and fun when the two grandsons get together as they get on so well and clearly enjoy playing together. Owen and Kim continue to work in the business, spreading themselves between Ripley, Valley Gardens and the latest acquisitions in the Metro Centre, Gateshead. They managed a nice break to the United States during October, following a music trail of their own making. They also work hard in different departments of the church where their input is invaluable.
Lucy has had a sensational year, buying a car in March, graduating with a 2(i) Honours degree in Counselling in June, passing her driving test first time in August and starting a year long course in Abundant Life Church’s Academy in Bradford. In October she made her third visit to India with a team of six from our church. In November we all attended her graduation ceremony in York Minster. Quite a quiet year really, perhaps things will pick up for her in 2010!!
Mary continues to work in the business in Ripley, dote on our grandchildren and pick up an interesting array of jobs in church. Earlier in the year we got a ridiculously cheap flight to Dublin where we got B & B for 2 nights and explored the city. In June we dodged the showers in Snowdonia as we tried to enjoy a camping holiday near Cricieth!! Always knew it was a daft idea and perhaps she will listen to me from now on!! An equally wet and windy two days was spent in very pleasant B & B near Pembroke during November, acquainting ourselves with towns and coastline we had never seen before.
Wynn has continued to lead the church over the last twelve months which, for the most part, has been a good experience. One of our highlights was a hog roast and music evening at the end of September which was one of the most successful things we have ever done, 140 people attending. A lot of new initiatives have been introduced into the church over the last year and a few potentially exciting ones are due to come into being in 2010. As well as continuing to enjoy motorcycling and regular walks into the Yorkshire Dales with Mary, Wynn continues to feed his (very late!) mid-life crisis with visits to the gym and has recently joined a canoeing club. In October Wynn made his eighth visit to India. This year, as well as visiting the two churches in Delhi and Haryana he ventured into West Bengal and Sikkim, visiting two new churches and seeing some of the most dramatic scenery in the world including the world’s third highest mountain, Kangchenjunga, which was magnificent.
We send you our best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
The past twelve months have been eventful to say the least.
In January Bethan gave birth (in usual dramatic fashion) to Jessica Louise who is our third grandchild. Eleven months on and, apart from being delightful, she is displaying all the signs of having a strong character and could be walking any day now. She gets on very well with big brother George, who has nearly perfected the technique of redirecting her attention so she doesn’t spoils his games and wreck his toys. We have a great deal of fun with them, the best thing being that we can hand them back to their parents when we have had enough. David made a visit to Ghana during October for a friend’s wedding, and he was also able to visit people and places he had come to know well when he lived there some years ago. Much of his time continues to be taken up with running and developing his businesses. Apart from looking after the children Bethan is very much involved in the church, leading worship on Sundays, running a Toddler group and a number of other ventures. Dan, Kim and Dominic are still living in Huddersfield where they seem to be very settled. Dan still works as a recruitment consultant, fitting in his trombone playing in church and local bands and orchestras during the evenings and weekends, whilst Kim works as a carer in the local college. Dominic recently had his third birthday. He is a lovely little chap who loves toy cars and trains - a typical boy who plays so well on his own. It is always a source of amusement and fun when the two grandsons get together as they get on so well and clearly enjoy playing together. Owen and Kim continue to work in the business, spreading themselves between Ripley, Valley Gardens and the latest acquisitions in the Metro Centre, Gateshead. They managed a nice break to the United States during October, following a music trail of their own making. They also work hard in different departments of the church where their input is invaluable.
Lucy has had a sensational year, buying a car in March, graduating with a 2(i) Honours degree in Counselling in June, passing her driving test first time in August and starting a year long course in Abundant Life Church’s Academy in Bradford. In October she made her third visit to India with a team of six from our church. In November we all attended her graduation ceremony in York Minster. Quite a quiet year really, perhaps things will pick up for her in 2010!!
Mary continues to work in the business in Ripley, dote on our grandchildren and pick up an interesting array of jobs in church. Earlier in the year we got a ridiculously cheap flight to Dublin where we got B & B for 2 nights and explored the city. In June we dodged the showers in Snowdonia as we tried to enjoy a camping holiday near Cricieth!! Always knew it was a daft idea and perhaps she will listen to me from now on!! An equally wet and windy two days was spent in very pleasant B & B near Pembroke during November, acquainting ourselves with towns and coastline we had never seen before.
Wynn has continued to lead the church over the last twelve months which, for the most part, has been a good experience. One of our highlights was a hog roast and music evening at the end of September which was one of the most successful things we have ever done, 140 people attending. A lot of new initiatives have been introduced into the church over the last year and a few potentially exciting ones are due to come into being in 2010. As well as continuing to enjoy motorcycling and regular walks into the Yorkshire Dales with Mary, Wynn continues to feed his (very late!) mid-life crisis with visits to the gym and has recently joined a canoeing club. In October Wynn made his eighth visit to India. This year, as well as visiting the two churches in Delhi and Haryana he ventured into West Bengal and Sikkim, visiting two new churches and seeing some of the most dramatic scenery in the world including the world’s third highest mountain, Kangchenjunga, which was magnificent.
We send you our best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
Friday, 15 May 2009
MP's Expenses
None of us are perfect, we are all capable of making genuine mistakes, we can even become greedy and overstep the mark if we are not careful, but what our MP's have claimed for their expenses and how they have worked and manipulated a faulty system to their own advantage beggars belief. The news emerging about MP's expenses is disturbing - partly because we expect our leaders to be honest - and if they aren't they have compromised their moral right to govern and direct the way the rest of us live and behave.
It is now very difficult for the Tories or either of the other two main parties to talk about Britain being a broken society or morally bankrupt when they have so powerfully demonstrated by their behaviour over some considerable period of time that they are as morally bereft as anyone and probably more than most. These people have set themselves up as leaders of the country and having been found out are now compounding their dilemma by trying to blame "the system" and pretend they made genuine mistakes. How can you forget that you have paid off your £800 a month mortgage and carry on claiming for it, or deliberately flip your housing arrangements so you can make multiple claims on your properties and call this type of deliberately calculated behaviour "a mistake." Admittedly the system was faulty but our MP's have used it to their advantage and now they have been uncovered are offering to pay back the money they mistakenly claimed. These people who are amongst the most intellgent and most clearly thought through people in the country don't make, or at least shouldn't make those sort of mistakes and obviously screwed the faulty system for every penny they could get out of it. The double whammy is that they now insult our intelligence by expecting us to believe their flimsy cover up.
Their greed, sefishness and blatant dishonesty has damaged politics, the cause of fair and honest people, and in the long term potentially caused a lot of damage to every area of life in the UK, especially the area concerned with moral issues. An obvious concern being aired increasingly by political commentators is that the public's disillusionment with the politicians in our main parties may result in smalller and more extreme parties like the BNP gaining more seats in the future - heaven forbid. The only possible solution is for the constituencies of those who have made outrageous and morally indefensible expenses claims to sack their MP's and reappoint those who will have a better understanding of what is appropriate behaviour and perhaps be in possession of a more accurate moral compass. In summing up, I guess that what we are seeing amongst our leaders is the effect of what happens when a nation, and especially its leaders turn their back on God and have no foundation for a moral code.
It is now very difficult for the Tories or either of the other two main parties to talk about Britain being a broken society or morally bankrupt when they have so powerfully demonstrated by their behaviour over some considerable period of time that they are as morally bereft as anyone and probably more than most. These people have set themselves up as leaders of the country and having been found out are now compounding their dilemma by trying to blame "the system" and pretend they made genuine mistakes. How can you forget that you have paid off your £800 a month mortgage and carry on claiming for it, or deliberately flip your housing arrangements so you can make multiple claims on your properties and call this type of deliberately calculated behaviour "a mistake." Admittedly the system was faulty but our MP's have used it to their advantage and now they have been uncovered are offering to pay back the money they mistakenly claimed. These people who are amongst the most intellgent and most clearly thought through people in the country don't make, or at least shouldn't make those sort of mistakes and obviously screwed the faulty system for every penny they could get out of it. The double whammy is that they now insult our intelligence by expecting us to believe their flimsy cover up.
Their greed, sefishness and blatant dishonesty has damaged politics, the cause of fair and honest people, and in the long term potentially caused a lot of damage to every area of life in the UK, especially the area concerned with moral issues. An obvious concern being aired increasingly by political commentators is that the public's disillusionment with the politicians in our main parties may result in smalller and more extreme parties like the BNP gaining more seats in the future - heaven forbid. The only possible solution is for the constituencies of those who have made outrageous and morally indefensible expenses claims to sack their MP's and reappoint those who will have a better understanding of what is appropriate behaviour and perhaps be in possession of a more accurate moral compass. In summing up, I guess that what we are seeing amongst our leaders is the effect of what happens when a nation, and especially its leaders turn their back on God and have no foundation for a moral code.
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
14th April
Completed a fabulous walk yesterday (Easter Monday Bank Holiday); from Austwick we climbed to Moughton, passing wonderfully dramatic scenery on the way. Great views of Pen Y Ghent, Ingleborough and in the background, Whernside. Lovely sunny day and got a little sunburned. My new boots were great although at one point I turned over on my ankle and then later on, whilst on some limestone pavement I tripped up and took a heavy fall. A little sore today in one or two places but nothing serious. Strange how Mary and I can do so many walks around the Yorkshire dales and not have done this one which had so many great views. A couple of miles into the walk we found this pot hole which looked like a long rip in the ground. Standing on the edge of it in one place we could look down about a hundred feat or more to the little stream running along the bottom. Amazing to think that something so dramatic and beautiful can exist in a place that so few people are aware of.
Easter Sunday was very good. In the morning a lot of people were away visiting family etc but we still had 109 people in the morning meeting, four people becoming Christians. The evening meeting was less well attended but still pretty good for an evening meeting. The worship was outstanding and the atmosphere was electrifying.
Great meeting this morning with a couple from church who are helping us with the marketing of the church, very exciting and encouraging. All in all things are looking pretty good at the moment!!
Easter Sunday was very good. In the morning a lot of people were away visiting family etc but we still had 109 people in the morning meeting, four people becoming Christians. The evening meeting was less well attended but still pretty good for an evening meeting. The worship was outstanding and the atmosphere was electrifying.
Great meeting this morning with a couple from church who are helping us with the marketing of the church, very exciting and encouraging. All in all things are looking pretty good at the moment!!
Monday, 2 February 2009
Snowdon ( 2.02.09)
Saturday's climb on Snowdon was only the second time I have ever failed to get to the top of a mountain. The snow had compacted so hard that about 300ft from the top there were a series of mini ice fields that made it very difficult to climb and would have been even more difficult to descend later on. A slip could have meant a slide of a few hundred yards before we hit rocks - so discretion became the better part of valour. But it was still an exhilarating day with fabulous snowy views of the surrounding and more distant peaks. The weather was dry and not much wind which should have made for a successful climb - but we didn't reckon on meeting so much ice. Crampons have to be on my next e-bay search. I think a visit to a mountain boot shop is also coming fast as my present boots are starting to disintegrate. Pix of day on Snowdon on http://www.flickr.com/photos/13615080@N00/.
Previous failure to reach a summit was about this time last year when a hail storm and strong winds beat us on Pen Y Ghynt.
Snowing hard right now with the promise of lots more to come during the day - bring it on! Wonder if it will last till day off on Weds - great plan to go for walk with sledge on my back - find some really long hills in the dales and have some serious fun.
Previous failure to reach a summit was about this time last year when a hail storm and strong winds beat us on Pen Y Ghynt.
Snowing hard right now with the promise of lots more to come during the day - bring it on! Wonder if it will last till day off on Weds - great plan to go for walk with sledge on my back - find some really long hills in the dales and have some serious fun.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
BBC on Gaza
Don't really know what to think about BBC's stance on the aid advertisement for Gaza? I understand their desire to be impartial but how can they continue to remain so in the face of Israel's heavy handed, over reaction to the rocket attacks from Hamas and in effect turn their backs on the people who have suffered so appalingly over the last month. There has clearly been provocation from Hamas over a lengthy period of time but what Israel is reported to have done over recent weeks includes many war crimes - which makes it impossible for a news agency to remain impartial.. If it is so important for theBBC to remain impartial why have they reported in such a biased fashion about President Mugabe's abuse of power in Zimbabwe? The same could be said of their reporting concerning the Taliban in Afghanistan or that of Islamic terrorist attacks on free Western countries, all of which is heavily weighted. Why the fear of appearing less than impartial?
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Winter Fantastic !
I love this crisp, cold, real wintery weather, accompanied by blue skies with everything covered in ice and frost. Last Wednesday we went walking round Grimwith Reservoir in the Yorkshire Dales. We nearly didn't go because it was -6 and very foggy, but on arrival the fog cleared and we had fantastic views of the hills, trees, fences and everything else, coated in a thick frost. It was bitterly cold but worth it for the whiter than white scenery.
I cycled to work this morning and on arrival discovered the temperature was -6, however, the ride in kept me nice and warm apart from my big toes!! Tomorrow is my day off and Mary and I are heading for the hills so hopefully this weather will persist at least until we have finished our walk. I wonder if having real wintery weather means that we will have a warm / hot summer?
We all enjoyed a lovely Christmas break, lots of nice food, visits to our children's homes on Christmas Day whilst they came to ours on Boxing Day. All the children and grandsons came to us again on New Years Day for tea and we spent the evening with friends from church.
Churchwise 2008 finished and 2009 started on an encouraging note with a good turn out at church meetings; about 130 on Sunday 21st Dec and 90 + on 4th Jan. At least 18 people have joined us, or have started attending regularly since the beginning of Sept 2008, so maybe the time of accelerated growth is on its way. Several people have come forward over recent weeks wanting to drive new initiatives, which is always great and the new Bible Study which starts in a week looks like being well attended again. All pretty encouraging, but not without its challenges along the way.
In the next few weeks, whilst we have the wintery weather, I want to get over to Snowdonia to climb some peaks in the snow - I have been looking forward to doing that all year so I'll have to be careful not to let it slip past.
I wonder what surprises 2009 holds for us. I guess we will continue our monthly trips to S. Wales to see my Mum and we are already planning our Summer holiday in Scotland which will include climbing Ben Nevis. I will probably spend a couple of weeks in India during October and am considering taking an extra week on my own to go into Nepal and do some trekking around Kathmandu. At least one new grandchild is due in the next few weeks - I wonder what else is going to happen about which we know nothing? Happy New Year !
I cycled to work this morning and on arrival discovered the temperature was -6, however, the ride in kept me nice and warm apart from my big toes!! Tomorrow is my day off and Mary and I are heading for the hills so hopefully this weather will persist at least until we have finished our walk. I wonder if having real wintery weather means that we will have a warm / hot summer?
We all enjoyed a lovely Christmas break, lots of nice food, visits to our children's homes on Christmas Day whilst they came to ours on Boxing Day. All the children and grandsons came to us again on New Years Day for tea and we spent the evening with friends from church.
Churchwise 2008 finished and 2009 started on an encouraging note with a good turn out at church meetings; about 130 on Sunday 21st Dec and 90 + on 4th Jan. At least 18 people have joined us, or have started attending regularly since the beginning of Sept 2008, so maybe the time of accelerated growth is on its way. Several people have come forward over recent weeks wanting to drive new initiatives, which is always great and the new Bible Study which starts in a week looks like being well attended again. All pretty encouraging, but not without its challenges along the way.
In the next few weeks, whilst we have the wintery weather, I want to get over to Snowdonia to climb some peaks in the snow - I have been looking forward to doing that all year so I'll have to be careful not to let it slip past.
I wonder what surprises 2009 holds for us. I guess we will continue our monthly trips to S. Wales to see my Mum and we are already planning our Summer holiday in Scotland which will include climbing Ben Nevis. I will probably spend a couple of weeks in India during October and am considering taking an extra week on my own to go into Nepal and do some trekking around Kathmandu. At least one new grandchild is due in the next few weeks - I wonder what else is going to happen about which we know nothing? Happy New Year !
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