Happy Christmas to you all

Yet again we are sending electronic Christmas cards (where we have email addresses) and the savings are going to the MS Society.

Last week we had Mike and Gretchen here from Dubai with 2 year old Archie and the news that Gretchen is expecting their second child in June. Wonderful news.

Louise and her boys, Ethan and Charlie joined us for the weekend and on Friday night we all enjoyed the “Light Up” display at the Hilliers Gardens near Romsey. It was amazing.

Mike and Gretchen are spending Christmas at their home in Dubai and are entertaining Gretchen’s family on Christmas Day. Jane and I are spending the day with Louise, Red, Ethan and Charlie and Red’s parents, John and Beverley, at Red and Louise’s lovely home in Tooting.

As you may have guessed Jane and I managed to get away cruising a couple of times. In May we went to the Baltic on Queen Victoria – great ports in Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark. Unfortunately one of our favourite places, St Petersburg, was struck from the itinerary for obvious reasons.

In October we put together 2 cruises, the first down to Spain and Portugal and the second to Norway and the Arctic circle. Full reports on both cruises can be found on this blog under October and November 2023.

None of this travel would have been possible without our friend and companion/carer Kim Bigwood. Kim has now been with us on 11 cruises since 2016 and as a result she has been elevated to the top level of Cunard travellers – Diamond! Kim is a fantastic support for Jane (and for me).

Ashore we have amazing support from 2 care agencies, Home Instead in the mornings and Caremark in the evenings. 2 carers in the morning to get Jane up and 2 in the evening to put her to bed. Super caring people.

And the other supporters are Jane’s friends who take her out in her adapted car and entertain her in garden centres or arboretums or ladies clothing outlets. Jane’s sister Sarah frequently drives over from Poole to take Jane out or help her with her clothes. She has a busy life but always manages to find the time to help to look after Jane.

We thank everyone for their help and we wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.