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If you have left
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then
E-mail your news and please mark your
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A letter from Dave Hope
- Christmas 2011 |
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As I have done for the
last few years I am still trying to save the trees so will only
send cards to folks who don’t have email. This has been an
interesting year for me and has probably been a bit more positive
than the last couple of years despite the Market and International
strife going on everywhere. I have settled well into the house but
still have a little more work to complete to get everything to my
liking, mainly painting over the white walls that I have too many
of. The major highlight of the year clearly was Ian and Kari’s
wedding at Easter which took place on the beach of Kailua Bay in
Hawaii. Gary, Sue, Lisa, Melanie and myself rented a house very
close to the ocean for a week after the wedding and Ian and Kari
stayed with us. As someone commented, when you live in Hawaii
where else do you go for a honeymoon, right? They appear to have
settled into married life quite well and Kari is now running her
own Pilates classes to make them some extra money. Ian is still
working the Kaiser Hospital project which will continue for a
while yet. He recently had his annual CT scan and has been
declared clear and healthy which is just the news we all wanted to
hear. He also sold his old Dodge Durango SUV and bought himself a
nice new Ford truck which feels more like a luxury car than a
truck
The other really
good news is that the guy who bought my OR home paid off the
mortgage I was holding on the property a year early, which enabled
me to pay off the mortgage on my present home. What a lovely
feeling that is. Now if only property taxes would go away or even
down….dream on, right?
Gary and Sue have
been tied up with the usual summer madness of Softball for Lexi
and Water Polo for Brit. They rarely seemed to get a free weekend
so I felt for them. Gary actually swam the ocean part of a team
Triathlon recently in Dana Point. The ocean part was very new to
him as he’s normally a pool weenie but he managed a 3rd position
so got the team off to a good start. Overall the team didn’t place
but they all had fun. I would like to have gone but it started at
7 am which is at least an hour before I get up these days. |
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Brit managed to get
the perfect A grade for the last year at school and has improved
his social skills quite a lot. This semester started Lexi’s senior
year and she is currently stressing a bit waiting to see if anyone
is going to offer her any form of scholarship. She has already
been accepted to Kentucky University and Mercer University
(Georgia)….. from an academic standpoint.
Lisa and Mel are both doing well and working hard but so glad they
installed A/C last year as this summer here was a very hot one at
times. I was up at her home during one hot spell helping to
replace the garage side door which had pretty much rotted out so
had to be careful in the heat. Lisa seems to have done more
travelling for her job this year to places like Oregon, Colorado
and Utah. Since she lost all her excess weight, she decided to
have the excess skin, that didn’t shrink, removed in Aug. along
with some liposuction to more evenly balance some thigh fat. On
top of that the surgeon replaced her lap band port with an
improved model. All this made it impossible to get up from flat to
sitting and also sitting to standing by herself hence, dad to the
rescue. I spent about 2 weeks with her in Long Beach helping her
out, including sun umbrella!
I seem to be hanging in OK apart from the daily handful of pills I
need to take. I have still been going in for hand therapy but the
next one will be the last as my great therapist is moving to
lovely Mississippi. I went back for a check with the hand surgeon
to see if I need any work on my other hand. It’s still a maybe,
but if I do, I probably will opt not to have surgery but go with
needle aponeurotomy or even an injection course which is now
available but may not be fully covered by Medicare. . I
“celebrated” my 73rd on the Oct 1st and Gary, Lisa et al were here
for a BBQ cookout which was very nice and definitely boozy. Rita’s
sister in Wales turned 80 earlier in the year and manages to stay
pretty fit. Found a nice set of deck furniture at season close out
prices so we can now sit outside upstairs on the nice evenings and
view the mountains and drink some wine. I got a wine fridge for my
Bday which I put upstairs so we didn’t have to keep coming down to
the kitchen for a refill. I did do my bit for anti-Apple as I
bought the Samsung Galaxy pad which I really love. Gary, as a
software developer, was recently given a beta model of the Windows
8 pad, made by Samsung. It’s a bit buggy currently but I think it
has huge potential if it doesn’t take too long to get to market.
Oh, I’m not totally anti Apple as I have an iPhone, the one just
before the 4s.
My ‘big puppy’ has had a bit of a rough year as he developed an
ear hematoma which caused buildup of fluid in the ear causing it
to swell and droop. He has had it drained three times in all,
packed and bandaged to compress it for 3 weeks altogether. The
hematoma finally went away but the ear has retained a droop which
it looks as if he will always have. Coming from Canada he still
gets a bit warm in the summer so I have to keep him thinned out
more often than in OR. Thank goodness Lexi always wants money and
likes to comb him out.
For Christmas Ian and Kari will be coming to stay with me as will
Lisa and Mel which I’m obviously looking forward to. After Xmas
Gary and family are going down to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to stay
a week with friends while Lisa and Mel head to Oregon to see
family. I think Gary has the better deal. This isn’t all bad as it
means I get some time to spend with Ian and Kari by themselves.
Had a bit of a shock when I went looking for photographs of
interest, as apart from the wedding it’s been a bit of a dry old
year which is definitely not like me, unless anyone wants 100 pics
of my dogs’ ear.
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A letter from Derek
Simpson |
Hallo
Webmaster.
I have lost count of the number of times I have visited your web
site, which I always find interesting, to explain why, I was
evacuated to Felmersham in 1940 from Eastbourne Sussex.
I have fond memories of the village and the life of the times back
then. My foster mother was Mrs Edna Betts of Victoria Cottage, a
lovely lady, who lost her husband in WW1, she had no children and
I think it was a wonderful thing she did in giving a very good
home to two brothers aged 11 and 6.
The village baker was I believe the brother in law to my foster
mother, and as you can see the village name was blacked out on the
side of the Vauxhall Van. I am the basket carrier.
I will be 82 next birthday, feel free to publish my e-mail
address.
deremar@xtra.co.nz
If I can give you any information regarding village life in those
wartime days please let me know.
Yours Sincerely
Derek Simpson
Napier. New Zealand |
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Derek attached the photograph
described and it will be published in "Bygone
Felmersham and Radwell, a pictorial view of the parish"
available in 2011. Also in the book will be a photograph
(by kind permission of Frank Summerlin) of the wedding of Edna and
John Betts and details of how John Betts died in the First World
War.
The evacuees that were given accommodation in Felmersham and
Radwell were boys from a school in Eastbourne. The head master
also came with them. |
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A Letter from Teresa
Miller |
Dear
Felmersham
I've
been here in the Cayman Islands for almost four years now. I
was home (Marriott's Close) in December 2009 to get the house
ready for new tenants - Leigh and Darren - and caught up with
friends and neighbours from the village then.
I
originally came out here to work on a short-term project but
got invited to stay and help another business to develop. This
business was completely new to me - International mega-yacht
insurance - not something you come across often in Felmersham!
So, I
had to learn very quickly and I am delighted that we are now
well |
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established and comfortable with our strategies. We have been
planning to do the same with an associate company in Florida
which means commuting between Grand Cayman and Miami - a
distance of around 500 miles, an hour's flight with lots of
extra time at airports! |
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The
Cayman Islands are actually three islands - Grand Cayman, Little
Cayman and Cayman Brac. The two smaller islands are about 80 miles
away from Grand Cayman and I'm ashamed to say that I've not yet
visited either.
Grand
Cayman is a mixture of international high end condos, hotels and
restaurants and traditional, easy going Caribbean living. There
are currently ex-pats of around 80 different nationalities here
doing a variety of jobs from
collecting the rubbish to top-level international banking - it's
an amazing
community.
I stay
in touch with Barbara Curry (Tithe Barn) and read the Grapevine on
line - sadly cannot read the Ouse News as it is always the wrong
way round
on my screen. I miss Felmersham terribly and look forward to
returning but
am not yet sure when. Meantime, Leigh and Darren, seem to be
enjoying their time in my house. It's too hot here for much
outdoor activity and, although I walk for an hour on the beach
here most days, I long for the opportunity to put some walking
boots on and tramp around the fields and footpaths around
Felmersham!
Teresa
Miller
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Mid Year News 2010 from
Dave Hope and family |
I
cannot believe a year has gone by since my last newsletter but it
has. Some fairly significant things have happened in that
timeframe. I travelled to Hawaii in late Nov/early Dec to see Ian
and Kari and celebrate the completion of his treatment and his new
job, still in construction management. The job is a major
renovation to one of the Kaiser hospitals near Honolulu. Christmas
was a fairly low key event centred at Gary’s house and followed by
me spending a week over the New Year house sitting Lisa’s little
dogs while she and Melanie went to Oregon. In March I finally
purchased a house just down the street from where Gary lives. The
move was fairly hectic as we had to move what I had at Gary’s
ourselves and get all the rest of household effects from storage.
Lisa took a week off from work to help organize the move which
spread over about 5 days. During the move we had to cope with the
anniversary of losing Rita which never gets easier and I think,
never will.
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Dave's new home |
As of
writing this all is unpacked and stored away except for Rita’s
collection of David Winter cottages which will have to wait until
I can get a local cabinet maker to build a display cabinet. It
should hopefully be done within the next couple of months. The
house was pretty much in move in condition so not much I had to
do, although I will probably change some paint colors….much too
much white for my taste. I had to buy a fridge and washer/dryer as
none existed. I got a Bosch fridge and Samsung washer and dryer. I
also got a cheap Sears fridge for the garage to use as a “beer”
fridge. I already had a large chest freezer from OR which is great
for bulk raw dog food storage. I have a 3 car size garage and only
one vehicle so have lots of storage/workshop space. The dishwasher
was the original at 11 years old and was doing a rotten job so I
bough the Bosch high end model which is great (only 40 db of
noise, super quiet) I would love to change the cook top from gas
to an electric unit but would have to run a 60 amp feed from the
breaker panel which is about as far away as it could be. Lots $$$$
unfortunately.
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Three
weeks after move in I had to go and have surgery performed on my
left hand for a hereditary condition know as Dupuytrens
Contracture which causes one or more fingers to bend down towards
the palm. My dad had it in both hands and was virtually crippled
by the time died. I had it in the end 3 fingers of my left hand
and to correct all three took just over 4 hours. Due to the way
scar tissue forms several incisions could not be stitched and had
to remain open until they healed on their own which they did
faster than I expected at my age I was in a hand “brace” full time
until all had healed but now only need it at night. I also have
some spring thingies to use when I can to pull the fingers back
plus a glove that pulls them the other way into a fist. Intense
therapy followed through April, May and June and I will continue
less intense therapy into Sept. I have a wonderful therapist who
makes the hand feel sooooo good after an hour’s torture.
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Dave and Lisa -
memorial weekend |
Ian and Kari visited us for the Memorial
holiday week and Lisa and Melanie were here for the weekend. We
alternated barbeques at my house and Gary’s so a good time was had
by all. Luckily the weather cooperated but overall so far this
year we have cool temps, more marine layers and more rain. In fact
it was so wet Lisa had her furnace flooded out twice (it’s in the
crawl space under her house.) That was the final straw for her and
she ordered a new heating/cooling system to be located in the
attic. I guess someone hit the switch a week ago and since then we
have had blistering heat requiring lots of AC to keep cool. Lisa
lucked out as she had her AC installed a few days before the heat
and hasn’t complained about the installation cost since.
The grandkids are doing well, both at school
and sports wise. Lexi is still playing softball and spends a lot
of time travelling. She recently had a week in Colorado and a
weekend in Fresno. Oh, did I mention she is breaking a few hearts
as well. Britain has finally settled on Water Polo as the sport he
likes which is good as he has always been a good swimmer in his
age group. As for the rest of us, Ian walks, Kari paddles in an
outrigger, Sue power walks, Gary swims 3 times a week, Lisa swims
some evenings and Melanie normally runs but has a knee playing up
at present. Me, I continue to walk daily with my dog and lift my
elbow later of course.
The Hope family wishes ya’ll a great summer,
Dave and Family, blacknit@cox.net |
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Mid Year News 2009 from
Dave Hope and family |
In the Xmas 2008 newsletter I mentioned the
family was all getting together for the holiday. We did, and had a
really nice time. Then January arrived and with it the devastating
news that Ian required immediate major surgery for what turned out
to be colon cancer. I flew out and spent time with him during his
post op recovery until he was ready to return to work. As of today
he continues to progress quite well and is just over his 9th chemo
session with 3 more remaining. Since Gary and Lisa were also
deemed at possible risk they had to get checked out. Luckily all
was well with both of them. Lisa and Melanie flew over to visit
Ian on June 19th so I house sat her little dogs and cat for the
week. Lisa’s lap band procedure has been a huge success and she
has now lost (censored) since Oct and she is looking great.
We all managed to get past the March 6th
“anniversary” somehow. Warwick and I took off for the coast and
just walked, looked at the ocean and watched the boats. We had a
picnic lunch on the outer harbour wall of Dana Point and walked
some more. I think it helped a little. Lisa took a bottle of wine
and went to the beach for the day and Gary tried to go surfing,
but work got him and he had to put it off for a couple of days.
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Lisa and Ian in
Hawaii 2009 |
Over Easter the Gkids were out for spring
break and Lexi had a pool party attended by lots of cute little
girls and a handful of pimply faced wanabe men. Gary and I got
some good chuckles from some of the antics. We had a fairly quiet
day on Easter Sunday. Lisa and Melanie came over and we all hung
out either in the pool or on the deck. Sue cooked a big ham so we
had a nice evening meal along with way too much wine. Lexi’s high
school (Tesoro) softball team won the level 3 state 2009
championship so she has her first award.
My pets are both doing well and Warwick had
a "non anaesthetic" teeth cleaning recently, which only went well
once I went in to help out. He wasn't aggressive at all, just
totally non cooperative and the dentist vet couldn't handle him as
he kept shuffling backwards and wouldn't open his mouth. Once I
was there he was pretty good considering it was his first time. |
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I recently was invited by a few ex Intel
folk to join Facebook, so I did. It’s a good way to see what old
friends are up to but the silly chit chat annoys me quite a bit. I
have been a member of the old Brit site, Friends Reunited for
years which is more about finding friends than social networking.
However I note it is slowly turning into another Facebook, which I
think is a shame. Over the years I have been able to contact quite
a few of the BTH/AEI, TI, Rugby College, Grammar school and
Primary school folks. The one site I use a lot is the Genes
Reunited site and is probably the best site of its type for
researching family history which I spend quite some time working
on.
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Finally, the OR house sold, but under a
rather complex deal which meant I got half the asking price up
front and I hold a three year mortgage for the remainder. After
the 3 years I will get the outstanding amount in full. Since the
house had been on the market for so long I decided it was the best
deal out there. (probably the only one) However, it makes it very
difficult to buy anything here without taking on a large mortgage,
even though I know I will be able to pay it off in 3 years. Lots
of thinking still to do.
I have also not been able to sell the RV, so
sometime around the end of July/early Aug Gary and I will go up to
OR to collect it and drive it down. I found a place about 3 miles
away where I can store it. Not much else going on at the moment
except I need to go to the pet store and pickup Warwick's weekly
case of frozen raw food that he loves so much and then swing by
the Brit store to pick up a few things we are out of. Touch wood,
we have seen no signs of the "piggy" flu around here so we hope it
stays that way. L.A. is the closest it has come. Once Ian finishes
his chemo course I plan to visit him for a celebration.
Best wishes to everyone who still remember
us.
Dave and Family
blacknit*cox.net (replace the * with @) |
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Message from Di and
Pete Stephenson, Laneast, Cornwall. April 2007
Dear Felmersham & Radwell Friends |
We have been in our new house four weeks now, most of our boxes are
unpacked and we are wondering why we have brought so much “stuff”
with us! We now need to find the Cornwall equivalent of Emmaus!
Our house is situated just off the A30 and 8
miles West of Launceston, convenient for a coffee break for those of
you travelling to this wonderful county! Advanced warning may
produce scones, jam & clotted cream! The house lies East/West and so
we get amazing sunrises and sunsets; needless to say, those of you
who know Pete very well, will appreciate he enjoys the sunsets
immensely! We have a bigger garden than the Felmersham patch with a
small veggie plot…. which is proving a challenge, along with mole
whom we share it with!
I have been to the local churches – we have a
shared parish , so only services in Laneast Church every other week
and as it is a much smaller village than Radwell the congregation is
proportionally reduced! The Church of St Sidewell and St Gulval is
very pretty and was restored in 1948. The whole parish apparently
comprises 2552 acres of land and 3 acres of water and the population
in 2001 was 164 plus loads of sheep, cattle & horses! |
Laneast Sunrise |
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We have managed a
short walk on some of the Inny Valley Trail part of which crosses
the field behind our house and have climbed Rough Tor twice – that is
the second highest hill in Cornwall – at 1312 feet. The area
recently featured in a Time Team investigation and is scattered with
remains of Neolithic dwellings and cairns. The views from the top
are spectacular.
One of the many highlights since we have been
here has been to collect free range farm eggs from a local farmer,
who always has a tale to tell any “incomer” who will listen. He is a
wonderful man with a lovely Cornish accent willing to leisurely
pass the time of day with tales of the local foxes and black
pheasants.
We do have Cornish Pixies at the bottom of our
garden but only visible to those who truly believe and on that note
I will “luv ’ee un leave ’ee…..
Di Stephenson
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Laneast Sunset |
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