A Happy Christmas

Our younger son Ben is married to a lovely young lady called Claire and this year Claire's parents, Monica and David, invited us to spend Christmas with them at their home in North Devon. Also present were our grandchildren Thomas and Sophie and Claire's grandmother, who lives nearby, so there were four generations. After all the presents were opened on Christmas Day (and there were a lot!) we settled down to a splendid Christmas feast which included a large and delicious Christmas pudding made by Monica. Then we played games, including Monopoly using "credit cards" instead of bank notes. On Boxing Day morning we all went a long walk along the rugged Devon coastline, then it was time for more games, family fun and food. We had a great time - thankyou Monica and David for inviting us.

Mercy Ship in Tenerife

Many thanks for your thoughts and prayers as the Mercy Ship, MV Africa Mercy, recently sailed from the Republic of Benin, West Africa to the safe haven of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The ship encountered none of the pirates now operating off West Africa and had only three days of rough weather. Our elder son, Olly, his wife Sally and their three children live on the Africa Mercy - if you want to see what they are doing in Tenerife log on to www.peetfamily.org.uk

Nativity scene

Last Saturday saw the unveiling of a nativity scene which I have carved out of a large block of stone over the last year or so. About six weeks ago I built the finished scene into the wall at the bottom of our drive and concealed it behind a wooden notice board I made specially to fit the stone. Now the notice board is off and people are invited to see the nativity scene and make a donation to the charity CRISIS if they wish. At night its lit by three small battery lights and a candle but its not easy to get a good photo at night! The notice board will go back on again after 12th night.

Pirates

On Monday next, 8 December, the biggest charity hospital ship in the world, "The Africa Mercy", sails out of the Port of Cotonou in the Republic of Benin, West Africa. For the last 10 months the 400 strong crew of unpaid volunteers have been bringing hope and healing and free health care to the people of Benin, a country with few doctors, dentists or hospitals. Our son Olly, his wife Sally and their three children, Noah, Anna and Libby are among the crew. Unfortunately pirates are now operating off the coast of Benin and two weeks ago the Ukrainian engineer of an oil tanker was shot dead and another crew member injured in a failed piracy attack just 14 miles from Cotonou. Please pray that the Africa Mercy and all her crew pass safely through the West African seas. Photos show part of the Africa Mercy and our family in a traditional West African canoe.

If you would like to know more about the work of the charity "Mercy Ships" log on to http://www.mercyships..org.uk/

First frost of the winter

Today, 1 December, we woke up to the first frost of the winter. The thatched roof was frosted, the pond frozen over and the summer plants damaged beyond revival. But the frost did not hurt our winter flowering jasmine, with its lovely little yellow flowers. Frosty weather makes a pleasant change after the wind and rain of the last two weeks - some parts of the UK recorded their highest ever rainfall and several bridges were swept away by floodwater.

A Hard Day's Night

Last weekend our friends Cappie and Jennie from Portland came to stay with us. Despite the wet weather we had a great time, especially on the Saturday night when we got dressed up to attend a 60s evening at the Village Hall. Entitled "A Hard Day's Night" this splendid event included songs from the 1960s, dancing, a quiz, raffle, bar, supper and a competitive sing-a-long which our table won (prize - a bottle of wine). It was great fun and the photos say it all.

Stonecarving

The nativity scene that I started to carve last winter from a block of stone weighing 16 stones (bottom photo) is now finished. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photograph of the finished job before covering it with wooden boards and building it into the wall at the bottom of our drive. The boards will come of at Christmas, the nativity scene will be lit up and I will invite people to make donations for CRISIS, the charity whose aim is to end homelessness. My next stone carving will be a stone "rose" window, measuring 25 inches square. I spent two hours last week levelling the surface and there is still more to do (see top photo).

Pumpkin Olympics photos taken by Ben Peet

Silk scarves

After our family left last week we found several of Jenny's silk scarves in Sophie's bedroom. Like most girls who stay at out house Sophie likes dressing up in these scarves and they reminded us of our lovely great-nieces, Zoe and Gina. They and their parents, Susan and Paul, stayed with us on their way home from the Isle of Wight in August and we had a great time with them, especially playing croquet on the village croquet lawn. Here are photos of Sophie and Gina dressing up, and of Susan and Paul not dressing up!

Pumpkin Olympics

Sorry, but I'm having problems publishing the photos of the Pumpkin Olympics (see previous blog). I will have to take technical advice. Meanwhile here is a photo of Thomas's Olympic games presentation ceremony - you can just see Sophie behind her unusual trophy for third place - we couldn't find any bronze so Thomas said that copper was the nearest thing - bright lad!

Pumpkin Olympics

It was half term last week and Ben, Claire, Thomas and Sophie came to stay with us for a few days. We had the usual fun and games - this time Thomas's ever popular mini Olympics consisted entirely of running and throwing events on the Millennium Green in the village. After that he still had the energy to take his Dad and Granny on a five mile cross country walk into Sherborne, although they had to telephone for a lift back! On the last afternoon we went to the Pumpkin Olympics at Ansty Pick Your Own farm, five miles east of Shaftesbury on the A30. Here there were 20 games or competitions involving pumpkins or marrows in one way or another and we all had a go. Great fun.

Three cheers for Royal Mail and Blue Cine Tech

There was consternation in our house on Sunday afternoon when Jenny turned on her projector and the bulb blew. She was booked to do illustrated talks on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, we had no spare bulb and our substitute projector is very old with an inferior bulb of a different size, voltage and wattage. Where could we find a new bulb at 4pm on a Sunday? A few minutes on the internet provided the answer. Several sellers on ebay were offering bulbs of the type we needed at a "buy it now" price of £2.09 each plus postage. We ordered three from a London firm, they were dispatched on Monday and delivered by our postie on Tuesday, despite the postal strike. Problem over. Well done the Post Office and bulb supplier Blue Cine tech. If you would like to know more about our talks log on to www.peet-talks.co.uk.

Umdumo WeSizwe

Last night Umdomo WeSizwe, a singing and dancing group from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe entertained a capacity audience of 120 in our tiny village hall as part of their three month tour of the UK. The group of nine young men thrilled us with their deep musical voices as they sang songs of love, happiness and rejection mainly in their own language (not Shona - the other one which I can't pronounce or spell) but with two songs in English. They danced whilst they sang and between numbers there was humorous dialogue and interplay with the audience. The group brought no musical instruments, no sound systems or lights - it was just them, their manager and driver, making a total of 11 to be put up for the night. We took two of them and the other 9 went to various houses round the village. The photo shows our overnight guests leaving our house for their gig in North Somerset tonight. What hardworking young men they are.

More animal shots

Oops, forgot to attach some shots last time.

Longleat Safari Park

Last Friday we visited the Safari Park at Longleat in Wiltshire. Hundreds of animals strolled around our car in the bright Autumn sunshine - camels, giraffes, llamas, ostriches, lions, tigers, wolves, kudus, antelopes, white rhino, cattle of all kinds, vultures, flamingos, herons, guinea fowls, wallabies and much more. A male lion settled down for a rest right by our car, a group of bactrian camels sat ruminating in a lump of humps and bumps and two dromedary camels caused a traffic jam. Great fun and a lovely day out.

The Rain in Spain

We've just returned from a week in Spain, staying with friends in their house in the hills 60 miles north east of Granada. We expected endless sunshine but the weather had apparently not heard that "the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plains". Four out of the seven days were wet and at times the views were obscured by clouds and mist. But it did not stop us swimming in the pool, walking in the hills and visiting the lovely Negratin lake. From the pool terrace we could see the nearby Jabalcon mountain - no its not a volcano, that's just clouds disappearing as the sun came out. Altogether it was a relaxing and enjoyable break.

Family get-togeher in Glastonbury.

Last Friday we spent the day with my brother Alec, his wife Jenny (yes, two Jenny Peets in the same family), their daughter and son in law and their lovely little daughter. They were holidaying on the north Somerset coast and had never been to Glastonbury, so we decided to meet up there. We had not seen them for over a year and had a great time catching up with each other's news and doing the tourist trail. Tradition has it that Joseph of Arimathea, the uncle of the Virgin Mary, came to England several times to buy Cornish tin and Somerset copper. On one occasion he brought Jesus with him and together they established a small church in Glastonbury and planted a thorn tree, a descendant of which is still growing today. Ever since then Glastonbury has been a place of religious pilgrimage and mystical significance - its even reputed to be King Arthur's "Isle of Avalon". We visited the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey and saw the thorn tree, looked in the windows of the many shops selling mystical artefacts and books, visited the Museum of Rural Life and climbed Glastonbury Tor (or hill) where we had our photo taken trying to shelter from the wind by the old church tower. Before the Somerset levels were drained to create farmland they were flooded for much of the year and The Tor and surrounding highpoints stood out as islands in the water - no wonder people thought they were magical.

Southampton Boat Show

We spent all last Sunday "volunteering" for the international charity, Mercy Ships, at the Southampton Boat Show. This show, one of the biggest in the world, attracts tens of thousands of visitors to see the thousands of boats on display and the acres of stands selling everything a sailor might need. The cheapest boat we saw was a £500 kayak, the most expensive a huge sailing yacht costing £2.7 million. We were on the Mercy Ships stand, encouraging people to volunteer to serve on the hospital ship, Africa Mercy, which offers free medical aid to the poor of the world. Primarily we were looking for people with sea-going skills and qualifications to volunteer but we also interested doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers, teachers and gap year students. We believe that some of the seeds which we sowed in people's minds will bear fruit one day. If you would like to know more about volunteering on the Africa Mercy log on to mercyships.org.uk

Romsey, Hampshire

Last weekend we spent two nights in a superb bed and breakfast place near Romsey in Hampshire. We spent all day Saturday exploring Romsey and all day Sunday at the Southampton Boat Show (see next blog). Romsey is a charming small town with an ancient abbey, lots of charming houses from many different periods of history, a street market, an excellent museum and very friendly people. It stands on the River Test, one of the best trout fishing rivers in England. The photo shows Jenny enjoying the sunshine on a bridge over the Test and one of the river's trout trying to hide from the sunshine!

Our great niece, Melissa.

When we were up in Yorkshire last week we had lunch with our niece Tina, her daughter Melissa and my sister Joan. It was the first time we had met Melissa, who was one year old last Saturday. She is a lovely little girl and it was lovely to see her with her Mum and Granny. Photo shows Melissa and her proud Mum, Tina.

Giant vegetables

Recently we went to the South West Gardening Show at the Bath and West Showground near Shepton Mallet in Somerset. It wasn't as atmospheric as our tiny village show but we saw some of the biggest vegetables we have ever seen (see previous blog).

Giant vegetables

Recently we went to the South West Gardening Show at the huge Bath and West Showground, near Shepton Mallet in Somerset. The Show draws exhibitors and competitors from all over the country. Perhaps because it was a cold windy day the atmosphere was not as jolly as it was at our tiny Village Show but we saw some of the biggest pumpkins, cabbages, carrots and parsnips we have ever seen. The photos say it all.