2008 Newsletter

The Teenager

Having well and truly outgrown middle school it was with great relief that Emma finally went up to Wadham at the end of the summer vacation.

Orchestra and Choir remain on the musical menu, and membership of the Wadham Flute Group is now official. Flute lessons continue and progress has been such that a major whip round was needed to finance a new flute. Two visits to Packers of Taunton and Emma is now the proud owner of a shiny Azumi flute (with an Altus head).

When not fluting there is the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award which also involves playing hockey once a week at Chard Hockey Club. Yes, the taxi service is in greater demand than ever!

There have been two trips to Oxford this year. On the first Emma was very impressed to meet George McGavin at the Natural History Museum. In November we were back for an open day at the headquarters of Earthwatch. Emma is now fund raising to go on one of their expeditions to conserve Cheetahs in Namibia. All donations gratefully received!

Rachel

continues to be the mainstay of Ilminster Town Council and has firmly established herself as the office sport supremo!
In tandem with Emma changing schools Rachel has also transferred her School Governorship from middle to big school.

Upholstery. A number of projects have progressed this year. One even reached completion and has been reunited with its long lost owner in Radcliffe on Trent.

Gardening News
A couple of (costly) visits to Desert to Jungle nursery have fuelled a plan to give the back garden a tropical theme. Two Bamboo plants, a Banana tree, and a couple of Cannas are currently itching to break out of their pots.
The allotment has been a bit more productive this year although the endlessly wet conditions meant potato blight was all but unavoidable.
Not content with an allotment we have answered a plea from Tim, a near neighbour, to mow his lawns in exchange for free use of his veg plot and apple trees. The latter have been quite productive this autumn so there has been much scouring of the cookery books for apple related recipes. Anyone for apple chutney?

Phil
Walking. The plan to walk St Cuthbert’s way came to fruition at Easter. Later in the year we went for a short walk based on Budleigh Salterton. Here we met a couple who regaled us with the tale of how they walked the 80 miles of the Coleridge Way to mark their 80th birthday and to raise money for charity. And I thought I had done well to manage just over 60 miles!

Ringing. Not a huge amount to report here. There has been a revival of Sunday ringing at Ilminster although there is a way to go before the town will be treated to the sound of all eight bells.

Bathroom with a View

Earlier in the year we cashed in our Nectar points and took Emma and her friend Bryony to the Roman Baths in Bath.

There is a surprising amount to see and it is a curious experience walking around with everyone listening to audio commentaries through wands held to their ear. Other trips this year included a visit to Salisbury by train on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year. It was quite something to see one of the few copies of the Magna Carta on display in the Cathedral.