THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH

It’s now a fortnight since we left fair Bosham and came to our new little home. I spoke initially of trying to fit a quart into a pint pot. I was quite wrong – it is more like fitting a gallon into a pint pot. We are not quite as surrounded by boxes as we were , and Elizabeth has done a fantastic job of squeezing most of her kitchen stuff into every orifice we can find. One problem is that we have nowhere to hide the booze – by that I mean those lovely bottles you have given us from time to time!

The main reason for writing this is to express Elizabeth’s and my huge delight, shock, joy and pain of the wonderful ‘send-off’ you gave us on the 17th January. The really outstanding picture of Bosham, the lovely glass candle holder, and the quite unimaginably generous cheque have left us all the more conscious of the love we have received from you over the years. One of the most touching aspects have been the dozens of ‘Happy Retirement’ and ‘Welcome to your new Home’ cards that we have received.  The sad thing is that we have not been able to display them amidst all the boxes, but I have filed them and we look forward to perusing them at leisure once our feet have touched the ground.  We are so very moved at your loving messages. It means so much.

We have found Sundays quite difficult. On both occasions we went to Ann or Catherine’s churches. Although lovely to worship with the family, my goodness I did miss Bosham, and really felt quite homesick! Last Tuesday we went to the Eucharist at the Cathedral which was a very happy occasion. We received a very warm fraternal welcome from the ‘City Canon’ and feel that it may end up being our spiritual base. The advantage of it is that it is a 25 minute bus ride and five minute walk from our front door.

Needless to say we have had the usual dramas of moving in. As I write we are waiting for the plumber to come and fix a leaking loo, which will involve cutting through some tile work! The drama on moving in day was that our study bookcase couldn’t fit through the sitting room door. However, Catherine and Richard recommended their double glazing man to remove the front window and get it through that way. He came with his grandson and together they did it and moved the bookcase – at a very reasonable cost. There are one or two little electric anomalies, which we ought to sort out soon. I had a great deal of difficulty getting ‘on-line’ which involved all too many 0800 and 0845 phone numbers with their interminable waiting and incomprehensible results! In the end I discovered that I had bought a dud wi-fi modem! On that occasion the ‘helpline’ was just down the road in Portishead.

We think of you a great deal and always look forward to any news. 

Tom and Elizabeth