Christmas with family

 It is wet in Derbyshire.  Happily the warmth of our family more than makes up for the rain and gloom.  Our first trip outside France for two years has been a success so far.  In this Covid chaos that is far from certain.  Elvire and Edmond the dogs are well cared for during our absence in the kennels we know and love nearby - the owners are professional breeders of hunting dogs  and know how to treat animals.

This blog is again in the format people are used to, although the content would be the same if I sent it in an email.  This way though the photos can be put alongside the text.  There is a little repetition of the email I sent before Christmas but this is a different slant just as the year finishes,

Before we set out from France there were formal things to go through.  We were well ahead with out 3 vaccine shots, but the forms and timing of following the regulations needed careful attention.  One thing I realised early, since France and England have different requirements, is that you should always follow official advice for the country you are travelling to.  Lots of Anglophone people in our area get dodgy information from their French pharmacist about the rules for travelling to England.  Then, several things cannot be done until 48 hours, sometimes 24 hours, before the moment you get on the train or board the ferry.  But having taken our virus tests, booked the one we needed just after arrival in England, and filled in the tracker form the UK Govt needs, we set out to drive to Calais and the tunnel.

Misty Wirksworth

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tunnel terminal was nearly deserted, and the people at the border checks were not really worried about the pile of  Covid and immigration documents we had slaved so hard over.  So after a trouble-free journey and some carol singing in Walton we drove north to a fortnight shared between sons Jeff and Sam and their lovely families.

 

As we approach the end of 2021, among all the festivities several of our plans this week have been disrupted by Covid, and although we ourselves are still well an unexpectedly closed restaurant kitchen and a cancelled evening with friends in Wirksworth have reminded us (if we needed it) that learning to live with the virus is  still tricky.  After new year, when we'll move back to Jeff's, we have to complete the formalities for our trip home, and although French regulations are different in detail, we need to be sure we have all the checks and paperwork in place. But before all that we shall need to look behind us as we go to the panto  Beauty and the Beast  at the New Vic, Stoke, Fi's place of work.  We are very proud of her as always.

And there are serious things afoot in the wider world. We have mourned the death of some of our own friends in the past year, and I have been moved this week by that of Desmond Tutu, whose life and striving for peace and reconciliation led him to confront injustice again and again.  I've chosen pictures and one of many, many articles I've seen to honour his memory.  A great and unique man. I've also found a tragic story of a refugee family to mark one of the great injustices of our time, the death of people in inadequate boats at sea as they try to reach a safer place - a preventable horror. 

There are so many difficulties around us, and yet we - Mary and I and our lovely family - have mercifully survived to enjoy a great festive time together.  This is to wish you all a peaceful and positive new year 2022 from us all.  No snow here yet - we just hope it keeps away from the roads we shall be driving back on next week.