Diary 2001

November & December 2001

Well I have been a bit lax on keeping this up to date which is a good thing I guess since it means I am keeping busy. I do plan to complete this diary page for the complete year, over the Christmas break as I have a lot of pics to scan in - so do keep checking - there could be a picture of you!!
In the meantime Glenda and I wish all our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and health and prosperity for 2002.

jbm 21/12/01

cont .........

Well Christmas has gone and I have changed the front page to reflect our wish to all for a very happy and healthy 2002. As is always the problem with writing a diary, if you do not do it promptly the events slip from your immediate memory consequently I can not remember half of what happened in November and December .... perhaps it is just old age creeping on ... aaahhhhh!

The run up to Christmas was back to normal after last year with the usual task of smothering the outside of the house with fairy lights .... a habit developed while living in the USA. It was gratifying that some of the local kids said that they were pleased we were doing the lights again and made it worth trying to balance on the stepladder that wanted to bury itself in the soggy front lawn!

The 'kids' stayed over Christmas which was great although at times it was like the monkey house at Whipsnade Zoo.

Our plans for 2002 are 'loose' at the moment but include the possibility of entering the local gardens competition and giving the regular winners a sound thrashing ... including much attention to the hanging baskets .... no nonsense this year, they will be nurtured in the conservatory until the weather is just right. I am sure Glenda has a cunning plan so watch this space....

It looks likely that the band will play more regularly at local pubs - we have promised to turn the volume down in order to reduce the risk of the internal bleeding some patrons have suffered in the past. (I can't stand noisy pubs - unless, of course, I am the one making the noise!) A list of the dates and venues (other than private functions) will appear on the band's website (www.morse.uk.com/loosecovers). We are currently practising some less boisterous numbers although we frequently get requests such as ... can you play 'Up on the Roof' or 'In a Monastery Garden' .... there's one about 4 miles down the Gloucester Road!

A reunion of my old school is planned for July which I am looking forward to and plan to make this time. I missed the last one as I was working in the USA at the time.

I don't generally make new year resolutions as I rarely keep them but I will endeavour to keep this diary going and keep in touch with the host of friends - mainly via e-mail which I check every day. So, keep 'em coming .... I always reply ... eventually!

Very best wishes from us both
jbm - 1 Jan 2002

September & October 2001

Well it's another 2 months rolled into one - after all September was not a good month for levity and having a job does not allow the time for much. The job is still going and hopefully will continue to do so as long as the market holds up - so I've got everything crossed .. and yes .. it does make your eyes water!

There are signs of normality round here. For example there are sheep once again on the Malvern Hills. A whole flock of them held up the traffic on the way to Tewkesbury today. They were wandering all over the road - still, it's good for keeping the freezer topped up with lamb chops!

The Farjeon Close hanging basket competition fizzled out in the end. We declared ourselves the winners of the 'DIY' division but it was a hollow victory as the competition was pathetic. The diabolical weather in the spring was largely to blame. The poor little things were weather beaten by the time the 'summer' came along but the plants put on a gallant show despite the odds. However we are looking to the future and seriously considering entering the Britain in Bloom - Ledbury Courtyard Garden' division. This is serious stuff and serious honours are at stake! The winner may even get their picture in that august literary body 'The Ledbury Reporter' (which actually is the Ledbury edition of the Malvern Gazette) We are at the planning stage right now and I will keep you updated - it's all very exciting! - how sad can you get? ... answers on a postcard .. etc.

One recent bit of great news is the arrival of Jenna, born 17 Aug 2001 to Scott and Suzanne MacLaughlin of Brookfield, WI. Those of you that know them, I am sure, will want to join Glenda and I in offering our sincere congratulations. Jenna is a sweetie and pics are on the Friends & Relations page.

The band played at a private party in a hotel in Malvern during October which went off fine - better than our stint playing on a float in Ledbury carnival. We had only gone a few hundred yards and the generator packed up! - not good for electric guitars. We ended up playing in the archway entrance to the Talbot pub and clearing the wax out of the ears of the passers by. Luckily the weather was fine so it could have been worse. We are currently looking for new venues to play in and for practice - and we need it! The pub we used to use in Colwall has closed down - nothing to do with us you understand .... it relied on a lot of trade in the summer from a nearby caravan site and since the arrival of foot 'n mouth the tourists stayed away in their droves!

Last time I promised the 'unofficial' pictures from Matthew and Carly's wedding. Well, the fact is the pics are all over the place and I have yet to round them up and scan them in. Some may cause embarrassment to members of my family ... so ..... I will make a special effort to find them for next time!!

As for the rest of the tribe. Matthew and Carly are doing fine. Verity is now living in lodgings next door to them and working in MK at the Nat West bank. Phillip is still living in Docklands and is sharing a house with 2 girls! He seems to be doing fine in his job although we don't see too much of him these days as he is off gallivanting about. One reason might be that we have converted his bedroom into a study for Glenda and if he comes to stay he will have to sleep in the shed (only kidding - honest)

That's all folks!
jbm - 1 Nov 2001

July & August 2001

Loadsa news for the past 2 months! Although I am a trifle late - my excuse- the scanner packed up, and after much cussing and surgery on the computer I decided to purloin Phillip's scanner and later lashed out and bought a new one!

Firstly Matthew and Carly got married on the 14th July. The rain stopped at the last minute and the weather was fine. Everybody looked great, especially the bride. The bridesmaids behaved themselves, the reception went off much as planned and there were no fights! The happy couple went off to the Canary Islands for a week and have since returned in tact - apparently the canaries were delicious!

The official pictures can be viewed by clicking on the happy couple on the home page. I plan to have the unofficial ones on a page of their own by next time.

Glenda is recovering after doing much of the organising, and the work for the reception!! - all this on top of looking after me! - that's no easy feat. I video'd much of the proceedings however I think there is little risk of me being swamped with requests to make the next cinema epic!!

Phillip, who was the best man at Matthew's wedding, graduated from Aston University on the 18th July and Glenda and I were there to see it all happen. He looked great in his robes and mortarboard - perhaps he should have been a brickie! - there will be more pictures but the official 2 can be view by clicking on Phillip on the home page. He went off on a 4 week trip travelling across the USA. He sent us several e-mails from New York before he set off on the trek. One of the computers he used had a webcam on the top and he sent us the pic featured on his page. - ho ho ho!

As it is now 4th Sept I can tell you that he started his new job yesterday in London. He will be renting a house in Docklands - which, of course, is now very posh. He can not get a council place as he is not an illegal immigrant - but that's another story!!

Verity, who was a bridesmaid at the wedding, returned from Oz on the 10th July- well she would have to have done if she was at the wedding, wouldn't she! It appears that she had a whale of a time with numerous experiences including a bungee jump! .... and with the wonders of modern technology you can see (and hear) this by clicking on Verity's page and then clicking on Verity's bungee jump. (the file is over 700K so it takes a few minutes to fully download). She hopes to be starting a job with the Nat West bank in a few days

Well what busy little bees we all are! It had all been fun but it's back to reality now and time to recover. (physically and financially). My job is still going, however the company has just made a number of people redundant due to the downturn in the telecoms business - so please help by buying a new phone - or better still just send me the money! - Perhaps I will win the Lottery, but even that would have its problems - I mean, what about the begging letters? - I have decided that if I win the lottery ... I will carry on sending them!

Well I can see that standards a falling .... I have finished this off in a rush to get it out. The flow of jokes has slowed dramatically so that will be less of a feature in future and the editing will be more strict as I am getting a reputation for being uncouth ... and we can't have that can we? ... but if it gets a laugh and its not too vulgar - it will get through ...so send 'em along.

Best wishes - jbm - 4 Sept 2001

 

June 2001

Lots of big news this month. First of all I got a job with Arrow Electronics who are based in Bedford although ultimately I will look after South West England and South Wales so we will still be living here in Ledbury. For the last 3 weeks and for next week I will be based in Bedford going through the initiation ceremony. Rolling up my trouser leg and learning the funny handshake wasn't too bad but I drew the line at baring my breast and pointing it towards Mekka - or something like that! - Basically I will be flogging chips - the electronic variety, as opposed to the 'spud' variety, although the latter would be a lot easier. (and I would probably eat the samples!!)

Glenda's contract at the Library finishes in August but there may be other things happening - watch this space.

Matthew and Carly are in the final throws of organising their wedding set for the 14th July and .....

Verity arrives home from Australia next Tuesday (10th July) and .......

Phillip has gained a 2.1 honours degree in marketing after completing his final year at Aston University and is planning a 4 week holiday touring the USA to recover! - so .....

...... it's all been happening.

For those who are interested (yawn, yawn) - we are winning the DIY section of the 'Farjeon Close Hanging Basket' competition. As for the 'Cheats' section .. well it's a close run thing but next door - no. 4 - is looking good apart from the 'lions' - that's another story that will have to wait till another time. I will try to get some pictures organised for next time - I don't have a digital camera so I will have to wizz my film up to Tesco's over the next week or so.

We would all like to know what you are up to wouldn't we? .... I heard the crowd shout "YYYYYEEEEEESSSSS" ..... so please feel free to make entries in the visitor book, accessible from the link in the left hand frame.

Very best wishes to all

JBM - 8 July 2001

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May 2001

On the jokes front we have a few crackers this month, so thanks to all those who have contributed.

The only thing that happened in May was our holiday near the New Forest. We rented a cottage annex which was excellent. Right next to the little garden was a field containing several sheep and bouncy little spring lambs. They were very cute and came right up to the fence to greet us. The owners asked where we had come from and were really impressed when we told them we were from Herefordshire where foot and mouth disease is rife!!

I have spared you the holiday snaps this time but if the jokes stop coming in I will have to reconsider the situation.

We went to Salisbury cathedral which is spectacular. It took 28 years to build ...... I watched Barratt build the estate over the back of us ..... they would have had that cathedral up and running from a green field in 28 days! We saw the magna carta ..... it's a bit tatty ..... but I s'pose it would be after nearly 800 years of being poked and prodded!

You will have noticed that we are hotly contending the local "Hanging Basket" competition. This is not the usual kind of competition largely because nobody else knows about it! However this does not mean that we will declare ourselves the winner - oh no - we are scrupulously fair - we give credit where credit is due. It is true that the winner never knows they have won, well not officially anyway but I am sure they know in their own minds and are justly proud of their efforts.

We put up a good show last year but were trounced at the finish. However I do think there should be 2 classes of entry, one for those who grew their own and one for those who cheated (in my view) by going up the garden centre and buying one off the peg! I would put this proposal to the organising committee - if there was one.

In case you think I have gone completely mad (which I probably have) I will explain. Last year we put up 2 hanging baskets by the front door each with a modest display in them, which we lovingly created. Over the next 2 weeks brackets started appearing up the close each sporting a display of dangling flowers more lavish than the one that had appeared the day before. This continued until the final few were ablaze with blindingly brilliant blooms and were a size that can only be described as vulgar! .... So there you have it ... a challenge. I will keep you posted.

I had no entries at all for last month's competition, so I ate the prize - a Mars bar. I have scrapped this feature as clearly I am too mean to offer a prize worth any effort! - you had your chance and blew it! ... and what's more I'm not allowed Mars bars - they're not low fat!

Well all this intellectual chit chat is doing my head in so just to say that Glenda still working hard and getting our garden up and running after the lousy winter; Phillip finishes his finals on 8th June; Matthew and Carly are working hard on wedding preparations and Verity is somewhere between Darwin and Sydney ..... (That reminds me - did you hear about the Australian poofta that left Adelaide for Sydney) ....... time to go!!

Very best to all
jbm 3/6/01

April 2001

The big news this month is that Glenda got her picture in the local paper! We are braced for the deluge of fan mail! I am delighted to report that she has not let the fame go to her head. We were advised by the local constabulary that she should wear dark glasses and have a police escort while in the limelight but we decided to take a chance since Herefordshire's policeman is only in Ledbury on the first Monday in the month.

After that the activities of the rest of us pale into insignificance! I have been for a few interviews but still no offers. A few more are lined up for May so there's hope. We are off on a hol in May to a cottage on the edge of the New Forest so no doubt you will be blessed with a few holiday snaps next month - you lucky people! (the first person to tell me who's catch phrase that was will win a Mars Bar!)

I am doing some voluntary computer teaching and doing a part-time course to get a certificate to be able to do it for money. Probably as a fill in but it is quite fun and keeps me off the streets.

Phillip is still working for his finals at Aston, Matthew and Carly are still working on the arrangements for their wedding and Verity is somewhere in northern Australia and tells us it is very, very, hot!! Apparently it make Milwaukee in the summer feel like a fridge ... ouch!!

Well that's about it for this month and if I don't get this up on the server soon it will be next month - if you see what I mean. - Keep the jokes etc. coming ... remember you may grow older but refuse to grow up!

very best wishes to all
jbm 9 May 2001

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March 2001

Well as you can see the jokes page is off to a shaky start. I have had to do quite a bit of editing and a number were consigned to the bin in the interest of good taste, well reasonable taste anyway.

This month has been largely taken up with looking for a job interspersed with going on a business start up course and deciding whether to start up a business (if that makes sense!). I am toying with the idea of starting a PR company specialising in technical/industrial stuff. I have spoken to a couple of editors I know in the technical press who tell me that much of the stuff they get sent from supposedly reputable agencies is rubbish - and I am quite capable of writing rubbish so if you can't beat 'em .. join 'em - that's my theory. So the plan is to go for it and, in the meantime, if someone comes along and offers me £100K + jag before I get my first client, I'll have to think about it - won't I. Estimates of how long I would think about that ..... on a postcard to etc. etc.

For those who have kindly enquired after my health, I can honestly say I feel like a man of 25 but I do have to be careful who I say that to - it could be misinterpreted.

The band played at that prestigious international venue - The Oddfellows, Colwall - to a captivated audience. Yes you guessed it - we locked the doors so they couldn't get out till the end!

Glenda is still slaving away in Ledbury Library even though she has had a nasty cold and cough which incidentally I caught whilst on the training course and passed on to her. So now she can't say I never give her anything!

Matthew is still planning his and Carly's wedding and people are running around getting measured up for their dresses. I plan to look my best, I shall iron my 'Beatles Anthology' T-shirt and I might even wash my jeans for the occasion!

Phillip is still working for his final exams. Either he is working very hard or he is a good actor - either way we are banking on him making a fortune and keeping us in our old age.

Verity has now left Mornington, Australia where she has been staying with Wing Commander Bill Hallett (rtd) and family. (see friends and relations page) She and Simon are now headed west towards Perth. We heard from her this week end and all appears well and they are having fun.

Well that's about it for now. Do send along any jokes or other items that might entertain! Please use the e-mail links on the family page as my guestbook thing is not working since I moved this site to another server. (Guestbook is now fixed - 7/4/01)

Very best wishes to all
jbm 3/4/01

ps I have been inundated with requests to include a picture of my frozen water feature and it can now be found by clicking on the house on the home page and scrolling down - enjoy!

February 2001

The check up with the surgeon went great and they signed me off from the hospital in Birmingham. I have been going to the rehab classes at Hereford Hosp. and the last one is tomorrow. The quack has said that as far as he is concerned as soon as I feel OK he will sign me off and then I will be officially unemployed instead of sick. I feel great so the task now is to find a job - not easy when you are an old man like me. Anyway if anybody has any bright ideas please pass on my CV which is on the net at www.morse.uk.com/cv - you never know .... I have had one interview but I do not think it went well since they asked me if I had experienced any trouble finding a parking space for my zimmer frame!

The gig planned for the band (Loose Covers) in Feb did not come off because sadly the drummer's brother-in-law was killed in a car crash the day before so that has now been rescheduled for 10th March. - we'll get there in the end. Also we have a new PA so we can make even more noise! - the neighbours will be pleased!

Glenda is now well into her job at Ledbury Library where she is the big cheese in a small fridge! (I'm not saying that the books are old but most of the prices on them are in shillings) - actually it is not that bad - they do have a computer but the valves do get very hot! They are 'on-line' from this week so there is hope - an island of high-tech in a sea of antiquity.

Matthew's new toy is a fax machine and a dedicated line so I best get in a new box of paper ready for the onslaught of faxes we will now get.

Phillip has confirmed that he will be working for Cable and Wireless in London from September after graduating and and having a holiday (somewhere exotic no doubt)

Verity is still in Oz but moves from Sydney to Melbourne this week and will be attending the Oz Grand Prix. She will stay for at least some of the time will my friends Bill and Eileen in Mornington Bill's full title is Wing Commander Hallett (rtd) in honour of the days when we used to fly together (alright, alright .....I know they were only radio control models but it was fun - see Friends and Relations page for pic)

That's about it I think for this month - scintillating wasn't it?

Do email us we would love to hear from you. don't forget the visitors book on this site.

jbm - 28/2/01

January 2001

I have spent this month doing very little as I recover from the op. Things are progressing well and I hope to be back to some kind of normality during March. I have a check up with the surgeon in Birmingham on 1 Feb so things should be clearer after that. I started the rehab programme at Hereford hospital this month, It goes on for 6 weeks and involves 2 sessions per week of waving your arms and legs about in an ungainly manner but it is all good stuff really.

The band is back in the swing of things and we have a gig lined up for 17 Feb, so let's hope I make it this time!

Glenda applied for, and got, the job of running Ledbury Library. This means no more train rides on the ghost railway to Hereford (it turns up out of the blue when it thinks it will) and the little extra money will help keep me in the luxury I have become accustomed to! She starts the new job 1 Feb so it is all very exciting.

Phillip has been offered a position on a graduate scheme with Cable and Wireless and that looks like starting in Sept and he will spend much of his time in London.

Verity is still in Oz and working in HMV in Sydney. She plans to continue her walkabout sometime in March - well that's the current plan - I think.

Matthew and Carly are busy having 'fun' planning their wedding in July.

Well that's about as exciting as it gets here in Ledbury unless there's a while bunch of stuff that I have forgotten. If there is it will have to wait till next month.

jbm 31/1/01

 

Summary of 2000

The year started with great plans in place including a holiday in Barbados which would be a present to ourselves for our silver wedding anniversary and for putting up with all the disruption of moving during 1999. However I thought I was not getting the attention I deserved so in April I had a heart attack which put paid to the holiday and has dominated our lives ever since. Bypass surgery will correct my problems and get me back to work in A1 health but the NHS waiting list meant that the op would not take place until April 2002. However my condition worsened and after a few exciting, and bumpy, ambulance rides to Hereford, the NHS gave in and I had my op on 12 Dec in Birmingham.

Just when I thought things could not get any worse, in September I lost my job.

Glenda has had her share of hospitals during this year. After 2 1/2 years since diagnosis, in May she had her gall bladder removed complete with enough gall stones to pebbledash a small hotel. She has now fully recovered.

The news gets better from here … In October Glenda got a job at Hereford Library which she enjoys most of the time. Using the trains can be trying especially in the rain, which seems to have barely stopped since we moved to this area in September last year. While Glenda is at work and I am at home I am doing the house-husband thing which includes cooking and trying not to poison us both! She has had her hands full this year what with looking after me. If it wasn't for her prompt action I might not be here to tell the tale.

The kids … well they're not kids any more are they? They are all doing great things but all doing different things. Matthew who is now 23 lives in Milton Keynes with his fiancée Carly, has a new job servicing scientific equipment and they are both planning their wedding on 14 July in the coming year.

Phillip, now 21, is currently doing his final year for his degree at Aston University in Birmingham but works when he can, to help to pay the bills.

Verity now 19, is currently on a 1 year 'walkabout' in Australia with her boyfriend Simon. At this moment she is working in HMV Sydney but has done a number of things including planting 14,000 banana trees … like you do! In addition she is featured on our Christmas card this year. Glenda has undertaken the momentous task of sorting out the mountain of photographs we have accumulated over the past years and came across this picture. We narrowed the choice down to this one, or one of me in my swimming trunks. Did we make the right decision? Answers on a postcard to …..

We are optimistic and 2001 promises to be eventful, with Matthew and Carley's wedding, Phillip's graduation and Verity's homecoming. We would like to thank all those who have helped us and kept in touch during this past year. The Internet has meant that we keep in touch with more people than ever, from all over the world and long may that continue.

jbm