Team Triplet

Our Times in Leicestershire

Shepshed Edition                                                                                                                               December 03

 

Home    See also 2003 Photo Review

 

 

Ceri gets plastered and goes to Summer Bay

In February Ceri broke her wrist at skool.  We took her to casualty at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, but do their total lack of A&E consultants (they had all resigned on Mass) she was plastered up, up to the elbow, and sent home, but recalled the next morning to be have a “Manipulation under Anaesthetic”.  We went back in at 9am and Ceri seem to be at the end of the list so she did not get done until late.  When she came out of the operating theatre her plaster had increased tin length to the shoulder.  She had an overnight stay was in the Summer Bay of ward 11, the children’s orthopaedic ward.  The night was very busy, Ceri slept through it, but the vacant bed next to Ceri had 2 occupants (at different times) and all elective surgery was cancelled the next day.  I was quite pleased when they discharged Ceri at 7am!

 

Smokey the Hamster

Smokey the Hamster bit Melisa three times when she came up from London at Easter.  Then in June, whilst she was doing her summersaults, Smokey fell off the top of her cage and broke her back.  Smokey is now pushing up daisies in the garden.

 

Bargain Day Trip to Germany.  I was tipped off by various people about a German Wings offer of flights for £2 each way, including taxes, from Stanstead to Köln.  So I took a day of work in March and had a wonderful day out riding the trams between Bonn and Köln..  The cold wet weather did not put me off. 

 

Digital Camera

Stephen went to Lisboa for work, in May, and lost his camera.  Before he realised that he left it on the plane, he scoured every nook and cranny: the car, suitcase and the skiddys.  After realising that he left it on the plane Stephen rushed straight to Jessop’s to buy a new camera.  Only so he could get pictures of trams and trains when we went to Orléans, Caen and Rouen

 

Ceri’s Phone Breaks

Ceri’s phone would not charge; so was it was taken in for repairs.  For two weeks, Ceri had to use another phone, a Siemens C45, which she could not cope with as the keys were too small.

 

Romway Close Bakery Employs Slave Labour

The bread maker gave up the ghost.  Since February, Stephen has been employing people to make his oversized cobs.  Ann, once a week makes these cobs for his work.  (Why doesn’t he do it himself?)

 

Wanted: Someone to make bread rolls

 

Outside Painting Finished by a Professional

Ann got so fed up of an un-tidy garage door; she hired someone to finish the job.  Ann said ‘at least it is finished now.  I wonder whether Stephen will notice?’

 

Ceri gets VIP treatment

Two days after getting plastered, Ceri was off on a skool trip to Paris.  They went on two coaches.  The one Ceri was in broke down on the “La Francilienne” the Paris equivalent to the M25.  Because of Ceri’s arm they allowed her and her friend Emma to transfer to the other coach to go straight to the hotel, whilst the others had to wait.  When they went to Eurodisney, they still had one coach so Ceri went on the first coach.  But by the end of the day the second coach was repaired, so Ceri’s lot had the extra hour at Eurodisney.  Whilst at Eurodisney Ceri went straight to the front of queues. 

 

Ticket to MN

Having worked for US companies for the last 25 years I have yet to get to the US.  I was due to go in January to St Paul, MN.  I had the ticket in my hand on the Friday a week before I was due to go.  The Project I was on got cancelled.  So I have yet to experience the mid west/Manitoban style winter of our Canadian relations.  In fact if I did go as planned, St Paul was having a winter heat wave – it was close to freezing rather then well below.

 

Ceri and Meli – almost twins

Even though there is 2 years between Ceri and her cousin Melisa with their genetic bloodlines they could be identical twins!  Melisa and Ceri are in fact genetic half sisters, or to put it another way, Melisa is my genetic daughter, this being due to Melisa’s father is my identical twin brother Philip.  Meli came to stay with us at Easter and came away with us in August.  During that time Melisa kept thinking I was her dad as we had the same mannerisms.  Ceri and Meli also have the same mannerisms and were complaining about the same things that their fathers do that embarrass them.

 

Ceri goes up and down hills like a bride’s *******

For our main holiday this year Ceri and I had two weeks in France.  One week looking around certain tram systems commented upon elsewhere.  The second week was at the Tandem Club International Rally in Moyaux in Normandie.  We were out on the Sunday ride when after the nth uphill bit Ceri pipes up from the back of the Tandem “Daddy these hills are going up and down likes a brides nightie”.  

Silence for 20 minutes and then Ceri asks “What does it mean going up and down like a brides nightie”. 

Daddy:  “ask your mother”.

We went to the tandem club summer rally based near Bakewell and Meli joined us.  Both girls did very well pushing me and others up the hills on the triplet.  Without Ceri’s pushing I wouldn’t off survived the two trips.

 

Stephen Misses Wedding anniversary to Photograph Trams

When the first tram ran for the first time in Nottingham; Stephen had to the photograph.  So on his wedding anniversary he sneaked out of the house at 6am to get the photographs  Some of these photographs were published, in the April 2003 on a top shelf magazine, Tramway and Urban Transit, including the full cover photo. 

 

Shepshed makes the weather news – twice!

This summer has been hot, but not a match for 76.  In France we had wet weather with sunny days the first week.  We drove from Picardie to Oréans in heavy rain including driving around the Boulevard Perithique.  The second week started with a very wet Saturday and as the week went on, it got hotter and drier, so by Friday it was too hot.  We went back on the Saturday and there were tremendous storms on the Sunday both in Normandie which caught many of our friends who stayed on, and in Shepshed we had 38mm of rain in 30 minutes.  Later on July when we cycled camped to Quorn, the Sunday recorded the Hottest part of the UK in Shepshed.  It was too hot!.

 

Weight loss

In line with 3M’s principles I have taken “Lives 3M values” to the extreme.  Six sigma is has become part of culture and I have incorporated six sigma tools in my campaign to loose some weight

 

Type of project: New Belt

Corporate Y: Growth

Project Y: To reduce body mass ratio from 29 to below 23

 

 

Ann’s bit

I thought I’d squeeze my self in here.

 

Hello, I’m still around and would like to say sorry to anyone in the family that we missed, Birthdays, anniversary, this year and in advance for 2004.  I have achieved a couple of things this year – learnt to send text and emails (I’m a late learner).  Things are going well with us and looking forward to 2004.

 

Market Bosworth Family Tandem Weekend 2004

We are holding our 4th and final family tandem weekend for the Tandem Club, Friday 2nd July to Sunday 4th July.  All are welcome.

 

Ceri gets the teenage fashion accessory

Ceri started her treatment for her teeth last December by wearing headgear to push her back teeth back to create a gap.  She was meant to wear it 100 hours per week.  However her mishap with her wrist in February meant she had to restart the treatment in April.  In order to catch up time she had a ”nudger brace” plus head gear.  This nudger looked like a massive insect, but it meant she could go to skool wearing a form of brace.  When the consultant said she would have to wear it Ceri’s eyes really lit up.  Her teeth had moved enough by August for a fixed Brace to be fitted in September, after having 2 teeth out.  The consultant also went soft and said she did not need to wear her headgear.  This time Ceri really beamed when she came out of hospital wearing it.  When she went for her December check up, her lip really dropped when the dentist said she need to wear the headgear again at night as the gap had closed slightly.

 

Ceri gets chatted up in Cean

The first week we had in France we had a few nights in Picardie for the Chem de fer da la Baie de Somme.  After that Ceri and I took the opportunity to visit the new tram systems in Orléans, Rouen and Caen.  Ceri was very keen to wander around the trams systems with me – it might be because of the excuse to didn’t have to push me on the tandem! Or an opportunity to window shop.  However whilst on the Caen system at one stop I was busy taken photos, only to find Ceri was being chatted up by a French lad.  Of the systems we visited Ceri liked the Orléan’s system best.

 

Ceri and dad goes to Kids Club

It has become a sort of tradition at the Tandem club rallies for a morning Kids Club to take place.  When in Normadie Ceri went along most mornings on pretence of helping some young friends.  In Derbyshire Meli threw herself into Kids Club as well and both girls were a little angels helping out.  Although both Ceri and Meli refused to help when I went along one morning and made “Mother” Ann a pasta necklace.

 

New Tent for Old

As Ann struggles a bit these days with getting up and down.  We decided to get another tent for car camping which had a bit more standing room.  We got it when we visited our friends in Oxford in July for a lightweight cycle camping weekend along the Thames.  The tent was not much heavier then taking our two small tents so we took it cycle camping.  At Derbyshire they had a bring and buy sale, so we took the old tent along to sell.  We pitched it the marquee so people could see what they were buying!.

 

Other Camping trips

We maintained our tradition of starting the camping season May Day weekend at Blaxhall in Suffolk, which maintained its tradition of being cold.  We have had three cycle camping weekends with our friends from Oxford.  The first being to our local hideaway site Quorn.  The other two we tried some very basic sites run by the Environment Agency on the Thames at Days and Rushey locks.

Our friends from Northampton organised a family camping weekend near Milton Keynes which at was at the start of the Leicestershire skool holidays so we used that as the start to a long weeks camping stay also in Hertford to see the in-laws and then onto Oxford.

Early August we just packed up the car one Friday and Ceri found a nice site the “Camping Municipal” at Nantwich.  Like most of the summer the Saturday was very hot which made visits to the local ice creams farms a pleasant break.

 

Two Weddings and a camera

Our neighbours eldest daughter, Emma got married in July and sister Joy married Mike Strange and became a “Strange” woman as a consequence!   At both I was annoying brides and guests alike taking lots of photos.  Emma was so impressed with the CD I produced her mum had them all printed off – all 220 odd!

In addition to most of the family getting together for Joys wedding we managed to see most of each other again at Heather's our niece’s new house warming.

 

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