November update

The hot news from Arbor Court is that we have re-booked flights to USA next year. We had to cancel our September trip this year and were in danger of losing some of our air miles and a companion voucher whose expiry date was extended - but only to July. So we thought, why not book something in the hope that the outlook may be a little better come the spring? The news this week of a potential vaccine coming along underlined this. Anyway, we felt we had nothing to lose - if matters haven't improved by then, we just cancel again - we would be in no worse a position than if we did nothing now as we stand to lose the substantial benefit of the companion voucher. So it's San Francisco on April Fool's Day hopefully. We've also re-booked a week at the Marriott resort in Phoenix that we were due to go to in September. Fingers crossed. Other than that, it's just been business as usual here - the weather's been surprisingly good for the time of year so occasional walks and cycles are still possible. Jo and I went out on Monday afternoon, starting off on the forest tracks at the back of Burnett Park, then along the old abandoned railway line up to Brathens - it was so tranquil in there and we never saw any other walkers in our 2 hour, 11 kms hike. We did come across a small old building - a tiny former home, complete with chimney, next to the railway line. I'd never noticed it before on my cycles up there, but Jo spotted it:

The second photo is a particularly peaceful pastoral scene, we thought. Meanwhile, across the pond, on the west coast, Cade seems to be recovering pretty well from his recent medical traumas:

3,000 miles away on the east coast, little Avery is growing up fast:

On the eve of Aunt Nancy's 95th birthday last Thursday, Dawn, Barry, Helen, Jo and I were joined on our weekly Zoom call by cousins Sheila and Lesley - and their Mum, of course:

Nancy, although physically restricted nowadays, is still incredibly bright and alert. She's our oldest surviving relative (I'm next!) and has outlived her peers - many of them by decades.