Glad to see the board back online. So much has happened, where to start. Well lets see, Lesley went to Costa Rica Last July for two weeks and loved it. She also met her granddaughter Paris, in Paris France for a week. In Feb last year. We also did another river cruise on the Rhône river in France, then a week in Barcelona Spain with a overnight trip to Andorra, and then a flight to Munich Germany where we rented a car and toured the alps of Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. Then back to Munich for the flight home.

while in Italy we saw my old base Aviano, where I spent four years. We toured the Tuscany wine and olive region as well. In Switzerland we had some amazing experiences meeting people by accident that connected with my past travels there in the ‘70’s. We also saw the Alfa Romeo factory museum in Milan, something I have always wanted to see. in Germany Lesley and I dressed up in our German outfits and won first place in a costume contest at an Octoberfest celebration. 

Now onto this year. I just finished a week tour of car/airplane museums in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan with a friend of mine I talked into coming with me. Lesley and I are off to Scandinavia in August and will drive around Norway, Finland and Sweden for two weeks, then a flight to Paris where we will meet up with some friends for a week river cruise to the beaches of Normandy. I will see the US  beaches and Lesley is going to the AnZac British beaches. Then we are going to drive around the south of France and back to the Black Forest of Germany, then back to Paris by way of Luxembourg. Then Paris to home.

now the rest of the news. Lesley finally got to take her mum’s ashes back to New Zealand over the holidays. She stayed with our son there, but things are changing for him. Sadly he and his lady partner have decided to call it quits and the house is on the market. He has also decided to quit his job at the end of May. He, Les and I and the two granddaughters are all meeting in London for a week in April. Them I come home and Lesley goes on to Italy to see all the big cities we missed last fall. Our son will return to New Zealand for a few months and has been hired by a company he worked for at the Commonwealth games in Brisbane, Aus a few years ago. This time he will be doing the women’s world soccer championship in New Zealand. After a month of that he is going to Australia to visit old friends, then no plans. He finally has no responsibilities but to himself and is looking to continue to work jobs for this new company as needed around the world. We may well see him here in Tennessee sometimes. For those that wonder what he does, he sets up and manages the team that run the backup generators for large outdoor events.

now some medical news. I will be having hernia surgery after returning from London. I also battled a return of my colitis during our week in Barcelona and two weeks of travel afterwards. My fault, I got lazy and did not follow my diet, but worked thru it, all good now. Lesley will also be having some surgery on her jaw, something is amiss there. She is also having a device implanted so she will no longer need a CPAP every night.

i also have a few new hobbies. Many years ago I played pool on a table we had at the house I grew up in and also a few tables I have had over the years. We just bought one and Lesley and I both love it and play often. I still play the Dulcimer and have also started playing golf again, the first time since my stroke 17 years ago. I only play with two good friends and we play once every few weeks and play a very relaxed game with our own liberal rules. With all of these hobbies and travel I have not had much time to build models with my Erector and Meccanno sets but when all else fails, they will be there.

well enough for now, tea time (I think Lesley may have fresh scones to go with it)

P.S. while Lesley was in New Zealand I finally finished song in memory to a dear friend I lost two years ago. The video is on youtube. If you wish to see it and the one I did for Lesley’s mum just search for George Gradek on you tube. My four videos will pop up.