Prior to our expedition to the family reunion we welcomed Pen’s folks, Beryl and Oz, into the spare bedrooms at Penelope’s Playchute Palace as their cottage in the village was flooded during the great floods which inundated the UK in July. A normally tiny and sedate brook at the bottom of their garden became a raging torrent in a matter of moments and covered the kitchen and dining room to a depth of about 18 inches. They left for Australia on 1 November with their house still in the process of drying out. Hopefully, Pen’s brother Jeremy can get it more or less habitable by the time they return in May.

A couple of months back in the UK and it was time for another escape, this time to the Languedoc and a wonderful visit with Joe Jefferies and his delightful girlfriend Amandine. Interspersed with the cycling you will be relieved to know there were outings to numerous fine restaurants in the vicinity (including a lunch with a mountain of shellfish for Greg) as well as a glorious afternoon sampling the wine of the region. More elasticated trousers, please.

Penny and Sally continue to flood the world with colourful playchutes bringing joy and delighted excitement to countless children (and adults) all over the globe while at the same time managing to keep one step ahead of their creditors. Greg continues to find employment an increasingly depressing proposition but fortunately manages to do very little of any consequence and Molly continues to put up with the increasingly frequent occasions when she is deserted and left to fend for herself.

The boys continue to amuse themselves: Ben and Donna are still enjoying the southern California sunshine while working for an internet start-up and Investors’ Business Daily respectively, Nick and Lucy live in Leamington and haven’t quite worked out why they are the ones who ended up in such close proximity and Adam and Sugar are still in Changsha in the People’s Republic, Adam continuing to teach his primary aged pupils to speak English with a proper BBC accent. The most recent piece of significant news is that Nick and Lucy have decided to get married; while we are delighted to be acquiring another perfect daughter-in-law, I’m not sure Lucy’s Dad has quite come to terms with his acquisition in the deal.
And so, as you can see, 2007 has been unreasonably kind to us. Pen is continually improving The Playchute Palace and there is always plenty of room so let us know when you’re coming to visit and we’ll ensure that we’re out of town.

http://www.stragnell.com
greg@stragnell.com

Love to you all

23 Banbury Road
Byfield, Northants. NN11 6XJ
[+44] (0)1327-263743

http://www.playchutes.com
penny@playchutes.com

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