Taylor family news and photos 2011

2011 has been mostly very settled for us, which is what we needed after having been so reactive last year. Our family haven’t had it quite so easy, with big changes for each of them, but as we write, their lives are calming down considerably.

It has been very gratifying to see all of our children beginning to realise their potential this year, both personally and professionally. Ben and Ali seem very content with their young daughters, Amelie and Ophelia, who are thriving. Ben has had a series of promotions and is now managing a sizeable team; amazingly he still finds time for his allotment and photography. Rachael is now in Sheffield doing a Masters degree, having excelled herself in her (second) undergraduate course. She has fitted in well, seems peaceful and confident, and is now applying for PhD study. Katherine and Steve have made a good start to their married life, and Katherine is managing the pressures of mainstream politics in London (and, er, Mongolia!). Steve’s new job in St Albans, which he starts in December, will bring an end to their long daily commute from Ipswich.

We did have one very difficult time in July, when Neill’s mother Jeanne became seriously ill quite suddenly. Miriam was on holiday in France with Neill, and Rachael and Katherine stepped up to be with their grandmother while we made hasty arrangements to fly back to Britain. It is astonishing, and a great relief, that the old lady has pulled through, when for a while it seemed she was not going to. However, she has not fully returned to her previous health, and there are new limitations on her lifestyle. But she remains bright, dotes on her great-grandchildren, and has a good quality of life, which isn’t bad at nearly 87.

We continue to spend our lives juggling work, distance and family, but it all works pretty smoothly. We have loved having both Amelie and Ophelia to stay with us; we do have some really good times with all our family. Neill’s work at ITER has continued to be challenging, and at the same time rewarding as the project progresses. For Miriam little has changed work-wise, but continues to find it all very fascinating and stimulating.

You may wonder how we make this complicated lifestyle work, as we enter our seventh year of working in different countries. Being together remains a special occasion, and we make the most of the time we have, exploring new places and music of one sort or another featuring among our activities, or just enjoying life in Provence. Let us tell you a story by way of an example.

Just outside Aix-en-Provence there is a rather lovely mountain, Sainte Victoire, which rises out of the Provencal countryside to a height of about 1000 metres. It has a long ridge rather than a peak, and it catches the light beautifully. It was much painted by Cezanne, and Picasso too fell in love with it, buying a château and land in the foothill village of Vauvenargues, where he is buried. "I have bought Cezanne’s mountain", he is said to have boasted. Neill and Miriam have on a number of occasions driven out to the forests on the northern side of the mountain, with a simple picnic of produce from the Aix markets, and a bottle of crisp local rosé. Having eaten, we sweep the breadcrumbs onto the ground. Within a matter of minutes we are transfixed as an army of ants organise themselves into a procession carrying our crumbs into their nests. The larger pieces are carried by several ants together, and they have sometimes to nibble them down to fit into their holes. We can happily while away an hour with this simple entertainment in a somewhat meditative state, before perhaps going for a walk or moving on to a picturesque nearby domaine to replenish the wine supplies…. Complicated lifestyle? In some ways, yes, but we find the simple things of life keep it all in balance.