This year has been one of major decisions for both Miriam and Neill, while the rest of the family have been getting on with life for the most part.
Miriam finally bit the bullet and left her job in May. She is giving herself a year to establish new clinical work, particularly with young people. The first six weeks of her ‘sabbatical’ were spent in Aix, writing a paper on therapy with adolescents. Since returning to England, she has been doing more private work and adjusting to a gentler and kinder lifestyle. More time for art and long walks helps with the demands of the work. Currently she is working as an assistant tutor at Metanoia Institute where she trained, and is starting some supervision work for a youth service.
Neill has continued to enjoy life in Provence and work on the ITER international fusion project. So much so that when his secondment finally came to an end in the summer, he resigned from Culham and took a direct post with ITER, where he is now head of the Safety Group. It will keep him in the south of France for at least the next five years. After 26 years working for UKAEA, it was not an easy decision. However, we continue to thrive on this lifestyle. The rest of the family benefit too, and continue to have the chance to take a break in Aix en Provence whenever they like.
These changes have lead us to reconsider our long-term needs for a home in England, and as a result, the house is on the market. We are planning to downsize to something more rural with character. However, the market remains very sluggish, and interest has been hard to generate. Hopefully the spring will liven things up a bit, and that next year Miriam will be writing to you from a new home.
During Miriam’s extended stay in Provence we took a holiday, exploring other lovely parts of the area. Based for some of the time at Fontaine de Vaucluse to the north west of Aix, we immersed ourselves in the little towns, villages and hills in the locality.
Neill spent much of August in England, in transition between jobs, and we managed to achieve a lifetime ambition of seeing the Rolling Stones live. It’s 37 years since Neill narrowly missed seeing them at a club in Southall, and having made several abortive attempts to get tickets in various countries over the years, it was great to finally enjoy a spectacular evening. Even though the tickets did cost 400 times the price of the missed show in 1970.
We’ve also had the absolute delight of having our lovely granddaughter Amelie to stay with us a couple of times. She is bright and responsive, walked early and is beginning to say a few words. Parenthood and work go well together for Ben and Ali. Ben works from home most of the time and Ali has returned to part time work.
Rachael is enjoying living in her own flat, but has had a difficult year, with a combination of work stresses and the effects of a road accident just before last Christmas. She’s awaiting compensation, but that doesn’t cut it.
Katherine graduated in July and has continued onto a Master’s degree course in Environmental Policy and Regulation at LSE. She hopes to do a Doctorate and is currently seeking a supervisor for her thesis. A highlight of her year was receiving the award of honorary life membership of the LSE student union, in recognition of her "outstanding contribution to the student body". Her fiancé Chris also gave up a job in the summer, and has moved to London with her and started a university course himself. This is a happy and positive move for them both.
Photos
It was Kat's turn to wear a funny hat this year...
...and to discover le festival du vin in Aix.
Where's Amelie's nose?
Rachael pretends to enjoy the obligatory
boat trip round les Calanques...
...while Miriam really does enjoy the view
from the top of them.
Back in England to celebrate someone's birthday
(it was Kat's)
.