It's good to hear from you again, Shirley! What were you doing while you were away? Anything interesting?! Bron and I still live in Steventon, 12 miles south of Oxford. No change there! Most of the 'children' (what else can you call them even though all of them are now between 44 and 58?) are scattered round the country, but two of the girls, and two of the grands live in Wantage only 6 miles away. Which is nice. Do stay in touch! Howard > Hi everyone, Thank you for the welcome mat. My name is Shirley and I am actually an old Trivvie who joined when this list first started. I thought I would pop in and see how everyone was doing so a special hello to any of the original members, Howard it is > good to see you are still writing such interesting posts. > Anyway I was born in Lewisham, London in 1937, we were bombed out in the Blitz of September 1941 and moved to Shepton Mallet, Somerset. I think a recurring theme of village life is the freedom of our childhood, being able to roam through the countryside beats video games any day. We moved around a lot from age 8 to 16 when we ended up in Horley, Surrey.I worked in London and then married and had babies. In 1966 my husband remarked on one Sunday afternoon that there was a job in the paper in America. I said "why not write and apply" One small sentence that totally changed my life. In 1967 we came to America and I now live in Maryland on the East Coast about 80 miles from Washington and not far from Camp David. I return to England every other year and became interested in my family history about 10 years ago. My main interest besides my Grandchildren is my garden and this has been curtailed lately because of a wonky knee and other parts not working like they used to! !!! > !!!!!!!! I look after my Mother who is 96 and was born within the sound of Bow Bells. > I hope I can stay a while, and look forward to hearing life experiences!!! > Shirley who still feels like a Brit.

Thank you Howard, Hi Di Di, Valerie, Glennis. Not too much has happened since I was last on, I think it was after we moved to the new house and I was very busy making a new garden. I have to say at my age I quite like tranquil, excitement generally means a crisis of some kind. My youngest daughter got married last April and some very dear friends came over from London for the wedding. We were a houseful and it was wonderful, I missed them horribly when they left. Jennifer has since had a baby boy, and as she lives nearby I am able to spoil him as much as possible. The summer before last, 3 friends and I made a trip to UK. We spent a week outside Abergavenny, Wales in Peartree Cottage. It was just as beautiful as it sounds with roses around the door. We then travelled to your part Howard and stayed at Three Ways House Hotel, Mickleton, home of The Pudding Club. Have you ever been there? Needless to say we ate every pudding they offered 7 in all and I have a certificate to prove it!!! After that we moved to Chipping Campden for a week. Unfortunately I was only there for two nights, I became ill and spent 2 weeks in Cheltenham Hospital with pnumonia. My friends went home at the end of the week and I had to stay behind. I have to say that the Nurses in my ward were absolutely the best, so kind to me and everyone in their care. I was in a ward where many of the ladies had cervical cancer, it was very sad but helped me to keep my situation in perspective. Thank goodness we had travel insurance and they flew me home with a nurse all the way to my house. I have not done much genealogy lately, partly because I have hit some high brick walls and also taking care of my Mother is a fulltime job. I am glad to be able to visit you all, is Lizzie still on, I often think about you. Shirley ----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard Fuller" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 3:47 AM Subject: Re: [TRIVVIES] Welcome mat > It's good to hear from you again, Shirley! What were you doing while > you were away? Anything interesting?! > > Bron and I still live in Steventon, 12 miles south of Oxford. No > change there! Most of the 'children' (what else can you call them even > though all of them are now between 44 and 58?) are scattered round the > country, but two of the girls, and two of the grands live in Wantage > only 6 miles away. Which is nice. > > Do stay in touch! > > Howard > >