Jason had custody of Freddie & Pip for Boxing Day & had booked us into the glacial (atmosphere, not temperature) Copthorne Hotel in Salford from Xmas Eve. So Xmas Day was rather weird. After a tour round, we eventually found dinner-at-lunch in somewhere with a name like Hooligans. Boxing Day with the kids, was snowy but spent in Jason's hotel room. We had dinner with him that night at the rather posher Hotel Malmaison in the middle of Manchester.

However, Avis had to go into hospital before & after Xmas to have a melanoma removed. Ken had spotted this on her back & rushed her round to the doctors. The NHS can really move itself when it has to & Avis received exemplary treatment at the Middlesex Hospital. We had to delay our skiing trip because of this. We made several other trips to Manchester to see the kids.

Thanks to copious contributions from members, the Baldry Family History Society web site www.baldry.org.uk has both expanded & brought relations together. On the Delaforces, Ken picked up the clues in Patrick's book & has looked at the earlier ancestors. However, as it is before 1330, piecing together the clues is proving difficult & there is not much time available to devote to it because of all our other commitments.