It has been nearly two years since I have written something, shame on me as there is so much that I should have written. New home, new car, new interests and challenges.

To start with the home. In November 2023 we bought our new home in Castle Cary, it is a detached, comfortable home with a big garden. there was some work to be done before we moved in. At Christmas Jun’s mother was diagnosed with liver cancer, so the day after we moved in, wewere at Heathrow for her to return to Huizhou. We had asked Adie and the removals team to have one bedroom that was uncluttered, which they kindly did, but when I came back from the airport there was that realisation that only the downstairs toilet and the second bedroom were not full of things. Nearly two years on we still have one bedroom and the garage to sort. It was a long lonely time, Jun came home for a two week break, but flew back to be with her mother when she passed. It wasn’t until July that she came home and, of course, I had unpacked everything into the wrong spaces.

In the summer, Chenxi visited from China and again at Christmas, Jun’s sister and husband made a flying visit when they did Europe in November and we continued sorting rooms.

This year, 2025, we have started on the garden, there has been some work by professional removing trees and cutting the hedge. Sadly an ash tree had to go as it was rotten and a birch that was growing up through and inhibiting an oak. We now have a flourishing woodland patch with two oaks, two birch, two rowan, three field maples, an ash and a chestnut. I have planted two gingkos, three cherry, a replacement birch and a descendant of Issac Newton’s apple tree. In the autumn the last apple tree will arrive to complete the patch. The aim is to create a Chinese / Japanese garden at thge top, with a small hop garden and veg and herb plot. There are some roses and camelias already added, and work will continue in the autumn. The lawn is vast and I walk 1.7km each time I cut it. To the side of the house is ‘Jindi’ which will be a reminder of the village (gated community) where we live in Huizhou. It is a mix of bananas, palms and elephant ears.

The garden has a lot of residents, including badgers, foxes, moles and a large variety of birds. As I stated we are in our summer idyll.