4th October

I felt rather proud to have been awarded "Father of the year" by 'She who must etc...' the other day...

It was only when I looked at her face that I realised, this accolade came with large dollops of sarcasm. It concerned a child, naturally. Junior daughter Ellie to be precise and her new school, Queen Anne's Caversham. To say that Ellie is boarding is not entirely accurate. She is flexi-boarding which seems to be a matter of running two abodes and getting parents to drive hundreds of miles every week. I am looking forward to a more permanent arrangement where Caversham features more prominently. That is not to say that I am not delighted to see Ellie on every occasion when she returns to the house, which is approximately every 48 hours but I am sure that my welcome will become the more generous the longer the period of separation. Of course it is remarks like this that will have earned me my award.

Nonetheless Ellie is getting along well. It is a big move to go from a local school to the secondary school and to be away from home.

Much has happened and I have been lax in the reporting of it.

We are about to close the Wexham Park Ventilator account and hand the remaining money to the hospital. They will have received £54,000 in total. Of course if you want to help us make this a round figure, like £55,000 then please divvy up now. It would be a shame for anyone who wanted to donate to miss the boat because we had closed the account.

There will be more.

Oh yes, anyone fancy sponsoring me for the OSTAR ? Just a thought.

Duncan