CHRISTMASS LETTER 2015

I retired (again) in January & I continued to be a member of St Margaret’s and to live in my little old flat, helping out whenever and wherever I was asked, mainly at the Cathedral & at St Margaret’s.

None of my vague plans for travel during 2015 worked out and I spent the whole year in Bloemfontein. I had hoped to be in Cape Town in January but Michael was in ICU for 6 weeks & I didn’t want to leave him. He’s OK now, but it was a near thing. I have no definite plans for 2016 but must get away from the Free State to somewhere warmer in the Winter. I nearly froze to death this last Winter.

As a complete contrast, when Winter suddenly ended, without any intervening Spring, Summer turned out to be the hottest & driest ever. The drought and heatwave is affecting most of the country. The farmers here in the Free State have not been able to plant anything, and cattle are dying, which means that we’ll be out of food in a few months. It can be imported but, with our currency at an all-time low, it’s going to cost a fortune.
I don’t mind how hot it gets during the day but it’s hard to sleep at night when it’s 30o C.. The El Nino phenomenon is blamed but we’ve had it before & never had things so bad. As well as a dodgy electricity supply we now have water restrictions with occasional cut-offs as the dams & reservoirs run dry.

If there’s one thing to be said in favour of the heat wave it’s that it’s too hot to do housework! -Any excuse will do!

I had to get yet another new computer - they don’t seem to last very long. I’m still learning how to make the bloody thing do what I want instead of what it wants.

I still go to Kimberley as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Society of the Precious Blood every March for our AGM. It’s always good to see the Sisters and my old home again.

I’m not getting any younger but my diabetes and heart are still under control and give me no trouble at all. The tinnitus continues to be an extremely annoying noise in the head and medical science continues to be clueless about it. I’m going to have to spend a lot of time at the dentist this year, which I’m not looking forward to.

Go to my Facebook page for all regular news & pictures. (www.facebook.com and then Vic Spencer).

I wish you all a very blessed Christmass season and a peaceful new year in 2016.