The Xmas letter archive on Nick Craig-Wood's home page

Xmas 2025

Nick Craig-Wood — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 UTC

2025 has been a year of courses, A-levels and a building project.

Highlights include: a cookery course for Loveday and Nick at River Cottage; skiing in Kitzbühel; hosting Britney from Nanjing; a (baffling to some) visit to the Minecraft experience for Dougal’s 18th birthday; a party to celebrate the end of school; a fantastic family holiday in Sardinia with Loveday’s siblings scattered around Porto Rafael in seaside villas; a holiday with uni friends in Cornwall; the start of the renovations at The Mill and a crochet holiday in Morocco for Loveday.

Amy is doing well at her work at The Land App when she can spare time between holidays and van adventures with her boyfriend Sam and Oggy (her dog). She bravely drove her van to Sardinia stopping off for climbing in Fontainebleau with Doug.

Ed is still working with Nick. He and Phoebe (who is making an appearance in the card for the first time) have just celebrated 5 years together. They moved out of Guildford in the summer into their own flat in London, even taking most of their stuff with them.

Issy finished her degree – hooray! As Ed moved out of the flat above the garage, Issy moved in. She is now taking some time off to think about what she is doing next.

Dougal did a lot of studying sitting in the corner in Nick’s office. He got an excellent set of A-levels and has applied to study Computer Science at university next year. He had a great trip to the US with his cousin Olly and is now also working for Nick writing software. He still finds plenty of time to shout at his computer while gaming with his friends.

Loveday and Nick have been enjoying swimming together a couple of times a week and having more time to walk the coast path in Cornwall. As we did last year, we travelled to Sardinia on the train enjoying time in Paris and Lake Como which was very special. Loveday vetoed all the pictures of her looking like a beetroot after we climbed to Brunate so you’ll just have to imagine it.

Loveday has been extremely busy this year with Quakers, various courses (gardening, Alpha, agroforestry), and the start of work at The Mill. Nick has given up trying to remember where she is.

Nick has had a good year having a lot of fun working with the boys. The business has exceeded expectations. He has been having fun with recreational maths (arXiv 2508.08307) discovering an great new formula for Pi!

In October Loveday demolished The Mill. It was nice knowing it. What remains of it is floating in a sea of mud with a few builders mixed in. Or that is what Nick understands since he refuses to come and visit due to the fear of getting stuck in the mire. Hopefully it will get put back together some time next year.

Xmas 2024

Nick Craig-Wood — Wed, 25 Dec 2024 00:00:00 UTC

We've enjoyed time at home in 2024 with plenty of lunches with the boys as Ed is working with Nick and Doug usually drops in for his lunch hour. Highlights of the year have included: a ski trip to Andorra with Loveday's brother and Doug's cousins; quality time for Loveday getting muddy at The Mill and planting 300 trees; hosting two Chinese students from Nanjing, Albert and Alice; an Easter trip to Cornwall with friends and family; celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary with a stay at The Pig on the Beach in perfect weather; seeing Loveday Hambly's (Loveday's famous Quaker namesake) blue plaque being unveiled at Tregongeeves in Cornwall; and attending an Emmanuel College re-union.

Our big adventure of the year was a summer holiday in Sardinia. The family wanted to do watersports in the sun – but Loveday refused to fly. How to square that circle? Loveday and Nick took the train, stopping off in Paris, Milan and Florence, spent 2 weeks by the sea with the family, and then returned via Pisa, Genova, Ventimiglia and Nice. The train journeys bookending the trip made it very memorable holiday.

Amy started the year travelling while the grand-puppy (Oggy) stayed at Fairholme. In May she joined The Land App as a digital designer after a longer-than-expected gap. She works a nine day fortnight leaving time for adventures in her converted van accompanied by Oggy and her boyfriend, Jake.

Ed has been helping Dad with the business side of Rclone Services when he can fit it in between learning and filming skateboard tricks and sleeping. He had a great interrailling trip with Phoebe visiting eastern Europe and skateboarding with his mates in Prague and Poland. Dad is getting him an alarm clock for Christmas.

Issy is in her third year at uni studying liberal arts, for some definition of studying at least. She hasn't been in the best of health this year but she is happier in her new flat. She enjoyed visiting her friend Emily in New York and won a poetry competition with her poem Love Can Give You This Cool Shark (Journal Entry).

Dougal's deep in Year 13 now, grinding hard on his skateboard, CompSci and Electronics projects. Man's fully locked in for his A-levels. He'd say I'm glazing him, but trust me - bro's gonna get the W.

Nick has been busy this year with his new business. All good fun though – writing open source software and supporting paying customers is a nice change of pace and much less stressful than previous enterprises. In his spare moments he has been accumulating half-completed maths, radio, software and electronics projects.

Loveday at last decided on a design for The Mill and we got planning permission! Whether it will get built anytime soon is a different matter. She and Issy volunteered on the children's program at Quaker BYM. She has also been very busy with local Quakers, Zero Carbon Guildford and her pesky family always wanting things!

Xmas 2023

Nick Craig-Wood — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 00:00:00 UTC

2023 has seen lots of foreign travel for everyone except Loveday. It started with Amy leaving for Dubai, South Africa and Senegal. Nick, Ed, Phoebe (Ed’s girlfriend) and Dougal went on the ski train to France and enjoyed a week of late season skiing - with no broken bones!

Nick, Issy and Dougal had a spectacular trip to Japan in the summer for wonderful food, toilets, sights, cleanliness, trains, Anime and cheap amateur radio equipment. It was very hot though! We finished the trip with 3 days in Korea and ate lots of delicious barbecued meats, fried food and desserts.

Trips to The Mill in Cornwall: lots, number of redesigns considered: →∞, number of designs finalized: 0, number of things decided: NaN.

The children remain alive, but one year older ignoring relativistic time dilation effects due to the travelling.

Amy has had a busy year converting her van, travelling, surfing, climbing and working at Olio. Sadly Olio seem to be running out of runway so Amy was made redundant in November. She immediately booked her dog into the dog sitters (us!) and a flight to Sri Lanka for 3 weeks of surfing in January!

Ed started the year as an advisor for Reassured but decided to come and work with Dad for a few months (while making skateboard videos on the side) before setting off travelling with Phoebe for 3 months round SE Asia, Australia and NZ.

Issy is in her second year at uni studying liberal arts (a bit like literary arts with a helping of TV studies). When not working she has been helping out with the children at Quaker meeting. She has taken up a troglodyte existence in a basement in Archway and would love a visit if you don’t mind the fungus!

Dougal got an excellent set of GCSEs and has started at a local school for 6th form. At last, after 23 years, Loveday is free of school runs! Dougal is doing Maths, Further Maths, More Maths and Even More Maths (disguised as Computer Science and Electronics). He is also doing a lot of climbing (rocks rather than social).

Nick had a paper published on his Pi obsession (Euler found the first binary digit extraction formula for π in 1779) so can concentrate on other stuff finally! He also set up a little company Rclone Services Ltd to run support contracts for his open source software. Ed has been very useful helping with sales and marketing.

Loveday has monetised Nick this year giving him the push to set up his new company. With her new found free time she’s been knitting at 44.7 ms⁻¹. She has also has become the treasurer of Guildford Quaker Meeting, been volunteering at Zero Carbon Guildford and demonstrating for the climate and peace.

Xmas 2022

Nick Craig-Wood — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 00:00:00 UTC

We’d love to blame the lateness of this card on the postal strikes; in reality it is because we have been even less organised than usual! We hope you had a lovely Christmas and this reaches you in time for New Year.

2022 has been a relatively quiet year for us. Nick booked a ski trip in March but unfortunately covid hit just before the trip so Ed, Phoebe (Ed’s girlfriend) and Dougal went without him. Amazingly, they came back in the same number of pieces that they went!

In August, Nick, Loveday and Dougal took the ferry to northern Spain where Issy and her friend Emily joined us after interrailling through France and Spain. We stayed near A Coruña and enjoyed surfing and exploring cities such as Santiago and Lugo, and the beautiful coastline. The roads were excellent but Loveday was disappointed by the endless eucalyptus plantations (for paper) which have replaced much of the native flora.

We’ve had several trips to The Mill in Cornwall, including Easter with friends, where we went for walks along the cliff paths, worked on the garden and made plans for future renovations.

Amy (26) left Just Eat to join Olio as a UX Designer in a fully remote job. She bought a new van and spent many happy hours converting it into a camper and getting Dad to do the electrics before taking off to Ireland for a fortnight. She’s currently a digital nomad on her way to South Africa for 2 months, leaving Oggy behind.

Ed (25) spent part of the year working for an outfit selling whiskey barrels by the pallet and is about to start a job in Basingstoke as an insurance protection adviser. He had a lovely holiday with Phoebe in Canada.

Issy (21) completed her Early Years Education course in June and had a summer of fun, including Shambala Festival with Amy. She has survived first term of university at King’s College London, studying Liberal Arts.

Dougal (15) has been enjoying skateboarding with Ed and his school friends. He’s passed the 6th form entrance exam for his new school in Guildford so will be able to walk to school – hooray. GCSEs first though!

Nick (M5NCW) built his first portable transceiver and used it to make Morse code contacts in Europe while sitting in the garden in Cornwall. Having been a fan of Formula 1 for many years it was a real treat to attend the British Grand Prix for the first time to see an especially eventful race. Nick continues to do consultancy and work on his rclone project.

Loveday started the year very busy with her postgraduate studies in Ecology and Sustainability completing her diploma but deciding not to do the master’s dissertation. She has been heavily involved in Quaker activities including organising a weekend retreat. She loves meeting up with her book group friends and volunteering at Zero Carbon Guildford, where she helps run the community fridge.

Xmas 2021

Nick Craig-Wood — Sat, 25 Dec 2021 00:00:00 UTC

We had a very exciting end to 2020 as we completed the purchase of The Mill in Port Isaac just before Christmas. Our new Cornish stronghold is an old miller’s cottage and converted watermill. Our plan is to move there in a few years but we are open for holidays now if you’d like to visit.

In March 2021 Pepper had a lovely multicoloured litter of 5 puppies. Pepper and her puppies accompanied us on our first family visit to The Mill as soon as lockdown lifted, the children having been unable to visit before. Pepper was an excellent mother and the puppies have all gone to friends and family, with Amy adopting Oggy (our first grandpuppy!).

In June we went on Holiday to Plockton in Scotland. The weather was amazing for exploring the beautiful scenery. While there we met up with old friends and Tristram and family. Dougal and his cousins had lots of fun jumping into cold lochs.

We decamped to Cornwall for most of the summer to explore our new demesne. Lots of friends and family came to see us there – having new visitors every week was great fun!

Amy bought her first house in Bristol and moved in with Oggy and Ziggy her red van. She is a UX designer for Just Eat and hangs out with the ‘Waves and Paves’ girls. Amy, boyfriend Sam, Oggy and Ziggy enjoyed the NC 500 this summer.

In March Ed moved out. He and his girlfriend Phoebe are renting a flat together in Woking though he returns home regularly to raid the fridge. Ed worked for Money Expert selling energy and broadband for most of the year but now has a new challenge learning how to be a financial adviser with Neilson Place.

Issy has been doing the second year of her Early Years Education course at Guildford College and has loved doing work experience in our local nursery, pre-school and primary school. She has been having fun with her new college friends and is looking forward to studying Liberal Arts at university next year.

Dougal has started his GCSE courses at school. Lockdown school went much better this year, helped by a dedicated laptop (no games!) and the school running live online lessons. He did his first overnight adventure with the school for his Bronze DofE. When not at school he enjoys gaming, surfing and skateboarding, both with and without his big brother.

In June Nick passed his Radio Amateur’s exam and now has the callsign 2E0WPM. At the Gophercon UK conference in October he gave a talk about deadlocks which went very well. He’s been working on rclone and doing software consultancy while taking time out to learn Morse Code, do radio experiments and help Loveday make lots of Uncle Rick’s spicy pickle!

Loveday is continuing to do her Masters very slowly. She has been getting The Mill ready to let, doing lots of Quaker related activities including marching with her banner during COP26 and has been volunteering with Zero Carbon Guildford.

Xmas 2020

Nick Craig-Wood — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 00:00:00 UTC

2020 has been the best of times and the worst of times. As a family of dedicated introverts (with one exuberant exception) we’ve enjoyed spending more time at home together, meals in the garden and long walks in the local area with Pepper.

The year opened with Nick finalising the sale of Memset after more than a year of intensely stressful negotiations, made harder by Nick’s sister and business partner Kate’s deteriorating mental health. Luckily Ed’s position teaching snowboarding in Austria gave the perfect excuse for a February half term holiday. Unluckily - and perhaps predictably, if you’ve been reading these messages long enough - Ed broke his arm just before we were due to visit Ellmau meaning we had to go skiing without him. Thankfully the sale of Memset completed in March. Unfortunately this was just before the first lockdown which meant Nick was unable to say a proper goodbye to everyone who worked there.

Lockdown meant Issy finished Upper Sixth very suddenly, without taking her A-levels or experiencing the usual rites of passage that come with leaving school. Dougal loved spending more time at his computer but home schooling and remote Common Entrance exams turned out to be less fun than Roblox. To entertain ourselves in lockdown we incubated and hatched some eggs - we now have two fine hens and their noisy brothers have moved to the countryside.

Amy, who works for Just Eat, spent the first part of the year in Bristol. In May she returned home in her new red van (which we keep mistaking for the postman!). She used her time here to build in a tiny kitchen and a very ingenious folding bed. Nick helped her with the electricals and then she set off to explore the UK with friends over the summer.

Ed’s broken arm took a while to heal which made getting a job in lockdown challenging. He briefly had a job in Guildford but since September has been working in Godalming, helping people save money by switching their broadband and electricity suppliers. With his first month’s pay he bought a new car (and the new wing mirror he needed after taking it out for the first time). Issy hopes he will have enough money to move out soon so that she can have his bedroom.

Through the year Issy helped organise Quaker Senior Conference. Normally this is a residential event but Issy and the team rose to the challenge of taking it online this August. We weren’t allowed to join in, but Issy’s timetable on the door let us know what she was up to. Since September Issy has been studying Early Years Education at Guildford College.

Sadly, Kate died in September of what we think was a drug overdose. This was quite a blow as she’d just come back from the Priory and we had hoped she was getting better. Having a lockdown funeral was strange with only 17 people allowed to come, but we sent her off in style with a pink glittery coffin and a motorcycle hearse.

Loveday is continuing her part time MSc in between Zooming with the Quakers, knitting, gardening and looking after the family. Nick is gradually de-stressing and has been putting more energy into his open source software rclone. The 3 week Italian adventure we were looking forward to was cancelled, but we did manage holidays in Cornwall and took a wet and windy trip to Northumberland in August. Hopefully we will have some Cornwall related news to share in 2021.

Xmas 2019

Nick Craig-Wood — Wed, 25 Dec 2019 00:00:00 UTC

We were obviously very naughty in 2018 because Santa brought us norovirus for Christmas which spread through the family and laid us low for a week. Hopefully this year we’ve behaved better!

Nick and Dougal had 2 ski trips this year. The first in February with Amy and cousins Olly & Felix to Sauze d’Oulx, Italy. Things went well except when Amy’s blood sugar dropped too low and the time Dougal lost his snowboard down a red run… The second time was in April; this time with Ed, who, in true Ed style, managed to send his passport to the Russian embassy for a visa just before the trip, leading to a mad panic on the day of the flight and Ed missing half the holiday!

In April it was our 25^th wedding anniversary. We had a party at home and it was lovely to see so many of you there. Revisiting the wedding video provided plenty of entertainment and lots of “who’s that” moments.

In July we went to the west coast of Scotland for a “summer” holiday. When the weather was good it was lovely and when it wasn’t we got very wet. We played our traditional game of cooking sausages wherever we went. The highest scoring round was cooking on a rock in the middle of a river. We went to the Isle of Canna so Loveday could revisit her teenage years and were lucky enough to see a large pod of dolphins on the way.

Amy (23) and boyfriend Jack converted an old transit van into a camper (see pic). They spent the summer travelling round Europe, returning briefly to have Amy’s braces removed (hooray!) and again to fix a bit of engine bother (“seaweed in the tank”). In August, Amy left home (sad face) and has ~~run away to the circus~~ gone to live in Bristol, joining the graduate program for “Just Eat” in their design department where she works on the user experience (UX) of their app and website.

Ed (22) left Vodafone in March to travel through Northern Europe to Moscow for 6 weeks. He then went again ending up in Scandinavia this time. After getting underfoot at home for a few weeks we packed him off on a snowboard instructor course in Austria. He passed his test (in German!) and has now just been let loose teaching in Ellmau for the season.

Isabel (18) completed the job of chopping off her hair (for charity). She has enjoyed more Quaker events this year. A-levels are looming but she has decided to take a year out after them to delay having to fill in the dreaded UCAS form.

Dougal (12) has spent almost every moment of his spare time playing computer games. His voice has been breaking and he has been growing, soon Amy will be the smallest in the family! School and rugby have been going well this year. Pepper won the “loveliest lady” prize in the school dog show; thank heavens she wasn’t wearing her “Foxy Lady” scent!

Memset has been keeping Nick busy, celebrating 10 years being carbon neutral (you can see Nick with the award in the pic). Loveday enjoyed crochet and cookery courses and a trip to Iceland in August for her sister’s birthday where much lounging around in bathrobes was done. She then decided she was bored so signed up for a part time MSc in “Sustainability & Ecology” from the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales. New Year’s resolution: learn to type!

Xmas 2018

Nick Craig-Wood — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 00:00:00 UTC

Firstly apologies that the photomontage didn’t make it to press in 2017!

Alas our beloved Daisy left us in November 2017. We remained dog-less until January when we went to see Pepper, a black and tan cocker spaniel. Pepper came to live with us in March and has been eating everything ever since. High scores so far: 2 pairs of glasses, 1 passport and Nick’s favourite Rubik’s cube! Fortunately she has the sweetest temperament so it is impossible to be cross with her for long.

In March, Amy and the boys went to Sauze d’Oulx in Italy for skiing and pizza. In July 4 of us (+dog) had a fun week in a caravan in Scotland on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. We took inflatable kayaks with us and had great fun paddling round the beautiful scenery in between the showers and driving to distant lay-bys to get 3G signal for Issy. August saw us in Cornwall with a wet visit to Boardmasters festival. Ed competed in the Guildford skate jam unfortunately breaking something in his foot (we couldn’t have a message without a broken something from Ed!).

In October we reluctantly had to say goodbye to another old friend: Treharrock Manor in Cornwall. All the Hambly family came to help with the mammoth clear out. Fairholme now looks like an antique dealers storeroom. Nick hopes to be able to get his car back in the garage sometime next year!

Amy (22) graduated with a degree in digital design from Brunel and moved back home bringing her boyfriend Jack. In October she finally had the jaw operation she has been expecting for 7 years. At last she can bite things things properly! She has been working for Dad making Memset’s new website which she has done a splendid job of.

Ed (21) has celebrated his 21st birthday, passed his driving test and completed a successful year in sales at Vodafone. He is enjoying working all day then going out every night (ah to be young!).

Isabel (17) survived her GCSEs in the summer and was happy with the results. She has now moved to a new school for the 6th form, and in an epic act of rebellion against her scientific parents is studying English, History and Religion & Philosophy. She continues to enjoy young Quaker activities and has chopped off most of her hair.

Dougal (11) has moved to a new school. It is a positive and encouraging environment and he is more relaxed at school than before. He has been playing football for a local club and doing a lot of computer gaming in his spare time. He has made his old man proud by learning to solve the Rubik’s cube.

Nick has taken on the CEO role at Memset which has brought new challenges but he has the support of a great team. His spare time hobby has been his Open Source project rclone. Nick even gave a talk about rclone which you can find on YouTube. Loveday’s year has been busy managing and preparing to sell Treharrock. This has been both very sad and a great relief. She is looking forward to a slightly quieter life next year with time to read all the books from her book clubs.

Xmas 2016

Nick Craig-Wood — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 00:00:00 UTC

In March all 6 of us piled in the trusty people carrier and drove to a friend’s self catering ski chalet in Les Arcs. We had fun skiing and finding the many uses of WiFi on holiday. Nick and Dougal went skiing together every day logging their top speeds on the resort app. Amy found 3 friends in the resort. Ed slept a lot, snowboarded a bit and broke nothing! Issy did a small amount of skiing but mostly watched Netflix. Loveday learned to crochet thanks to YouTube (see if you can find it in the picture).

The summer saw Nick taking July off work which we mostly spent in Cornwall on a DIY marathon. At the end of August we did our next great drive. We started out by going to Reading Festival to see “twenty one pilots” leaving there late to drive to Stafford, slept for 4 hours then carried on up to Ullapool to catch the ferry to Stornaway on Lewis and thence to Valtos. The next day was glorious and the two scenes at the top of the picture are from that day. The weather went downhill, but we enjoyed: seeing standing stones; lots of kite flying; a happy day tie dying in the garden; a boat trip and seeing seals, black houses and iron age dwellings. This holiday we enjoyed not having WiFi or phone signal unless standing in the sea where you can see the unprecedented sight of Issy talking to her friend on her phone.

Amy (20) is in her 3rd year at uni doing a year in industry. She managed to land herself a great job just before the deadline as a front-end developer for Dusted, a digital agency in London. She enjoys photography and reluctantly lives at home.

Ed (19) now has two jobs, one at the café at the sports centre, the other at Topman. He is still trying to work out what he is doing next but his parents are pleased he is gainfully employed.

Isabel (15) has had an unusually active year, getting a surf board for her birthday (“Doris”), and doing her Duke of Edinburgh award which involved actually walking for really quite a long time. She is trying to watch every TV show in existence in her spare time and has almost succeeded. She has also done some homework.

Dougal (9) along with learning to ski, has also learnt to unicycle (wobbling in father’s wheel track). He has been enjoying football, rugby and cricket at school. In Cornwall he has really got into surfing, taking over Ed’s old board (see picture).

Nick has been changing role at work trying to do less management and more technical strategy which has been a welcome transformation. He has also continued art classes and writing open source software (eg rclone).

Loveday has been busy. The management of Treharrock has required lots of trips to Cornwall and many hours sorting out the waste contract. She has started an upholstery course which is a very expensive way of getting second hand furniture! She has also finished knitting a jumper for Issy and even better it still just about fits.

Xmas 2015

Nick Craig-Wood — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 00:00:00 UTC

We brought in this year by spending Christmas and New Year at Polzeath beach in Cornwall where we had a lovely time with family and friends. It was our last Christmas with Loveday's mother Elizabeth who died of pancreatic cancer in February after a 4 month illness. She was cared for at home by her children until the end which was an intense but rewarding experience.

After that we needed a holiday so all 6 of us spent Easter in Barcelona where we had good weather and Nick got to see the Dali museum which has been a lifelong ambition. Not all the children were terribly impressed by the culture! Soon after we started rebuilding our garage, attaching it to the house with extra rooms above, so imagine the rest of the year to the background of builders. The builders have done a great job and finished just in time for Christmas.

In July 5 of us spent 2 weeks in Turkey near Marmaris mostly relaxing with a bit of watersport and a few visits to local highlights such as the mud baths. Dougal learnt to sail, windsurf and waterskii all in two weeks which was amazing. Later in the summer we had a really enjoyable week at Treharrock with university friends and their families.

Amy (19) is in her second year at Brunel University. She is enjoying leaving projects to the last minute and, having swapped 4 legs for 4 wheels, driving between home, uni and boyfriend. Her passion for horses is being kept alive at university where she is captain of the riding team. This seems to mostly involve lots of meetings and sorting out arguments. She is currently working at PC World selling cameras and declining unwanted offers of marriage.

Ed (18) and school had a mutually agreeable parting of the ways after his AS results and he is now studying at the university of life. He spend a few weeks as a builder on our building site and gave the garage a thorough christening by inviting 100 people for his 18th party. He is now working full time at Côte restaurant as a commis waiter where he enjoys visits from his family. He still loves skateboarding despite having broken his collarbone while going off piste down a grassy bank in the spring.

Isabel (14) became the second member of the family to help organise a Quaker event (YPP). She loves these events and has been to several this year. She continues her iPad addiction and hasn’t stopped complaining about the consequent WiFi curfew! She enjoyed bringing her friends to Cornwall and has been making good progress at school.

Dougal (8) is really getting stuck in at his new school proving himself a determined football and rugby player. At home his new hobby is weaponising stationery and using Isabel for target practice.

Loveday and Nick have both been extremely busy in 2015. Nick has being doing more management at Memset but has preserved his sanity with art classes and a writing open source software. Loveday has overseen the building work, had many trips to Cornwall and excitingly taken on the management of Treharrock with a bit of Yoga to de-stress.

Xmas 2014

Nick Craig-Wood — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 00:00:00 UTC

Firstly, apologies for the lack of a Christmas card last year. We went on an amazing, once in a lifetime holiday instead! We started by flying to Florida for 5 days - highlights included NASA, Aquatica and Gatorland (zip-lining over Alligator swamps!) Next stop, the Caribbean island of Bequia for Christmas and New Year, where colourful boats and unusually named water taxis abound. We stayed on land but met up with Uncle Pete & Auntie Von on their boat. Last stop, 2 days in New York. Going from 30°C to -10°C was rather a shock and involved buying a lot more clothes very quickly. Lots of shopping and museums later we returned exhausted to England to go straight back to school.

In April Loveday bought a canal boat - Genevieve - a 45 foot, 30 year old narrow boat. This was supposed to be the antidote to GCSE and A-Level stress but Genevieve has provided quite a lot of excitement of her own, including nearly sinking and producing lots of smoke and conking out en-route to the boat yard! We threw a small surprise party for Amy's 18^th in May. Amy also passed her driving test and has been annoying her mother ever since by borrowing the car unexpectedly.

In the summer we had a lovely sunny week in Cornwall with friends. The children had so many activities - Quaker youth events, Reading Festival, Yearly Meeting Gathering, One Day Events, etc, etc - that we couldn't fit in a family holiday, but we did enjoy a few peaceful days on Genevieve with only Dougal and the dog for company.

In September Amy started university at Brunel studying "Digital Design" which is a mixture of creative (eg photography) and technical (eg programming) skills. Ed (17) survived the whole year with no breakages including an 8 day ski trip with Nick. He started at 6^th Form College where he is enjoying the freedom from petty school rules. Isabel (13) spends most of the time sitting in a darkened room lit by her iPad which unfortunately is required for school so can't be confiscated - it's homework, honest! Dougal (7) started his new school and he seems to be settling in well, enjoying playing rugby and football as well as getting stuck into lots of new activities.

In October Loveday's mother, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Since then there have been lots of trips to Cornwall and a holiday with the extended family in the Lake District. During the most recent trip to Cornwall, Loveday and the girls left Nick and the boys at home. The male members of the family decided that a visit to the skate park was in order. Unfortunately Dougal managed to fall down the big skate ramp and broke his arm rather badly, involving an overnight stay in hospital for Dougal (and Nick). His arm is much better now - cast off on 30^th December.

This year we celebrated our 20^th Wedding Anniversary. Loveday has been enjoying patchwork, book groups and Non-Violent communication. Memset keeps Nick busy but he just about finds time for an art class and a bit of open source programming.

We we look forward to staying on the beach at Polzeath for Christmas and we hope you and yours have a lovely Christmas too.

Xmas 2012

Nick Craig-Wood — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:00:00 UTC

Highlights of 2012 included skiing in Arosa in March where Dougal proved fearless on the ski slopes using his “go as fast as possible, crash and carry on” technique (see if you can find him in his ski gear). Easter saw us narrow boating on the Grand Union Canal in the Midlands with old friends. The weather (as with most of the year) left a lot to be desired! Trips included the science museum (Isabel with CO₂ bubble), “War Horse” and a late night visit to the David Hockney exhibition.

In June some chicks hatched in Dougal's classroom and then came to live with us. The chickens entertained us (and the fox) pecking round the garden - maybe we will get more next year. We shared the Olympic experience with friends and family in Cornwall. The best holiday weather was in September when we spent a weekend glamping (posh camping). We stayed in a canvas tent, with beds, indoor plumbing and a stove! See the family toasting marshmallows and the amazing wood burning hot tub. October found us in the Lake District; you can spot us rowing on Derwent Water if you look closely.

Amy (16) successfully battled with her GCSEs, particularly enjoying photography. She has now moved school to be with her pony for the 6^th form. She is settling well and is now embroiled with science and maths A-level modules. She spent a lot of time training for the pony club musical ride (synchronised horse riding to music) performed at the Surrey County Show in June. You can see her and Toffee in their Jubilee outfits.

Ed (15) has had another year of ups and downs. He has enjoyed surfing, snowboarding, Guilfest and helping organise the annual meeting for young Quakers in Britain. Unfortunately he also... ! He is now settling in well at his new school. High fiving the ceiling caused his only fracture. Ed spends many happy hours shouting at his friends via Skype whilst playing Minecraft.

Isabel (11) went on a soggy Jubilee Guide camp and has been enjoying Art, having friends over, reading books on her new Kindle and spending as much time as possible in her pyjamas. She is currently revising for entrance exams in January. Her new hamster “Ginger Snap” is keeping her company. Hopefully the dog won't eat this one!

Dougal (5) and school seem to have got the hang of each other now. He's still obsessed with Lego, Star Wars, Harry Potter, filling his school shoes up with water and getting cross with computer games.

Nick hasn't had much time for hobbies this year, but he started painting a portrait of Loveday and entered the International Obfuscated C Contest. A rapidly growing Memset has kept him out of trouble otherwise. Loveday relished her first ever surfing lesson on Christmas Eve (see picture with Ed). She had a special birthday treat at the “Fat Duck” (see yummy green snail porridge), enjoys her book groups and helps out at Dougal's school.

Here's hoping for better weather in 2013.

Xmas 2011

Nick Craig-Wood — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:00:00 UTC

We had a excellent opening to 2011 with New Year in Cornwall (see Treharrock New Year on YouTube for Amy's video). Other highlights early in the year include, Isabel skiing with Nick, bravely taking Ed's place after he broke his leg; trips to Cadbury World and Legoland (quite overwhelming for a small Lego enthusiast); a wonderfully sunny week in Port Merion; Easter at Wind's Point with Loveday's family (see N&L top left with Malvern Hills) and fossil hunting in Lyme Regis in May.

In the summer we spent a week at Canterbury University for “Yearly Meeting Gathering” which is the annual get together for British Quakers for fun (“Gathering”) and the business of organising themselves (“Yearly Meeting”). There was a huge range of activities for all ages and we all got something out of it. Amazingly Ed was nominated to help organise the youth activities of the next one, a good learning experience, just not sure whether for Ed or them yet! At the end of the summer we had a splendid trip to Turkey for a fortnight of water sports (see windsurfing picture) and a bit of culture (Amy and Nick at Ephesus). We were back in Cornwall in October for Tris and Tam's 40^th and Elizabeth's 70^th birthdays.

Amy (15) has had a full year with GCSE coursework, Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award, “C” test on Toffee and Pony Club camp. The pinnacle of the horse season was a surprise win in a “Horse and Hound” competition with Nick jumping a clear round with Daisy and Amy doing the same with Toffee!

Ed (14) has grown to 6 foot, did well in his Common Entrance, has had 4 fractures (left arm, right leg, right arm, left arm), a bone oedema (left leg), 34 medical appointments, dyed his hair purple, was suspended for a week, started senior school and set fire to his dorm! We are hoping for fewer phone calls from school in 2012!

Isabel (10) has been on good form this year. She has enjoyed Brownies, dance, horse riding, seeing her friends, tennis camp, play in a week, indoor climbing and boarding 2 nights a week.

Dougal (4) has learnt to ride his bike with steely determination which involved lots of crashing, being pulled out of the bushes and having another go! We have unleashed him on the local infant school and he has settled in nicely. He does still climb up things he isn't supposed to but has become less of a menace around the house, probably due to his new Lego obsession.

Nick and Loveday have had a few Art lessons. This has been a revelation: Nick in particular never thought he would be able to do Art, being a dyed-in-the-wool scientist, but the Art teacher has proved otherwise! With 4 children at 4 schools Loveday's life has been chaotic, though she did find time for a few tennis lessons and two book groups. Nick has had his hands full with the ever expanding Memset but has found a bit of time for cracking GCHQ's codes amongst other things.

Hope you have an excellent 2012.

Xmas 2010

Nick Craig-Wood — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 00:00:00 UTC

2010 has been a busy year for us featuring lots of animals! In April the whole family (except Amy) went on the school ski tip to Braunwald in Switzerland. Everyone skied, even Dougal had a little go. While we were skiing Amy went to Iceland on a school geography trip and got to see a real eruption and ash cloud up close! Also in April we welcomed Toffee into the family – a 13h3 dun, Irish pony. He lives nearby and Amy visits him many times a week. We went to Cornwall at Easter and then Loveday, the children and her mother visited her ancestral home in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

In June Daisy had puppies! We mated her to a handsome black cocker spaniel called Marmite and she produced 5 lovely black puppies. We found new owners for all the puppies though the children were desperate to keep one. Nick had the unforgettable experience of being midwife to Daisy and the puppies. You can see lots of puppies in the picture if you look carefully. Your challenge is to count the dogs!

The first broken bone this year was Ed's arm whilst mountain boarding. His cast was removed (twice) while we were having our main holiday at Treharrock in Cornwall. We had somewhat mixed weather but lots of surfing as you can see. The puppies came with us to Treharrock too which was fun – if rather hard work! Shortly after our return Isabel broke her arm while playing tennis. Luckily, despite Toffee's successes at removing Amy from the saddle, she has failed to break anything. She enjoyed a week away at Pony Club camp with Toffee, learning lots about riding and tack cleaning!

At the end of the summer we had 5 glorious days on a narrow boat (Savanna, 61 ft long, 20 tonnes) on the Wey and Arun Navigation. We unloaded our unsuspecting children from the packed car at Guildford Boat House and sailed to Woking and back at 4mph! The only thing to fall overboard was the dog and luckily she can swim. In October we went to Bryher, one of the Scilly Isles, for a week. We had mostly lovely weather and a very relaxing holiday cooking and eating local produce from the self service market stall, and taking in the stunning views.

Dougal (3½) has grown into a very adventurous, but shy, young boy. He is often found near the ceiling after having scaled the bookcase/kitchen/wardrobe. Isabel (9) spent 4 nights at Brownie camp and had a wonderful time. She enjoys spending time with her friends and making things. Ed (13) has changed the most of all the children in 2010. His voice is breaking, and he is now taller than both his parents. Loveday took him to the shoe shop with size 8½ shoes and came out with size 11! We hope his school adventure club returns him from South Africa before Christmas! Amy (14) is now working hard on her GCSEs and has taken up dog agility with Daisy. With bronze Duke of Edinburgh award as well she is a busy girl, but seems to be coping.

Highlights of Nick and Loveday's year include Memset receiving the award for best web host at the PC Pro awards (a rare night out) and Loveday completing the 26 mile London Moonwalk. Amy is now a competent baby-sitter so we do go out more than we did – hooray! Life is very busy at the moment with children and work, but it feels like we are going onwards and upwards.

Xmas 2009

Nick Craig-Wood — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:00:00 UTC

An ongoing theme of 2009 has been house renovations. We've decorated 2 bedrooms, the hall, 2 reception rooms and redone 2 bathrooms. Nick even had a Velux window in his attic. The whole house has been thick with dust all year but as we've cleared it away we feel like we have uncovered our real home at last.

We enjoyed the cold start to the year with time off school and sledging. (See YouTube "Four Man Sledging Accident".)

At Easter we celebrated the joyful event of John (Nick's step-father) and Sally's wedding in Cornwall. Unfortunately we also lost Nick's uncle Rick and Nick's step-mother Val. The wedding was sandwiched between two funerals which made for a rather eventful April which went by in a surreal blur.

To cheer ourselves up, we had lots of nice holidays this year. You can see us at Euro-Disney in May with Buzz Lightyear - an exhausting trip but everyone enjoyed it. In August we went to Scotland. We spend the first week in Strontian (bottom right in the woods) and the second getting away from it all on the almost deserted island of Coll drinking stream water with no phone reception - perfect! You can see Nick and Loveday on the beach that went with our cottage (top right), Ed mountain boarding (bottom left) and on the sofa you'll see the children dressed up as each other.

We had a big change of schools in October, with Ed and Isabel both starting at the same school - hooray! They are settling in nicely now. Amy has been raising the bar at school and is doing very well. We particularly enjoyed watching her in the Greenpower team racing against other schools in home made electric cars (see the middle left of the picture). Dougal started at nursery 2 mornings a week which he is enjoying and it gives his mother a much needed break.

For October half term we went on a water sports holiday in Greece. We've never tried this sort of holiday before with 100% action and 0% culture. It turned out very well with excellent child care for Doug and Isabel and lots of sailing, windsurfing and water-skiing for the rest of us. Nick learnt to mono-ski again which was great fun - shame about his not-so-young-as-it-used-to-be back! Loveday, Amy and Ed all notched up dinghy sailing and wind-surfing qualifications despite the lack of wind. We all had an excellent time, a bit of sun and got fit climbing up the many steps in the lovely resort of Sivota.

Dougal has grown from a quiet accident prone toddler into a very-large-accident prone talkative toddler this year. Probably the worst incident was when Loveday went out to do a bit of gardening leaving Doug watering some plants with the hose. She came back to find Doug had brought the hose in the house and had filled up the TV, DVD player, PC, Sofa and VCR with water, along with a 12 foot puddle. Luckily the builders were on hand to help mop up. Not everything survived the experience!

We look forward to Christmas at home this year and hope you have an excellent one too.