Hi folks

Hello all you Merrows...life has been pretty much back to back work and no play recently as we try to get the school on an even keel while trying to attract more customers and more income. New pupils always upset the group dynamics and of course these kids are usually transfers with problems which all makes work for the working man to do.

As far as family news is concerned, we are pretty good. Cash flow is a bit erratic as we are still awaiting our dole money and a few bits of income like tax rebates. At least the salary comes back on line in a few days. Alas the car has packed up and we need new wheels (currently we are borrowing a friend's jaloppy? from church). Never the mind. We get by with a little help from our friends, as they say.

My eyesight seesm a bit dodgy at the minute. I reckon the time of the tightening lenses has arrived..a bit earlier than anticipated. I thought I'd get a couple more years but anytime over forty is prime time for glasses, so they tell me. It may just be tired eyes but I've put in for a check up to see what I need. My boss got wind of it and went out to the local Chinese importers to buy some +1.50 and +2.00s for £1.50 each. Unfortunately there are differences between the eyes. I reckon my right is weaker, so I'll need a prescription fit first of all. I can go for the £1.50 pairs in a few years time when I know what the form is!

Beth went in for a check too recently. Her prescription is for some specs which is no doubt caused by her always having her head in a book. She's a great kid and has really blossomed in the last few years into a mature thinking and intelligent girl. Mature, intelligent, glasses...Maybe the bees won't swarm so thick around the honey pot for a year or two but I doubt it. It's Jessica who is really the fashion hippy babe who always has one eye on the mirror. Still, she is also growing up to be a great young adult. I'm really proud of them both. Amy too. She is learning to read with Biff and Kipper from the Oxford reading tree programme. Her art is fantastic for one of her age. Hey...let's keep it in the family. If she turns out like the other two I'll be very content...although I'll probably spend a few more hours at the opticians' too.

We are really enjoying the house. I never realised how different the sea can be every day. No wonder Turner was so fascinated by it. I could have taken hundreds of photos by now. Every day the sun rises in a different place and we get a slightly different shimmer or else there is a different cloud formation. Great stuff. We still have no bannister yet and the place needs a new front door but little by little as they say.

Next week we have a solar eclipse in Spain and we are on the centre line. It is annular, which means it won't go dark. It will be as if there is cloud in the sky, but for the interested observer with the right eye protection the sun will appear as a white disc with a black hole in the middle. We should get a good ring effect and maybe will be able to see the mountains on the moon in relief by projecting a magnified image with a telescope. Should be good if the cloud stays away. It starts shortly after sunrise and hits its peak at about 11am with a four minute totality. Watch this space - I'll see if I can post a photo. Apparently this is a once in a millenium event. Nobody can predict far enough into the future to say when it will ever happen here again.

Like glasses, it'll be a first for me!

Love to all

Pete