Christmas
2009
We have celebrated Christmas every year at Knightstone. With roaring fires,
lots of candles, a 20 foot Christmas tree in the Great Hall and all children
and friends coming together.
And just after Christmas itself, we were blessed with snow. My older children
left after a few days except Susanne, who stayed on and played with Eric
and accompanied me on my photo trips and to see the Arabian thoroughbreds
that Michael has.
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Eric
at Knightstone - Autumn 09
With little Eric becoming more
and more active it has become natural to spend most of our time at Knightstone.
He enjoys being outside and to play with the dogs, his parents and Nana.
Jennifer has trained him to do an “Ugly
Face” and afterwards he applauds himself and is very proud of his success.
He learned very early to point out his eyes and ears and head.
He loves to watch TV or “Bebe”, but it is normally cartoons like Baby
Einstein that we watch on DVD. And by now Mama and Papa have become addicted
to Playhouse Disney as well.
He goes to bed very late, often around midnight, but sleeps equally late in the morning as well.
And his hair is growing longer and longer to his father’s despair and his mother’s happiness.
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Eric
with friends - Summer 09
Children don’t really start playing and interacting with each other until
they are two to three years old. Most of the playing is still with Mama,
Papa and Riza. But Eric Gregory observes other people, especially young
children, and learns from their behaviour. He had great fun receiving friends
or visiting them on our travels.
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Swedish
West Coast - Aug
09
We (Jen, Eric and I) chartered a small motor boat
for three weeks of cruising in the archipelago along the Swedish West Coast.
With all our friends it became three weeks of partying. We celebrated the
wedding of Philip and Eva in Smögen. We celebrated Jennifer’s birthday
on Käringön. And we sailed with Trond and Lesley and their children. Trond
was the captain and Lesley chef and first mate on board Swedish Caprice
for several years and we had also sailed together aboard Adèle.
We met three generations of Cederbergs at Marstrand and my cousin Sören with his children and all grandchildren on Asperö in Göteborg’s skärgård (archipelago). And we met both my son Magnus with his Claudia and my daughter Ulrika.
In between all the parties we had time for some relaxing motoring among the islands and I captured the landscape at both sunrise and sunset. We sailed (or rather motored) from Gothenburg in the south to Smögen in the north and all in all the distance we covered in three weeks was probably less than we did aboard Adèle in one day.
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Jen’s
Birthday - 3 Aug
We celebrated Jen’s birthday, which also is our wedding anniversary
at Pettersson’s Krog on Käringön, where we also went sailing with
Adèle immediately after our wedding and the christening of Adèle.
It was a surprise party, but as more than 40 people showed up (of
which 16 children), she bumped across several of them on her way
to the restaurant escorted by Eric, Magnus, Claudia and myself.
In the evening the party continued at the home of Pernilla’s parents (Pernilla is the partner of Johan Lind, who is one of Eric’s Godparents) and we moved our boat from Käringön to Nösund, where we stayed overnight.
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Cornwall
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Eric’s
birthday party -
Jun 09
We celebrated Eric’s
first birthday in glorious sunshine in our garden.Caleb,
the son of our gardener Lewis and his wife Karen,
celebrated his first birthday and we had two birthday
parties the same day.
The first one was at Bicton Gardens and in their play centre and after a lunch it was time for Eric Gregory’s party in our garden. Eric turned out to be the perfect model and posed for all the photographers and played with everyone who enjoyed it. He had hardly any sleep at all that day and how he managed I don’t know, but he fell asleep immediately, when the last guest departed!
We had around 60 guests coming and were very lucky with the weather as you see from the pictures.
The day after we celebrated Father’s Day with another garden event, this time a family lunch.
At Eric’s birthday party several of the pictures are taken by Graham Rowe. Thanks Graham!
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Party
for Ottery Church -
May 09
In May the Friends of Ottery Church
arranged a charity party which we gave at Knightstone Manor. A
local group performed and sang. The pictures show some of our guests
in the garden and the singers performing.
Please note little Eric watching from the upstairs window!
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A
Day in the Life of Eric Gregory -
Jun 09
Dear Mama, Big Brother, Sisters, Godparents and Friends,
Papa was disturbing me all day yesterday by running around with his camera. But
at least it proves that his back has improved a lot. I asked him to prepare a
few photos of me and send to all of you, so you can see how fast I have grown
and what a responsible little boy I am now.
Hope to see you soon.
Best
Regards,
Eric Gregory
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Hunt
Meet at Knightstone - Mar 09
In mid-March the East Devon Hunt met
at Knightstone Manor. The pictures show the horses and hounds,
the riders and foot-followers and of course in the middle of it
all, Little Eric Gregory.
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Eric,
Mikee, & Filipino families - Feb 09
After Boracay Jen, Eric and I went to
Bicol to meet Jen’s family. We were of course very happy to see Mikee
again, but we also met Eric’s other cousins, Luz and her husband
Elias and Jen’s brothers, their wives and many other relatives. The
pictures show Eric and Mikee in this family setting. You will meet
Mikee’s parents Mike and Amor and their youngest son Jan-Michael
and Jennifer’s youngest brother Junjun with his wife Richie and their
child John-Ely.
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School
& scholars - Philippines - Jan 09
We have supported a small elementary
school outside Manila for around 18 years, and also a number of high
school and university scholars. Many have now graduated and work
in different positions. We tend to visit them twice a year and meet
their teachers and tutors. The program is all run through the Rogationist
Fathers’ and Fr. Eric is responsible for the activities. Fr. Eric
has now been promoted and responsible for all schools and teaching
activities that the Rogationists have in East Asia, but he still
takes an active part in leading our school and scholars.
Most of this time Kerstin & Karl-Axel Granlund have also supported the program. A couple of years ago Kerstin and Karl-Axel decided to help the Rogationist program further by building and financing, totally from their own sources, an entirely new elementary and high school in the area, where we support the children. The school was ready and inaugurated the last day of January this year and it was opened by Kerstin & Karl-Axel in the presence of both the Archbishop of Manila and the Pope’s representative, and the head of the Rogationists’ Fathers, and of course hundreds of parents and students.
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Holiday
in the Philippines - Feb 09
In February Jen, Eric and I went to the
Philippines. We had a holiday in Boracay, we visited our scholars
and inaugurated a new school for our charity and we visited Eric’s
Filipino relatives.
This first collection shows his travel and his time in Boracay, a resort island in the Visayas. You can also see his first “steps” crawling.
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Winter
in Devon 2009
This is a tiny collection of pictures
taken around Devon in January and March 2009. They show Eric eating
solid food for the first time, Dartmoor in sunshine in January,
Eric surrounded by snow on East Hill in March, a walk with my daughter
Cat, our animals at Knightstone and some other motives. Mid-March
offered a stunning sunshine and we had lunch in the garden every
day for more than a week.
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Mikee’s
birthday party - Nov 08
Mikee stayed with us until after Christmas.
In November we arranged a late birthday party for her (she had
turned six in October). She invited her classmates and some other
close friends and they came together with their parents.
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Eric
Gregory & Mikee - Autumn 08
This
series of photographs shows our family activities between
August and November. Of course the pictures are mainly about
the two youngsters in our extended family, our newborn son
Eric Gregory, who was Christened in October, and Jennifer's
niece, who turned 6 years, also in October.
Mikee has now been here for nearly half a year and will return home after Christmas - a blessing for her parents but a sad day for many here in Devon, not just Jennifer and me, but also her classmates and teacher and many other friends. Mikee celebrated her birthday here at Knightstyone Manor, and that has got its own tab with many photos, which unfortunately isn't quite ready yet.
Eric Gregory has developed into a little man with his own personality. He sleeps between Jennifer and me in our bedroom. His Christening in London and the subsequent Blessing at Knightstone have got their own separate tab on this website (see right) with lots of great photos.
And finally we have another addition to our family: Ido, our Newfoundland puppy, was borne one month after Eric Gregory. He is just now eagerly destroying our Christmas decorations at the same pace as we are able to put them up.
Most of the pictures are taken by me, but some of Eric Gregory are by Jennifer, and Mikee at Halloween was photographed by Riza.
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Summer
around Knightstone - August
08
Eric Gregory has arrived and dominates
our world. And the world has shrunk! Jennifer and I who sailed
from Svalbard to Bora Bora, and Antarctica and just last year visited
Iceland and New Zealand, Venice and Boston are now spending most
of our time at Knightstone. Sometimes we are boldly expanding our
world to visit Dartmoor, or Exmoor or making a “big city excursion”
to Honiton or Exeter. But most days we are content to wander in
the garden and park or to take the dogs for a walk.
Eric Gregory is fine and Jen’s coccyx (the tail bone) is very slowly healing, but she is still in a lot of pain, when sitting down for a long time. A few days after Eric’s arrival into this world Luz and Mikee (Jen’s mother and niece) flew in from the Philippines. Luz has been of great help to us and Mikee and I are of course partners in all kind of adventures. Luz and Mikee will stay until Christmas. Mikee will go to a local private school in Sidmouth during the autumn semester.
Eric Gregory, Mikee and Luz are not the only additions to our “family”. We have also got two pygmy goats, Christmas Cracker and Christmas Dinner, who live happily with our llamas and Jacob’s sheep. Our vegetable garden that we started a couple of years back is now looking beautiful.
And we are doing some “miniature expeditions” to Dartmoor and Exmoor, to Longleat Safari Park and to nearby friends.
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Bump
and Shower Parties -
May 08
Jen and I discovered that she was pregnant coming down the
lift at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston. Suddenly she complained
that everything smelled so funny and strongly and I said: “You
must be pregnant”. She took a test and our happiness was confirmed.
These pictures show Jen at a few stages of her development. I have taken pictures of Jen, when we went to balls in Austria in January (4 months), in New Zealand in late February (5 months), in Venice in April (7 months) and in our field with the Llamas in May (8 months).
Our friends very nicely arranged two shower parties for Jennifer, one in London and one in Devon. The London party was at Geraldine’s and Sanford’s home and was hosted by Geraldine, Elisabeth and Florence. It started as a party for the girls, but we men were allowed to join later in the evening.
The second party was arranged by Hillary and John Drew in Wiggaton very near Knightstone Manor. There we men were accepted from the very beginning! At both parties the guests had kindly brought some gifts for Eric Gregory (Little O) and many of the pictures show Jennifer opening or looking at the gifts or the other guests looking at Jen, opening them.
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Beth
and her Ponies - May
08
Beth Ford is an extremely talented
young rider. She was turning 14 years old a few days after
I took these pictures. She loves horse jumping and competing
in many different events and has the talent and ambition to
go very far. Her grandparents and her mother are actively supporting
her and spending a lot of time taking her to different events.
Beth lives in Tipton St John, not far from Knightstone, and she keeps her ponies at her grandparents field and stable near Sidmouth. Jen and I are helping her by contributing to her training and paying for a very competent teacher. Camilla, our housekeeper, has also given her free lessons.
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Knightstone
Weekend -
April 08
One weekend late in April we had invited
three families to join us. Michael and Camilla Persson came
with their children Amanda and Caspar. Michael is vicar at
the Swedish Church in London. Jonathan and Tasia Campbell joined
us as well. And so did Elisabeth and Dudley Pennell with their
5 year old daughter, Indigo. We had great weather and the pictures
show us having tea in the garden and enjoying a walk along
the Cliffside between Beer and Branscombe.
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Philippine
School & Scholars
-
March 08
I have supported a school and students
in the Philippines since 1992, and now Jennifer takes an active
part as well. We have also since more than five years now been
joined by the Granlund family, who are building a new school
building for the students.
After New Zealand we flew to Manila to visit the school and meet the students. We have around 60 pupils in an elementary school (the first six years) called a Multigrade School and we support a further fifteen students in High School (years 7 – 10) and College or University (the level thereafter). We met the scholars in small groups and had either a lunch or dinner with them and talked about their success and problems, aspirations and worries. And we had separate sessions with the teachers.
We were joined during these days by Jen’s mum, Luz, and Jen’s niece, Mikee, who had come up from Bicol, where they normally live. After our visit Jen went back to meet her family and show off her bump, whereas I flew back to England.
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South
Island, NZ -
March 08
This journey started off with a wedding
on the North Island (see previous folder). Two weeks later I was
going to give a presentation of our sailings in cold weather, Svalbard,
Antarctica and the Falklands accompanied by some of Rick’s and
my photos. In between we travelled for a week around the North
Island and for a few days also around Queenstown in the South Island.
We visited Blanket Bay resort near Queenstown and drove up the mountains and also took a helicopter flight across the Southern Alps over to Milford Sound on the west coast of the south island. We stopped at Milford Sound and on a glacier and at the sea. We then drove north to Wanaka and Whare Kea resort before returning to Queenstown, flying back to Auckland and enjoying time with all our sailing friends.
The low pressures pass the South Island and all the rain falls down on the west coast, which has nearly impenetrable rain forest in the valleys. On the east side of the mountain range it is much drier, at some places nearly a desert landscape. We had constant sunshine all of our time in the South Island, and the weather is normally better here than in the North. We travelled between snow-clad mountains and valleys covered in vineyards within an hour. And we saw the young and not so young active with bungee-jumping, while we enjoyed the oysters and the lamb with the local wine.
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North
Island,NZ -
February 08
Jennifer and I were invited together with Lasse
and Bittan to be present at Mark’s and Georgina’s wedding. Mark had been
First Mate and Georgina (George) had been bosun on Adèle and
apart from us also Paul (engineer) and Gillian (stewardess)
were present. Gillian would get married later on in April in
Australia.
The wedding took place in Omapere, Hokianga bay on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand nearly as far north as you can get.
After the wedding we spent a week driving around the north part of the North Island and staying at a couple of different places. We first spent time in Omapere (northwest) and then went to Kauri Cliffs Resort (northeast) and then we went to Russell near the Bay of Islands. Finally we returned to Auckland before flying off to the South Island.
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New
England, USA - Autumn 07
Jennifer
and I had a photo expedition to New England during two
weeks in October 2007 to enjoy the famous autumn foliage. The
reforestation of New England in the last century, when the
farming industries moved to the mid-western states, has probably
improved the quality of the air and reduced the global warming,
and it certainly has created a stunning “Technicolor” landscape!
We travelled from Boston to Vermont and New Hampshire and stayed mainly in small hotels. We went from there to Kennebunkport along the coast of Maine and back to Boston. Finally we visited Newport in Rhode Island and met all the people of MCM that had provided the back office for Adèle during her expeditions around the world.
The foliage colours were at its most impressive in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, but it rained and was foggy most of the time. In Kennebunkport and Newport we had sunshine, but the colours hadn’t advanced as much. Vermont offered a compromise between the two.
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Iceland -
August 07
Jen and I were invited to
Iceland by Fridfinnur (Sigge) Sigurdson together with Lasse
and Bittan. We travelled around by boat, small airplane and
a huge specially built car that could traverse the lava fields
and glaciers in inland Iceland.
It rained a lot, but on our last day at Tingvalla, the sun was shining on all of us. According to the guidebook on average it rains all days except one in July in Reykavik!
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Mikee
at Knightstone -
Summer 07
Mikee, Jennifer’s four year old niece (she turned five in October),
visited us during the summer together with Jen’s mum Luz. We spent
lots of time at Knightstone but travelled also to Sweden to experience
Marstrand, where we had the Christening of Adèle two years
earlier, and we were tourists in London.
The pictures show Mikee at Knightstone with our friends
and with the animals.