Ken and Karen’s Christmas 2017 News

What an amazing year we have had! We’ve moved away from Bracknell to a new location, had our first grandchild, changed churches, lost a lot of weight, retired and published another book. Phew! Let’s take them one at a time but not in that order.

Alfie born on 30^th May 2017

Alfie is our first grandchild and we are completely besotted with him. He has been to see us about 5 times since we moved, and they have been precious times. Alfie plus mum Sarah (our daughter) and dad Alex are coming to us for the new year. We are so looking forward to it.

House move in June 2017

Two weeks after Alfie’s birth our move from Bracknell in Berkshire to Penclawdd near Swansea was completed. Ken’s mum, Bea has come with us and is now part of our household. She has just celebrated her 89^th birthday. Mum has already joined a local Church, attends the local W.I. and is becoming more active in the local community.

Karen grew up in Wales and we used to holiday on Gower regularly for about 20 years staying in a small village called Knelston. We are so happy here and can’t believe that we now actually live in such a lovely place. There is some work still to be done to the house. So far we have replaced the central heating, the kitchen and the bathroom too. We have also completed a myriad of other smaller works. Next year we plan to sort out the gardens…

New Church July 2017

After a short search we found a group of people who meet in a local school, three miles away from our new home. The church is called Pillar Church. They welcomed us warmly and we quickly decided to make it our spiritual home. We have started serving in the tea and coffee department so far. A lot of fun.

Slimming World

After his health scare in October 2015 and subsequent stent operation in December 2015 (while still in Bracknell), Ken followed his doctor’s orders and lost a lot of weight and started exercising. Karen also joined him in Slimming World. She reached her target of three stones weight loss in the summer. Ken has lost seven stones (Six with Slimming World) and has one more to go. He is a lot healthier now but must take care with lifting and working too hard.

We have also joined a local Slimming World Group in Killay and are part of the Social Team. We find that being active members helps us to adhere to the diet and this new way of eating. We are pleasantly surprised at how well and how much we can eat while losing weight and staying healthy.

‘The World of Slimming’ book

Ken kept a diary of his first year’s weight loss and published it as a paperback in February this year. Amazingly it has sold quite well with about 1,000 copies gone so far. We have no idea who is buying it, but it sells all over the world on Amazon.

We walk everywhere, and Ken averages 5.5 miles a day according to his Fitbit. He is well past 2,000 miles since 16^th January 2017 when he started recording his walks on his Fitbit.

Retirement

We sold our business nearly five years ago. Karen then worked for Sarah until May this year when she retired for the second time. Just as well as our weeks are full to brimming with other things. Karen is considering getting something part time in the future – watch this space.

2018

We are not sure what the future holds for us in many areas of life. Having just ‘landed’ and settled in, we will take things slowly and see where God leads us. Our son Nathan is busy with his building work. Sarah owns her own accountancy practice. We are keen to get stuck into something but don’t know what it will be just yet.

We wish everyone a peaceful Christmas and a brilliant New Year for 2018.