Hi Emma,
Hope you had a lovely Christmas yesterday. I had a good day. First I went to the St Andrew's church service in the morning and then I went home, quickly cooked a bit and then had a very nice lunch with Alex and Nancy. It was lovely sitting out on the veranda in the warmth after lunch - very peaceful and relaxing. In the evening I phoned your Grandma and Grandpa in NZ to have a chat and wish them a very happy Christmas
Hope you are enjoying a good break now. I'm thinking I'll go for a walk but the day is marching on. If not today, then hopefully tomorrow!
Take care and thinking of you.
Lots of love,
Aaron xxx ooo

Hi Emma,
Wishing you a very Christmas for tomorrow!!! I hope you have a wonderful day. I'll be thinking of you. These are the presents that I sent to you (only last weekend sorry!). I hope you like them.

It is just the usual kind of stuff that I send, hope you don't mind. I'm off to church in a few minutes. There is a choral service tonight at 8pm. After Christmas service tomorrow (at 9.30am), I'll be having Christmas lunch with Alex and Nancy. It is really to be able to do this again this Christmas (especially since Alex has been in hospital fairly recently after he fell in his garden - he is much better now though). I'm going to cook a couple of dishes to bring.
Hope you have a very special Christmas. I'll write here again tomorrow but in the meantime, have a great day!!
Lots of love,
Aaron xxx ooo

Hi Em,
Hope you are well and looking forward to Christmas tomorrow! Before I post the photos of your Christmas presents (posted last weekend), I thought I'd note these books that I read recently (I'm sure you are interested in this, or maybe not! )

This is the last volume of the “Book of the Short Sun” trilogy. I really enjoyed it. Gene Wolfe is a quite a religious person and it comes through in his writing. It is a strange and not really a dramatic conclusion to the story of Horn and his search for the lost Silk but it is really beautiful. It is the kind of book that you don't want to end. I think anyone who likes science fiction or fantasy should try Gene Wolfe.

Ngaio Marsh was a New Zealand writer who lived most of her life in England. She wrote really good mystery stories (a bit like Agatha Christie). Her books are normally short and easy to read but she has wonderful characters. This one is about a murder that happens during a performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Inspector Alleyn is in the audience and needs to solve the case. I think I read that this is the last book she wrote before her death but I need to check this. I'd recommend any of her books. They are normally set in England but there are the odd references to New Zealand.

By the way, both these books were from the Athenaeum library.

Lots of love,
Aaron xxxooo

Hi Em,
Hope you are fine. I had to rescan this image of the church as the image the church office had been using wasn't printing so well. I think it looks good now. It is a lovely drawing of the church, don't you think? I don't know who drew it, so I'll ask that when I'm there tomorrow.

I am on at Computerbank in a little while, so after a bit of time here at the Athenaeum Library (which is where I'm writing this) I'll head off to try to finish your Xmas shopping. I'm planning on posting the presents tomorrow. Christmas feels very close now. Hope you are looking forward to it and are having a good time.
Lots of love,
Aaron xxx ooo

Hi Em,
Just a quick post to tell you what I'm reading. As you can see, it is another book by Gene Wolfe. This is quite a different style of book to any other ones of his I have read and is his latest one (published this year). It is set 100 years in the future and is about a beautiful actress, a young professor who is a “magician” and a mysterious and sinister businessman. It is described as a “pulp thriller” and that is a very good description. It is not very serious and probably not the best of his books but it is fun to read and I'm enjoying it.
Lots of love,
Aaron xxx ooo