Firstly I am now retired. There was an offer to take Voluntary Early Retirement at work and, despite it leaving me with little money for just over 3 years until another pension starts paying, we (my wife and I) decided that given my physical and mental health it was the best thing to do. I haven't decided whether to take another job in the interim or what else to do as I need time to get myself back in working order.
Secondly we had a wonderful week in Venice. This was a special holiday to celebrate our being married for 30 years and my wife having a significant birthday the following day at the end of August. This was our third trip to Venice and, finance permitting, I don't think it will be our last; there is just so much to see. The lack of traffic seems to help my chest so I'm going to ask my GP whether the NHS will pay for me to move there!
Thirdly we came back to news of some serious problems at our church. I'm not going to go into details here as I don't think it would be right or helpful but when you find a church that you have attended all your life in danger of tearing itself apart it is very painful.
To finish on a more cheerful note here is a picture that captures a tiny part of the beauty of Venice.
