Jonathan and Anwen.

I returned home from Kent in November 1991 to help run the fruit farm. In 1994 I took over full responsibility for the farming company and in the same year married Anwen (nee Jones). Anwen and I met in while we were both working in East Kent (thanks Big Jim!).

In December 1996 Anwen gave birth to identical twin girls, Harriet and Isabel. They arrived 6 weeks early and took us a little by surprise. They weren't due until mid February and the central heating was still not completed. Luckily everything was in and working by the time that Anwen and the baby girls came home.

Harriet and Isabel have provided us with tremendous fun over the last 3 years. However, we would not like to pretend that they have not had their trying times. We have had the sleepless nights and runny noses that make the initiation for all new parents. They have at last started PlayGroup and we have found that as their imaginations and interactiveness have grown, they are now quite capable of keeping themselves occupied for relatively long periods of time.

Anwen works for Growth Technology in Taunton. Since the Twins have allowed her, she has gone back to work one day a week in Taunton and now she has a computer she can also work from home.

Time flies by so quickly now. We all enjoyed a very relaxing 2 weeks in the Canaries after the 200 harvest. Harriet and Isabel gained tremendous confidence swimming in the sea and in the pool. We are looking forward to the time when they need a little less supervision but they were very well behaved through out and are already looking forward to their next flight in an aeroplane. Harriet and Isabel had their third birthday on 30th December. They started opening presents on Christmas day and didn't really stop until the New Year. It became a difficult habit to stop; being so concentrated at one time of year. This year's project is to learn to ride their new bikes without the stabilisers. It might take some time….

Oh dear! 6 years have flown by since I updated this page and what a lot has happened. This wasn’t intended to be a ‘blog’ (whatever a blog is?) and so I will skip most of what has happened in the intervening years, except for a few major events. Harriet & Isabel went to school our local village school in Haslebury Plucknet. They leave in at the end of this summer to go to the middle school in Crewkerne but they have really enjoyed their time at Haslebury and we will be sorry to see them take another step forward in their relentless quest to keep growing up! They have just had their 9^th birthday and it is about time that I posted some current photographs.

Anwen continues to act as personnel manager at Growth technology and greatly enjoys the frustrations and successes that go with the job. She was Giles and Alice’s first employee and has watched and helped the company grow past a million pound turnover and beyond. In September 2005 Anwen shared a surprise 40^th birthday party with Sophie & Celia. Organised by the three respective husbands, it was not only a surprise to the birthday girls but a surprise that anything got off the ground at all. In the event it was a great success and over 150 adults and 120 children enjoyed a hog roast, buffet, bouncy castle, bucking bronco, disco, jive band, ice cream van, firework spectacular and not to mention Lucy Blackburn’s speech. A geat big thankyou to all who attended and made the evening so special to the 40 year olds.

Jonathan has continued to develop the farm and has particularly enjoyed the success that the apple juice has enjoyed in recent years as well as the challenge of managing Somerstock. Perhaps his greatest effort to date has been converting a first floor barn in to ‘Loft’ style apartment for the family. We now have a lot more space and can accept visitors if any friends are passing or want to invite themselves for a break in the country!

Last updated: 13^th January 2006