Dear H,
I know it has been a little while since I last wrote. This was not through choice but at the request of the Court. Just like any other parent I love you, care about you and think of you all the time. Like any other absent parent I miss you and crave news from you. Being unable to see you or speak on the phone, letters and cards are my only means of telling you just how much I care and always will. I cannot stop being your Dad or ever stop loving you. When you are a parent yourself you will better understand.
Paula, your Guardian, asked that I start to write again. I believe you are seeing her very soon, so I apologise this is not handwritten or in a nice card as usual. Even so I hope this letter finds you safe and well. I hope you have settled in to your new school. I know from my recent visit that Emma is there with you so at least there are some old friends as well as new ones. It must be hard changing Schools again and having to make new friends all over again. At least coming back home gives you the opportunity to catch up with old friends from (removed) . Do you still keep in touch with Lucy ,Mary and Emily or even Charlotte. Sometimes we change and drift apart so maybe not. Certainly when I changed Schools and moved when I was 11 I seemed to find a whole new group of friends and only stayed close to a couple from my old school.
Your School seemed really nice. I was interested to see how different it was from JCG. It seemed to have a warm happy feel to it and the headmistress was very friendly. She was pleased with how you had settled in and just like every teacher I met at JCG thought you were bright, happy and well behaved. Well done Harriet . I am so very proud of you for what you have achieved and how well you have done in all you do. I don’t know how you do it all! I hope you have managed to keep doing the things you love and found a new choir and piano teacher.
It is coming up to Christmas again and I was wondering what you wanted for a present. Last year I was told you wanted an air hockey table I did not get this as they are very big and I did not know if there was room where you lived. At least now I know it would fit in the gym. Is this still on the xmas list? If not let me have a list of things you either need or would like for Christmas. It is very difficult buying things that I think you might like as you will have very different likes and wants at almost 13 to the 8 year old I knew so well.
My news is not too exciting I don’t suppose. I have been working hard on the Tower and painted the inside from top to bottom this Summer. Outside I have cut back some of the trees and planted some bushes and it is starting to look really lovely. I went to a local stone mason and had a day’s training on stone lettering which was fun and relaxing and I have a little project that I am working on. I do this in the top of the Tower which I have converted into a studio and this is where I paint a bit too. I’m not very good but again it is nice to do. I think the last time I painted was the house shields from Hogwarts for your 6th birthday party. You probably don’t remember that but we had one on each wall and played a game where you had to run to the right House like rats and rabbits.
I now have two cats who have come to lodge! They are not anywhere near as beautiful as yours. Brillo and Pickle are moggies. Brilllo has long grey hair and looks like a brillo pad! She is very affectionate and curls up in my lap as soon as I sit down. Pickle is a big tabbiecat He is very independent and scares the rabbits away which is great because they keep eating my flowers. He is so nosey and keeps disappearing into cupboards and getting locked in. He doesn’t like me at the moment as he got tar or something sticky all over his back and I had to shave some of his fur off! A reverse mohican!
I don’t know if you remember Cris? We went to the Tower of London with him and you used to come over to his flat and play his guitar. Well he has moved down to dorset and is at college training to be an electrician. He is staying too a couple of days a week so we get the chance to cycle and canoe on the river as his girlfriend has 3 kayaks that also seem to live here.
This weekend I have Simon and H.E coming to stay. We plan to do some kiteboarding and then some kayaking on the river. Im not so good at the kiteboarding but love being on the river. It is so beautiful particularly at sunset. The salmon and seatrout are starting to come up now and occasionally I see one jump.
Anyway I have probably waffled on too long. I love you and miss you very much. Keep safe
All my love
Dad xxx
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