Dear Brethren All,
I am sitting here, just before 8 o’clock on this Saturday morning without any idea what I will be putting in the Letter from Andover today. On the family front, this has been a week of mixed emotions, on 25th our eldest daughter and her husband had the joy of their grand-daughter, Florence, being born. Mother and baby are doing well. Then yesterday I received a message that one of my cousins in Ferndown had passed away. Today we are due to go to Caversham to see our youngest daughter in a musical, where she has the part of Grandma Adams, in the Adams Family show.
I do appreciate the comments from some of you regarding these missives showing that my efforts are not in vain, thank you. In the garden, Pat has been busy clearing weeds and then I have been helping to spread manure around the soft fruit plants. We still have some colour displayed, which is very good to see. Some spring bulbs have been sown so things will be looking up next year. The runner beans have now disappeared so another trip to the tip to get rid of the foliage, along with some other rubbish. It is nice to see some of the trees beginning to show the changes of colour in their leaves, autumn is usually an awesome time of the year with regard to the colours that are produced on the trees,
On the Almoners front can I please remind Lodge Almoners or secretaries, to notify me of any deaths of Brethren or their close relatives. It is my wish to at least send a card of condolence to the family, on behalf of the P.G.M. to show that we have them in our thoughts. Our Provincial Grand Master or I like, where possible, to have some representation at our brethren’s funeral. It is my responsibility to keep the In Memoriam page up to date, which at present is missing a number of entries. I was some what disappointed during the week, when I was trying to organise something with a brother’s family regarding possible visits or help, to discover that the Lodge is very low in membership and do not have an Appointed Almoner.
I am aware that some brethren are still cautious when it comes to attending Regular meetings, this I fully appreciate and understand your feelings. If you are such a brother and wish to chat to someone, please just call me and we can at least in some way give you some support. Those of us who are able, please have those, whom we have not seen for a while, in mind and try and contact them. Keep those lines of communication open, they are so important. Don’t forget to alter your clocks tonight, extra hour in bed. I do hope that the rainfall is not too heavy as predicted for today. For those on the Isle of Wight, who may have suffered flooding, you are in our thoughts.
Thinking of you all.
Malcolm Lloyd, P.G.S.D., Prov. Grand Almoner