25 April The adventure finally begins

25 April. A beautifully sunny morning (without the hot tub that was drained yesterday) started the day off. Coffees on the terrace surrounded by pheasants and blackbirds. The blackbirds are shifting enormous amounts of bird feed to their neighbouring nest and we may see the offspring when we return in 3 weeks time. The boot of the car was choc-a-bloc, and off we went.

Our family of  wild pheasants

A well stocked boot

The ferry to Lymington was quiet, and  on time, so we were on our way on the mainland at 1150, using Apple satnav through Bluetooth earpieces, a new and useful experience. Traffic was light and the routes were very interesting, at times taking us through lanes and roads we probably wouldn’t have chosen ourselves ( must adjust the settings!). There was only one holdup for about 20 minutes on the A34, so we arrived at the car park at Gloucester Docks around 2:30. 

Why Gloucester? It is roughly half way between the   two ferries, and there is a Premier Inn

After coffee and cake at a sidewalk cafe, we strolled around the docks, very picturesque, and chatted  to another pair of tourists before our arrival at the  hotel for tea and siesta.

Afterwards, dinner at the Beefeater, and back to the room for relaxing, some correspondence  and a review of the day.

A fresh chapter

 19 April, 2022.  Resuscitating the blog for a new adventure.

 Easter has passed, and we are still feeling some effects of our recent Covid illness, but Spring is very much alive, and now that our visitors are leaving, we are concentrating on plans for our major new adventure- our 1100-mile road trip around Ireland. Travelling in our own car, and staying mostly in hotels, we will be visiting relatives and friends across UK and Ireland, with lots of “down time” in between.

Watch this space starting Monday April 25

April 10, 2021- Life in lockdown

 We have been in Coronavirus lockdown for 13 months, and we are now both double-vaccinated, so with the easing of restrictions on April 12, we are getting ready not only to receive visitors in the garden, but also to set off on the first overnight boat jaunt for 18 months.

Lockdown has proved to be a stress-free, even enjoyable, experience, almost what I originally thought retirement would be. Of course we miss physical contact with family and friends, but the new practice of video-calls goes a long way towards compensating.

We have a daily routine: wake up at seven for one or more cups of tea in bed while we check out calendars, daily news, emails, and social media; then the morning hot-tub ( which is now installed in the “spa shed”. This is followed by the daily 20-30 minute walk on a circuit taking in the sea front, then morning coffee, and an hour or so of miscellaneous tasks before breakfast-lunch at noon. 

For the past 6 months,  I have been doing weekday speech therapy at 1pm for 30 minutes with my young brother Terry (69) who suffered a massive stroke a year ago. This has badly affected movement and control on his right hand side, and has also destroyed his ability to speak, apart from the very odd unpredictable moment. The speech improvement is happening, but very gradually and very slowly, and the overall process will be detailed elsewhere.

In the afternoons, we have “free time” for more jobs and hobbies. I am now into 18 months of learning to play the ukelele, another very slow process for me - but it is the journey, not the destination that counts! Usually, in the late afternoon, I take some time ( 45 minutes) for “music therapy”, when I drift off into a very pleasant meditative semi-consciousness in a darkened room. Then it’s time for a “cocktail hour” before dinner-tea, followed by an evening in front of the television watching films or short series. Bed again at eleven pm to catch up on internet stuff, with final lights out before midnight.

A Day out in Cowes

All the visitors are gone, and it's time to think about putting a lick of varnish on the boat's mahogany uppers. The varnish used till now is a specialist "Epiphanes" gloss, available at a shop in Cowes, so a trip was planned there. First, the car needed fuel, then it also needed a wash, and then it was lunch time. A
long the way we had to pass both Lidl and Aldi - well, we didn't pass them, we went in!
By the time all these activities had taken place, it was well into the afternoon, when we discovered that the paint shop had closed for business a month ago.

So, back to the boat, stopping off to see a friend in hospital on the way, and also calling in on some friends who have just taken over their new house.

The harbour is still lively, and we watched a crab race down the nearby slipway. We know how to live!

Crab racing on the slipway

Monday April 14 More fun in the sun

Today the Sun seems brighter and warmer, and the wind has all but died. The harbour is emptier than it was over the weekend, but there are still yachts full of Easter Holiday kids, and little dinghys are scudding about in between the pontoons.

Christina has returned to finish off the job, and has left "Middle Watch" bright and shiny. Jason, not content with his 62 mile cycle ride of yesterday has just returned from a mammoth 5-hour walk along the ridges of the Western Wight, and we are just about to sit down to a farewell curry before he sets off on his journey home.

It's a great life!

Gill chats with Christina, our glamorous boat cleaner

A Managem - "The Dinosaur's Tail" and a sunny Sunday

The Sun has been shining since early morning, and we have arrived at the boat for lunch. "La Ina", the yacht which bumped us yesterday has departed (without any further damage), and the harbour is looking great. Jason has set off to complete his "Round the Island" cycle route, an amazing 62 miles, and all is well.

Yarmouth is a lovely port, and especially welcoming for a stroll around the Square, with its shops, bars, clubs and ice-cream parlours. Today's chosen flavours were Vanilla and Rum'n'raisin, contentedly licked away whilst basking on a bench facing the large flotilla of visiting yachts in for the weekend.



Today's "Managem" contains a little parable concerning organisational change. The full text will be published in the book, but the theme is that all organisations grow and change through a series of "evolution-revolution" phases.

During these revolutionary periods, there are often some very intense power struggles between "The New Blood" and "The Old Guard", with occasional casualties on both sides.....

Beware The Final Swing of the Dying Dinosaur’s Tail

“The Dinosaurs are dead”, he said

“Their days on Earth are done”

“Look here”, he said,

I’ve done the deed”

“I’ve shot the final one”

And as he grinned triumphantly,

His foot upon its head,

Its tail swung round

In Death’s last throe

And killed him-

Killed him dead.

APRIL 12 A visit from Jason and an interrupted nap

The promised sun did not turn up today, but happily, the promised son did.

Jason arrived in the morning, just after we had laid out the sunbeds on the patio. We had a very pleasant morning before Jason set off to explore the Island by bike, while we went down to inspect the boat following its spring clean yesterday by Christina, an attractive young blonde, who must surely be the most glamorous boat cleaner ever.
The weather was not in the slightest conducive to sitting out, so we retired to separate music stations for an afternoon nap, which was proceeding dreamily until the rather clumsy, noisy and disruptive arrival of a 38 foot yacht to the neighbouring berth. The noise of the collision had me tumbling off the wheelhouse couch to inspect the damage, which, thankfully was light. The offending skipper  was most apologetic, and more than a little embarrassed.
As my Mum would have said, "Worse things can happen at sea"

And then, just when it was too late in the afternoon to be of any real difference, the Sun made a very brief  appearance so as not to make a liar of the weather forecaster. Ho hum.