The steady trickle of Newsletters from across the miles is a timely reminder that it is the season of good cheer and that we must put fingers to keyboard to share our events of the last six months with you. It can be said that relationships are built on shared experiences and, although we are separated by geography, sharing thoughts and life events will hopefully support and maintain our friendships. So, what has happened in our life over the last six months or so?
One day, we met up with Rob & Jas and Rosie & baby Juno for a day at Kew Gardens. The children grow up so quickly! It was Christine’s very first visit to the Gardens, despite having lived in the UK for more than 10 years. The botanic gardens at Kew formally started in 1759, although they can be traced back to the exotic garden at Kew Park, formed by Henry, Lord Capell of Tewkesbury. The site now consists of 132 hectares (330 acres) of gardens and botanical glasshouses, four Grade I listed buildings, and 36 Grade II listed structures, all set in an internationally significant landscape. Kew Gardens even has its own police force, Kew Constabulary, which has been in operation since 1845. The Gardens were certainly magnificent.
Spring in the New Forest is a wonderful time of year – the blue bells were out, and the ponies were giving birth. It was great to show our visitors this beautiful part of the world. Tricky, Jane and Millie (ex-Lionheart, NZ) were exploring the UK and took the time to come and visit. We’d first met them in Auckland at the Pier 21 marina in 2006. The instructor on their sailing course was also a marriage celebrant, so when they’d successfully passed their exams, they asked him to marry them! Since then, they’d sold Lionheart and moved to the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia and bought a catamaran yacht brokerage business, and then sold up to go cruising. And, of course, had their daughter Millie. Their yacht was currently in Langkawi, Malaysia. It was lovely to catch up with them again – the last time had been in 2015 at Phuket, Thailand.
And Christine’s niece Pippa and her son Xavi visited from Australia – Pippa still owned rental properties in the UK following her stint at living there in the late 90’s. Now 10 years old, Xavi was fascinated by dinosaurs so we took them to the Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester, followed by a visit to the Charmouth Fossil Centre. He desperately wanted to find his own geode, so we collected a selection of possible rocks from the seaside for him to break open. Great fun, but no success!
In June we did finally manage to use our rash purchase of camping equipment and took ourselves to Northumberland and the Border counties. The weather was kind to us, and we managed to mix the wild and picturesque landscapes with historical and architectural visits to Glasgow and York. The highlight for Keith was a visit to the Farne Islands where we were nose-to-beak with the puffins and seals. The sunshine combined with a high tide allowed us to get very close to the thousands of birds adorning the rocks. We managed to get some lovely photos in the clear sunshine. The downside of the experience was a leaky airbed which we had to blow up every few hours each night – not good! This we exchanged for a new one upon our return to Southampton.
Christine is a great fan of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh style of architecture and design. As the visionary architect responsible for its re-design and re-build, Mackintosh not only transformed The Glasgow School of Art into world-renowned academy but also put Scotland firmly on the map as a centre of creativity and hub for art and design. His most intense work period lay between 1896-1910 – designing buildings, as well as all types of furniture and other decorative features – but he also drew and painted until his final days. Like his European counterparts, including Gustav Klimt, Mackintosh integrated a multitude of curves with straight lines but did so without the same ostentation, opulence, and grandeur. We spent a great day checking out his buildings and various examples of his art scattered around Glasgow – and shouted ourselves afternoon tea at the iconic Willow Tea Rooms.
In July we celebrated the wedding of Keith’s youngest daughter Charlotte to Rachel. It was a happy and lovely day, with the girls looking so beautiful in their wedding dresses. Emily and Jon came over from New Zealand and it was great to catch up with them – together with Robert, Jas, Rosie and Juno. Both Charlotte and Rachel played for the Reading Ladies Rugby Team and the team provided a delightful guard of honour.
Our big adventure for 2017 was joining Maggie and Trevor on “Kouba” their Prout Catamaran. See our separate account of this adventure.
We returned back to the UK in late August just in time to visit the Southampton Boat Show. Not to buy a boat or equipment – but to catch up with fellow cruisers from the OCC (Ocean Cruising Club) and the CA (Cruising Association). We spent a lovely day yarning and propping up the bar. Christine also arranged to visit the Oyster Yacht stand and caught up with her old work colleagues. While she did this I drooled over the Oyster and marvelled at the excellent workmanship of these ultimate cruising boats.
We have also spent time with the family this year and managed to cheer on Charlotte and Rachel playing for Reading Ladies Rugby team – before Charlotte suffered a nasty broken ankle! Emily flew back to New Zealand and our time together was oh too short. Robert managed to get three months’ Paternity Leave and Keith helped out with a few DIY chores with him which he enjoyed. On a sad note, Keith lost his older brother recently but it was very nice to catch up with his family in Wales.
On a number of occasions, we donned gumboots and visited Gill and Aidan’s small holding. They have accomplished so much in the last 10 months. We had “fun” helping them with some of their chores, including helping to build their pig pen and chicken coops. We were rewarded with produce from their extensive vegetable plots as well as some of the pork from their home grown pigs – which will adorn our Xmas table this year.
In October we went to stay with Gill & Aidan who were ready to build their new steel-frame barn. Aidan had prepared the base ready for the cement pads to be poured for each frame. A week later, once the concrete had set, a local farmer turned up with his tractor to help raise the frames. Keith helped stabilise each frame by hauling on a rope, while Aidan, perched in the bucket of the tractor, bolted the frames together. I stood on the sidelines using my eye to let them know when things were vertical – well enough that my judgement was backed up by the laser level! Within two days, the approximately 20 x 30m barn frame was complete. Now it just needed cladding – which Gill wanted to do with ‘shou sugi ban’-treated wood. Shou sugi ban is a method of preserving and distressing wood by applying an open flame to it. The fire chars the wood, turning the top layer into black ash, but only lightly so. The practice originated in Japan and has been used for hundreds of years there and across the world. Unfortunately, as she eventually realised, this proved to be impractical, and she settled for treating the wood with a black preservative to achieve the same aesthetic effect. The finished barn looked great.
With autumn approaching a new challenge beckoned… We started Ballroom dancing lessons – just for fun! This has been a source of great hilarity to us both – especially as Keith has two left feet and not a bit of musicality. Although he did get a thumbs up from our instructor for his waltz last week!
It has been bitterly cold here in the UK during the past month, and we are looking forward to returning to Torreblanca in southern Spain early in January for three months.