Summer in February

Where has January gone? We are into February already. Here the in the north west of England we have snowdrops,crocus, daffodils and hellebores in flower. All earlier than usual. Probably as a result of the mild weather that we have been experiencing. We have had a few cold days and a couple of frosts, but no snow. Just a lot of rain and wind. One side of the garden has been water logged and the lawn is rather soggy, but that did not stop husband from cutting the grass last week! It must be a first,cutting the grass in January. Normally it is not warm enough to cut the grass until late March.

Part of the reason for cutting the grass is that with the mild weather, it has grown at a time of the year when it does not normally do so and it is also partly because we are about to resume our gap year, with a trip Down Under, leaving at the end of the week. We shall be away for nearly six weeks, which now seems to be a daunting prospect, although when we booked the trip last Autumn  it seemed like a good idea. As much as I want to go to see Australia and New Zealand, I am beginning to be concerned about what I shall be missing at home. The Spring flowers are starting to come out and they could well be over by the time we return home. Also I have decided that I really do not mind our cold Winter weather as long as I can dress up warm. I know that this is going to be the trip of a lifetime and it will be just that, as I do not think that I shall want to go away for such a long time again.

I do not mind flying itself, but I am not keen on long haul flights and the consequent jet lag and in order to get there, there is the small matter of the long haul flight or flights. We have two seven and a half hour flights, with a three hour transit stop over at Dubai airport, about which I have heard some horror stories - I just hope that they are not true, before we reach our stop over destination of Singapore. After three nights in Singapore we have another long haul flight down to Australia, where we shall have six nights. Then we fly to New Zealand. It is Summer down there and the temperature is between 20 and 30 degrees Centigrade, which is rather difficult to think about when the temperature here is in single figures. At least I do not have to try to pack the thick clothes that I am currently wearing.

The photograph is of Lamorna  Cove - the setting for the film Summer in February.

A New Year to remember

This time last year I wrote a post about a memorable holiday that we had taken over the New Year period.  We enjoyed it so much that we decided to go again and we had another unforgettable holiday. The first holiday was enjoyable and memorable, but not necessarily for all the right reasons. Consequently, when we decided to go again I wondered if we were mad or very brave. Last New Year's Eve I had eaten something which did not agree with me and I spent New Year's Day feeling very sorry for myself. Then at the end of the holiday husband had come down with a bug, which made him feel so rotten that he took an unprecendented three days off work, followed by a cough that last the whole of January. Surely lightening could not strike in the same place twice. We would have been very unlucky if the same thing had happened again. In any case you do not need to go away, or even abroad, to eat something that does not agree with you and bugs can be picked up anywhere and everywhere. I must admit that this time I was ever so careful about what I ate and fortunately we managed to avoid any bugs. The recent holiday was memorable mainly for the right reasons. And we are thinking about going again for next New Year.

For those of you wondering where we have been, we have recently returned from Funchal on the island of Madeira. You are probably thinking that Madeira is only a small island, so why do they keep going back?  Yes, it is small, but there is plenty to see and do and most importantly we are on holiday. We are there to relax and enjoy ourselves. There is no need to be chasing around all of the time, dashing from one tourist sight to another. We are allowed to take it easy. Have a coffee, glass of wine or a beer while watching the world go by, reading a book or looking at a tablet. Years ago we used to spend two weeks lying on a beach and roasting ourselves in the sun. I do not think that we need to feel guilty about doing very little. That is what a holiday is for. We actually try to strike a balance between being down right lazy and running around like headless chickens.

We are not the only couple to have fallen for the charms of Madeira. Many of the guests at the hotel, that we stayed in, are returning guests, which probably has as much to do with the hotel itself as it does with Madeira. We met up with some people that we had first met on our previous visit. Then there were other guests who were returning guests, that we had not met before. All interesting people gathered in the same location to celebrate New Year, relax and enjoy themselves.

At lunchtime on new Year's Eve we walked down into Funchal for a spot of lunch and to enjoy the atmosphere. The previous evening we had walked down to Funchal to eat and had been surprised to find the Cunard liner the QE2 (Queen Elizabeth II) berthed at the marina. By now she had moved and was anchored out in the bay with her tenders running a shuttle service between the ship and the quayside.
  

 There were now four other cruise ships berthed at the marina with a further six, including the QE2, anchored in the bay. Funchal was heaving with the additional passengers from the cruise ships swelling the numbers of  holiday makers actually staying in Funchal. It was like a carnival atmosphere with a band playing and market stalls selling necklaces, sunglasses, wood carvings and souvenirs etc. By mid afternoon we had to leave it all behind, to walk the 40 minutes up the hill to our hotel, in order to get ourselves ready for the evenings celebrations.

So showered, primped, preened and dressed for the occasion in DJ and long dress we took ourselves down for the drinks reception before the evening's meal. By 11.30 pm the meal was over and it was time to collect my wrap, to go outside onto the terrace, to watch the fireworks from the marina  at midnight. Outside on the terrace the waiters we serving sparkling wine and the band from the dining room had also moved outside. The temperature was mild and with everyone in a mellow mood after dining and drinking well, it was a wonderful atmosphere as we awaited the beginning of the firework display. If there was a count down to midnight we did not hear it, because we were too far away, but we did have a wonderful view of the 129,000 fireworks which lasted eight minutes. Funchal's natural amphitheatre and the ten fully lit cruise ships, in the marina and bay, adding to the spectacle of the occasion. We retired about 1 am, but there was more music and dancing for those that wanted it.

On New Year's day after a late breakfast we went for a a very breezy walk along the coast and had lunch by the this beach.

 Something that we could never do at home on New Year's Day!

Happy New Year!

Duty done with the relatives. Now it is time for some 'me time' or 'us time' as we spend new year somewhere warmer and drier than the UK. This is what I am expecting to see at midnight.

Happy New Year wherever you are.

Merry Christmas

After weeks or possibly even months of preparation the big day has arrived. And it is only one day! Presents have ben opened. We have had lunch. The washing up has been done and the log fire is burning in the snug. It has rained all day, here. So no chance of going out for a walk to shake down the Christmas lunch. Thankfully little chance of being flooded where we live. Enjoy what is left of the day.

Down to earth with a bump

After what seems like a summer of gallivanting around the world we are back home and have been for a few weeks. So for now there are no more views of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge or the Acropolis in Athens. Just the country lane up which we live, which looked pretty good a few weeks ago when the photograph, below, was taken. Here in the north west of England we had a bit of an Indian Summer and a mild Autumn after a dismal (proper)Summer. The colours were as good as any in New England and this was little Olde England.

But after the winds and rain of recent weeks the trees are now bare and the lane itself is a sea of mud. Some days we have had a moat at the end of our drive and we have only been able to get out into the lane in a car or wellington boots.

When we returned from the wedding, which was the subject of my last post, it seemed strange not to be getting ready to rush off somewhere, as we had been doing for most of the Summer and I have to admit that inertia set in.  However, after all that time away there was quite a bit of catching up to do, as well as finalising the itinerary for a trip Down Under next February/March, which will give husband a chance to meet up with some of his distant relatives, living in New Zealand. It is going to be an awfully big adventure and like nothing we have ever done before. We have been hoping to make this trip for some time now, but it was not feasible while we were working. Yes, I know that we have been away a lot recently. This is our post retirement gap year, but we are not doing it as 52 successive weeks. We are pacing ourselves, as we have a long list of countries around the world that we would like to visit.

Last week  husband's oldest school friend and his wife came for lunch. Working out a menu was a bit of a challenge as he can not eat nuts and his wife is lactose intolerant. The main course was not a problem but the majority of deserts contain some form of dairy products and I was determined to make use of our harvest of cooking apples. After rummaging through my collection of recipes I eventually found a couple of suitable deserts and we had a good day catching up with them.

You could be forgiven for thinking that life at the moment is pretty rosy, but it has not all been a bed of roses. A few weeks ago my Mini Bluebell was reversed into in the car park of a local shopping centre, denting the driver's door and badly damaging the panel behind it. I was stationary at the time and the other driver admitted liability. Neither of us was injured which was the most important thing. My shopping trip was cut short and I spent the next few days fielding telephone calls to and from my insurance company, the other driver's insurance company and insurance company car body repair shops. I reluctantly decided to allow the bodyshop, of the other driver's insurance company, to get my car repaired because they appeared to be able to do so sooner than my insurance company's bodyshop. It may have been a mistake as the nine working days that it took to do the repair was far longer than I had expected. Okay, I had a courtesy car, but it was awful and I only drove it when I really had to. It was a Vauxhall Corsa, which is not a suitable replacement for a Mini. Apart from the fact that it was black with white go faster strips and looked like a zebra - it drove like a tank. Even with the driver's seat in its' highest position I was not able to see any of the bonnet and neither could I see some of the dashboard. That week and a half without wheels seemed to be a long time. On the tenth working day my six and a half year old Bluebell was returned to me looking sparkly and as good as new. It is great to have her back. If you are wondering why I can not walk - I can, but the nearest bus stop is a mile from where we live and there are no pavements or street lights. Consequently it is essential to have transport.

Then we come to our broadband situation, which has been a sore point in this cottage since the beginning of the year, when we theoretically should have been able to have superfast broadband installed. After two failed attempts to have it installed we had to accept that for us it could not be done. We were too far away from the cabinet serving our location. By chance a few weeks ago husband found out that one of our neighbours had managed to get superfast broadband installed. Work has been done to improve the line out to where we live. So now we also have it and husband is happy!

Another knot tied

Another month and another wedding. This time we did not have to travel as far as California, but it was far enough for us to need to spend two nights away. This time the wedding was in the very attractive Cotswold village of Bibury, which is about a three hour drive from where we live.

 
We could have driven down on the day of the wedding, but the last time that we did that for a wedding we were late and ended up following the bride into the church. Had we been late for this particular wedding we would probably have missed the whole ceremony, as it was a civil service at an hotel. So we drove down the afternoon before the wedding, arriving late afternoon.

After a quick unpack we had a walk around Bibury and made the use of the last of the day's sun to take some photographs. The wedding was at the Swan Hotel, which is where we were staying.

I had previously spent a night there as a teenager, returning to Yorkshire from a family holiday in Devon. Bibury did not seem to have changed much in the intervening years. It is pretty unforgettable with the stream running through the middle of the village.

That evening we enjoyed dinner in the hotel restaurant, followed by a good night's sleep.

Unusually for England the weather was warm and sunny and the hotel decided that wedding would be held outside in their garden, which was lovely and very unexpected. However, the was one problem. Most of the ladies were wearing heels, which kept sinking into the damp grass! The ceremony was very brief and we then had celebratory drinks in the garden before moving inside for the wedding breakfast and party. And another member of the family is no longer young, free and single.