Sunday, January 19, 2014

The worst is over?

We visited Kantara on the driest day we'd had for ages. She was cold, of course, but otherwise fine. Because of the increased humidity over the past weeks, a bit of mold had developed on some of the blinds, so we took those back for washing. We took some measurements of the galley to aid us in the redesigning of it, and Grace got to work on graph paper and cutouts for oven, fridge and so on when we got back. It's not an easy task, but we'll get there.

Despite the wet and cold, I've managed to get in a couple of good sessions of gardening over the past week, and they've made quite a difference. Today, however, the weather was beautiful, and I took a stroll in Verulamium Park.





It was good to see so many people out, enjoying the afternoon under a blue sky.




The lake's flooded! We've never seen it like this before.






A kingfisher, not at all timid, was positively posing on the far side of the stream which runs through the park. The light was failing, so my photo's not the best.

So, is the worst over? We have a number of things booked for the next few weeks, so we can't go back to Kantara yet. Let's hope we've seen the last of the extreme weather we've been having.


Monday, January 06, 2014

And then there was Christmas!

And what an excellent day that was! Christine and Mike (the ones who cruised with us back in late summer) came for a couple of nights, and Eddie's family joined us all on Christmas day. Church in the morning, with the six Distills (including Eddie) lighting the advent candles. Fourteen of us enjoyed dinner together, largely prepared by Naomi and Eddie, with communal present-giving, games, much fun and laughter, and a very late tea, again courtesy of Nome and Ed.

While the kids all went to a New Year's Eve party, Grace and I had a quiet night in. Since then, life's been fairly uneventful. The weather's too awful to contemplate the gardening and other outdoor jobs which need to be done, and dissuaded us from visiting Kantara, too. It looks as if Wednesday might be calmer, so we hope to go and see her then, to check that she's OK. I'm glad we're not out on the waterways. I've seen lots of pictures like this - really quite scarey!




It seems there should be plenty of water in the canals when we start to cruise this year. A Happy New Year to you all!