Hello again. Sorry it’s been so long. This landlubber life is very time consuming.
While we were away sailing our son, Simon, and his wife,
Erin, moved to California. There were a few extra items of furniture in our
house and a car on the drive when we returned home. My car was rolled out of
the garage, taxed and serviced. Simon’s car became Jeremy's and was duly MOT’d,
taxed and insured. We were a two car family again, but this was to be short
lived.
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| What's this, Mummy? |
A visit to Sal Darago on the hard in the boatyard was tinged
with sadness. Her green hull had been complemented with green decks and a green
cockpit, not to mention a layer of bird guano. The unusually warm, damp weather
had led to a growth of moss and algae. She looked neglected and I guess she had
been.
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| That's a tight fit! |
She is having a bit of a refit at present. All of her
standing rigging (the metal bits) has been replaced and the guard rails that
run right round the decks. A new hot water tank (calorifier) has been fitted
and 4 new portholes. The bow anchor chain has been replaced and we’re trying to
replace the bow anchor. This is in addition to the usual winter servicing.
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| Who stole the mast? |
My Mum was going to visit us in mid-January but she became
unwell over Christmas and New Year and went into hospital early in January. I
flew to the Isle of Man to see her and my sisters. That day Mum fell in the
ward and broke her hip. She had a hip replacement and was later able to go into
respite for two weeks. She went home on the last day of February to be looked
after by my sister, Sara, and a team of carers. My other sister, Pat, is
helping out as well. Mum’s progress is up and down and she is quite frail but
she is happy to be in her own home. Jeremy’s remaining aunt, Joyce, was very
poorly in January. She too fell and had a hip replacement. She has only just
been moved to a respite home, but seems to be improving.
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| The outside doesn't look too bad |
So, what happened to Jeremy’s car? It set on fire
spontaneously at the boatyard. No-one was in it. The keys were not in the ignition and only a
warning by a passer-by and quick action by Jeremy and the boatyard owner
prevented a serious blaze. The insurers have declared the 10 year old Ford
Focus a write-off. Jeremy had owned the car for only two months, but Simon had
owned it for four years and had looked after it very well.
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| Not so good under the bonnet |
During the same week we had a chimney fire, our second one
in only a few months of use. Jeremy put it out and a few days later we bought
our own rods and a brush and swept the chimney ourselves.
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| Granddaughter number 2 |
And now to the best news of all. Sophie Catherine Lloyd
Deacon was born in March, on the same day as Jeremy’s mother. Sophie weighed 9lbs 13oz. So well done, Em. They are now at home and mother and
baby are being looked after by Ben and Ellie.
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| Gorgeous |
We hope to launch Sal Darago in the summer. We’ll let you
know in the next blog post.
