Remembering a special man

Dan there is so much from the last year we would have loved to share with you. But you are always in our hearts and as we are surrounded by the sea it is never hard to imagine you are very far away.

In the words of my lovely father-in-law, who borrowed words from an equally intelligent man-

Sea Fever
BY JOHN MASEFIELD

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking,

 

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

 

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

A last minute treat

I feel like a very lucky girl. I have lots of lovely people in my life but I think a friend who travels to see me jet lagged without sleep for 23 hours, 2 days after returning from Australia needs a special mention. Thank you Jenny. And April thank you for returning from a work trip from Dublin at 1am and leaving less than 12 hours later to get the Scillonian here. And thank you Jon for coming down with the girls and bringing an awesome selection of wine (so I've been told, although yes I did have a couple of glasses...)

It was a last minute plan for Jenny, Jon and April to come and visit this weekend but this made me feel even more spoilt. I like the image of Jenny driving Jon's Jag, picking April and Jon up from a comedy club at 1.30am and then starting a 12 hour journey, all just to see me!

We had the most wonderful time catching up. Jon was roped into playing cricket after being on the island for less than 1 hour and didn't complain once. It was like the old days of living together in our student house, drinking, eating olives and talking A LOT. But rather than discussing where our futures were going, discussing what has been happening in our lives. I think we are pretty much following the paths we predicted for each other 5 years ago. Jenny working in TV, travelling, keeping a bunch of men in check and being the life and soul of every party. April working hard and playing hard, living life to the full enjoying music, wine and good food. Me, well the girls always knew I'd be settled in the countryside (although maybe they hadn't guessed an island..), married to the man of my dreams. 

This weekend has been autumnal and everyone whole heartedly embraced my idea of black berry picking. 

Of course all the hard work called for cake and beer, ginger beer for me. 

(Sorry April, I have no idea why you are pulling that funny face!)

We had enough blackberries to make a crumble to follow our gorgeous roast beef (thanks Barney) and I have enough left over to possibly make some jam if I have time!

I know the guys will be on their way back to London now and I am already planning our next meet up, although next time we will have a new little person in our group. Yes, the girls did also predict I'd be the first to have a baby!

33- 34 weeks

I've failed, I haven't got a picture of every week of my pregnancy but this is at 33/34 weeks and to be honest I don't think there was a lot of change between those two weeks. Still I'll get back on it for my 35 week photo.

Jam & Jo

Last Sunday was miserable and grey, it was lovely. It is the first Sunday Barney and I have had at home for  a long time, in fact I found it hard to relax to begin with- surely we have lots of do?! But swept up in the autumnal feel I had the urge to do something homely and crafty. I saw this recipe on one of my favourite blogs and thought I'd give it a go, rhubarb and vanilla jam.

It was nice just to potter around the kitchen, sterilising the jars, testing the jam with the 'wrinkle test.'

And I can confirm the end result is very tasty...

I also got the spare room ready for Jo's arrival. Unfortunately someone decided the clean sheets were especially for her!

Jo arrived on Tuesday and we have had a lovely time, it has just gone so quickly! As usual we have spent a lot of time talking and putting the world the rights. We also managed to fit in a couple of very nice meals out as well as some spending a couple of rainy afternoons watching films. The weather hasn't been great but yesterday was glorious. Poor Barney was at work whilst Jo and I went for a walk and a paddle in the sea, it was very tempting to go for a swim!

Mostly it has just been nice to have time together. Have a safe journey home Jo! 

September

September is here and I don't know whether it is because for the first time in a while we have had a lovely warm summer, but as the month has changed it has definitely felt like autumn is on the way. The first part of this week has still been sunny but there has been a breeze in the air, the type of breeze that requires blankets on the sofa and a cardigan when you leave the house. This is one of my favourite times of year.

We have had some spectacular sunsets, Barney and I wandered down to the beach after dinner to watch but unfortunately I didn't take a camera. I have borrowed this picture from my friend Zoe, it's not enhanced promise!

See, pretty special.

I also had a nice surprise when I looked at our veg patch this week. Our raspberry canes have grown in every direction possible but when I lifted a branch I found 8 ripe raspberries. As Barney said that is an 800% improvement on last year's yield!

We've had a couple of days of rain and, excuse the pun, I've been feeling a little under the weather. Thanks to my lovely husband I have had lots of time at home this week to relax and recover. I've been enjoying reading and drinking tea from my new favourite mug (thanks mum!) and Barney has been very good at making me hot water bottles to help ease my aches and pains.

Today I have woken up feeling much brighter and have written a to do list, I love lists. I have quite a few half finished projects including a pile of wood to make kitchen shelves...

and a barely started crochet blanket...

To name just a few!

Earlier this week this box arrived, it can mean only one thing- my mother-in-law is coming to stay!

As if having a very nice box of wine wasn't enough, Barney opened it to find these...

Some lovely bottles of 5.5% wine, thank you Jo- we can't wait to see you!

32 weeks

This photo was taken very late this week. I'm just relieved to only have 3 more weeks left at work!