Hurricane Season spent in UK:     July – October 2014

With Ocean Rainbow out of the water in Grenada it was time for us to spend the hurricane season in UK.  If we thought we were going to have a holiday we were much mistaken!   Our little pied-a-terre in Bruton has provided us with a refuge in between the mad dashing about to visit family, friends, doctor and dentists!  However, we have not been idle even whilst in Bruton.   James set himself a ‘keep fit’ campaign by helping  with maintenance tasks in our landlady’s garden (cutting, pruning, digging and mowing)  and we also went running whenever possible to try and keep our  muscles in trim – not sure we have succeeded as we both seem to have picked up some extra aches and pains!

Still it has been great to see our boys’ new homes and to help with their refurbishment.  We were complete innocents before we started to help their home improvement DIY and we spent many happy hours helping either in the garden or doing some stripping of wallpaper, sanding and painting.    Our next visit to both homes will be in the New Year when both couples become parents for the first time!   Let’s hope the respective nurseries are ready by then!

In late August we went to France for the 9^th and 12^th World War I Commemoration services in Moy del’Aisne and Moncel respectively.  On both occasions we were overwhelmed by the support from the local French community and immensely proud to be heirs to the former Regiments.  The events also made us very mindful of the bravery of the soldiers involved in the battles, it was an extremely humbling experience.  In between the Regimental events we stayed a week with James’ sister in Menton, close to the Italian border, and yes – you have guessed it - we helped with painting and gardening there.  We also attended the pre-wedding drinks in Villefranche for the daughter of a very dear friend, what a fabulous party.

On our return to England we kept up the visiting and visitors!   And as we now happen to be lodging in England’s foremost rural arts centre, we were able to offer visitors the added attraction of a tour around Hauser & Wirth’s Roth Gallery – their other galleries are in Zurich, New York and London, as well as Bruton…where else of course!  This Gallery is a remarkable attraction for a little Somerset village!

Now that the wonderfully balmy summer in England is coming to an end, so is our time as landlubbers.  We are counting the days to our return to Ocean Rainbow and very much looking forward to getting her back on the water, reviving our ‘sea legs’ and setting off again on our adventures.   It’s been fun to be back to see loads of folk, but we really feel we have been too long away and next year we don’t anticipate coming back for much more than a month to six weeks ….. famous last words?   We’ll see.

And finally, a picture of our last breakfast in Edward and Verity’s new kitchen!   Andrew drove us to London and Verity then drove us to Gatwick the following morning – many thanks indeed, it was a great start to our trip back to Ocean Rainbow.