England in the
Spring
|
|
|
|
When
Vicky arrived in England at the beginning of April, the usual seasonal
confusion rained, with snow flurries alternating with Spring sunshine to lure
early flowers to their potential doom. A swing through the southwest, gave
her a chance to visit our friends John and Viv, who are going to take a year
off their racing-around-the-world-on-Sunstone routine in order to hike to Machu
Picchu. Vicky also took the chance to revisit the gothic splendour of
Salisbury Cathedral, David and Rose Shepherd and cousins Tessa and Jeremy
Ward, before heading back to our ‘virtual’ English home with Annabel and Dave
in Great Bentley. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vicky
also had in view one of the organising tasks at which she excels, in this
case the preparation for shipment of those few of our possessions which we
have managed to do without for the past eleven years and more. Though there
were more than we thought the bulk was a good deal less than most households
might produce for migration half-way round the world. Peter Cockayne kindly
shouldered the burden of making our shipping arrangements. To
keep our hands in we also helped Dave launch off their recent acquisition for
Backwaters cruising, ‘Dune’. Though less elegant than ‘Souzette’, ‘Dune’ has the great
advantages of reasonable headroom, a proper cooker and a proper head -
Luxury! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By
the time we arrive for an extended stay with Tom’s Mum, Erika, spring
planting was well underway, with the usual confusion between supervisors and
those doing the spade work. In the meantime, nature was doing its own thing
with blankets of wild flowers, particularly blue bells and wood anenomes,
throughout the woods and along the paths which we explored between showers.
Vicky alternated running days with days for taking Tom for long walks, which
became so habitual that he even continued them once she had headed back to
Auckland some days before him. Fortunately the month of May proved to be the
only decent month in a generally cold and windy British summer, so that we
actually saw the best of Erika’s garden and of the Sussex countryside. |
|
|
|
Next |