Back into Blue skies and sunshine

Back to beach walking

After almost six weeks away its good to be back here in our 'home'.  A good time has been had by all with visits to places afar, places we have never seen before and at times shared with people we have never met before.  It has been so enjoyable but its good to be back.

The house has survived our being away and is all in one piece and much to our delight the garden has stood up well to any bad weather that has been and gone.  I remember so well being quite upset to return last January in the UK to a garden that was best described as 'bashed' - this year there are a few leaves to collect and a remarkable absence, although not totally of 'Charlie'.  If you don't know Charlie then you will have to refer back to early last year when it was a regular visitor to these pages.

Blue skies make you feel so much better and temperatures have certainly been in the low 70F since we have been back.  A good time for beach walking to Faros with scarcely anyone to be seen.  The sea is calm, hardly any wind and was even warm enough to sit on two plastic sun loungers that somebody has been kind enough to place under the blue umbrella on what we affectionately call Umbrella Beach.

During our time away work took me twice to Chicago along with New York and Boston.  BA airmiles the 'payback' from time away and the highlight was our much waited cruise holiday to the Caribbean and its environs of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.  Great places to visit, although for me, some of them once!  Never having been before on a cruise it was with some trepidation that we set off on the flight to Miami where we were scheduled to pick up the Severn Seas Navigator.  We should not have worried as everything from th hotel we stayed out first night in to the cabin on the ship to the wining and dining to the excursions ashore were well organised and certainly 'fine' - especially the wining and dining.  Won't disclose how much weight we put on ..... let's just say we both did.  4 days in Miami on the way home were also well received and the chance to sit on the beach for a couple of the days in temps reaching the 80F as great.  A stroll down Ocean Drive was also a time to savour.  We met a number of very interesting people to spend time with and share stories - Craig and Andrea if you are reading this it was very good to meet you guys and we practice our shuffle board (somewhere) so we will be in form when we visit!  Our first cruise, perhaps the sign of old age creeping in as it certainly won't be our last.

Follow the link here to view some (but not all) of our pictures https://picasaweb.google.com/114877672570450880332/Cruise#5844800252636253890