Awesome October

OK, not alliteration but it sounds a bit similar.  The WEATHER!  20 degrees or thereabouts for the first half of the month – hot sun riding shotgun with warm winds from the south. Positively balmy. My only problem has been having to be in a classroom all day...
Sunrise...

                                                                                  ...Sunset

Still, we managed to get some surfing in on the back of a hurricane in the Atlantic – good waves, great fun. I wasn’t so sure about the 7.30am Sunday morning surf, though – it was pouring with rain, massive puddles across the roads as the drains were blocked with leaves – as it was really quite stingy on the face. Not that I noticed after a few minutes... just trying not to get dumped on the sand by the waves. Super exercise.

The garden has still looked great. At the beginning of the month we chopped down and dug up one of the cabbage palms – the smallest, near the garden patio – as it had died. It really was a ‘we’ – the Gardener (also Handyman/Plumber/Carvalet/Carmechanic etc etc) used the kango to dig up the root but it kept getting stuck in the woody fibres so I had to help pull it out and unstick it.  I then managed to persuade him to let me plant an apple tree, a long-held desire, which is now growing there in its place. Hopefully it will survive. I’d still like to get another tree or two... have my eye on a spot on the kitchen patio where a cotoneaster died after the winter. The fuchsias have still been flowering madly, giving up just in time to welcome the nerines - the Guernsey lily - shining pinkly, almost fluorescent, in patches.

And there are still tomatoes...and jars and jars of chutney...

And breakfast with friends:

Of course, it turned wet and windy halfway through the month, but really, it didn’t matter. Pickle still enjoyed napping in the window.

Good news from Cat and Andy on the other side of the world: Andy found a job in Auckland; finished his master's a month early; and they moved into a house, sharing with Andy's sister and Cat's dear friend Bex. Now, just waiting for Baby to arrive next month...

Jonny and Adele enjoyed half term camping on the Tanzanian coast...

Meanwhile, at home, half term was rapidly approaching, bringing with it the prospect of a breather: off to England for the motorhome’s yearly check. A good excuse to catch up with friends and family...

The biggest excitement for me, though, was an invitation to a tea party at Buckingham Palace. No, not with the Queen. More next month....