Majestic May, Journeying through June

Back to more regular blogging… and the month kicked off in majestic fashion with the coronation on May 6^th. There was a fever pitch of excitement from the media, huge interest in the royals and much gossip about them, and an impressive display of military splendour. I watched most of it, as it was such a historic occasion. Quite impressed by the service in Westminster Abbey – more churchy than I was expecting, somehow, though why I should be surprised I don’t know, as the coronation has always been a religious ceremony. Much of the symbolism passed me by, but it was, I suppose, all quite spectacular.

Until I found out that the British taxpayers had footed the £100 million bill. Don’t tell me that the royal family bring in billions if not trillions of foreign visitor money… I’m sure the Eiffel tower and the Colosseum do something similar for France and Italy, though perhaps the maintenance costs might be comparable… hmmm.

Apart from that, life continued. Richard’s birthday saw us enjoying sundowners down at L’Eree, the sun so warm against the wall that I even contemplated a swim… but settled for a paddle instead. The sea temperature, after all, is still 12 degrees. #toocold

We started the process of preparing the house for our summer guests, catching up on spring-cleaning, gardening, and completing fiddly little jobs and bits of clearing/sorting out.

The motorhome got a new seal on top – the old one having become brittle and in danger of cracking. It did take two of us pushing and pulling, but it was surprisingly easy to do – no dramas at all.

The pot plants were topped up with compost and fed. The geraniums had survived the winter pretty well, but several were still looking ridiculously leggy and needed another trim – hopefully they will bounce back by June. I planted out more osteospernum cuttings on the bank, in they hope that they will take and then spread, providing colour instead of the grass already there. (The grass needs a good trim.. but I put the shears ‘somewhere’ in February and they have not yet emerged from their hiding place. I have NO IDEA where they are.)

The vege patch (I won’t dignify it with the term ‘garden’) on the other hand, is producing only a magnificent crop of rhubarb and a few straggly spinach plants which have immediately gone to seed. But I have pruned and tidied plants on the patio, helped by the disappearance of the ivy from next door which was always trying to invade, so hopefully the wonderful clematis (large, early-flowering – a Nellie Moser?) and the jasmine we planted a couple of years ago will take off. The ‘Super Fairy’ is also becoming quite prolific, just needing some careful feeding to fulfil its pink potential – looking forward to those hundreds of blooms in a couple of weeks.

Other satisfactory events included acquiring a new set of patio furniture through the wonderful second-hand pages on Facebook. Our previous chairs had lost their plastic coating and were completely rusty, so it was a wonderful find, along with a useful pair of sandals and some summer clothes.

I began to pick up more supply teaching, including in a new school; home group started again, always so good to be together; and, of course, the weather began to improve, though much of the month was characterized by a very cold wind, tempered by the sun.

Not so satisfactory was selling the Micra. On the plus side, we did get a little money for it rather than having to pay to have it disposed of. And it went to a delightful young man who fell in love with it. He had spotted it as he drove by, so drove in, rang the bell, and asked us to sell it to him. He was a huge fan of Micras and I did feel it went to a good home. He even asked its name! We couldn’t help noticing his skip of delight as he bounced back into his car when he collected it. But still… it had been my trusted companion for nearly 19 years. I had even, when our friend Stuart prayed for us when he dropped us at the car auction, had an inkling that we would end up with a red Micra. (I don’t like he colour red and a Micra was not necessarily what we were looking for, but as soon as I sat in it, I KNEW.)

The other not so satisfactory occurrence was being laid low for 4 or 5 days with a virulent stomach bug… Bizarrely, my sister-in-law in Cambridge seemed to have had exactly the same at the same time.

And then a Godincidence: my close friend Tricia from Guernsey, at a conference in the UK, met my ‘sister’ Catherine – my close friend from VMM days, with over 40 years of friendship under our belts. Not only that, but both Tricia and Catherine lived in Tanzania for a while… #lovethis

June saw a lot more sunny weather – but oh, the WIND. Strong – force 5 – 6 for a couple of weeks – and a cold north-easterly. We are able to find several sheltered spots around the house but it was generally very wearing and it seemed that summer was definitely tardy, although the western parts of the UK experienced wonderfully warm weather.

We were busy, though. Our first guests were due to arrive on 10^th June, whereupon we would decamp to the campsite in the motorhome. Working steadily through the jobs needed to prepare the house and garden, we were able to get everything finished in time, which is surprisingly satisfying.

The guests were delightful, very friendly and helpful – they even offered to water the plants. They had decided to travel by bus, but I was able to give them a lift towards the supermarket when they arrived and someone else, seeing them waiting for the bus one day, gave them a lift into town. Indeed, when they left, the same lady (I eventually worked out that I knew her! #typicalGuernsey) took them to the airport as she was collecting her sister on the same flight. #suchaGuernseything

Our week at the campsite was delightful. The winds had dropped and it was WARM. And it is always a pleasure to reconnect with people we know there, particularly Jean, Vanessa and Paul who we first met in 2020 when they were camping next to us. (Not visitors: local residents who help out at the site in the summer.)

And there was more supply teaching, which worked out well. Coffees with friends. Sea swimming – one week I managed to swim every evening when the weather was particularly warm – up to 25 degrees, one day!

The water was cold, but not too painful. I quickly ditched my shortie wetsuit and eventually managed to go in without gloves as well, though the neoprene boots are always useful – protecting my feet from the inevitable stones in the sand.

Back home more gardening, more sorting and cleaning, finishing off various motorhome jobs, catching up with friends for dinner on various occasions and enjoying the weather before Jonny, Adele and Finn visited at the end of the month.

Wonderful.