All at sea

Hello everybody,

Thanks so much for all your lovely messages.  It had been so long that I was a bit worried you'd all have moved on.  Do you ever feel like that after a break?  Like if you haven't blogged for awhile, everyone will just lose interest?  Anyway, so glad you didn't.

I know I said I'd show you photos of the house, and they will come I promise.  But the truth is that no room is photogenic enough at the moment.  We've been in the house exactly a month today, but somehow, it's all still up in a heap.  We didn't plan enough storage (plenty of sockets, but no cupboards) so we still have boxes everywhere with nowhere to unpack them into.  And in many, many of those boxes, there are books.  Fortunately, the chippie had now built in some shelves and we're busy painting them, so soon, very early one morning before the chaos of the day sets in, I will have photos for you.

And in the meantime, I thought I'd distract you with images of our voyage home.

First, I have to tell you that this was the perfect way to leave New York.  No rushing to the airport, no taking your shoes off and emptying your pockets.  No excess baggage payments.  No cramped seats and dodgy food.  Instead, this was the view as we sailed out on the East River.

The photos are a bit wobbly.  Partly because of the low light, but also because it was freezing.   It rained soon after these were taken and I wept with the sky as we left New York.

But the weather didn't stay bad for long, and it was all about snatches of brisk walks on deck squashed between the endless bouts of eating that we discovered is what a transatlantic crossing is all about.  Cooked breakfast, morning coffee and treats, lunch, afternoon cream tea, pre-dinner canapes, and dinner.
But waddling slowly on...

An out of season voyage is something is like being at a coastal town out of season.  Some things are packed away, or not used as much as they would be in the heat of mid summer.

But I actually liked it that way.  I had nothing to compare it to, this being my first (and probably only) cruise.  I suspect I am not the cruising type.

But this was just lovely.  Seven days of rest and relaxation with lots to do.  Or nothing.   Mostly, we did nothing.  Oh, we made a token effort and and played some deck games once or twice.

Oh, and we saw dolphins a few times (too quick to photograph).  But mostly, we just read a little, walked a little, slept and ate lots.  And contemplated the enormity of the change the year would bring.

All in all, a very fitting end to our life in New York.

C.x