As always in life, some things just don’t go to plan. Shortly after arriving in St Thomas from the beautiful Puerto Rico, we had news that my Mum was poorly and we decided to dash home to look after her. So we made our way to Martinique where marina berths are pretty reasonable for the Caribbean and shut up shop. It was the first time we had left the boat since leaving the UK four years ago, it was a real strange feeling but our family needed us.
Despite the memory of grey skies, rain and of course the cold etched into my brain, we were pleasantly surprised with a dry spring developing back home. This certainly helped ease us back into ‘normal’ life, although with day time temps around 10 celsius it still felt a little chilly. Thank goodness for open log fires! As spring sprung in Kent, March and April saw clear skies and temperatures regularly rising to around 18, allowing plenty of sitting out in the sunny garden and wonderful dog walks, although now our crops are a bit desperate for some rain.
I have appreciated the beauty of Kent so much more than I did when we lived here. With fields full of oilseed rape with blazing yellow flowers, bluebells in the woods, butterflies and bees taking full advantage, birds singing and lambs bleeting, all these visions & sounds of beauty will be tucked away in my memory bank for our return to the Caribbean.
Glorious bluebells at Hole Park Estate in Rolvenden
Fragrant wild garlic overhangs the path through the woods
Feebee looks out over a field of wheat
The caterpillar of the Brown-Tail Moth has so many hairs it can cause allergies and breathing problems on windy days! It was wonderful to watch their progress in this ‘nursery’ on my evening dog walks.
A baby black bird in Mum’s garden
Romanian Rescue ‘Jimi’ is such a cutie
Daisy determined to squeeeeeeze into Jimi’s bed!
Gold finch surveying the gardens
Jez’s project during our visit was to rebuild a stable wall with reclaimed materials from the farm
So now our time back in England is almost over, the last three months have flown by so quickly and thankfully my Mum has made an excellent recovery. It has been wonderful to spend time here and catch up with friends and family, but next week we will be reunited with Joy in the Caribbean to continue our adventures.
Joy of Shamrock Quay 
Greetings from spring in Maine! We’d almost forgotten how beautiful spring can be here in New England.
Susie, wonderful to hear your mom is on the mend and events weren’t as serious as you had thought. Please say hello to her for us. Your medley of country pictures makes me want to bring Barbara back to England and spend some time walking in the country. I have always loved the English countryside-hedge rows, narrow roads, well tended fields, village cottage gardens and local pubs. Also good to see the handsome wall Jeremy has built.
It sounds like you guys will be back in the Caribe before us. We just arrived in Maine and will travel again coast to coast in our used Passat taking the southern route through Arkansas (cousins) and Nashville (brother) on our way to grand children Lily and Liam in the Florida Keys. We will return to Shelter Bay in September and currently plan to transit the canal in late October and head north along the coast to cruise the west coast of Mexico. What are your plans? Where will Joy be for the hurricane season?
Warmest of regards Ted
Sent from my iPad
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