Back to the UK

We have just had a fleeting two-week visit back to the UK. As usual, Katie took the travelling in her stride, she loved the travel cot on the plane, for her it was first-class travel!



Sadly, once we reached the UK, she came down with a bug and was a bit out of sorts for the first few days, but soon bounced back to her normal smiley self.
We spent three nights in Berkshire with Hazel’s parents, two nights in Nottingham with her sister and nephew, then five nights in Devon. One of the main reasons for coming back was for Dave’s Mum’s 70th birthday, here she is blowing out the candles on her birthday cake!



We had a mad few days trying to catch up with everybody, a great night in the (now smoke-free!) Globe and Dave even managed a boat trip down the river Exe.
Two more nights with Hazel’s parents then we were back on the plane back to Boston. We were surprised to find everything had turned white in our absence, it had snowed 7 days before and not yet melted.



However, all thoughts of a white Christmas soon disappeared as the temperature crept back up above zero. Christmas Day itself was warm with sunshine and blue skies, much to the disappointment of our friends in rainy Florida.
Katie enjoyed her first Christmas, she was a bit bemused by all the presents but had great fun ripping up the wrapping paper. We had Christmas dinner cooked for us by friends – a delicious home-cooked ham, which is more traditional here in the US than turkey.



Wishing everybody a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
And all the best to the vicar of Dawlish, hope he’s back on his feet again soon.

Thanksgiving

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving, or ‘turkey day’ as it is commonly known in the States. Quick history lesson: it all began back in the 1600s when the founding Plymouth Fathers gave thanks for having survived their first bitter New England winter. They could not have done so without the help of local Indian tribes, and their friendliness was repaid by almost total annihalation.

These days, Thanksgiving is a sort of early ‘Christmas without presents’ and most people celebrate with a turkey dinner with friends or family. We were invited to dine with friends of friends, each person bringing part of the feast with them in the American manner (very sensible!). There were ten adults, six children and a huge turkey to match. I was in charge of potatoes and, as well as the traditional mash, I was inspired to make the exotic-sounding ‘marshmallow sweet potatoes’ (sweet potatoes mashed with brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, then topped with marshmallows and grilled until just melted). It was tastier than expected!

The weather here is now getting seriously cold. We have had a few snowflakes but so far nothing that has lasted, but on some days bitter winds make the temperature almost unbearable outside. We have three electric heaters to keep us toasty inside the trawler but still hope to get the log fire roaring after Christmas (we need to extend the chimney through the shrink-wrap).


On Saturday night, we ventured out to watch a parade of vessels with their Christmas lights. It was quite a display, as much for the scantily-clad dancing Santa girls on one boat as for the lights, but they were also pretty impressive. There were Santas, stars, reindeer, even gingerbread-men made of lights. Sadly, it was one of the coldest nights so far and even with thermals on we nearly froze to death!


We are now preparing to fly back to the UK for a quick visit. We will be back in Devon from the 12th to 16th December and hope to catch up in the Globe on the Friday night. Katie has been mastering the art of waving – hers is a sort of royal wave – and she looks forward to trying it out for real!