Lyn's Log, 4th August 2006
Andrew's 60th

7th July was Andrew’s 60th birthday and I was glad that I had got most of his presents before going into hospital. Andrew’s sister Helen prepared a wonderful evening meal with party poppers and a gas balloon in the shape of a cocktail glass complete with drinking straw. It was a fun evening with Helen and husband Des, Andrew’s mother Barbara, and his niece Katy, her husband James and son Edward. On Saturday, we all went to a restaurant on Dartmoor for a lunch where we were joined by Andrew’s other sister Sarah, her husband Jim and daughter Alice, his niece Rebecca and husband Neil, and his daughter Cali, who stayed in Plymouth for a few days. The food was excellent and much wine was consumed.

The following Thursday it was Helen’s turn for a birthday and as the weather was still brilliant, we celebrated with a barbeque and yet more champagne. Friday we drove to Dover where we were very fortunate to be able to stay in a flat in the same block as our own. It belonged to the mother of our friend Ruth who rents our flat. It was strange how soon it felt like we had never been away. We met many of our friends from the White Cliffs Motorboat and Yacht Club and were due to sail the Ladies Race with Ruth and Barry in his yacht at the weekend.

Saturday was to be the Ladies Race and was also Sport Relief day, part of the Red Nose Day charity events, where people were encouraged to walk or run a mile. Barry had bought us all the sport relief T-shirts and red socks as our contribution to the charity, and we were to sail 20 miles to Ramsgate with sport relief as our theme for the day. Unfortunately the weather was rather too windy and the racing was postponed to Sunday. Nevertheless, everyone agreed to walk the three miles to the lighthouse and back in the afternoon, and then follow this with the usual themed cocktail competition, dressing up of participants and yachts, and the barbeque. Barry had a huge red balloon tied to the pulpit of his yacht that he had blown up inside the cabin and had great difficulty getting out through the main hatchway. Sunday had us racing down to Folkestone with the tide, drifting and lunching till the tide turned, and then racing back to Dover. It was a fun weekend with a fair amount of champagne and strawberries and everyone winning a prize for something.

We had about four weeks in Dover. Andrew went to his old office and caught up with things there, doing a little work and sorting out his tax return, pension etc. I spent a week helping Nicola with some house decorating. We managed, with some difficulty, to get appointments at our NHS dentist, though the work on a cap must have loosened the adjoining bridge as it came off immediately after returning to Trinidad, where it cost me the equivalent of £50 to have it refixed - within 24 hours on a Saturday morning. One day I visited my old offices in London to show our voyage photographs, and had a pleasant lunch out with Niamh and Linda. I have been really pleased how they have kept in touch and shown an interest in my travels. Everything there seemed much the same!

On the 3rd of August we took my mother out for lunch for her 87th birthday, and, as a surprise, my life-long friend Linda and her husband Norman came too. I was overjoyed that they could come as we had been unable to find a time to visit them in Colchester. They are also very good to my mother, who had been a great friend of Linda's parents. From there we spent a few days with Sarah, Jim and Alice in Malvern. With Andrew and I now much fitter, we were able to take short walks over the hills most days. Clare and Tim arrived for the weekend and we had some pleasant trips out to Ludlow – tea in a marvelous old fashioned tea room and buying sheep’s cheese in a fantastic cheese shop; finding great-grandmother’s tomb stone and the village where she had lived; and a very tasty Chinese lunch. Clare produced a wonderful late birthday cake for Andrew. Several hours were spent with four laptops out on the kitchen table swapping photographs, and tracing the family tree. Jim is in the middle of a massive house extension project, but they gave us their best room and a very comfortable stay.

I had one more day with my mother where, after one of her delicious lunches, we went for a walk round a local park we had not visited for some years, and picked up some wood chippings for her garden. It was a very enjoyable time together.