Unravelling

I slept in until about 07:15. Other than making coffee, the first order of the day was to complete yesterday's blog. That took me longer than expected, and by the time I had finished, Di had come down for a cup of tea to start her day.  

I had the usual call with my cousins. After the news about Andrew Mounbatten-Windsor this week, we had the entirely predictable anti-monarchy diatribe from Chris (who has lived abroad for about 30 years) and Tim. We let them rant and duly ignored them.

With the call out of the way, we headed to the Cattery to collect Jasper. As usual, he had been well cared for, and we had a long chat with Mark. Our route to and from was somewhat circuitous due to the flooding, but we managed without incident. Jasper, however, kindly presented us with a toxic, foul-smelling gift as we got within a mile or so from home. The less said, the better.

Chunks of the day have been spent downloading old cine film (which has been digitised) from Alex & Mary-Louise's NAS. The idea is that when I get time, I will try to clean it up and cut the huge recordings down into manageable chunks. My rule of thumb is that they should be less than 15 minutes, and ideally less than 10.

Sainsbury's kindly delivered our weekly shop at lunchtime. After we had eaten, we retired to the lounge for some Kindle time. 

Zoe has taken Ellie and her friend, Poppy, to see the laser show at Chichester Canal Basin this evening.  I'm sure they'll have a great time. It's a shame, however, that it is drizzling.

Around and About

I was up just before seven. It was our last day in Jersey, but our return flight was not until early evening, so we had a full day. I opened the curtains, and the sea was battering the sea wall beneath us. Someone had obviously topped it up again overnight. At least it wasn't raining, and there was sky to be seen beyond the clouds.

We went down to breakfast. Clearly, the hotel had a lot of new guests in the preceding 24 hours, as the dining room was quite busy by the time we were ready to leave. Alina, the woman in charge of the dining room, came to give us a hug, wished us a safe journey and hoped we would be back. I think that it's fairly certain that we will! We returned to our room (250) and packed our suitcases, then went to reception to check out and to leave our cases with the concierge. It was pointless carting them around with us all day.

We took a walk along the promenade, soaking up the sun and watching some brave souls swimming. We later found out that there was a sauna near the cafe, and the brave swimmers would head straight for the sauna as they came out of the surf.

Near the cafe was a lovely little garden scattered with benches where you could sit and absorb the view. It was very peaceful and an ideal spot for a tranquil coffee in the morning.

We crossed the road to the bus stop and hopped on the 12A into St Helier. We hadn't got a specific plan, but thought we'd mooch around the town for a few hours.

The first order of the visit was to find a little gift to take home for Mark, the Cat Whisperer. We walked along to the main shopping area and found a store that specialised in Jersey produce. The assistant, who was recovering from a personality transplant (clearly she was the donor), helped us select some honey and chocolates. We moved on, zigging and zagging through the streets and squares. 

Approaching midday, we stopped at a cafe for some coffee. This was near the waterfront and was evidently very popular, nestled at the foot of several modern office blocks.

With a fresh shot of caffeine coursing through our veins, we crossed to the waterfront. The view across St Aubin's Bay was excellent, and with the tide out, the vast expanse of sand was very inviting.

We walked along the wall that protected the Marian from the worst of the weather. A strong (and chilly) wind was blowing, and despite the sunshine, it felt cool.

We walked to the end nearest to the Elizabeth Castle. Elizabeth Castle is a large historic fortress built on a tidal island in St Aubin’s Bay by the marina. It's cut off twice a day by the tides. It was built in the 16th Century and named after Queen Elizabeth I, and it was the home of Sir Walter Raleigh during his tenure as Governor of Jersey. It also provided refuge to King Charles I during the Civil War.

It is only open from March through to October, so we were unable to visit. 

We wandered back to the bus station and made our way back to the hotel. The clouds had swept back over the island, and rain was expected. We settled down in the lounge with a sandwich and our Kindles. Our taxi arrived just before five and whisked us to the airport. As we went through the security checks, Diane was stopped, and the honey we had bought for Mark was confiscated as it was over 100ml. That was a shame, particularly as it was thick, not runny honey. We started to walk to the lounge when the security operative chased us down and handed the "honey" back to us, explaining that it was honey at all; it was a honey-scented candle! Well, you wouldn't want to spread that on toast.

Considering how empty the flight to Jersey had been, the return flight was full. We took off a few minutes late and headed north over Guernsey toward Southampton. As we approached the airport, it became obvious that the people who install the potholes in our local roads had been moonlighting and doing the same in our bit of sky. The plane was chucked about all over the place as we descended to terra firma.

Once we had collected the suitcases, we walked through to the car and headed home, where we were greeted by Zoe, a very excited Ellie, and her friend Poppy. We had a mad 15 minutes, and then they left us to relax. It had been a superb few days.

Castle

It was high tide when we woke up this morning. There was a strong wind blowing, and the waves were crashing against the sea wall below. Seaweed and debris were being thrown up onto the promenade and even onto the hotel’s terrace. The forecast suggested that the rain would stop around ten, but that it would remain windy all day. The forecast also seemed to take great pleasure in telling us that the temperature would feel like -4 °C.

We were in no hurry, so we strolled down past the Spa for a leisurely breakfast and sat chatting over our toast, fruit, yoghurt, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes and whatever else we fancied. At least we wouldn’t need anything else until dinner. 

We returned to our room and got ourselves ready for today’s adventure. We had decided to visit Gorey on the east coast.

We caught the bus outside the hotel and discovered we could buy a ticket that was valid all the way through, including the change of buses in St Helier. (I wish I had realised this yesterday.) We only had a couple of minutes to wait at the bus station before climbing aboard the No.1, which took us the last leg of the journey. The overnight rain had stopped, but the wind was gusting up to 40mph, and it felt very cold. The forecast suggestion of -4 °C seemed pretty accurate. We climbed off the bus at Gorey Pier and strolled along towards the shops, stopping at a store that specialised in knitwear from Guernsey, Jersey, France and also had a wide range of Barbour clothing. We stood chatting with the proprietor for ages. I think we got her whole life story, from birth in Jersey, childhood in France, and the fact that her mother is Norwegian. Diane kindly bought me a lovely sweater for my birthday before we left the shop.

We found our way to the steps, which took us up to the medieval Mont Orgueil Castle. This was an imposing fortification dating back to the 13th century and built on a rocky outcrop surrounded on three sides by the sea and cliffs. From the battlement, you can see France, just 14 miles away. It had, in fact, been used as a defensive location since the Iron Age. French attacks and sieges during the 13th and 14th centuries led to improvements and a strengthening of the garrison, and a number of improvements and renovations have been made over the years. It was an intriguing place to visit, and we had free rein to wander virtually anywhere we wanted. The battlements and wards were exposed to the biting wind, and whilst they offered some stunning views, they were too cold to linger for long.

We clambered back down the steps (equivalent to 10 flights of stairs) and found our way to a small Cafe where we sat down for a cup of coffee and a slice of millionaire’s shortbread. We lingered for a while, but then hopped on the bus back to St Helier and changed for the bus to St Brelade’s Bay. The whole journey back took about 65 minutes. (I must say that I’m very impressed with the Liberty Buses on Jersey; they seem to run on time, and there is a flat fare for all trips. If a trip requires a transfer and that is within an hour of starting your first trip, the fare can be covered on the first ticket.)

We ditched our outside gear and went down to spend some time in the lounge. Di enjoyed a pot of tea and some fancy cakes, while I enjoyed a glass of beer. We stayed for about an hour, then returned to our room. Like yesterday, the cloud seemed to be breaking up near the horizon, but this afternoon we seem to have gained a rash of surfers braving the cold wind. 

(Unfortunately, the surfers only appear as black dots in the surf in this photo.)

We went down to the lounge for dinner. Today's special was a lovely chunk of cod, grilled and served on a bed of vegetables. We both chose the special, and it was delicious. We finished with some ice cream before returning to our room for the evening.

Tunnels

It rained heavily throughout the night. Either it was high tide or the sea was full when we woke up just before seven. We had a quiet hour or so in our room before going down to breakfast. We are used to having a good breakfast selection when staying at The Victoria, or Carlyon Bay, but they were no match for the breakfast menu here at L’Horizon. We were in no hurry, so we lingered over breakfast.

Because of the intensity of the rain, we decided that a trip to the Jersey War Tunnels would be a good idea (after all, it doesn’t rain in a tunnel). We caught the 12A bus, then the No.8. It was a good job we had dressed in our waterproofs, as we were soaked by the time we had walked to the entrance.

The tunnels were dug out over two years by forced labour. Over 14,000 tons of rock were removed, and the walls were lined with 4,000 tons of concrete. Originally, the tunnel complex was destined to be a munitions barracks, but was repurposed as a main casualty receiving station. At one point in the tour, we stood some 60 metres inside the cliff, and 33 metres below the surface. The tunnels were well worth the visit. Somehow, they managed to personalise the predicament of the Occupied Islanders and brought the story home in a very real fashion.

When we had finished our tour of the tunnels, we went up to the cafe for a coffee and a scone, then made our way down to the bus stop to head into St Helier. We walked to the museum (it was still pouring with rain) to see The Occupation Tapestry, only to find we were at the wrong museum. We did an about turn and headed for the maritime museum. When we arrived, we found it was Pirate Week for the school kids’ half-term holiday. The Tapestry room was infested with loads of kids being entertained by two adults dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow and his sidekick. We ignored them and made our way around each of the tapestry panels. They were quite stunning in their content and their detail. The stitch count worked out to 256 stitches per inch; across the panels, there are over 7.5 million stitches. This photo shows just one of the many panels that were created by each of the participating parishes.

We walked back to the bus station and grabbed the 12A back to the hotel. By the time we arrived, the rain had almost stopped, and there was a break in the clouds to the western end of St Brelade’s Bay. We changed out of our wet weather gear and headed down to the lounge for a drink. By the time we returned to our room, the sun was just visible over the western end of the bay as it sank below the cliffs.

We chatted about dinner and decided to stay put in the hotel again. We chose comfort food tonight. Diane had a shepherd's pie, and I chose their salmon dish of the day. It was hardly haute cuisine, but it was immensely tasty and a perfect end to the day.

A short break

 The alarm went off at 05:00, and we attacked the day with vigour. With a hot drink inside us, we hit the road at 06:15, and by 07:00, we were parking at Southampton Airport. It took a full 2 minutes to walk from the car to the bag drop-off, and a minute or two later, we were sitting in Costa Coffee with another hot drink and a croissant while watching the sun drag itself over the eastern horizon. 

Our plane was only one-third full, and we managed to leave early. 35 minutes later, we touched down in Jersey. It had taken us longer to drive to the airport than it had to fly to the Island.

We grabbed a taxi to take us to the hotel. It only took about 10 minutes, and the driver was eager to hang on and take us on a tour into St Helier. We politely declined as we had not yet got a firm plan for the day.

Though it was only just after nine, our room was already available, and the porter/concierge, Greg, took us to our room and gave us a thumbnail sketch of the Island and most of his life story since leaving his home in Budapest.

The view from our room is superb. The sun was shining, and our balcony was quite sheltered. We stood there admiring the view for a while, then decided to make the most of the conditions and go for a walk along the promenade.

We turned right out of the hotel and walked towards a church. Some beautiful gardens were being lovingly tended by a couple of gardeners. There were also several restaurants and cafes. We stopped for a coffee and took it back to a bench in the gardens where we could drink in both the coffee and the view.

We didn't walk as far as the church because the promenade ended several hundred yards short, and we didn't want to walk along the narrow roadway, as there was no pavement. We turned around and headed back the other way, stopping to chat to one of the locals outside another cafe.

We returned to the hotel and checked the bus times and where the buses stop. We had a 20-minute wait, but caught the 12A bus into St Helier. It was about a 30-minute trip, but once we were there, we found our way to the visitor centre (at the museum), then wandered back through Liberation Square. Liberation Square is a central public square in the heart of St. Helier, close to the harbour, shops, cafés, and Liberty Wharf. 

The sculpture depicts jubilant islanders lifting a Union Jack, symbolising the joy and relief of freedom after years of occupation.

We found an Asian restaurant called Izakaya in Liberty Wharf, where we stopped for some lunch. We both chose the Chicken Katsu burgers and shared a plate of chips. We had chosen well. The burgers were lovely, and they filled the hole left by skipping a proper breakfast as well as providing lunch.

After lunch, we walked up to the main shopping area and zigged and zagged the whole length of the road and those running off and parallel to it. I wouldn't say there was anything that stood out, though there was a large department store called Voisins. 

What did stand out, however, was the covered market that we found behind the main drag, off one of the side streets. The Central Market is a Victorian-era covered market hall right in the heart of St Helier. Though the market itself has roots in the island’s trading culture going back centuries, the current building was largely rebuilt in 1882 in typical Victorian style, with metal and glass architecture that makes it one of Jersey’s architectural gems.

The market reminded me very much of the covered markets we had seen in Spain and the Canary Islands. It had significantly less farm produce (though it did have some), but had more craft,  curios, gifts, bakeries, and patisseries. It was charming.

High cloud had drifted in, and the temperature was dropping. Rain was expected. We made our way back to the bus station and headed back to the hotel.

We spent the last part of the afternoon looking at the maps and guides we had collected during the day, and, of course, read our Kindles. 

This evening, we went down to the lounge bar, rather than the restaurant. We weren't very hungry after the burgers we had for lunch. In the lounge, we settled down, and Di had a sandwich with some applewood-smoked cheese while I ordered a chicken Caesar salad. It was simple, but it was all we needed.

We were back in our room by eight, and I suspect it will be an early night after today's early start.

Starting Grid

 I was up earlier than necessary, but I was wide awake and getting fidgety, and I didn't want to disturb Diane. I sat in the kitchen with a coffee and wrote yesterday's blog post before starting on the overnight news. I then made my to-do list for the day. With a trip planned, I wanted to ensure that I had thought of everything and that everything was in hand.

I checked in for our flights, checked the route to the car park at Southampton Airport, and worked out our timings for an early start. Then, after breakfast, I started to pack and trim, i.e. select items of clothing, then decided against half the items I had selected.

There were several further items on the list, and I worked through these during the morning. I then headed out for my walk, with a detour to the post box en route. The rest of the day was spent refining the packing and then catching up on Kindle time.

We're set.

Family

 Gosh, it was wet. It was raining heavily when we got up, and that was destined to last well into the afternoon. We had a quiet start to the day, but we had an event to attend at lunchtime.

Dressed and presentable, we climbed into the car (though a canoe might have been more appropriate) we headed east. The rain was unrelenting and made the conditions deeply unpleasant. We arrived at Cousin Simon and Marie-Claire's after about 80 minutes, at exactly the same time as Jane and Trevor, and then a minute or two later, Sarah and Lucy arrived. We all gathered in the hallway and shed our coats as we greeted each other, along with Alex, Harry, and James, who were already there. 

As we went through to the lounge, we were greeted by Simon and Marie-Claire and the next hour was spent with everyone circulating and catching up with the latest news from each side of the family. The event was to celebrate the (posthumous) 100th birthday of our twin Dad's, John and Peter. (Sarah and Lucy were Dad's younger brother, James' girls).

It was great to hear how well everyone was doing, and nice to see that everyone was looking fit and well. Marie-Claire had laid on an absolute feast. We queued, buffet-style, to. help ourselves to Dauphinoise potatoes, beans, freshly carved ham, salad, cous cous, and heaven knows what else. 

We then settled around their huge dining table to chat and eat. It was a riotous affair with everyone in great form. Simon showed us some photos of himself guarding His Majesty, the King, at an event earlier in the week. He also went on to explain that his son Charlie is putting himself forward for selection within his regiment for some special duties. Sarah told me how well her gallery exhibition went last week and how nice it was to show alongside Gilia.

Jane had brought the Ancestry book that I had prepared for her birthday. This created a great deal of interest, and Marie-Claire would like me to prepare one for her. I agreed, but asked her to provide me with updates regarding her Charlie, Annabelle, and Lizzie.

We finished the luncheon with the mandatory group photo of the cousins. (Now I would point out that Dad also had a sister, and Angela's boys weren't present, so there are six further cousins missing).

After lunch, we gathered back in the lounge. Seats had been brought through, and the TV had been rigged up to a laptop. For the next hour or so, we watched a collection of old Cine and Video films that Uncle Peter had taken over the years. There were clips from our childhood, from various weddings and holidays, and even some brief clips from our wedding.

From a genealogy perspective, Simon is obsessed with our Irish link, and we discussed getting a genealogist who specialises in Irish records to try and crack the current research block we have. I said I would be more than happy to help.

We carried on chatting until people started to drift away and get back on the road. It was about a quarter to six when we left. The rain had stopped, and the sky was clearing. We had a much better drive home than this morning's adventure. We pulled onto our driveway just before seven and settled down for a quiet evening.

It really had been a superb day.

Lazy Day

Though I was up early, it was a lazy day. It started with coffee and the newsand then breakfast while chatting to cousins on my weekly Zoom call. There was nothing of note during the call, with the possible exception of Rolly announcing he had bought a pop-up sauna. I would have thought that the temperature in Australia was sufficient that a sauna was completely superfluous.

After the call, we prepared all of the gear that had to accompany Jasper on his Spa breaks. Timed feeder, automatic water dispenser, vets' records, feeding regime, and so forth. Once we were ready, Di snuck up on him, and we dropped him into the carrier, but not before he wee'd over the carpet, Di's trainers and my hands. Joy of joys! We loaded the car and drove to the Cat Whisperer's. We avoided the usual route because of the flooding, but the longer route we took seemed quicker than our usual route. Mark welcomed Jasper, and he was soon settled in. We had the usual chat and walked away clutching some chocolates he had given me for my birthday (Mark, that is, not Jasper).

Once home, we had a bite of lunch, and I headed off for a short walk. When I arrived back, we settled in the Orangery for some Kindle time. Though it was very cold outside, the sun had really warmed up the Orangery, and it was gloriously comfortable.

New cousins

 I was up early. Though it was before seven, it was already getting light. What's more, it was dry! I grabbed a morning coffee and read the news before Di Di came downstairs. She had a Cardiac Rehab session this morning, so had already gone by the time I returned from post-school run walk. During my walk, I finished my current audiobook and started another.

After breakfast, I settled down with the accounts before returning to my family tree research. Like yesterday, I picked one of Diane's DNA matches and tried to find the link to my tree. Like yesterday, it was a matter of wading through 4 generations, but I managed to find and document the whole branch of the tree, revealing more distant cousins. It was most satisfying and added a further dozen or more individuals to the family.

Having had a couple of successful hours, I decided to try to locate vital records for my great-grandparents. They hailed from Ireland, and despite a recent new release of Irish records, I could not find anything new.

After lunch, Di settled down with her Kindle. I spent some time trying to work AI magic on some photos. It was fairly successful, and I'm sure I'll return to it in the future. I joined in Kindle time for much of the rest of the afternoon.

Ellie had a Valentine's Disco after school. Di went round to Zoe's to help marshal the girls and shoo them out of the door on time.

Growing Tree

I was up before seven. I sat down with some coffee and my iPad and worked through the overnight news. Di wandered down a while later. She hadn't slept well, and I wondered if it had been some of thespice that was used on the Nando's last night. At the allotted time, I went to join Zoe and Ellie on the walk to school. There was a fine, misty drizzle soaking things more than you would expect. I headed off for my walk as soon as Ellie was safely in class.

Back home, I grabbed some breakfast and a second coffee, then settled down to complete the shopping list. As I was finishing, Lottie arrived, and it was my duty to torment her, as usual. Our trip to Sainsbury's was surprisingly quick. We did notice, however, that there were shortages of some fruits and vegetables. This, apparently, is because of the weather, which has been a problem for distribution, particularly for items imported from Spain.

After some lunch, I buried myself in the study and started to examine some of the recent DNA matches for Diane's side of the family. One set of matches revealed a branch of the family that I hadn't previously examined. After an hour or so, I had added a further 20 individuals to the family tree, each with supporting documents and confirmed by the DNA. 

We managed a little Kindle time before dinner.

Rained Off

 It was dry when we woke up. Bearing in mind the recent weather, that is something to celebrate. There was no hurry this morning as Zoe was on a 9 o'clock start. I walked around the corner to join the trek to school and then, leaving Ellie rushing into class, headed off for my morning walk.

The flooding in the area has left few navigable roads, and they are gridlocked. It would have been pointless Di attempting to get to Angmering for Pilates. She would have spent the whole morning sitting in traffic.

I spent some time on the family tree research and nailed down a few recent DNA matches. One has posed a conundrum which will require some research and a bit of lateral thinking. That's a problem for another day.

After lunch, I returned to an idea I had overnight. This meant trawling through lots of photos and asking AI to do some clever editing. I then started to merge some of these photos onto a single sheet. I achieved a basic version of what I was attempting, but it could do with some serious refinement.

After lunch, we had a bit of Kindle time, then I collected Ellie from football practice. We took her shopping to Matalan for an outfit to wear at the school's Valentine's Disco on Friday... and then we all had dinner at Nando's. While at Matalan, I noticed a sign "£5 and Under Baby Event". I looked around, but in the end I had to ask how many babies they have in stock, as there were none on the shelves - but at that price, they were probably selling well.

(No warning lights in the car today. Fingers are firmly crossed,)

Fixed, I hope

I was up soon after 6:30. Ellie was awake and pottering around in her bedroom. It was dry, for a change, but the forecast suggested that it wouldn't last. We followed the usual morning pattern, and we walked Ellie to school, leaving her in the class once the doors had opened.

I skipped the early walk. I was expecting the chap to come and collect the car, but there was no fixed time. I got on with my breakfast, did some admin, and did a bit of ironing. The chap arrived at 11:00 and took the car away to have a new ABS sensor fitted (needless to say, the car didn't reveal any of the warnings this morning).

Expecting the car to be gone for a couple of hours or more, I put on my shoes and headed out for a walk. I was out for about an hour, and when I returned home, the car was already sitting on the drive. I was amazed at how quickly they had dealt with it. They emailed an invoice and phoned me to confirm what they had done. I was delighted. Hopefully, there will be no further problems (at least from the ABS sensor).

The afternoon followed the usual pattern. We had an hour of Kindle time, and then I went to collect Ellie (it was raining quite heavily, so I told Di to stay put). Ellie buried herself in some snacks to keep her going, and then Zoe turned up to collect her.

Poster girl

 To avoid an early start this morning, Ellie stayed with us overnight. I let her sleep through until 7:30, and even then, she took a while to start functioning normally. We took her along to school, as usual, and then Di went home, and I set off for my walk. I mixed things up a bit by walking the back route into the village so that I could collect Di's meds from the pharmacy when they opened.

Back home, I settled down for some breakfast and to read the social media feeds. I wasn't able to linger for too long, as we had planned to go out for lunch with Jane and Trevor

To the sound of warning chimes and a display of random warning messages, we started our drive to The Refectory at Milford. Fortunately, all the warnings ceased after the first couple of miles, and the car behaved perfectly for the rest of the trip. I will be glad to get this fixed tomorrow.

We had a lovely lunch. Di had chosen a Crispy Beef Asian Salad, while I had a Wild Boar, Pork, and Parsnip pie. We both chose well, though Di would have preferred to have the dressing on the side. The Refectory was packed (probably because people were using up the vouchers we were given at Christmas) and as a result, service was slow. Normally, this doesn't trouble us, but we had to keep an eye on the time so that we could collect Ellie from school.

We were a bit late leaving the restaurant, and it was touch-and-go for the school pickup. We made good time and were on Drayton Lane before the traffic came to a halt. We still had 20 minutes for the last 3 miles. We made it, with 5 minutes to spare.

Ellie had dinner with us and then cracked on with some homework. I helped by showing her how to generate images using AI (Google’s Gemini). We used these images for a poster showing her recent baking exercise when she made some delicious scones

As Zoe has another early start tomorrow, Ellie is again sleeping here overnight.

(Just as an aside, Dad would be 100 years old today. Remarkably, his twin brother would also!)

Boots or Fins

 I was up by seven. For a change, it was dry, but it was incredibly misty. I made my coffee and took a tea to Diane in bed, then I settled down with the newspapers. Many newspapers charge a subscription fee to read them online. I can, however, read. them without a subscription through my local library. The library provides access to many UK, European, and worldwide newspapers through an app called PressReader. This will either display page images from the paper or a list view of all of the articles. It's brilliant.

Once Di had wandered down, I put on my shoes and headed off for a walk. I followed the usual route and, as predicted yesterday, finished one audiobook and started another.

As I walked back past the community football pitches, I noted that there were no games being played. Maybe waterpolo would have been more appropriate, or a swap from football boots to fins.

Once I was home, I enjoyed my usual breakfast, then as Diane went to her sewing room, I went to my study.

I spent much of the rest of the day working on the family tree. Some recent DNA hits opened up a few further areas of research. By the end of the session, I had added a further 18 cousins to the tree. It has been a good day.