Dreaming of the sun

As most of you know by know, (and if you don't, you will) I don't like the cold; nor do I like the wind, and I especially don't like the rain.

So why, might you ask, am I living in the wettest, windiest country in Europe? Okay, maybe Britain beats the Netherlands when it comes to extremes, but we've had our share lately, haven't we? Which brings me to my next point and that is an idea that is germinating in my soul about spending winter somewhere else.

At the moment, it's just a dream, but it's one I'd like to try and realise. No, it's more than that. I'm determined to realise it one day because I really don't think I can endure too many more of these northern European Januaries. Actually, perhaps I should rephrase that. What I mean is that Koos won't be able to endure me if I have to...well, you get my drift.

So where would I like to go for the winter? I'm thinking of the Spanish/Portuguese border area. That looks a pretty nice place to dream about. There's a river, see. It's called the Guadiana and it is navigable for quite some distance upstream from its mouth at Vila Real de San Antonio and there's a very pretty town where the boats stop at Alcoutim. The river is also the border between Spain and Portugal for quite some way as well. I like what I see of it. I like it a lot, and I could imagine spending winter months there very easily. I could also see us spuddling about on that river too.

Sanlucar (on the Spanish side) and Alcoutim on the opposite
Portuguese (photo courtesy of Rightmove Real Estate)

Faro airport is not so far either...so there seem to be plenty of practical advantages to this dream of mine, don't you think?

Marina on the Guadiana
at Sanlucar (again courtesy of Rightmove)

There's even a train that runs along the coast from the mouth of the river. I think it goes all the way to Lagos. I've been on the stretch from Faro to Tavira on the same line and it was lovely; delightfully informal and hopelessly late, but who cares? There is something warm, relaxed and very friendly about that part of Portugal. The eastern Algarve is not very picturesque, its scenery is a bit sparse and some of the towns are quite shabby, but it has great winter temperature, friendly locals and the kind of informality that I like.

The station at Faro

So you see my dreams have some form, even if they have little chance of early fruition. I can scheme, though, can't I?

Where do you dream of spending the winter months, allemaal? I'd be interested to know.

From Africa to Amsterdam: meet Lucinda E Clarke

It's been a long time since I did a weberview here, so I'd like to offer a very warm welcome to Lucinda E Clarke, whose amazing books set in Africa have entertained me on many a long cold evening in Europe. 

Lucinda has written three full length memoirs, one humorous novel and a four book action adventure series. Apart from the humorous book, all her writing is set mainly in Africa, which is where she has lived most of her life. She now lives in Spain, but I can tell from her books her heart, like mine, still lives in the southern hemisphere.

Lucinda's memoirs and her humorous novel
Unhappily Ever After

So Lucinda, I'm going to mix my questions up a bit, but they are all things I've been curious about since I started reading your memoir 'Walking on Eggshells'

Firstly, then, I've read all your books (I think) and have enjoyed every one of them (I know), but which of your books have you most enjoyed writing?

Val, firstly thank you for the opportunity to talk about me, myself my books and my life – no one I meet in person is the slightest bit interested (sad eh? I don't believe it! VP)

I most enjoyed writing the 4^th book in the Amie series “Amie: Cut for Life,” because I was beginning to feel like a proper author. I knew where I was going with it, even though I never map out of any of my books. It took longer than the others, but I believe the end product was the best. I think I’m getting a bit better with practice. Only another 50 or so to go and I should have cracked it.

Well,  I've just finished your Worst Riding School in the World, Parts 1 and 2 and I laughed my socks off, so I think you've more than cracked it if you can write both humour and drama so well! Anyway, I saw you mentioned how much you loved Botswana. Is that the country you have in mind when you are writing your Amie novels and how well did you get to know Botswana before you moved to South Africa?

I lived in Botswana for almost 3 years and it’s the real Africa. South Africa is more a first world infrastructure (shopping malls, high rises, excellent road network etc) dropped down in the middle of the African bush. There was none of that in Botswana, though we were beside ourselves when they opened the first cinema and a Spar shopping supermarket in Francistown, such luxury!

Lucinda's action adventure series set in Africa

I can imagine that. It sounds wonderful in your books, though. Can I ask which you find it easier to write: fact or fiction and why?

The fact is so much easier – you are simply recounting what happened so the story is all mapped out in your head. You don’t get to page 149 and suddenly realize your heroine can’t come to the rescue because you’d put her in a wheelchair and left her in a prison three thousand miles away!

Haha, true, but fact has its own challenges, doesn't it? Do you think your travels have helped you as a writer? If so, in what way?

Goodness yes! Despite the reviewer who told me I didn’t know what I was talking about (she had never been to Africa, but she had seen it on the television news). You get to meet people who have a different mindset, opinions, knowledge, education and you realize that everything you have been taught until then, was only from one point of view – possibly the media in your own country. Our thoughts are shaped by the propaganda we are fed. “Travel broadens the mind” is one of the truest sayings I’ve ever encountered.

I so agree with that. But how do you think living in Africa has influenced you and your writing?

I was just so incredibly lucky. Like you, I was far away from the suburban areas, living in the bush. My filming took me to chiefs’ kraals, witchdoctor’s huts, agricultural projects, schools, hospitals, local government – I could go on and on and on. I was so privileged to be welcomed to places where I would joke with my African crew “Look after me guys, I’m the only white person for miles and miles!” So many of the people I met touched my heart, so few possessions, so brave, so accepting and often bewildered by the fast-paced modern world that was trying to drag them into the mainstream.

One shoot I remember was when the African government official could not understand why the San (Bushmen) should be allowed to hunt and live as they had for centuries. No, the official policy was they must live in houses with running water and send the children to school and the men must get jobs. They had rounded them up and pushed them into this housing estate miles from anywhere and the San looked so miserable. It was so sad; they didn’t want to live what we call a conventional life.

Lucinda with an African chief

Strange how even Africans can totally misunderstand other Africans. Now, as writers we are always striving to improve, aren't we? Is there anything you find difficult in the writing process, and if so, how are you trying to overcome it? (Sorry, this is a boring question, but I really am curious!)

There are some days when the words don’t come – onset of word retrieval or lack of. Other days I can’t type fast enough to keep up. I get twitchy if I don’t write for a couple of days, but then I’m writing up blogs, or the newsletter or commenting on social media or composing reviews. Basically, I live to write and that’s what was so wonderful about my work in the media. I would be bouncing out of bed screaming “Yeah! It’s Monday!” – although I’d probably worked right through the weekend as well! 

I’m a workaholic and was heartbroken leaving the production work behind when we left South Africa. If I feel I’ve hit a brick wall in a book, I plough on, even though I might delete a whole lot later. I’m very disciplined having worked to deadlines so often, I occasionally have to tell myself that it’s not a train smash if I didn’t get 5,000 words done today – I am supposed to be retired after all.

My word, I'd be delirious to write even 1000 words every day. That's amazing, but Lucinda, I know you've been writing for years; do you remember the first thing you ever wrote?

Oh yes, it was a report on the Sunday School class I was teaching (to win brownie points to get into teacher training). It was published in the church magazine, but I think I was the only one ever to read it, as I snaffled all the copies and took them home to read! I cringe when I think about it now.

Now you're being too modest, I'm sure! Are you writing anything at the moment. Can you tell us what it is, and when it's likely to be available?

I am currently writing book 5 in the Amie series. She’s the young English girl I uproot from the London suburbs and dump in Africa and then, when war breaks out and the last evacuation plane takes off, she is left behind to survive as best she can. Since book 1 I have put her through all kinds of hell, and in this book she gets mixed up in high level international politics over mineral rights which are necessary for nuclear devices. I can’t give much more than that away at this stage but she is still under threat from the government forces who are using her. I hope to have it out sometime this year, but I’ve been so busy marketing I’ve neglected the writing side. I need an extra 6 hours a day!

Well, that sounds as if it's going to be as unputdownable as the others! I won't keep you any longer now, Lucinda, as I'm going to pack you off to your keyboard to get writing! Thank you so much for joining me here today. It's been great to have you on my barge for a chat. At least it hasn't been windy today so you haven't had to cling to your cuppa.

The day I met Lucinda on her flying visit to Amsterdam
A meeting I enjoyed because I admire her immensely

For anyone interested in sampling some of Lucinda's great books, click here for her Amazon author page.

Lucinda is also active on Facebook 

And on Twitter

Have a good week allemaal. I'll be back with all that's wet and watery next time!

Wind and wuthering

You've probably all heard about the Great Storm we had in the Netherlands this last Thursday. The 18th January 2018 will go down in history as the 7th worst storm in Holland since records began in 1901 and maybe even the worst so far this century.

Here's a video of what it was doing in Zeeland not far from the crumbly cottage:



What is interesting, though, is that according to weather experts, we've generally had quite a peaceful time since the nineteen seventies and eighties. Apparently, bad storms were more frequent back then, and the last really serious one countrywide was eleven years ago. Oddly, however, it's seemed to me that we've had an increasing number of serious weather events in the last few years, but now I wonder if that's just an illusion created by the growth of our communications network; in other words, the internet.

Perhaps we're all inclined to think things are much worse because we see so much more; it's all over social media like a rash. The point is, I didn't really know how bad our storm on Thursday was until I saw all the footage on Twitter and on the news sites when I got home. As far as I was concerned at the time, the worst thing about it was the fact all the trains stopped running due to trees falling on the line. It was simply inconvenient because I had to take a very round about way back from work.

I will admit I got blown sideways by the wind when I was walking through the campus and nearly ended up in a pond (not quite as bad as in the video below, but you get the idea). The thing is, it's always bad at the university; the buildings tend to form wind tunnels, so even then, I wasn't really conscious we were having a record breaking day. But once I saw all the images, and all the damage it had caused, I was mighty impressed. Suddenly, it was something to be shocked about.

The best thing about the social media coverage was the way people helped each other get home. On Twitter there was a brilliant initiative to offer stranded train travellers lifts by connecting through the hashtag #stormpoolen, a really heartwarming and useful way of using our modern technology.

Here's another video of news footage about the storm:



Of course, in the last year, there have been some of the worst hurricanes ever recorded, and weather wise in general, the last twelve months have been horrendous, haven't they? But I can't help thinking that without all the excitement caused by instant messaging, instant videos and instant images, most of us wouldn't be half as awe-struck by these extreme weather events unless we were personally affected by them. Or would we?

I was in London during the Great Storm of 1987. Now that was impressive, it really was, and even without social media. I remember the wind positively screaming round the flats in Woodford Green where I was staying with my small daughters. I also remember going into my eldest's bedroom and finding her window ripped open and banging against the outside wall while the wind howled through her room like the proverbial banshee. I was horrified and rushed to haul the window back in place, which was no mean feat, I can tell you. After I locked it, I checked on my child. She hadn't even woken up, bless her. The next day, though, we had to climb over numerous trees that had come down in the streets around Woodford. There was debris everywhere and everything was in chaos; it was almost apocalyptic.

Since I've lived on the Vereeniging too, we've had a few other memorable storms that even resulted in fallen trees across my bows, but they remain in my memory because they actually affected me. Had they not done so, I probably wouldn't have noticed given that these events were before the age of Facebook and Twitter. I may or may not have read about them in the paper (I didn't have TV even then) but I doubt if they'd have made all that much of an impact on me – not the way the trees did!

So what do you think? Are we more alarmed, impressed and worried because we see and hear so much more? I'd be interested to know what you think!

The First Post : 2018

I can hardly believe the year is already nearly two weeks old and I am only writing my first post of the year now.

I wish I could say it's because I've been doing some amazing things, but I can't really. We had a very enjoyable Christmas with the family we have here in the Netherlands; in other words, my two daughters and their other halves. It's the first time I've had a vegan Christmas dinner and I'm sure it won't be the last as it was quite yummy. Not your usual fare, but just as festive and anyway, the company was excellent (who needs cold turkeys, anyway?).

One of my lovely sons-in-law

"

Christmas dinner, vegan style

The following week, Koos and I embarked on the grand 'cellar project' at the crumbly cottage. It's been a damp and unsavoury place for many years. A dive in and duck out hole. We've always kept it reasonably organised, but there were no shelves, too much stuff piled up and too many mosquitos inhabiting the dark and dank space (this is Holland after all). So in December, I took the bull by the horns (being Koos) and we cleared everything out. Koos manfully re-plastered one of the walls (maybe not expertly, but really well, I must say) and I put a waterproof cement coating on the outside wall.

Between Christmas and New Year, we painted it, put some lino down and put up some shelves in something of flurry. We still need to do more, but here is a photo of the work-in-progress. It already looks so much better than this now, but I don't have more recent photos of it yet. I will have soon (I hope) and if I can, I'll add them to this post (update 14 Jan. Newer photo added). It's been a huge job and taken more resolve than I would have thought possible. The only thing that's kept me going is my dislike of the messy overspill on the patio and in the sun room. The only thing that's kept Koos going is his desire to stop me from moaning...haha.

The cellar in progress

On New Year's Day, we did our traditional walk on the beach. It wasn't a particularly nice day. In fact, it was bitterly cold, a bit dreary and windy too, but we did it and loved it as we always do.

The traditional NY Koos photo 

Since then, I've visited a friend for a few days to celebrate her birthday, and now work has resumed in earnest. I am delighted to be teaching a group of Syrian refugees twice a week; they are just a joy to be with. They are open, friendly, lively and boy are they sharp?! I have rarely been asked such searching and challenging questions about language and expression. They are doing a foundation year to prepare for university in the Netherlands and I'm so pleased to know I'll be teaching them until May.

Moi and me, friends for nearly thirty years

So that's me for the beginning of the year, allemaal. The Christmas tree is down and life is back to normal. How is your 2018 panning out now?

My favourite fiction books of 2017

Wishing you all the best this festive season!

I'm not a book blogger but as a writer myself, I read a lot, especially when we're faring or travelling and I always like to do a round up of books I've particularly enjoyed at the end of the year. This post covers the fiction I've read but I'll do a separate post later on on my memoir review blog about the non-fiction. There are far more of those to sift through to find my favourites!

Anyway, many of the fictional books I've read this year have been really good reads, but I had to narrow it down to those I've found unputdownable (my criteria for star rating as well). I must say I don't tend to read many of the big names, other than John Le Carré and Deon Meyer, and I haven't read any of theirs this year at all (except J le C's memoir, which will be in my other post). So below are the books and authors that have really stood out for me in the past twelve months. You'll probably notice I am a big crime mystery and detective fiction fan!

Carol Hedges: Rack and Ruin; Wonders and Wickedness
I read both books this year and just loved them. Carol Hedges' ability to evoke Victorian London, mix it with social comment, a few grisly crimes and some wonderful lead and cameo characters is just superb. I love Stride and Cully, Lilith and all the other 'regulars' as well as the new stories and characters each book brings.

Terry Tyler: Tipping Point; Lindisfarne
I've read all Terry Tyler's books and for me, these two are just amazing, the magnum opus of her writing. I never read post apocalyptic books as a rule, but since these are so character driven, I found them utterly compelling. The first, Tipping Point, is about what happens to survivors when a deadly virus kills the majority of the British population; the second continues the story of those survivors when they attempt to form a new community on the island of Lindisfarne. Incredibly realistic and so well written!

L M Krier:  Only The Lonely; Wild Thing; Walk On By
DI Darling and his crew have become huge favourites of mine, and I romp through every single book. These three are 5, 6 and 7 of a series of nine books (so far). They all deal with topical issues and are, I think, very real portrayals of police procedures. I've become very fond of Ted and Trev, not to mention the others in the cast of characters!

Lynn M Dixon: Gardens of Green
Gardens of Green is the last of the Tyre and Phoenix series. Lynn Dixon's writing is strangely addictive. It's like meditation in words. Inspirational, calm and rhythmic, she focuses on details that should be tedious, but somehow aren't. I enjoyed this one the most of the whole series.

Christina James: Rooted in Dishonour
I've followed Christina James' DI Yates series from the first and this was a very absorbing read. I'm never sure if I really like Tim Yates, but that makes him very real. As always, an unputdownable read. This book focused on the very topical problem of sex slavery.

Deborah Crombie (sorry, quite a big name! I forgot): Garden of Lamentations
The Kincaid and James novels are my all time favourite crime fiction books. I have loved every one of them and this one was just as gripping as the previous books. Deborah Crombie's powers of describing modern London are as good as Carol Hedges' skill at its Victorian version.

Diana J Febry: The Skeletons of Birkbury and The Point of No Return
Again, two detective novels I've romped through; this time set in the west country, which I love because it was where I grew up. I thoroughly enjoyed them both, particularly Diana Febry's cast of country characters who strike me as being totally authentic.

Stephanie Parker McKean: Bridge to Texas; I'm the Grasshopper
These two of Stephanie Parker McKean's rollicking mysteries are set in Texas. Her sense of place is wonderful and all I want to do when I'm reading them is go there, explore the Texas hill country and meet all the colourful people who occupy her books. Great escapism and great story telling.

Lucinda E Clarke: Amie Cut for Life
This is the fourth in a series of action adventure books about an English girl caught up in undercover operations in Africa. Set partly in real southern African countries and partly in a couple of fictional countries, Amie's adventures are fast paced, edge of the seat stuff that are really enjoyable. What makes them even more special, however, is the author's knowledge of Africa: its terrain, wildlife and people. I love them because I can be there, in Africa, while I am reading.

Jan Ruth: Midnight Sky
I read this early in the year and remember I could barely put it down. Jan Ruth's family dramas are excellent and this one, involving an interior designer and a horse whisperer within the magical setting of north Wales, is totally gripping. Her love of animals is a very appealing feature of these novels.

Apologies for the lack of pictures, but with most authors having more than two books in this list, it would have been too much!

Okay, that's really me done on my blog for this year, so Happy Christmas reading allemaal!

A round up of the year's highlights

 I'm very pleased to report that this week the skies have cleared, the rain has stopped at last and I am approaching Christmas with a bit more good cheer than I've had in the last weeks. However, given that I might not get another post in before the 31st, I thought I'd take this opportunity to do a quick round up of the year's highlights – mostly in pictorial form so you won't have to read my endless rambles (I can hear the sigh of relief already).

First up is an image from our new year's walk at the coast in the first few days of January. We went to Cadzand on the Zeeuws Vlaanderen coast, a rather touristy spot in summer, but we enjoyed it immensely as a winter beach walk and they've done wonderful things with a new harbour and sea front there.

Then later in January, I went to Spain to catch me some sunshine. The photo above was taken from the place where I was staying with friends near Teulada in the area of Valencia.

This photo was taken in Teulada itself at the annual blessing of the animals, a really delightful festival where all creatures great and small can be blessed by the local parish priest. Here's my blog post of my trip.

At the end of February, we had a visit from some English friends which made us 'do' some of the tourist spots in Rotterdam. Above is a photo I took from inside the rather special Markthal. It was a miserable day, but the interior of this building is bright enough to cheer anyone up.

Then in March, we managed our first spuddle of the season. I don't know why I like this photo of Koos and me looking snooty, but it makes me laugh and marks that rather special occasion quite well – I think.

This photo of the lovely old barge was one I took in Deventer in April. Sadly, the company I worked for no longer has a contract with the university, so my termly jaunts to the east are no longer required. I'll miss it as Deventer is a very special and quintessentially Dutch town.

In May, I was lucky enough to have another marvellous trip to Faro in Portugal with a good friend of mine. We had a wonderful few days in this beautiful old city and caught some much needed sunshine.

Then of course our summer adventures began in June with our two month trip on the Hennie Ha. The photo above was taken quite early on at Arques, the canal that leads to Dunkirk, and where we went through the deepest lock we experienced. I was so glad it had floating bollards.

This photo was of a lovely summer's evening on the Scarpe Supérieure. The water was so clear we could see the bottom of the river. Just beautiful

And here we are on the gorgeous Canal de St Quentin. I was walking along the towpath trying to film Koos steering. It was quite a job as the path was quite overgrown and I missed some of the best moments when I was arguing with the brambles.

On the way back on the Canal de Roubaix, one of my favourite stretches of canal anywhere, but especially in northern France.

And lastly, meandering through Ghent. Just here, we were waiting for the bridge ahead to be lifted. All my blog posts on these travels are in my archives for June, July and August this year, so if you'd like to read about them, just look in the sidebar beneath my favourite blogger list.

It seems I didn't do much in September, possibly due to the fact I was wrestling with a severely frozen shoulder, which was at its worst then. It's still with me, but is slowly getting better, I'm glad to say. Another few months and I might be back to normal (says she very hopefully; that's if I'm ever normal!). And then of course, teaching came to interrupt my adventures. Anyhow, in October, it was time for a barge inspection. There was some work to be done, but luckily not too much, and I had some brilliant help from Tim (below) and another harbour resident, Ruud.

I love this photo of Tim leaving the harbour on his own barge for its maiden (with him) voyage. Tim has years of experience in sailing, but this was the first time he'd had his own barge fit for faring. Doesn't he look happy?

As for November, it was officially now too cold for faring, so I did a blog post about some other activities we'd enjoyed in our terra firma existence. I particularly enjoyed visiting an exhibition in Ghent where we met with the artists whose work was being displayed. Of course Koos enjoys being an exhibit himself :)

And so we come to December. We've had real winter weather already with snow, ice, storms, hail; you name it. I am now looking forward to some brighter days with the weather reverting to normal global warming – sorry, Dutch winter, levels and of course to the warmth of spending time with family over the festive season.

If I don't post again between now and the New Year, I hope you've enjoyed this round up of my year. Have a wonderful break allemaal and I'll catch up with you all on your own blogs in the meantime.

Let it Snow, let it Snow, then let it Go!!

I have a feeling that most of my blogger pals know how I feel about snow by now. I don’t like it. You’re all aware of that, I think.

This is not a newly made decision. It has nothing to do with all those years I spent in South Africa. Well, maybe it does, because the reason I was happy to go there in the first place was so I could escape the snow in the winter of 1981. Does anyone remember how bad it was? And the winter of 78/79? Awful they were, with deep snow and villages cut off, notably ours in the west country.

But no, the real source of my discontent with all things white and wet goes back much much further than that. It was the dreaded winter of 1962/1963.

I wonder how many of my friends here remember that one? I know Heron Mel does because he mentioned it in his blog too, but how many others of you do? I remember it vividly. It made a huge impression on my seven year old self. I believe it was the longest of the extremely cold winters of the twentieth century and I think every day of it is imprinted in my psyche. Don’t laugh. It’s true! I have a vivid recollection of trudging through heaped up piles of dirty frozen snow as we picked our way to the shops and to school. I remember my father desperately scraping the car windscreen which promptly froze again before he’d even finished. I remember crying all the way home from school because my feet were so cold (everyone together now...awww). I hated it. I hated it so much I have done everything I can to avoid the cold ever since. I’ve even written a book set in that winter (my Skipper’s Child) and some readers have told me they can really feel the cold coming off the pages...haha. Experience, you see! 

The funny thing is I project my hatred of it on everyone else too because I’m always worrying about friends and family being cold. My daughter teases me but, you see, I can’t imagine anything worse than feeling cold, so I don’t want anyone else to be either.

Well, you might ask what’s brought all this on? Why now? It’s this week’s snow of course. It’s not even Christmas yet! I’d got used to global warming. I was even enjoying it and now look what it’s done to me! This morning I had to travel to Rotterdam and it took me twice as long as usual. Why? Because of the snow! Why anyone should like the stuff, I don’t know. It’s not even pretty when  sky and snow merge into each other and there’s no other colour to be seen but white with a few spots of black where the trees poke their branches through it. It reminds me of those black and white war films. You know the ones. They  always seem to be set in Poland in winter where everyone is frozen and miserable. So, as far as I’m concerned, it’s made its point and it can go now. 

Okay, I’ve got that out of my system, so I’ll shut up  and smile again. But before I go, I’ll just post a couple of photos of when it started yesterday. Even snowy photos are better than no photos.

Dare I ask if you like it? Have a good week allemaal and keep warm!

Downsides and Upsides: Marking the end of another year

Our usual New Year's walk at the beach on 1 January

In case you're wondering, no. These photos are not from the last few days, although it's been cold enough and the garden at the little house has been covered in frost both yesterday and today. But it's also been misty too, which is hard to deal with as everything becomes a whiter shade of grey. Horrible.

These photos are from last December/January and I hooked them out because I'm making my usual family calendars. I do it every year as it's one way of showing my brothers and sister what we've been up to during the year. My family are all in the UK and I don't get to see them very often (and that's not on purpose – honest!). It's a year since I saw my sister and more since I saw my brothers, which is a shame as I'd love to spend more time with them (see?).

The garden at the end of December

As a result, I make it my thing to put together a calendar of month by month photos for them and I really enjoy doing it because it takes me back over the year and helps me remember what it's like to be warm now it's so beastly cold.

I will admit that 2017 has had its ups and downs but the summer was wonderful and I've only just got myself to accept that it's over. As with most people of my age, things are starting to creak a bit and I've been enduring a frozen shoulder since July (why 'frozen' I don't know, because it feels hot rather than cold), which was one of the down sides, but on the up side, we had two marvellous months 'faring' on the Hennie Ha from June to August.

Since there are far too many photos of our trip to put in the calendar, I've also made a book of photos, but even that doesn't cover them, so I'm going to be putting an album of them all on the Internet based photography site, Flickr, soon. It's lovely just to browse through them and see that we really had some wonderful weather. We both looked very healthy when we arrived back at the end of August, unlike the palid creatures we are now!

I'm not sure if this was frost or snow at the University where
I work, but whatever it was, it was a lovely day too!

Another down for me is that in the last year both my daughters have moved out of Rotterdam, so I don't meet up with them often. But one of them has started teaching at the university where I work too, and that at least gives us a chance for a brief get together once a week most of the time. I've also just heard the other daughter will be teaching there again soon too, so there's my upside again.

The Dutch doing what they love...skating on natural ice

Of course we also had the downer in May that our slipway and yard in the harbour were going to close, but as I mentioned earlier, that's had a stay of execution too and we'll be keeping it for at least 18 months – something to celebrate when we have our harbour Christmas drink this coming week!

All these clouds have silver linings, don't they? We don't do much in the way of Christmas festivities at home, but we do like to have a family meal around the day and I put my little tree up with all its home-made decorations. And then there are the lights in the harbour to look forward to. It's lighting up week this week which is a lovely moment and one I always cherish. On balance then? There've definitely been more upsides than downsides in 2017 and that's how I like to keep it!

What will you all be doing for the festive season, allemaal?