Is there a better _expression_ for “the one after the last”?  Postultimate?  Last but one, plus two?  Anyway, yesterday we had our very very last Christmas day at West End Farm.  Lets hope there is not a repeat performance in December 2015.

 

The failure to sell the house did not weigh so heavily that it prevented us having a fun Christmas.  Chris could not make it this time, but Bertie and Daniel joined us for the eating of the Christmas goose, which we once again managed to procure by the skin of our teeth.  The lady at the farm shop phoned me back to say they had found one for us and, not to worry, they hadn’t just gone and grabbed one from the local park.  Which hadn’t crossed my mind for a minute until she mentioned it.  But, hey, a goose is a goose, and you don’t get a much more free range bird than one that opted to spent its life hanging around in the park, being fed by passers by.

 

Anastasia is currently berthed in Antigua.  No blog entry for that because it was all a bit of a rush.  David Caukill, who had been in hospital in Martinique with an ear problem, asked me to fly down to help bring Serendipity up to Antigua for their family Christmas visit.  We took Anastasia into Jolly Harbour marina a couple of days earlier than planned and I flew down to Martinique for a fun voyage on one of those old kind of boats that tips on its side to generate a moment against the wind.  I have to admit, Serendipity is a quick boat.  We spent most of the time doing 9 or 10 knots, on a reach in relatively light winds, which meant we were berthed in Antigua a good four hours before Simone and family arrived.  Then it was a frenetic couple of days of celebrating successful voyages and bedding down Anastasia, before Andrea and I set off back to England.

 

The weather was kind to us for the first week here, unseasonably warm and dry.  It has now reverted to UK Christmas norm, cold and drizzly.  So I have no idea why Bertie and Andrea have taken it into their heads to fill the Jacuzzi, with the prospect of sitting out there in the cold and rain.  Maybe it was the mulled wine.  I will see if I can get some pics.

 

Here is one of the obligatory Christmas morning “orange juice”.