Ooh I think it's starting...

...the Christmas spirit I mean!

Where did it go?

One of the worst things is saying goodbye to good friends, it's a big part of the cruising life. This week Woolly and The Blonde aka Roger and Carole set off for their season's cruising. We were sad to see them depart and envious of their return to the ocean. Mind you at the rate we are moving we are likely to still be here when they return in June!

It's strange how the people you think you may never see again turn up in your life with almost alarming frequency whilst those you plan to catch up with rarely pass your way!

As the Christmas letters start to arrive I am struck by the number of cruisers who came across the Atlantic at the same time as us are either on their way back to Europe or are planning to head that way this season. I guess all good things come to an end...

I think that I have persuaded, finally, TBH to put away his computer for a bit and concentrate on some boat jobs. There is a pretty long list waiting for his attention. Boats can get you down if ignored for too long. Our little ship, bless her cotton socks, is an undemanding creature but nevertheless there are some things we should not put off any longer. Almost a year ago we purchased a new radio which came with a CD and DVD player that still sits in the aft cabin awaiting installation. It looks like a good way of watching movies when we are off the dock as it runs through the car radio and has a fold away screen. I am looking forward to getting that up and working. Well, TBH, getting that up and working!

Then of course there are still the new wind instruments to put at the top of the mast..... I will say no more!

Christmas approaches and I am still searching for a glimmer of the 'spirit'. Thought I glimpsed a small bit of it yesterday but nope, it ran off in the opposite ditection. Is it my age do you think???

I have been keeping myself occupied by cleaning systematically through the less used lockers in an attempt to get rid of some 'stuff' and make more space. I don't know about you but for every item that I throw out we seem to acquire two more to take its place. The grand total of stuff cleared this week comes to 4 (!) assorted fly swatters, a cheese grater, a splatter guard and a couple of shirts. Somehow I don't think that's going to help the boat's waterline too much!
I think that my sense of humour is becoming a little strange but this cartoon made me smile...

Che - Part 1

This Soderburgh movie due for release in January 2009 looks set to be one of the cinematic triumphs for next year.

I cannot wait to see the production and the second part due for release in February 2009. Che is certainly a fascinating historic figure and it will be interesting to see how Soderburgh has dealt with the story.

What a difference a year makes!

Well there is a pretty fundamental difference in the world these days don't you think?

With so much talk of Economic Meltdown, Depression and Conflict I am finding it hard to get into the Christmas Spirit. Actually to be honest I am finding it pretty nigh impossible.

And that worries me. This is a woman who loves Christmas, who plans(usually)and prepares year round for the annual holiday season.But not this year. A full 12 months on the Rio Dulce has wrought some changes in my outlook that sadden me. There is so much poverty, want and sheer unpleasantness here that it cannot fail to touch your heart.

Don't get me wrong there are some great upsides too but for me there have been some doors opened in my mind that it will be difficult to ever close again.

We have met some of the nicest people here and on the other hand a few thoroughly unpleasant ones.

BUT I refuse to let that get to me so here is the first of, what I hope, will be my Christmas postings for 2008...Cheers!

Mama Mia Moment...

We took advantage of the superb surround sound system at The Cayuco Club last night for a showing of the movie Mama Mia!

TBH and I had watched it a couple of nights ago, despite the bad reviews we had read. It was wonderful. Light frothy and left me with yet another big grin on my face....It's starting to make my muscles ache all this smiling but what the heck!

The gang loved the movie, we roared with laughter and the girls from the kitchen were equally captivated. Isn't it great when something transcends language and culture. The music is instantly uplifting and the views, particularly the boaty ones, made your heart sing too.

Here is a clip of one of my favourite parts, not the soppy love duet that begins it but the wacky 'flipper' dance on the dock. I have been trying to persuade some of the chaps here in the marina to work on the routine for Christmas but the sad conclusion is that we don't think the docks here at Mario's are up to a small herd of baby elephants stomping along in fins!! Ah well guess I'll have to rely on my imagination for that one.

Happiness is TBH shaped!

I am one very proud lady this morning. Indeed it is impossible to wipe the wide grin from my face...

TBH has worked for a long time, extremely hard and with his quiet determination to bring together his philosophy, technical genius and lifetime experience into a new and innovative concept to help this troubled world of ours move forward into a more honest, open and frank space. A place where the thoughts and contribution of the individual can be heard, and most importantly valued, in this fast moving and constantly changing new enviroment.

I have lived through the conception and birthing of his book. Learnt more than I really wanted to know about Complex Adaptive Systems(!) , proof read until blue in the face. And today, finally, it all became worthwhile.

Three reviews of the book arrived via the ether, email to you and me, from the Chairman of the London Stock Exchange, the Dean of MIT and a respected British Captain of Industry. They love it! They love the originality, the concept and the idea that people respond to trust..

I am so pleased for him. TBH is the kindest, most thoughtful, wise person I have ever met, it has been such a privilige to travel this road with him. And he even managed to make my own dreams come true by taking me sailing around the world whilst he was doing all this. What a man!

Food thoughts.

I guess that I could rightfully claim to being a pretty obsessive foodie. From consuming the finished product to growing my own and raising it too, in land dwelling days. I love cooking, eating and sharing the results of a particularly successful foraging expedition! But most of all I love Cookery Books!

Until we gave up our house in the UK I had an enormous collection of books, spanning a life long interest in the culinary arts... Even back in my school days I could be found poring over an original edition of Mrs Beeton in the school library-must have been there since the inception of the place back in 1850. It wasn't the sort of book we were encouraged to read, no way intellectual enough.

However I found the old books bought history alive for me. I would attempt to make some of the old dishes from Hannah Glasses's book, written back in the mid 1700's. Mastering syllabub, an Elizabethan desset, a dish I still produce from time to time here on the boat!

I was pleased that my daughters kept many of the books I had collected, they are both great cooks, but it broke my heart to get rid of so many. We still have a pretty fair collection on board, I tend to read them like novels and always enjoy rereading Elizabeth David or Alan Davidson.

My mother was a great cook, back in the sixties we were already blase about duck a la orange, prawn cocktail and black forest gateaux. Dad was a bit of a gourmet, regularly rescuing me from my rather uninspiring job in the local chemist to join him for lunch in the towns best restaurant. Ah the sophistication of my first Chicken Kiev, served with plain boiled white rice and half a canned peach!! The excitement of Steak Diane as it was flambeed at the table in a blaze of brandy fumes...

TBH and I were recalling some of the greatest meals we have had the privilege to consume yesterday. The jog for this conversation came from an email received from an old colleague, reignited through the publication of TBH's new book. He reminded us of the superb dinners that we shared from time to time in London. Well true they were amazing, especially as they were funded through the company expense account and we were able to indulge our wildest gastronomic fantasies in the name of sourcing new business....

TBH began by recalling our favourite, Chez Nico, a somewhat exclusive french establishment in the west end of London. Unbelievable quality and presentation served in elegant and sophisticated surroundings. The tasting platter of bite sized examples of their dessert menu was to die for. Sadly Nico has long since retired and the place no longer exists... But as we began to recall other experiences we realised what a varied bunch they were, from the glamour of big cities to the rural charm of small European backwaters.

The Sunday brunches in Chicago, I have never seen so much food! Fish lip soup in China Town and fresh grilled corn on the cob from a tiny vendor by the road in Grenada.

But you know its some of the meals that we have enjoyed in our cruising life that are the most outstanding memories. After a long, and hairy, passage from Gibraltar to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands we went to the Yacht Club in the marina for dinner. Foie Gras, suckling pig, excellent local white wine. It was magnificent. Until it made a reappearance at midnight- too much rich food, too fast, oh dear a mistake that I have tried not to replicate!

Our first hamburger after crossing the Atlantic, first Roti. I could go on but you'd probably get bored with my reminisances.

But you just can't beat those wonderful Caribbean afternoons as you settle in to a new anchorage. Anchor well set, boat put up safely and the days catch of Wahoo ready to be consumed. Best of all a plate of ocean fresh sashimi, tongue tingling wasabi paste, warming pickled ginger chased down with icy cold white wine fresh from the cold box...wonderful.

The luxuries of life truly are the simple things....