Sailing at last

The tide was high, the sun was (almost) out, the wind was light. At last we were able to get out on the water in Curlew of Mylor for a picnic off lighthouse beach. The combination of new sails and a well-adjusted centreplate means that she handled like a proper boat at last.

The winter lay-up is not far off.

See more here

A Swiss weekend

A wonderfully sunny weekend in Switzerland to celebrate Caspar and Karine's weddding outside Neuchatel.

So many images crowd the mind: travelling in a boat on Lac Leman; the high quality of hospitality; the wedding and riotous reception; the Ecole Hotelier de Lausanne (and Professeur Angela Fall); a great niece and nephew; and the chalet looking out towards Mont Blanc. See more images here

September

Autumn is beginning to creep in. The weather remains gentle with occasionally stunning still warm days. Across the back field we see a double rainbow lighting up the remnants of the potato crop.

While in the garden, the Virginia Creeper on the garage is beginning to turn a vibrant red as a backdrop to a birthday present bird table (one family of sparrows raised this year).

Table cloth

One must be selective about one's table cloths. Here, two members of the clan celebrate the arrival of a red  one, newly arrived from the same shop in George (RSA) as a blue one purchased on a gap year visit thirteen years earlier.

It is just as well we do not get through too many of them as the cost would be astronomic.