It’s been a while since our last entry mainly because we’ve been very busy having a good time with family and friends. We did some new things and we managed to tick off a bucket list item for Cheryl.  However, It wasn’t all plain sailing though as you will discover.

We shall overcome

Now we all know that the NHS is in a bit of a mess and Devon is no different.  So, in its infinite wisdom Devon NHS haven’t used parts of Seaton Community Hospital but still paid huge amounts of ‘rent’ to NHS property services for the last 3 years.   Having realised that this was a waste of money they decided they wouldn’t pay rent any more so the Hospital was at risk of closure or worse still being sold off.   As most of the building was originally paid for by the people of Seaton in the late 80’s, a campaign was established to prevent it happening.  The  Hospital League of Friends charity have had plan in place for a few years to retain the space and use it for health care services but needed to persuade NHS property services to charge a fair rent or ideally give the building back to the community. 

Our local MP asked questions in The House of Commons, there were public meetings around Seaton and protests in Exeter to gather support.  We took part in our first public protest which was featured in the local press and TV news. As we write the League of Friends have been given more time to put forward a robust plan.  Watch this space.

We’ll meet again

Lots of things have been happening at our local entertainment venue The Gateway.  There was a 1940’s night with local players delivering a Dad’s Army sketch followed by dancing by the Lindy Hoppers from Exeter and singing from The Liberty Sisters.  Regular readers know we don’t need too much encouragement to dress up and even got our fellow members of Marlpit Lane Social Club to get into the spirit. 

It was such a huge success that another one is planned for next June to celebrate the 80^th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings in which Seaton played a small part.  There were the usual picnic film nights and a night of volunteering behind the bar for a live music event.  A band called Riviera Dogs who specialise in 1980s music made their annual visit and we worked with Linda and Dennis serving.  It was manic, taking over £4000 including one order that Neil took of over £70 including 10 shots!

Neil even managed to extend the celebrations for his 70^th birthday which was back in August until the middle of November thanks to a gift from Leanne and Paul who bought us a voucher to go to The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay for the taster menu plus associated wine flight.  As there was alcohol involved we booked into a really nice B&B a short walk away.  It’s a Michelin Star restaurant and we weren’t disappointed with the occasion.  Over 3 hrs we had 7 extremely delicious courses with different wines which amounted to approximately one bottle each.  You don’t want to know what it cost!!

Crossing the line

November is normally focused on celebrating Cheryl’s birthday and she had always wanted to see the Northern Lights so we took another cruise, this time to hopefully catch sight of the Aurora Borealis.  It started in Southampton, just a 2hr drive away where we boarded P&O’s Arcadia to set sail for Norway.  Neil had warned Cheryl that this route crossed the North Sea which at this time of year could be extremely hostile, so she packed lots of seasick pills.

We had followed the weather forecast along the Norwegian coast in the run up to departure and it didn’t look too bad.  However, as we cruised along the English Channel the Captain announced that there was a big depression welling in the North Sea so to try and reduce the impact, he had decided not to take the direct route but would hug the coasts of Holland and Denmark.  He also warned passengers that he was expecting waves of 6 to 7 metres and if passengers were prone to sickness they should start taking medication during the night as it would start about 4am.  Neil wasn’t so convinced as that night he saw the weather chart on Sky News and it looked like an extremely deep low pressure system.

Next morning it was getting rough.   However, Cheryl found the tablets worked well, so well that we made it to breakfast and watched through the rear facing window where the waves looked a lot bigger than 7 metres!  We also made it to lunch when the ship suddenly hit a big wave which made the whole thing shudder and lurch so much that there was crockery and food flying across the floor.  It was carnage with people finding it hard to keep balance and hanging onto anything they could to stay upright.

That afternoon we went to the cosy 40 seat cinema and once again we hit a very big wave which made the ship pitch and roll.  We didn’t feel much of the impact as we were reclining on huge leather armchairs.  Then Neil whispered to Cheryl so as not to worry the other cinema goers, ‘the engines have stopped, that’s not good’.  Then the Captain came on the Tannoy with the message you really don’t want to hear, ‘will all passengers and crew either sit down or lie down and hang on tight – NOW!’  ‘F**k’, said Neil, ‘that’s definitely not good’.

A little later the Captain explained that the propellers had stopped because there is a failsafe system on the ship that shuts them down in the event that they are lifted out of the water.  If they don’t shut down then as they have no resistance they will spin out of control and possibly cause major damage when they hit the water again.  He then went onto to say that they were using the bow thrusters to keep the ship heading into the swell whilst the main propellers were started again.  It was all over in seconds but it wasn’t our idea of a fun time.  The captain also informed us that we had actually had Force 10 winds with hurricane force gusts of 94 mph!!

Baby it’s cold outside

Thankfully our near death experience didn’t stop us enjoying our food and drink or the excellent entertainment on the ship.  We did miss a port day due to the bad weather and Neil was getting cabin fever after 4 straight days at sea.  However the seas calmed down and we crossed the Arctic Circle to arrive in Tromso.  Here we experienced polar nights where the sun does not rise above the horizon for part of the winter.  There was a little daylight for a few hours with an eerie glow but it was brighter than a typical UK winter grey day. It was very beautiful with snow all around and it was extremely cold – minus 15 degrees during our Husky Sledding trip which was fabulous.   We knew we would have the opportunity to drive the sled but didn’t realise that all we needed to do was slow or stop the dogs.  They just wanted to run and run and clearly enjoyed what they did. 

Later that evening we were driven further north to a quiet spot where eventually we did see the Northen Lights.  It’s not quite as you expect from photos or video footage as the naked eye can’t see the depth of colour but it was still quite magical.  There was a full moon and what light there was reflected off the snow so it wasn’t complete darkness.  The pictures do look a lot brighter than it was.  Another item off the bucket list.

In Narvik we visited a Polar Park to see reindeer, wolves, lynx, wolverine and very cute arctic foxes. 

The last port stop was in Alesund which was very charming with colourful art deco style wooden houses.

The ship was decked out with Christmas Trees and decorations and from Dec 1^st they went full on Christmas with themed entertainment, Christmas Jumper contest and a Pantomime. Thankfully, the North Sea was kind to us on the way home.

I wish it could be Christmas everyday

Safely back in Seaton and the run up to Christmas really started to kick in.  We drove to Gloucester to stay with June and Roy and to also meet up with Sue and Bill for our regular sibling lunch.  Great fun.  This was followed by the U3A Wine Club Christmas lunch. The term ‘Wine Club’ really says it all as people were singing, telling silly jokes and playing charades.  It was fab to see around 20 people, of a certain age, behaving very badly and generally having an absolute blast.

The following night we were at a fund raising Murder Mystery event with the neighbours and with none of us getting close to guessing who did ‘the dirty deed’  It didn’t matter, we had a good time and we look forward to the next one.  So soon after that it was yet another Christmas Lunch, this time the neighbours AKA Marlpit Lane Social Club.  It was at the Old Picture House and the food was excellent and the company very silly.

Time for visitors.  First, we had Neil’s son and grandson to stay which was fantastic.  We took them on The Polar Express at The Tramway when both Neil and grandson put on their reindeer onesies – very cute.  Next day we had our first visit to the donkey sanctuary.  When they left we headed to The Shed for a meal to have an evening on our own and we hadn’t been there for such a long time. 

The very next day Alex, Freddy and Luke came to stay for Christmas and we took another trip on The Polar Express.  It will come as no surprise to regular readers that Neil triggered the Elves ‘Naughty or Nice’ scanner and had to take part in a dance off with the other naughty dad. 

On the Saturday before Xmas we had ‘open house’ for around a dozen people including the social club.  We did the usual silly secret Santa and played charades again which came in the Christmas Crackers.  Luke played his part well dressed as baby Santa helping Gramps Reindeer.

Christmas Day started with glasses of fizz and opening of stockings and presents with the boys.  This was followed by doing something very different.  There’s a local organisation called Operation Rudolph who provide food boxes, cooked meals and a Christmas Lunch for older people, people who live alone or people who are having a tough time.  Carly and James from Pebbles café in Seaton offered to cook over 100 lunches for delivery and eating in.  We helped out and collected and returned an old lady from Beer who lives alone, and we waited on tables.  It was really enjoyable and we feel that we have done something useful this Christmas instead of just eating and drinking too much.

The final count down

The boys left on Boxing Day which meant we had around a week to recover from the excesses of December and prepare for New Year.  More volunteering, this time at The Gateway, cleaning the pipes ready for New Years Eve.  The Zoots were the live band and whilst we had bought tickets we decided to work behind the bar for some of the evening as they were short of staff.  As it turns out we spent from just before 7.30 until about 12.30 pulling pints, serving rums and gins, the odd dance in sequence by the four of us bar stewards and generally having a great time.  When we got back home we sat in bed until 2am with a wee dram to chat and unwind.  What a fab night.

New Years Day was yet another Marlpit Lane Social Club event, this time to celebrate Pat’s 75^th birthday.

This is the end of Chapter 15, and we are now moving to calendar years for the blog instead of the usual October start which worked during our full on travelling days.  We’re about to travel to London before flying to Goa on the 4^th.  The social calendar is already filling so we are really looking forward to catching up with old friends, getting some sunshine and warmth, fabulous food and getting away from the miserable wet and windy weather we seem to have been having for weeks.