My blog has pretty much stagnated for the last 10 months. Admittedly, we’re not travelling at the moment, since the boat is still on the hard undergoing a rebuild. Of those ten months, we only managed to squeeze in about 2 months work… cos for two months we contracted out to a conman who was a house builder moving into boats, knowing little about them. After we sacked him, it took another month to undo damage he had done, and get it all back to the bare bones.
Then two months later my Mum got ill, and I flew back to the UK. I spent three months there, visiting hospital (and later the hospice, where the care was awesome) every day, cycling around seeing friends and doing a bit of painting. They were precious days, full of love; and I am glad we had them.
I already posted back in 2011 about what a wonderful Mum she was, so no need to do it again: Thanks Joy I love you
Being a very supportive husband, Marc came too, and abandoned the boat to support me through my Mum’s Cancer and death early last month. She passed a few days after we left to take a break, leaving her in my Uncle’s care. She waited until we landed in Thailand and called her, then she dunked her phone in a bowl of cereal and spiralled down. It was swift and she bypassed all the humiliation and pain that often comes with a lingering fight against death. Way to go, Joy! And I’m fairly sure she chose to go while we were in Thailand… it’s hard to wallow in sorrow in paradise:
Since then we have been travelling and seeing relatives in the UK (mine) and Andorra (his), which was lovely. We are blessed that his folks live in one of the BEST ski resorts in the world, so there’s always plenty to do to keep out of trouble before dinner. Probably about half the time we spend walking, but this time the snow was incredible, so we spent most of our time skiing for a change:
.Anyway… now we’re back in Phuket. Or at least I am. Marc’s in Kuwait working. I’ve been here for two weeks but I’m not expected to work… although I have been doing a little bit of teaching. Before I left I was teaching in KG at a Government School – this time it was 12 year olds. And the difference it noticeable. In their drawing skills, as well as their maturity level. There are some things I just love about my job, and this was one of those moments, when the topic was transport!
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Hopefully work on the boat starts again next week. At the moment this is what the deck looks like:
I am incredibly impressed. I cannot believe how multi talented my husband is. But I cannot wait for that boat to be bloody well finished and back in the water so I can swing at anchor on the hammock rather than this blazing heat we have to endure off the tarmac! Plus I don’t like snakes, spider and cockroaches… so I really am looking forward to this getting finished!
Saucy Sailoress 