Ploughing a new Furrow.

In which Mark and Rachel become jovial landlord and landlady of the Plough at Normanton on the Wolds, Nottinghamshire.



It's a lovely country pub which had become a bit sad and neglected recently. They closed it for three days to strip all the tired old stuff out and redecorate it. The beer's good, the food's great and the atmosphere's exceptional, so so far so good.

A reet classy latte....




A few more pictures are here

Happily, the menu does include the BVI-influenced cheesy fries and gravy.

A Considerable Rewind!

Another memory of warmer days to brighten up a November evening. This is James aged about 12 sitting on a small boat that we rented for the week on Lefkas. We mainly pottered around to a deserted patch of beach and lazed around or snorkelled, although we were more adventurous one day and headed off to Vathi on the neighbouring island of Meganissi. It's only about five miles, but it felt quite an adventure on such a small boat.

One that got away.

This is Apostle, The Contessa 32 that I was seriously thinking about buying in the spring. Initial estimates made it look feasible to buy her in Florida and bring her back over here. She's a lovely boat and sails like a dream, but Mike, her owner, has been too busy to give her the attention she needs and so she needs a lot of work to bring her back to her former glories.

In the end I decided that it would simply cost too much to ship her over and do the work required. Hopefully someone will see the potential soon, cos she's gorgeous.

Ooh, Shiny

Well, they turned out nicely.

Four of the bits of wood that I've been sanding and varnishing.

Before:













After:








It almost seems a shame to expose them to all that nasty salt spray and sunshine!