So….
....where's all this snow they were promising us then? It's not even that cold this morning.
Travelling Man
So, at this point, assuming he got away on time, Chris will have been in flight for just a little short of four hours. He's going to be in Australia and New Zealand for at least seven weeks, and may extend. I took him to the airport this morning, and it was a weird experience. We've seen each other off at plenty of airports in the almost-eleven years we've known each other, but this marks the start of the longest period we're not going to be seeing each other in that entire time. Even when I was working in New York, the longest gap between my trips back to the UK was only around six weeks, and he came out to see me along the way too.
It's remarkable how, even though we've been split up for a while now, the place we have in each other's lives is probably still best described by the word 'fixture'....
Conversational
Chris: I'll be setting off with her in a few minutes.
Me: Okay, buzz when you get here and I'll come down to help you with her and her stuff.
Chris: Okay, see you in a bit.
Me: Oh, and can you bring your keys to my place with you?
Chris: Ah. Good idea.
Me: Yes, it suddenly occured to me that it makes no sense for my emergency keys to my place to be in your place if my keys to your place are locked inside my place.
She’s Heeeeere!
Yes, Dillon's in da house. And bigger than ever.
I've remarked before how she is a cat that gives the lie to all of that "Cats take a long time to settle if you move them to a new home" stuff. She's really remarkable in that way, but I think this trip may have set a new record. I think she'd been out of the box for about a minute at this point:
Oh Oh
Apologies for the ongoing silence. One of the things that's been occupying my time is preparing for Dillon's return to the flat after more than a year, which means putting anything that's claw-able out of the way and getting anything that will suffer unduly from black fur being shed all over it well out of the way.
She's arriving tomorrow evening, just before Chris, who's had custody for all this time, sets off on a couple of months of travelling in the Southern Hemisphere.
Snapshots Of A Bad Blogger
I admit it - I'm a bad man. I'm still not blogging properly. But I still don't have a machine of my own at home, and my blogging and surfing (with a view to blogging) time is consequently incredibly minimised.
But if I'm barely blogging at the moment, that's still better than I'm doing elsewhere. I had a message on Friday from Carlos, one of my Millarworld cronies, telling me that the gang at MW are woindering what's become of me.
I feel very bad about having dropped under their radar - all the stuff that's been going on in the last few months has really damaged a number of my online relationships.
I really hope that I manage to get back in synch with them soon.
Snapshots Of A Holiday: More Paradise
Found a couple of extra shots of Petit Saint Vincent - I forgot I changed memory stick while we were there. If anything, these are even better than the others.
Snapshots Of A Holiday: Harbourside
Quick one this time. Waiting to set off for Carriacou, I took a set of photos of the sweep of St George's harbour - one side of it anyway. It's a great harbour, with an additional lagoon at the south end.
Quick bit of stitching later (and spot the boat that moved - easier to see in the large version):
Snapshots Of A Holiday: Carriacou Triple Treat
Last Saturday, we'd decided to succumb to the temptation of an excursion. Having explored various parts of the island, we thought we'd like to get out on the water. Plus, the island of Grenada is only one of the parts of the country that is Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, and it seemed a good thing to visit at least one of the other parts. So we set up a trip to Carriacou with a boat trip out to Sandy Island for some snorkelling.
Subsequently, much confusion ensued between us and the tour people about exactly which of their Carriacou trips we actually wanted to go on. Sufficient confusion in fact, that even once we'd been picked up to be taken to the ferry, we weren't sure exactly which one we were going on.
In the end, I think we got the best option. The ferry ride from St George's to Carriacou's capital Hillsborough is around an hour and a half long, across the open Carribean. Plenty of opportunities for spotting flying fish, and even whales and dolphins at the right times. We were delayed docking in Hillsborough because of the fishermen who were blocking the jetty (it's another world), but once off, we went for a quick trip to the other side of the island for our first proper look at the rest of the Grenadines. (Geographical aside - there's a geographical concept called 'The Grenadines', of which Carriacou is the largest, and a country called St Vincent and The Grenadines, which politically encompasses most of the others.) Immediately around the closest few isalnds is a major reef, which creates a very still and clear area, which is where we were going to sail.
Still having odd expectations, and even though there were only six people in our little minivan, we somewhat expected that we'd be getting onto one of those catamaran things that every holiday resort seems to be full of these days. But no, Captain Brian took us out by motor boat to his 30-foot yacht, Cinderella, and we spent the rest of the day on what was to every intent and purpose, a private charter. He took us out under sail to anchor off Petit St Vincent, a private island with a by-all-accounts fantastic resort on it. We had lunch on board, swam, walked on the beaches, and generally acted like we were in paradise. And admit it, it does look pretty much like it:
Once we left there we moved on to Petite Martinique, and from there caught the ferry back to St George's. A pretty awesome day all told.
So Much For That Plan
The one to add some more holiday snapshots that is.
First day back at work and I'm already up to my eyes. I've spent all day and pretty much all evening working on a proposal that I have to get away to the recipient tomorrow to meet the deadline. And there's stacks more to go. Still, if it's not done by the end of the day then it'll have missed the deadline, so I should certainly be able to blog some stuff tomorrow evening.