Jennie and Dave and the First Mate have known each other for over 4 decades, since we were all students in Edinburgh. They drove over to see us in Amble from their home in Corbridge on Thursday, arriving mid afternoon.
It was great to see them again after a long period of only brief encounters and Xmas card communications.We much enjoyed 'catching up' in time- honoured fashion.
After dining on hot smoked salmon - a delicacy we have come to savour on the journey since first tasting the real McCoy on west coast of Scotland - from the excellent fish shop in Eyemouth, we ambled along the river (Amble marina in background) to the delightful village of Warkworth with its own castle ruin, checking out a local hostelry - The Hermitage - on the way.
Friday morning dawned bright and sunny. Alnwick and its castle of Harry Potter fame, also home to the Duke of Northumberland (the lion and its tail seen below is his emblem) is just a few miles from Amble so Skipper and Mate were delighted to be entertained to some land-based touring, courtesy of our temporary 'crew'.
Adorning the turrets and walls of Alnwick castle is a selection of human figures adopting various poses, one of which caught the Mate's eye. It shows a person with cudgel in hand about to vent his/her wrath on some other object or person ... something she occasionally feels like doing when commanded by the Skipper for the umpteenth time: "keep the boat into wind!" while all along that is exactly what she has been doing her best to do!
Jennie and Dave kindly provided transport from Alnmouth station back to Amble for the next crew arriving from London on Friday afternoon. Then it was time to bid farewell again but this time we vow not to leave it so long before meeting up again - easier now that we are based in the North as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment