Christmas in Ayamonte

Didn’t actually manage to get any dinner last night, as we had people over for drinkies and nibbles and it went on until after 10. Andy fell asleep in the cabin and I nipped out for some patatas fritas. (That’s chips to you.)
Christmas seems to have started, then.
It’s been some time since I last posted a blog, but that’s because I’ve been busy.
We eventually managed to prise ourselves out of the anchorage up the Rio Guadiana. It’s lovely up there, peaceful as well as sociable amongst the other yachtspeople who go up there to have a look and end up staying there for years, sometimes. Some of them have bought houses in Sanlucar. However, there’s the rest of the world out here. So one day we got up early enough to get the tide downriver and here we are, at the mouth of the river, in the marina at Ayamonte. It’s a good place to be in a yacht for the winter, as it’s very sheltered from weather and currents and there are shops and supermarkets very close to the marina. Ayamonte is a reasonably sized town, with normal life going on, even out of the tourist season, unlike some of the coastal resorts which are ghost towns at this time of year. We do notice, however, a lot of people hanging around all day, as there is little work to be had outside of the summer season. Like many Spanish towns, it has very attractive buildings and plazas. At the moment they are lit up with Christmas lights.
Christmas is celebrated slightly differently here. It seems to focus around family and food, like most of Spanish life. They do give presents, but they’re not as important as in England. They do put up decorations, but not so much as in England. The decorations tend to be mainly nativity crib scenes and lots of 3 kings outfits. You do see Father Christmas, as well, but not so much as in England. They certainly don’t go in for Christmas cards at all, (nor birthday cards.) There does seem to be widespread panic buying in the supermarkets in the last day or two, though, just like in England.
I was getting a bit stressy about the responsibility of the bit of money my Mum left me. I wanted to do something with it, but I didn’t quite know what. I stuck it in the bank and watched it flop on the floor in a useless heap. I’d been trawling the internet looking at property for sale in England and Spain and occasionally reading news headlines to see if the recession was lifting. Being here in the boat meant I was feeling cut off from any possibility of being able to act. So at the beginning of December I flew to Bristol and drove to Cornwall and spent a week (mainly in pouring rain), looking at property for sale in Cornwall. I couldn’t afford to buy anything there that I wanted to own. So I left the holiday apartment I was in (oh, it was so lovely having rooms to walk around in, hot water out of the taps, my own shower and TV) and drove to my old home, the Isle of Wight. I was able to stay with some old friends from Stroud who have moved down there, and again enjoyed a comfy bed, shower, TV and all the home comforts. Anyway, I found what I was looking for, which is a top-floor flat in a lovely Victorian house in a quiet residential road, very close to one beach and quite close to 5 other beaches. It has a view of the Solent from the sitting room window. It has a garden and a garage. It’s also in close walking distance of shops and a pub, which is also, quaintly, the Post Office and tearooms. And it’s mine. Or it will be in a few months, once all the legal stuff has happened.
So the plan at the moment is to set off towards the Med, once the weather looks a bit more like it. Then sail up the coast of Spain and France and head back to UK through the French Canals. I need to be back in the UK by the end of May, as I’m flying to NZ for 6 weeks to get in the way while daughter no. 1 produces my first grandchild. Yay! I’m now knitting a baby cardigan, which is the first thing I’ve knitted in about 25 years (since daughter no. 2 was on the way.) It’s going to be the dead of winter in NZ at that time of year. Terrible planning on Sarah’s part, I feel. Andy will join me in NZ and then we fly back to UK and move into our new flat and see what happens next.
While I was in England, enjoying being in a house, which was lucky as it was absolutely freeeeeeeeeeeezing over there, Andy stayed on the boat and took the toilet pump apart. Euggghhhh! The diaphragm in the pump had split. It would be simple job, if it weren’t in a boat. As it is, it took him days to get it apart, source some replacement bits, find the screws and things he dropped in the bilges, and get it back together again. At least we now have a fully functioning loo. I was so glad he did it while I was away. He kept me updated by email, telling me he was fragranced with eau de toilette!
Since I’ve been back on the boat it’s hardly stopped raining long enough for me to get out and do my Christmas shopping. I’ve done now, though. We have a “tree” which is a bunch of greenery I picked from the gardens round the marina car park. We also have our solar-powered fairy lights strung round the cabin. It does look festive, and, as I said, we had neighbours from a couple of British boats over for drinks last night. I think Andy’s recovered now.
Just left for me to say, merry Christmas to all of you, and I hope you have a marvellous new year.
You’ll be gratified to know that it’s still raining and the forecast is for it to continue for at least the next seven days.........................
It’s not as cold as in England, though.