Christmas and Festive Felicitations to One and All

Well!!!!!

What a year 2017 has been for the Whites. 

January:  a winter jaunt onboard Wight Mistress across the Solent to be fog bound in Gosport for a week.  It gave us the opportunity to ‘do’ the maritime heritage though.

March:  short refit that ran on to May, but far more importantly, the announcement by our daughter Hannah of her expecting her first baby in the autumn (more of that later.)  ‘Silent Angel’ a Merlin Rocket racing dinghy, joined our boat family.  ‘Angel’ has yet to launch but we do hope to do so in the spring of 2018.

May:   a run across to Normandy, a trip to the the Canal du Midi and help friends cruise up the Rhone.

July:  a cruise on Arcadia in July for 2 weeks, up to Norway, Iceland and back via Dublin.

September:   back with our friends for the run across the Channel, up the Thames to Richmond,   then a 3rd stint onboard their boat, cruising on the Thames for a week. Back at home one of this years brood of cygnets, ‘Harry’, became unwell and after a long spell with Key, a lovely lady in Cowes who runs a small sanctuary for injured birds,  Kay came with us to supervise as we took Harry up to the Swan Sanctuary at Shepperton which, incidentally, was right next door to where our friends were berthed in ‘Billow.’

October - November:   live aboard time in Elephant Boatyard on the Hamble for 5 weeks helping Hannah prepare for her confinement and keep her company while Tim was at work. On Sunday the 12th of November, Chloé Elizabeth,  our 8th grandchild, arrived,  weighing in at 5lbs 13oz. She is an absolute joy (not that the proud grandparents are biased, you understand)  and we will have the pleasure of her company at Christmas as well.

December:  we performed in Ryde Chorus’s Christmas Concert It was a triumph:  Haydn’s  Missa Sancti Nicolae, followed by a Christmas carols old and new,  one of which was written for us and performed in public for the first time, with the composer watching.  Barbara did an amazing job videoing our Concert with Steve’s new Nikon camera.

A hop to Devon for a family party to celebrate a milestone birthday for Cousin Sue,  then back home again on Monday after a bit of time with family. Tuesday evening we are singing in Handel’s  ‘Messiah from Scratch’, something we do each Christmas in the Minster in Newport.

We are now looking forward to a noisy Christmas with family at home, a party at New Year and a dash, madly forward in to 2018.

We wish you all the very best for a happy and peaceful Christmas and a fruitful 2018, with all your dreams coming true.

Best wishes

Barbara and Steve