Tuesday, 25 August 2015

The New Jilly ...

Returned a couple of days ago from our lovely break in Jersey, CI.  Have you ever been there?  If not then please try it as I cannot recommend it highly enough.  We first went about twenty years ago and we fell in love with it so much we have now been back to it a further seven times!  Over the years we have seen it grow and develop but it will never lose its charm.  It is steeped in history, has a lovely climate and there is plenty to see and do.  We walked miles every day - along the coastlines, round the quaint little towns.  The people are warm and welcoming.  It truly is a place to relax and unwind (and after losing my old mum in June, bless her, I was ready to do some relaxing and unwinding, believe me!).

On our last full day there, Steve and I opted for a two and a half hour boat trip.  It went round half the island, from St Helier to Corbiere Lighthouse and it was near Corbiere Lighthouse that we found ourselves being entertained by a family of dolphins.  This was nothing short of a miracle as far as I was concerned and was one of the highlights of the holiday.  The family - we think a mum, dad and calf - showed up out of the blue and frolicked around us for at least twenty minutes - swimming along beneath the helm of the boat almost as if leading us ashore, diving in and out of the waves.  And the water is so clear there that we could even see them as they passed below us.  The male was at least eight feet long and the most ethereal blue/silver colour I have ever seen!  The female was around six feet and the baby around four feet and they seemed to enjoy the company of the humans almost as much as the humans enjoyed the company of the dolphins!  We were all hanging over the side of the boat snapping away with our cameras and we got some cracking shots of them I have to say.  Talk about excitement!  The skipper eventually announced regretfully that we had to get moving again and it was with an air of regret that we watched these magnificent creatures fade into the distance.  But the memory of sharing that twenty minutes with them is something I will never ever lose.  It really was an amazing experience.

Since we got home, we have slowly been getting back to the usual routine.  I added at least another five hundred words to The Epic this morning in the coffee shop before heading to the Day Job and I have just started getting things together for the first Young Writer session on 5th September.  That has come round unbelievably quickly, I can tell you, so I have my work set out for me for the next few days.

Don't forget to let me know of any Christmas or Autumn fairs or bazaars coming up so I can sell some more copies of My Writer.  I desperately do not want it to fade into oblivion because it is far too important if I am to continue nurturing the next generation of writers and poets!

And I am always looking for new opportunities.  If you have a parish magazine or know of any editors looking for columnists please point them in my direction ...

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