March fun and frolics

Well March will definitely go down as one of the toughest but most rewarding months.  Suffice to say, champagne was drunk on a number of occasions and it was richly deserved.  Now we are at the end of the month it is trying to warm up and I can almost sniff spring in the air (when it isn’t raining)!  At times through the month it felt like summer was here – daffodils, blue skies, putting the roof down on the car… then the next day we had frost and hail again. Oh England how you tease us!

March is my birthday month, we didn’t get away this year for it (Tenerife was booked to fall between both of our birthday’s instead) but instead I had a fantastic night out with friends from school, university, Southampton and sailing – it is fabulous to get everyone all in one place , add a few espresso martini’s (why, whose idea was that) and then dance on tables in the ultimate pub in Southampton – The Frog and Frigate.  It reopened a year ago and was a favourite haunt from university days!

The spitfire also did a flyby of the city on my birthday – maybe not for me (80th anniversary of it being built in the city), but the sentiment wasn’t missed!

I bought myself a birthday present to myself – Anna de Codorniu cava flutes and cava.  It arrived just at the right time to toast success!  The trouble is now it has run out, but I still have the flutes!

Easter weekend dawned bright, sunny and warm.  Quite something!  Off we went National Trust-ing.  Along with what appeared to be most of Hampshire we had a lovely morning in the gardens of Mottisfont, near Romsey.  I’m glad we arrived at opening time (I’d been up from 6am working so it didn’t feel early to us) as we still got to enjoy the grounds at their quietest for a little while.  Being able to sit outside and be warm and get some vitamin D was a great start to the weekend.  More to follow soon about Mottisfont, of course.

Thank goodness for making the most of the one day of fine weather over the Easter break!  The rest of the weekend consisted of wind, rain, a spot of hail and the odd glimmer of sunshine! We took a trip up to Winchester to meet friends for dinner and drinks, but en route I managed to fit in a little bit of culture.  Embarrassingly the first time I have been to Winchester cathedral, well worth the visit and I particularly enjoyed seeing the Gormley sculpture in the crypt.  The lady on reception was very apologetic about the flood in the basement, but I think it sets the scene perfectly! Blog post to follow, of course!

Cheers to the long weekend – I worked a fair chunk of it but always early in the morning to not interfere with the day – that meant we still had the chance to take something of a staycation and spend time visiting places, eating, drinking and catching up with friends.

April – let’s do this.  I’m ready for a new, and warmer, and drier, month!  I’m starting off in Miami on a business trip.  Later on in the month I have a track day at Thruxton which should be exciting and then to end the month a little taster of pilot life in a 747 simulator! Plenty to look forward to!