Monday 9th March, the Atlantic Ocean 25 degrees, very windy and a slow swell (I trust you are noting my more nautical terms!) not sure what that means but think it is white tops to the waves! Once the sun had properly risen……

The sea is a new darker blue.

A bright but windy day, we are now north of Barbuda and heading to the Azores. After an early start we did 45 minutes of our circumnavigation of the ship on the promenade deck to get the day off to a good start. (I don’t think you’re giving a true picture of how utterly glorious it is to walk the promenade deck early in the morning. It’s wonderful…and I hope I’ll always remember the joy of it all. Ed)

It was then time for me to have breakfast and then get into my ukulele and Bridge outfit – I always think looking the part helps, even if I don’t know what I am doing!

Mr. West (teacher) wouldn’t let Lynn get a folder with the new music for me at the end of the last session – I have to leave before the end of the ukulele sessions so as not to be late for Bridge. Apparently there weren’t enough kits to go round. He gave out envelopes with music and other bits of kit in it. Now I can survive without the ‘kit’ but not without the music! Luckily he had two music books left this morning – so all’s well. I just need to be able to play it!

Ukulele has become much more challenging under the current maestro. At least I have some of the chords under my belt, I am glad I am not coming to it totally fresh as some are. Our Mr. West has aspirations of grandeur methinks – in addition to playing he is looking for singing harmonies and rounds. No wonder I felt exhausted by lunchtime! Add to these shenanigans the Bridge technique of the ‘hidden language’ and I was whacked!! Not to say befuddled!!

A more serious thing we learnt today from our Bridge playing chums is that a man has been put off the ship for hitting a woman in one of the laundries. We are horrified – first that this could have happened but second that people are so up tight and angry. I tell you – doing the washing is a dangerous occupation around here!

We had a few purchases to make and then did a few rounds on the promenade deck, then lunch. Busy, busy!

After lunch and a snooze on my part, we went off to listen to a lecture on spices. It was a bit tedious and definitely one man’s point of view. Keith gave up after about 20 minutes. I stuck with it like the goody-two-shoes I am, but it was a bit tedious. 45 minutes I will not get back again!(He said that the poor used to buy spices to mask the flavour of rancid meat. This is just plain wrong. It’s a myth that started to be told some time ago and now people believe it to be true. But no one ever ate rancid meat. Medieval peasants couldn’t afford to buy spices regularly, so they weren’t going to put a luxury item (spices) on rancid meat. It doesn’t make sense. And if you tried to mask rancid meat’s flavour with spices, it wouldn’t make it any more appetising or palatable…it would just be spicy rancid meat. This is just lazy history. And it is demonstrably wrong! Grrrr…Ed)

Next on my activity list was my crossword. I have found a new location for this – the rear area on deck 8. Sunny but a bit more sheltered from the wind. A good thing on a day like today

It is a dressing up night, but Keith and I are joining out with our regular dinner chums for a new experience. We are going to The Beach House Restaurant. One of the benefits is that it is dress down tonight and just smart casual.

We did in fact enjoy it very much…it was such a fun evening.

And so to bed … The clocks go forward an hour tonight. Tomorrow is another sea day.