Hamnet

Hamnet was the winner of the Women's Prize for fiction in 2020. I'd seen it around, in bookshops, in charity shops, reviews online, but something held me back, I just didn't fancy it somehow. When I saw that it had been made into a film and that Jessie Buckley had won Best Actress Oscar for her role as Agnes, I thought I might like to watch it. I always prefer to read a book before watching a movie adaptation and that's how I came to read Hamnet.

I absolutely loved it. The book is written in two timelines: as Agnes is meeting her husband, and the death of Hamnet. Historical fiction, based on the death of William Shakespeare's son, what happened before and what happened afterwards. In truth, we know that his son died but there's no record of how or why he died, so it's a work of fiction, but as in most cases with historical fiction, truths are peppered throughout the story. It was only last November that we visited Stratford-upon-Avon, we looked around the house where Shakespeare was born and lived so I was able to visualise the house and surrounding area as it was described in the book, it brought it to life.

I'd been waiting for the movie to be released on Sky but before that happened, I got the chance to watch it on the plane as we flew to Antigua. I enjoyed it but as in most cases, I think the book is far better so I'm glad I'd read that first. 

When we visited Stratford-upon-Avon last November, we bought tickets for the Shakespeare attractions which were valid for a year so we made a return visit last weekend. We'd actually said that it would be nice to see the town in summer so that's what prompted us. This time we just went overnight. It gave us enough time to revisit Shakespeare's Birthplace as well as seeing Shakespeare's New Place, the site that was William Shakespeare's family home for nineteen years. We didn't visit this last time. The house where Shakespeare's family lived is no longer there as it was demolished in 1702 but there are now gardens, which are maintained by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, for visitors to see. Unfortunately, the heatwave seems to have played havoc with the plants and we didn't get to see them at their best, but it was interesting to visit this site as the original house is mapped out on the ground and there is a lot of information and new things to learn.

We visited in November last year and it was rather cold so we didn't take a river cruise but we rectified that on this visit. It was lovely sailing past the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare's buried. 

We made a return visit to Holy Trinity Church. On our last visit we missed seeing the saplings in the graveyard, two rowan trees which had been planted in 2022 in memory of Shakespeare's twin children, Hamnet and Judith. The grass, as in most places just now, is non existent, scorched away by the relentless heat and dry conditions.

We crossed the river by means of the chain ferry, a hand-cranked pedestrian ferry which crosses the River Avon near the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

We were only there overnight. We stayed in the same hotel that we stayed in last time, it's very handy being centrally located. There was a lovely market which was in full swing when we arrived so we had a look around that. We had a meal out on the Sunday evening. We managed to fit such a lot into two days and thoroughly enjoyed our visit again.

If you haven't yet read Hamnet I can wholeheartedly recommend it, a wonderful read.

Mick's 60th - August

As you'll know if you follow my blog, I've been arranging little surprises each month for Mick in celebration of his 60th birthday, which was yesterday.

I haven't arranged a surprise as such for August, instead I arranged a surprise meal for all the family to attend at our local Italian restaurant (Mick's favourite), so that we could all celebrate together. Mick had taken the day off work and I let him choose how he wanted to spend it, he didn't realise that the meal was arranged for the evening. He chose to have a day at the coast, Saltburn-by-the-Sea to be exact. We love it there, it has that olde worlde Victorian charm about it.

We had an amble around the town centre. It was nice to see independent shops alongside an indie craft market and an antiques centre. Plenty of cafes to grab a bite to eat too and a delightful book shop. Afterwards we had a walk along the pier, the only one left in Yorkshire, before spending a few 2ps in the amusements.

We enjoyed a very drippy ice-cream whilst sitting on the beach. It was a very hot day and the ice-cream was melting quicker than we could eat it. Raspberry ripple for me, Ferrero Rocher for Mick.

The meal was really lovely, as always. Eleanor and Jacob had helped by getting the cake and balloons to the restaurant ahead of us arriving so everything was a total surprise for Mick. Jack enjoyed it too, Daniel enjoys his role as the fun uncle.

Mick was thrilled to bits to have all his family around him on his special day, he had such a lovely 60th birthday.

Of course, the surprises are ongoing, I'm still arranging something each month right the way through this year so the celebrations aren't over yet.

The Stork's Been Busy Again

There was a long time when there were no babies for me to knit for, now there's more and more. I suppose my children are at that age when they and their friends are starting their families.

One of Eleanor's university friends has recently had a little girl so I pulled out my trusty knitting pattern, the Baby Aosta Cardigan by The Knit Purl Girl. This knits up so quickly, takes a little over 50g of DK yarn, and makes a lovely gift when added to a pack of pretty sleepsuits.

It's knit in one piece so there's no sewing up to do, it suits a girl or a boy and the Andalusian stitch just adds a little interest to an easy knit. I'm always pleased with the results. Here I've used Sirdar Snuggly DK in the Rosebud colourway, I prefer a dusky pink rather than a true baby pink and this fits the bill.

Baby Isla was born at the end of July and Eleanor's friend was very pleased with the gift.

Mick's 60th - July

I'm arranging little surprises for Mick throughout the year in celebration of his 60th birthday in August. Hopefully, I'll manage to think of something each month.

We often have birds of prey flying above our house, especially red kites. Mick loves to stop and watch them, he's interested in birds of prey so I thought a visit to a bird of prey centre would be a fun thing to do but then I thought how amazing it would be if Mick got to fly the birds rather than just see them or watch them flying. So I had a look at different centres and finally decided on the National Centre for Birds of Prey which is situated in Duncombe Park in Helmsley.

I booked him on a Raptor Experience, he was in a group with three other people and got plenty of time to handle and fly a variety of birds. I went with him in the capacity of spectator.

The experience began at 10am, we were met by one of the staff who took us down to the flying arena where we were introduced to Charlie, the handler who would be running the session. The first bird we got to meet was a chaco owl. These birds can be found in South America and are medium sized owls.

Mick was given a glove to wear and tempted by a tasty treat, the owl was straight over.

Next, it was the turn of a red-footed falcon. These birds can be found in eastern Europe and Asia, though they migrate to Africa.

It was amazing to watch these birds flying and also to see them so close too.

I did wonder whether Mick would get the chance to fly a kite, and though it wasn't a red kite like we see in the skies around home, he did fly a black kite.

This was a young bird, about a year old. It was the highlight of Mick's day to fly him.

Just after 11am we went to the cafe for a drink and a lovely slice of home made coffee and walnut cake, after which we went back down to the arena to watch one of the three daily flying demonstrations.

Afterwards, it was back to business with a harris hawk. These are medium to large birds of prey which hunt in packs.

I was going to say that I thought this was my favourite bird of the day but in actual fact, they were all beautiful and they all flew so well, it's hard to choose a favourite.

The final bird was going to be a brown wood owl. I didn't get a photo of Mick flying him as it was fleeting, the owl took off up into a tree and wouldn't come down again. Charlie managed to coax him back to his glove and as it was obvious he wasn't feeling it, he was taken away and swapped for a different owl.

So the final bird ended up being an ural owl. Aren't her markings beautiful.

This is a larger owl, though Mick said that all the birds were really light in weight, he was expecting them to be heavier than they were.

The experience ended at about 1pm, after which we were able to look round the centre and see the many different birds which live here. I've never seen so many birds of prey in one place before, the centre holds the largest collection of raptors in the north of England, some of them quite rare. We were able to leave the centre and return later, so that's what we did. We went into Helmsley for a wander round.

We continued with our look around the centre on our return before settling in for the final flying demonstration, each one of the day is quite different from the others. This finale has five kites flying together, black kites along with yellow-billed kites, and there was even a wild red kite circling overhead wanting to get in on the action. It was impressive how they were swooping to catch food thrown in the air and eating it on the wing.

It was early evening when we arrived home so we quickly got changed and headed out for something to eat. We hadn't visited this particular restaurant before but it's not too far away from where we live. The food was excellent, I had lasagne and Mick had penne al forno, classic Italian dishes.

The day was another huge success, Mick thoroughly enjoyed the time he got with the birds and I have to say that if you have any interest at all in birds of prey, you would love one of these experiences.

More Antigua

I started telling you a little about our holiday to Antigua in my last post so I'll continue here.

As I mentioned before, our suite was very close to the main pool which was handy. There was plenty of loungers and an abundance of shade too, no reserving sunbeds here, there was more than enough to go round. The resort actually has four swimming pools but we only ever used the main one. There was aqua aerobics here each morning, though I didn't partake, and low-key entertainment throughout the day.

I have to say that the food was exceptional, we've never eaten so well on holiday before. The Seabreeze is a buffet restaurant with a whole array of Caribbean and international dishes, some cooked in front of you, to suit even the most fussy eater. Portofino is the à la carte Italian restaurant, and Sails & Tales Bar and Grill is an à la carte seafood restaurant and cocktail bar overlooking Lovers Beach. Then there was Papa Ricco's Pizzeria for made to order pizzas, and Café 1761 for coffees, snacks, cakes etc. The Wavy Wicket Pub is a sports bar so it was showing the World Cup games while we were there. Pub Grub could be ordered there too. This Lemon, Thyme & Garlic Chicken - succulent roasted chicken infused with citrus and aromatics, served with roasted vegetables and a savory pan au jus, was just one of the dishes we enjoyed in Sails and Tales. There wasn't anything we ordered during the whole fortnight which was less than perfect, we enjoyed every morsel of food.

The Beach Grill is open for lunch. Situated right on Rasta Beach, it's more informal with the most amazing view. The food here was more casual - chicken wings, ribs, burritos, salads etc.

Then there's Nicole's. This is a fine dining restaurant with a surcharge of $50 USD per person per meal to dine there. It just so happened that whilst we were there, the Seabreeze buffet restaurant closed for a week for refurbishment so we were able to eat at Nicole's without paying the surcharge. We made the most of it and ate here three times. I wouldn't say the food here was any better than the other restaurants, it was just an additional menu so it gave you more choice. The service was better though, the waiting staff were very attentive. When the hostess discovered we were celebrating our thirty-sixth wedding anniversary she had the table decorated with rose petals and confetti, put some complimentary prosecco on ice for us, and when we'd chosen our dessert - Chocolate Lava Cake served with Vanilla Ice Cream, the hostess and waiting staff brought it to our table singing their congratulations. It was nice to be made a fuss of.

We had planned to go on some excursions while we were there but that didn't happen for one reason or another. We did take a taxi to St John's, Antigua's capital. It's the largest city and main port of the country. I would have liked to explore the city more but it was far too hot. We managed to visit Heritage Quay though, the duty free shopping complex where Mick picked up several bottles of Antiguan rum to add to his ever growing collection.

I will never make a wildlife photographer, we saw so many things but failed to get a photo. There were hummingbirds a plenty, more than we've seen on the other Caribbean islands we've visited but they're just too quick for me. We saw lots of pelicans but as we'd left the cameras at home, the zoom on our phones weren't sufficient to get a decent photo. We saw mongooses on our walk to Devil's Bridge but again, they were gone before I'd even got my phone out of my pocket. The lizards were happy to pose for me though, this is a tiddler from our resort but there were some absolute whoppers that we saw in St John's.

We made some friends in the resort, there were quite a few cats around, as I think there are in most holiday places, they know where the food is. We'd taken some cat treats with us, we were very popular in the colony.

I was expecting Antigua to be more lush than we saw, though I believe there's microclimates on the island so the northern and eastern sides, where we were staying, are drier and therefore, more barren. We saw lots of cacti as well as bougainvillea and hibiscus, amongst other flowers, blooming profusely though.

Our resort had areas where they grow food for the restaurants and gardeners could always be seen tending to the plants around the property. Bananas were growing in abundance.

We had such a wonderful time, we'd gone with the expectation of having a relaxing holiday and that's exactly what it was. It was a fairly quiet resort with low-key entertainment, though there was something on every night. There was also an eighteen-hole mini golf course, tennis and pickleball courts, table tennis, shuffleboard and pool if you found yourself getting a little bored, we didn't! We did have a couple of rounds of golf though, and we always enjoy a game of table tennis. The food surpassed our expectations, the water sports were an added bonus for Mick, the suites were better than we thought they'd be, it was wall to wall sunshine. What's not to love. It's definitely somewhere we'd go again.

Daniel and Jasmine are, right now as I post this, at Gatwick Airport waiting for their flight to St Lucia for their honeymoon. It's where we went on our honeymoon too back in 1990 and we returned there two years later. I wonder how much it's changed in all those years. I'm sure they'll have a wonderful time.

Antigua

We've been to Antigua. We arrived back last Sunday but it already seems so long ago what with all the washing and ironing, and then looking after Jack on Wednesday and Thursday, we were straight back into the routine. It's our fifth trip to the Caribbean and the fourth island we've visited. We hadn't intended having such a big holiday this year, we had thought about having a week away in May but with Daniel And Jasmine's Wedding Day being at the end of the month, we decided we'd go away in June instead. Then we got talking about having a fortnight away instead of a week and before we knew it, we'd booked a Caribbean holiday.

We stayed at The Verandah Resort & Spa, a fabulous adult-only all-inclusive property. We were there for the rest and relaxation and boy, did we get it. It was paradise.

The resort is set over thirty acres with hillside, waterview or waterfront suites. The hillside suites have views over the tropical gardens, the waterview suites have a partial ocean view, usually with other suites inbetween you and the ocean, and the waterfront suites are literally by the side of the ocean. We stayed in a waterview suite, we were up bright and early on our first morning and this photo was taken at 6am from our balcony.

Our suite was very well situated, very close to the main pool and restaurants. Each suite is semi-detached. I'm not sure if we had any neighbours, we certainly didn't see or hear anyone. This is the front of the suite.

The back of the suite has a veranda where you can take in the views. There's a partition on the veranda between adjoining suites, but there's a door which can be opened if you're holidaying with family or friends. I thought that was a good idea, it made it private but with the option to open that door if you wanted to.

At the back end of our holiday, we were asked if we'd mind moving suites as there was a water leak somewhere around the resort and our suite was going to be left without water. It wasn't ideal but at least they upgraded us to a waterfront suite. They also allowed us a complimentary late check-out on our departure day which should have cost $50USD and waived part of the resort fee totalling $72USD, so that was something. This was the view from our new room.

We tried to keep up with our walking while we were on holiday and the resort was the perfect place to do this. It could be a little hilly in places but there were good roads around the property and plenty of space to stretch our legs.

Those views spurred us on in the sweltering heat.

The accommodation is set out around the thirty acres so we were lucky to get a suite so central to the amenities, however, those in a suite further away could take advantage of the shuttle service. These buggies whisk you around the resort to wherever you want to go. There are designated stops but they'll pick you up or drop you off anywhere you want, the drivers were always so friendly. We only used them a couple of times preferring to walk around the beautiful location.

Devil's Bridge is a National Park in Antigua, less than a square kilometre in size. It's basically a rock formation where the limestone has been eroded creating an arch with surrounding blowholes powered by the ocean. There were organised trips to this area but as it was so close to our resort, less than a mile away if you know where to take a shortcut, we walked there ourselves. We got up early one morning hoping to avoid the main heat of the day, it was a lovely walk there and back before breakfast.

The resort is built on two beaches, the first, main beach, is called Lovers Beach and was a short walk from our suite.

This beach was the most popular, though it was never crowded. I never had to wait to use one of those sea hammocks, there was always one available when I felt the need to lounge around in the sea. I have to tell you, it's a great way to cool down, and they're so relaxing. It was to one of those suites on the left hand side of the photo that we were moved towards the end of our holiday.

You can find the water sports here too. I'm not a fan really but Mick loves anything to do with water so I did go on a kayak with him to show willing, and he spent quite a bit of time kayaking alone too. He went right out of the bay. There were Hobie Cats too, lightweight catamarans, but we didn't go on those.

Mick's been wanting to have a go a paddle boarding for a long time so he took the chance here. He was really good at it, falling in only once when he first got on the board but after that he was away. He paddled all around the bay. It was something I was going to arrange as one of his monthly surprises for his birthday this year but there's no need for that now he's given it a go. He really enjoyed both the kayaking and the paddle boarding and was a regular visitor at the water sports throughout our holiday, I relaxed on the beach and watched.

Rasta Beach was further away from our suite, we could have got a shuttle to it but instead we walked, it wasn't that far. It was always very quiet here, the perfect place to get away from it all, we loved it. We could be sat there the whole morning and find we were the only ones using this beach.

Just outside our resort was Long Bay Beach, another beautiful expanse of fine white sand and crystal blue waters. This beach didn't belong to our resort so you had to pay for sunbeds and umbrellas here but it's nice for a change of scenery if you want it.

I think that's given you a taste of where we stayed and what the resort was like, I'll be back to tell you a little more about our holiday in my next post.