Thursday 31 January 2008

A visit to Malaysia

Phil has got to wait until after Chinese New Year to get Pumpkin lifted out, so I am hoping to go out for a week and fly back to England with him!
Flights seem to be available for less than £500 return and our very good friends Lyn and Tony have offered to have Lydia and Julia to stay! It is a chance for them to see Home-Ed at first hand, although Lydia studies independently mostly I will need to organise a schedule for Julia to follow with a minimum of help.
It is all very exciting!

Tuesday 29 January 2008

Coming Home!

Well it is finally decided, Phil is going to get Pumpkin lifted out of the water and put in the boatyard at the yacht club in Klang. The trip is officially called off, Pumpkin will be put up for sale with Scott Brown, and Phil will fly home!
It will be lovely to have him home again but things can sometimes be a bit tricky at first as we all get used to a new chain of command!
There is an English couple in Klang that Phil has made friends with, and they are going to keep an eye on Pumpkin and maybe even show prospective purchasers around.
So we will see what happens next!

Saturday 26 January 2008

Another Birthday!

Yesterday was my 49th birthday and although Phil is not here I still had a lovely day with the girls, and coffee with Lyn! ,Hannah will be home on Monday but has lots of dissertation work to do- the joys of Uni 3rd year!
Phil phoned yesterday for a long chat which was fantastic. He and Daniel( and Pumpkin) are safely installed in the yacht club at Klang. Daniel flys back to UK today and hopes to rendezvous with Crystal at the airport on her way back from Dublin!
The yacht club would be a much cheaper place to leave Pumpkin while we try and sell her- we could even get her lifted out into the boatyard-much easier for prospective buyers to view.Still no word from the crew for the next leg. Phil really doesn't want to continue to Sri Lanka, he would like to leave Pumpkin where she is and fly back to UK. Selling Pumpkin would mean we could pay off most of the mortgage and convert Buttercup into a full-blown camper. Watch this space!!

Tuesday 22 January 2008

Here we go again!!


The Pumpkin saga continues! The name of my blog - Thoughts on Pumpkin - is very appropriate for Phil at the moment. All those lonely hours on night watch have given him plenty of time to think about what he is doing and why!! He is missing us all very badly and wants to sell Pumpkin and get back to England. The folks joining him in Klang have booked their flights for 9thFeb. They had asked about buying Pumpkin at some stage so I have emailed them to offer Pumpkin to them but have heard nothing back ( probably a bit of a shock!). Adrian ( crew for Sri Lanka to Oman) fortunately hasn't bought a ticket yet. It is all on hold at the moment really.
Phil and Daniel are passing Singapore as I type, scary and at night, so lots of prayer needed. Once they get to Klang we can try and sort things out!
I have to say it will be lovely to have him back home!

Thursday 10 January 2008

On my own!

Well I'm not really on my own! Lydia and Julia are here with me and Hannah phones regularly.
I'm getting the hang of waking Lydia up for her paper round, the only problem is that the weather has been so cold and gloomy that no-one feels like getting up in the morning!
Phil and Dan are on their way now so there will be no emails until they get to Malaysia. But hopefully they will be back in mobile range soon and they will text so I know they are okay.
Home ed keeps up fairly busy and all the activities are starting up again, Guides,Gym, Top of the Town and Orchestra.
The thing I miss most is being able to run things past Phil, usually when he is away we talk on the phone nightly! Two heads really are better than one!