Visitors
John Maxwell, a columnist on the Jamaica Observer and lecturer at the University of the West Indies paid his first visit to Wales over the New Year, though unfortunately spent most of his time ill in bed! He was able to email his column on the Tsunami, to his editor whilst here. He thinks there are Stokes connections with Jamaica.
We enjoyed the company of Simon and Emily, RSPB wardens on Ramsey Island for a week in January. They told us about Derek who has the farming concession on the island and who featured that same week in one of the BBC Wales programmes on Pembrokeshire. Coincidently we sat next to his mum and dad at the Tsunami lunch a few days before.
Five young New Zealanders were here at Easter and offered to find out the New Zealand end of the John Lort Stokes story.
It has been great see so many friends here. Paul and Brenda Dark, Nigel and Margaret, Amy Wyatt (it is her you see after the exhilarating ride on the RIB) from the Cheshire Home, Les and Chris from Liverpool, down for the big Druidstone Ceilidh weekend, Francis Pooke, an older friend from Halsway days and Kate McCarthaigh, a woodcraft folk veteran from Radstock. Kate's nasty experience with a taxi driver, who got lost and charged her £40 to get to Cuffern from Haverfordwest, spoilt her visit. It should have cost about £10 to £15 at the most. Unfortunately we have been unable to locate the offender.
Spring
Our first spring and we are beginning to see the wealth of flowers that have hidden since arriving. We first saw primroses at Rosepool Farm on 2nd February. There are 15 varieties of daffodils here we are told and Jayne has added more. The daffodils opened before most of the snowdrops. The many-headed Sol D'Or opened on 15th January. The magnolia's first bud opened on 21st March. Easter weekend was very warm and sunny.
The Druidstone weekend was one of the best ever I thought. Joel and friends came down and the disappearance of Michel will always provide the trigger for remembering the whole weekend. Between 2am on Saturday night/Sunday morning until 6pm on Sunday evening we had no idea where he was. On Sunday, a call to the police was about to be made when he rolled up at the Dru.
