March

Spent a lovely morning sketching and painting down by the lake in the centre of town (see later blog for end results!)

Work to do on the boat. We are busy insulating the fridge - the blue polystyrene, then fibre glass and now gelcoat. It's been a long job but will be worth it to save the drain on the batteries when we leave the marina, the weather warms up and we are relying on solar power for all our electric

The last Sunday BBQ at the sailing club before David and Lindsay leave to head for Venice. David is the Englishman with a knotted hankie on his head!

The sailing club at the end of our pontoon where we have the BBQs, Thursday get togethers, music practice, wine tasting etc.

Meal at "Sammie's" just before Chris and Dessi (on the right here) leave to head for the Ionian. They have sailed from New Zealand via Tonga, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Philippines, Indian Ocean, through the Somali pirates (they met the crew from Quest just before that boat was boarded and they were all shot), up through the Red Sea, through the Suez canal and into the Med - they have some amazing stories to tell!!!

A great evening which, as usual, ended with a singsong - we are convinced that Chris knows the words to every song you name!

Sad to wave goodbye to our friends David, Lindsay and Lucifer the cat on Rosa de Venti.

Also a sad day when we said goodbye to Chris and Dessi on Skylark II 

Saturday ramble (yes we were wearing waterproofs!) A bit wet at times but still warm and Dave was able to do the walk too. A beautiful route through woods with such an abundance of wildflowers.

One of the 8 watermills we passed en route. They were often used in sequence to move water up the hillside for irrigation etc.

Bob the dog having a well earned rest at the top of the hill. He and his brother and sister were found in a box in the marina but all are rehomed now - Bob lives on Jolini with Jerry and Caz and is a very popular member of the marina group! 

A wonderful time of year for wildflowers including several varieties of orchid

The view from the village where the walk started and finished - a lovely smell of orange blossom from the trees in the foreground.