Today we went across to the island to have a lovely roast lamb linner with Mirinda’s guitar teacher, David and his wife Julie. On the way home, aboard the ferry, we both thought the day had been splendid and a roaring success.
It was my first time on the Lymington – Yarmouth ferry. Mirinda has been catching it each Monday for guitar class, but for me, today was it.

And, for a change, the weather was lovely. Mind you, as we chugged across the Solent, Lymington all but disappeared beneath grey, foreboding clouds while we remained drenched in sunshine. In fact, the weather was so lovely, we sat outside, on the sundeck.
David had insisted that we bring the girls. They were a bit confused when the ferry ride only lasted 40 minutes. They are used to a minimum trip of six hours, after all.
David met us at Yarmouth and drove us up to the downs so the girls could have a run around and relieve themselves. On the way, he told us about the day he was out walking their dog. It was foggy and a bit bleak. Suddenly, he was confronted by a hooded figure wearing some sort of horrific mask.
“It’s the grim reaper!” He gasped and set off, walking faster than the dog could hope to match and leaving the ghostly figure well behind him.
He explained to us that it was probably a druid. They have a few on the island. They particularly come out for solstice. Unless it’s raining when, they stay at home until the weather improves. Fairweather druids, he called them.
David and Julie’s dog died a while ago. Seeing David with the girls, you could see how much he missed having one around. Freya, of course, was very friendly with them both but Emma, as usual, was stand-offish with him. It’s very sad when she does that.
After linner, Freya curled up in Julie’s lap and fell fast asleep. Typical. Any lap is hers. Julie said she was the perfect lapdog. She’s not wrong.
Linner was lovely. It’s always a treat for me when someone else cooks. And, I have to say, Julie’s cauliflower cheese was perfect. I think I ate most of it. Julie insisted and how could I not comply?
While David had picked us up, he relegated the return trip to Julie so he could have a number of glasses of wine. She dropped us at Yarmouth with about ten minutes to wait for the ferry back.

An absolutely splendid day, spent with a lovely couple.