Christmas message 2020

A suitable registration for a year in which the best bits were German

 

This time a year ago we were very delighted to look back on a very busy 2019. We'd enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime in Australia and NZ, sailed to London, France and the Netherlands, enjoyed our first year with our granddaughter Ivy, and I had started running. I finished the message "next year is likely to be quieter"... and boy was I correct.

Camilla meeting herself on Zoom (writing "how-to" guidelines)

Rough at the Edges managed a few socially distanced sings outdoors on the warmest summer evenings

In many ways we have been touched relatively lightly by the pandemic. Because I work from home, and Cruising Association members were likely to value a magazine more than ever, I just carried on as usual. Gradually our activities moved to Zoom: Zumba, yoga and my singing group (although we mostly chat because you can't harmonise online), Sam's physio exercise class and communications group, then family meetings and CA lectures and seminars.

Camilla's bike outside Wingfield Church in early May

By lucky chance I bought a new road bicycle in August 2019 and had it serviced in early March 2020. As I cycled around Suffolk I started visiting the medieval churches which are on every route in north Suffolk and south Norfolk. By the end of the summer I had visited a total of 50 medieval churches, 36 of which were in Suffolk, all within 10 miles of our house. A very few were open but even when they weren't, just finding them and wandering around the outside was a joy, and I developed a bit of a passion for north doors.

Kalessin's brand new mainsail, raised for a total of around 10 hours this year

At least we had a change of scene when we spent nights on board

In June Kalessin of Orwell was launched, but at that point we couldn't stay on her overnight, and even when we could, persuading crew to join us was challenging. Sam and I spent a number of summer nights on board enjoying takeaways from the Haven Ports Yacht Club (and on one memorable evening being told they were too busy to be bothered with my takeaway request, so we dined on an interesting selection of elderly store-cupboard foods). We went up and down the Orwell a bit and sailed twice to Walton Backwaters, discovering on one occasion that our anchor windlass was seized and also through-bolted to a sheet of marine ply with the consistency of wet sponge. In total we did about 50-60 miles.

Vielen dank, Deutschland

In August much of the Herrmann family received the wonderful news that we had been granted German citizenship under the "Restoration of citizenship" rules - my father and his family, who were Jewish by blood but not by religion on both sides of the family, left Germany in 1937. Guy and I managed a brief and safe trip to the German Embassy in London to collect our papers, with an even briefer socially distanced chat with my brother Paul and his family on the pavement outside. We have dual British/German citizenship, and perhaps even more importantly we remain citizens of the EU after Brexit.

Essential items for travelling to the EU in a pandemic

The high point of the year was a trip to the Herrmann house in Pretzfeld, northern Bavaria, with our son Ben and his fiancée Anne, in mid-September. My German passport arrived the day that we set off, which was very exciting. We went out via the Harwich/Hook ferry overnight as usual, and were incredibly lucky with timing; four days after we arrived, Germany added parts of the Netherlands to its "restricted areas" requiring a Covid test and/or quarantine. 

Ben in the middle of the river Wiesent

View from the Walberla

Anne and Ben

We were there for 14 days, 12 of which were glorious, warm and sunny. We didn't go far from the house but did lots of walks, cycle rides and even runs (I hurt my back on day 2, not seriously, but it was a nuisance). We even managed to go out for a meal two or three times – at that time the Covid rates in the area were some of the lowest in Europe. Altogether it was a golden interlude in this bleak year. Fortunately, we had booked a return trip via Eurotunnel and by driving non-stop through Belgium and a small bit of France we managed to avoid quarantine on our return. 

Famhist in 108 pages

During the Pretzfeld trip I started work on laying out the Herrmann family history compiled by her aunt, Georgina. Somehow that managed to occupy quite a lot of the remaining months and was finally finished in mid-December – 108 pages, all fully illustrated. It was finding, scanning, Photoshopping and captioning the images which really took the time, but it was worth it, and fascinating to learn more about our ancestors. My great-grandfather Curt Herrmann was quite a well-known neo-impressionist painter, which does make it easier to find out about him and his family. 

And as if there wasn't enough to do I also did a Goethe Institut German course which proved rather more intensive than I had hoped! I have a few exercises left to complete but have done enough to go on to the next step if I want to.

Amber's funeral pyre - the ground was far too waterlogged for a burial

Jasper being almost brave enough to get on to my lap

Sadly in April our little cat Amber was found dead in a neighbour's gateway, probably hit by a car. We said farewell to her with a magnificent funeral pyre. Her sister Jade is still with us and in October we adopted a rescue cat, called Voodoo on his arrival but now called Jasper (to continue the semiprecious stones theme). He spent a week living in a very small hole in the bathroom and snarling, followed by almost a month in a gap at the back of a bookshelf behind some cushions. Then he spent a couple of weeks in a puppy crate learning to face the world. Now he’s almost brave enough to sit on my lap...

Sam enjoying a sunny afternoon in our courtyard...

...and enjoying being on the boat even more

The year has been hard on Sam, with almost all his activities stopped in February. He's been sleeping much more and doing far less than usual. In the first lockdown he benefited from the lovely weather and spent a lot of time sitting outside. He managed to get on and off the boat a few times, coped with the stairs at Pretzfeld with help from Ben, and he usually stays cheerful even when I am very, very grumpy.In October he did manage a couple of weeks back at Street Forge woodworking workshops before the next lockdown made him feel it was no longer safe. He sometimes comes and sits in the car while I'm at the supermarket, just for a change of scene! Inevitably he's done less walking than usual and with no-one to talk to but me his speech has also suffered, although his weekly Zoom sessions with his communications group have been a tremendous asset and perhaps a better option than the monthly meetings in person before Covid. 

Guy Brown, Covid warrior

Guy has continued to work at Harbour Marine all through the year, and although he was lucky to be employed,it has been especially tough when almost everyone else was expected to stay at home. After a shaky start Kai has also been back at work at Framlingham Castle. Ivy has become a walking, talking and of course enchanting two-year-old, who has spent almost half her life under Covid restrictions.

Ben & Anne in their new house

Ben and Anne have also worked all the way through Covid but in their case both working from home. In August they finally completed the purchase of a house in Kimberley, just north of Nottingham, which has taken up lots of their time. Perhaps Sam and I will see it one day...

As I have been writing this we have learned that Suffolk is about to move into Tier 4, having had low Covid rates right through the pandemic until a week or two ago. So I don't expect to see any of you for quite a while. Please do take care of yourselves and perhaps once we are all vaccinated we will be able to meet again. In the meantime, merry Christmas and hoping for better things in 2021.

Let's run into 2021