Settling into Island Life!!

Well it didn’t take Andy long to rewire all the electrical equipment, set up Henry’s computer game and PC. This was swiftly followed by running repairs to dodgy shower rails, door handles and light fixings. I went back to work on Wednesday, dropping Henry off at Prince Andrew School on the way as he had been invited to attend for a sixth form team building event off site. I think he was a little nervous, but Henry being Henry he took it all in his stride and I left him happy in the company of the Head of Sixth Form and Head of School. I drove on to the office and on my return home; everything had been unpacked and put away, the house vacuumed and cleaned and the yard weeded! I beat Henry home too – I was back about 4.25. Henry had opted to take the school bus home – not for the faint hearted. I checked with the school that someone would point him in the right direction at the end of the day – due to the location of the school – pretty much mid Island – there are a large number of buses that all go off in different directions! Henry arrives home just before 4.45 and is full of his first day at ‘college’ He’s had a great day which in turn makes Andy and I very pleased for him! He’s made some friends already – he’s chatting to them on Facebook and he tells me that he feels really at home on the Island – it helps that ‘winter’ here over the last few days has seen unusually high temperatures in the mid 20’s with mostly sun. Henry is now on holiday until September – it’s a short holiday here now as it’s winter so the schools break for 3 weeks only, but make up for it at other times through the year – more time off at Xmas because it’s summertime, longer half term breaks, so overall the time spent attending school in similar. The days are longer though with kids leaving home every day by 8, some earlier, depending where they travel from and to. School finishes at 4 and by the time the bus gets you home it can be well after 5. Henry is astonished by the amount of food the Saint children have. On his team building day, the sixth form were bussed from Prince Andrew to Blue Hill. As soon as the kids were on the bus (9 o’clock), lunch boxes came out. According to Henry they had a dozen sandwiched each! For many though, the lunch box would be breakfast, lunch and dinner, because of the amount of time they are away from home – suffice to say, Henry wants more! One of the first questions he is asked is if he has a hard drive with films on it with him and can it be borrowed… Andy’s had a good day too – he went to Longwood Store with neighbour Bob and picked up some provisions – we have an account at the shop so no need for cash there. We also have an account at Longwood Farm Shop, which is open every Thursday for fresh – dug out of the ground yesterday – vegetables. Andy seems to have settled into the way of life easily, but he has to slow down – he’s still working at UK pace. Anyway after a busy day, all that remains is to open a bottle of chilled Sauvignon Blanc, take a seat on the balcony and watch the sun go down over the mountains – heaven x