Moments of joy

The sun came out after the rain, and so did the windsurfers. This one if from the British Olympic team and they are always a joy to watch, especially when they are playing. Those of you who read about Helena and Luke in my Christmas anthology ‘Home for Christmas’ may wonder where the inspiration came from. Now you know, and it really is worth a visit. Buy a coffee and a cake from Baileys Bakes, find a bench, sit comfortably and atch them for hours. If you’re on Instagram, put in pooleharbour, and you’ll see what I get to see when I’m lucky. I won’t mention how gorgeous they look in wetsuits, but let’s just say that a woman has to get her heroes from somewhere.

A woman also has to have heroines, so here’s one of mine, Pip Hare. You can find her here - https://www.piphare.com/, and she moors her boat at the Yacht Haven on Poole Quay, so we often see her down there with her support team, or sailing out through the harbour ready for her next adventure. She made it home to Poole on December the eighth after dismasting during the Vendee Globe single-handed race. She could have been taken off and had the boat towed back, but not our Pip. She cut the mast down, cut the sails down, and carried on slowly but steadily. Now the boat is home, and she’s raffling the chance to name it to raise money. I went for ‘Invictus’, which means unconquerable, because she is one amazing lady and an incredible role model. If you get a few minutes over the next few weeks, read this and show it to your daughters and nieces because that is the spirit I think we women all need more of. https://www.piphare.com/blog/the-race-is-over-but-this-story-is-not

My heroism is so much smaller. I write. I learn how to cook, and, above all, I believe I can do things. And I do. Maybe not quite how I expected to when I start out, but I usually get somewhere good. I hope you do the same today and this Christmas and next year.