In the Grips…
/ October 1, 2011 0 COMMENTS

Happy New Month! We are on day four of a heat wave. Not having had any summer to speak of, compared to the flaming hot conditions endured by my Texas family at home, this late burst of delightfully mild weather is absolutely uplifting! Of course it’s all relative, the lady upstairs had her blinds down…

What I Imagined…
What I Imagined…
/ September 30, 2011 0 COMMENTS

Our daughter set the downhearted tone for the day.  Daughters and sons and various other loved ones have that knack. She sent her Dad an email saying she wasn’t having a good day.  This was  8:41 am.  Her day had barely begun. During her brief and tiring visit on Sunday she had said she didn’t…

I Don’t Give a Damn…
/ September 29, 2011 0 COMMENTS

I finished Margaret Mitchell’s, Gone With The Wind, last night.  I think I’m a fast and furious reader but I would sit down for an hour and devour hundreds of words only to discover I’d hardly made a dent in my progress through one of the largest tomes written.  Back in 1936, when it was…

No Longer Their Flat…
/ September 28, 2011 0 COMMENTS

My parents’ furniture has gone. Packed neatly into a bashed up moving van, hired by our buyer out of the local rag, “Sight unseen,” she assured us just in case we thought she was risking the life of our furniture.  Over the phone she’d asked the driver, if he would drive to London? “Oh yes…

Escaping The Box…
/ September 27, 2011 0 COMMENTS

I am an out of the box thinker. As a homeschooler that statement should really go without saying. For several months I’ve been having a really difficult time with my blog.  Every time I sit down to write I feel my ribs constrict and I find myself under an asthma attack advisory.  My voice comes…

Lock Up Your Toothbrushes…
/ September 26, 2011 0 COMMENTS

Before I gross anyone out I need to put a disclaimer here.  I do not have a bathroom cupboard or cabinet in the tiny space where a tub, a sink and a commode co-habit.  There is barely room to swing a hamster and places to set things down on is at a premium. The tub…

A Very Short Visit…
/ September 25, 2011 0 COMMENTS

Our youngest daughter visited us today. She had called, well, skyped, last weekend for an hour and said she wanted to come home to see us…could she? What a question!  We spent the week preparing for a day with her, planning breakfast, tea and dinner, I baked her favourite cake, Hubs made her a jar…

Negative Perception…
/ September 24, 2011 0 COMMENTS

I was having a conversation over fish and chips in Whitstable, overlooking the estuary.  I could see the lights of Leigh on Sea, it had only been a week since we’d been on the other side! I was describing the kind of business I wanted to a family friend. Somewhere where guests were encouraged to…

Drawing In…
/ September 21, 2011 0 COMMENTS

I hate to report it but we are losing nearly 4 minutes of daylight a day at the moment, a couple of minutes in the morning and a couple in the evening.  By the time my son arrives in two weeks it will be getting dark a whole 30 minutes earlier than this evening.  I…

Roman Water Fountains…
Roman Water Fountains…
/ September 20, 2011 0 COMMENTS

I scrawled across my postcards from Rome, “Nothing’s changed!” It was supposed to be a joke because there’s not a lot anyone can do to a ruin.  They’re protected.  The whole city’s in ruins.  After a mere 20 odd years there’s hardly going to be any tell-tale wear and tear on a piece of crumbling…