Friday

This week has been flying by. Not surprising really. It's my first week back. Still feeling a little off, but I did get up into my craft room this morning. It's been so hot and humid. Today when I woke it was raining and I hoped it would cool things down a bit but it hasn't. You can feel the moisture heavy in the air. I managed to get in a walk between rain showers and I could barely move without getting sticky and sweaty. Yuck.

It was really lovely over at the lake. The fields are filled with wildflowers and everything is so very green. It's so pretty at this time of year - the hazy, lazy days of summer before the days get shorter and the mornings more crisp. I certainly shouldn't be wishing for those things, but I find myself looking forward to Autumn. It's my favourite time of year. I love the changing of the leaves, the cooler temperatures and the beauty Autumn seems to bring.

We're off camping this weekend. The weather is supposed to be okay and the temperatures on the other side of the state, where we will be, a bit more bearable. I'm not quite sure what possessed me to book a camping trip for this weekend as I barely have my feet on the ground as it is.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Travel Journal

I kept a travel journal again this year. I'm really glad I do this. It's lovely to be able to look back and see what we did on a certain day and it helps when trying to journal photos later. I have some books to make for Mum as I took lots of photos and she didn't do too many.

I took the notebook/folder with me. I thought that maybe it would be too big, but it's pretty full.

It's also a great way to keep all the postcards and brochures together.

Getting Back to Normal

The leg cramps have disappeared and I'm getting back on track (almost) sleep-wise. I still feel a little off-kilter, though I suppose some of that is a little of the get-back-to-normal blues. I don't think I'll have a lot of time to get back on my feet. We're off camping next weekend (a trip booked back in about February) and then I'll be off to visit daughter at the beginning of September. I'm hoping that visit will be less eventful than the last one.

It was strange being back here when everything is so green. Usually when I get back everywhere is so dry and the grass is dying. Not so. Everywhere here is so green compared to how it was in England. It has started raining since I left though so hopefully things will bounce back. It was a little strange seeing everywhere so dry and the grass so beige/brown.

I walked the nature reserve on Friday morning hoping to help the cramps in my legs and feet and I loved seeing all the changes. There were lots of new wildflowers and the fields were really green. I'll start back on my routine tomorrow and walk around for a little more. I'll probably take photos, but I have so many from my England trip to sort through. I took lots of Devon and Wales. I'm excited to see how they look!

Airports and Strangers

Well, I made it back. I got in at 2am Friday morning - several hours after I was due back. Yes, that means it didn't go quite to plan or as smoothly as I would have liked. The plane from England left on time and made it back to Chicago and that was about the best part of the journey. Chicago airport was a mess and that is putting it politely. I will try my hardest to avoid that airport next time. They were woefully understaffed and there were really, really long queues everywhere. I have to say that all the years I've been doing this flight that was my worst experience at an airport ever. I missed my first connection (which actually turned out to be a good thing as it was cancelled completely) and the later flight was severely delayed.  That's all I'm going to say on that subject lol.

The waiting areas around the gates were packed with people and seats were a premium. I bonded with one lady whose bags I watched while she went to the loo and she returned the favour for me. There were people who were going away for a few days and were missing time with loved family and others, like me, who were coming back from a long journey and just trying to complete the last leg of that journey. The family near me were coming back from a trip to Palestine where the teenage girls I was talking to had visited family. We were all watching our different flight information screens earnestly and were excited for one another when we saw updated flight information (only to be disappointed over and over lol). Luckily none of our flights were cancelled - though many were - and we watched as one by one the planes arrived and people got off. When we were finally able to get on our planes we waved excited goodbyes to one another. I found it quite interesting how strangers can bond over such an event.

I was really tired when I did make it home. Husband, who picked me up at the airport, had to get up for work later that morning so we basically got home and tumbled into bed. I woke about 4 hours later due to jet lag and terrible burning leg cramps - never had them so bad! I'm glad the journey is all over, but I already miss Mum. As the years pass, the goodbyes seem to get harder. It's back to our usual Skype Saturdays and chat Wednesdays.

Goodbyes

I hate goodbyes :(

August already! Back from Wales

I can't believe it's August already. I'll be heading back to America on Thursday. Six weeks had just flown by! We're back from Wales. It was really beautiful. So much history and new castles to see. We visited lots of places in the five days. Wore mum out a little. I forget she's getting older. I'm sure she'll love a rest when I leave lol. I've got to try to read lots of books in the last few days so  I don't have so many to fit in suitcases.

Magnificent castle at Chepstow.

I'm going to savour and enjoy these last few days with mum. I'll write again when I'm back.

Wales this week

We're off on our second little coach trip this time to Wales.Wasn't sure what the weather was going to be like as the rains have finally arrived on Friday night - along with storms. I have to admit it was nice that the temperature cooled down but I was hoping it wouldn't rain too much as going on holiday in the rain isn't a lot of fun. The forecast didn't look too good for Newport. It did rain last night but today was really beautiful. We went to The Royal Mint which was well worth a visit. Later in the day we went to Cardiff. Mum and I spent most of our time at the castle. It was really beautiful. If nothing else going there had made this trio worth while! My legs feel a little wobbly from all the steps up to the very top of the keep!

So hot

Groan. It's too hot for me. The buses were so hot and sticky today. We took a trip to Colchester but it was a job to find somewhere to sit that was in the shade. Everybody looked hot lol. The castle had a lovely flower display that was very bright despite the heat and lack of rain.

We're in Devon!

We've spent this week on the first of our five day mini breaks. This first one was in Devon. The weather had been lovely. I've really enjoyed this trip. One of our days out included a quick visit to Dartmoor National Park. It was absolutely stunning. I would love to be able to go back and walk there at some point. On our free day we visited Torre Abbey Gardens. Really beautiful and peaceful.

Still Sunny Suffolk

Thanks for all the lovely comments. Just a quick update. Having a great time. Been out with mum and sisters and the weather had been absolutely gorgeous. We're off to Devon for a Monday to Friday holiday so hoping it stays decent. Time is just flying by! I can't believe how quickly it's going by.

Went to Southwold the other day. Cloudy to start but ended up lovely. My sister took us in the car. It's so nice to spend the day with her and Mum