Interesting Little Book

Mum had a lovely birthday. She spent the day with my sisters at Southwold and then they were out to eat and back to Mum's for some cake and presents. I was afraid they would be rained out, but Mum said it rained overnight and the start of the morning, but cleared up nicely in the afternoon. As usual Mum got lots of presents - enough things to keep her going until Christmas!

I wanted to share a lovely little book I found while we were in Dorset. It was in a charity shop and just called my name as I passed by it. I found it quite interesting.

Does anyone else find books like this interesting?

I thought I'd share her entry from September 3rd, Wednesday 1800

Coleridge, William and John went home, to go upon Helvellyn with Mr Simpson. They set out after breakfast. I accompanied them up near the Blacksmith's. A fine coolish morning. I ironed till 1/2 past 3 - now very hot - I then went to a funeral at John Dawson's. About 10 men and 4 women. Bread, cheese and ale. They talked sensibly and cheerfully about common things. The dead person, 56 years of age, buried by the parish. The coffin was neatly lettered and pained black, and covered with a decent cloth. They set the corpse down at the door; and, while we stood within the threshold, the men with their hats off sang with decent and solemn countenances a verse of a funeral psalm. The corpse was then borne down the hill, and they sang till they had got past the Town-End. I was affected to tears while we stood in the house, the coffin lying before me. There were no near kindred, no children. When we got out of the dark house the sun was shining, and the prospect looked so divinely beautiful as I never saw it. It seemed more sacred than I had ever seen it, and yet more allied to human life. The green fields, neighbours of the churchyard, were as green as possible; and, with the brightness of the sunshine, looked quite gay. I thought she was going to a quiet spot, and I could not help weeping very much. When we came to the bridge, they began to sing again, and stopped during four lines before they entered the churchyard. The priest met us - he did not look as a man ought to do on such an occasion - I had seen him half-drunk the day before in a pot-house. Before we came with the corpse one of the company observed he wondered what sort of cue our Parson would be in! N.B. It was the day after the Fair. I had not finished ironing until 7 o'clock. The wind was now high and I did not walk - writing my journal now at 8 o'clock. William and John came home at 10 o'clock. 

I'm looking forward to reading more! Apparently Dorothy was the sister of poet William Wordworth.

It was a holiday weekend here in the states this week which throws my whole week off. I kept thinking Monday was Sunday and I keep thinking today is Monday. Sigh. I have to remember that it is Wednesday tomorrow - Mum's birthday. I shall be ringing her later at night as she is going out with my sisters during the day.

I have most of my holiday stuff put away. I bought more than I thought. Now I have to get back on the no-spending wagon. I really need to start saving some more money as the holiday funds are all but depleted. We have one more mini-trip coming up mid-November - a autumn colour trip in the U.P.

Today I thought I'd share a few photos of my travel journal before I put it up in my craft room ready to use when I do Mum's photo album. I had this book at my Mum's from last year so I ended up using it. I got through more tape than I imagined, so I ended up buying some at my favourite shop The Works. It was only one pound! It looks to be the same stuff I buy here and easily pay 3 pounds for!

I really love making these. It's such a good way to hold onto memories and store all those bits I used to hold onto and never do anything with. I kept all my tickets, bought some postcards and picked up brochures.

September

I can't believe it's already September! The summer went by just too quickly!  I am caught up with my washing and unpacking but I'm taking the weekend to just relax before trying to get back into the groove again. It's always a job to get back into the swing of things especially as I've been away for so long!

It's back to the usual with Mum again - Skype on Saturdays, phone call on Wednesdays. It's her birthday on Wednesday. I gave her presents before I left. It's always difficult to know what to get her - she gets so many smellies from my sisters - but I know that she loves to read just as much as me so I got her a couple of books that she wanted (a hardback and a paperback) and then got her a GC from a bookshop. She really enjoys buying some of the news books that the shop sometimes have at half off. With the colder weather coming she'll spend more time indoors reading so I know she'll be putting it to good use! This coming Wednesday is her birthday. She'll be going out for the day with my sisters and for a meal. I'll ring her later in the night.

I have a few September goals :-

* continue to sort some books. I did bring some back with me so I need to continue to purge. I know that I'm not the only one that struggles with this. Even my mother, who doesn't hold on to many things, tends to hold onto books as though they are old friends.

* spend little/wisely

* cook down foods in freezer. I'll have to take a good look at what they used while I was gone and use up some of what they didn't use. The cupboards do seem quite full!

* do some tidying/sorting. I want to let go of some more things. Also bring less in.

* sort through England photos. I'd like to get an album of Dorset done for Mum for Christmas (yikes!)

My photo share for today. Punch and Judy show. When we were on our holiday in Dorset (Weymouth) we saw a Punch and Judy show on the beach. It brought back so many memories. I actually persuaded Mum to sit and watch a while. I remember it was a treat to watch when we were kids. The one seaside place we used to go to the Punch and Judy was set up on the part of the beach where (obviously) the tide didn't come up, but on the rest of the beach we would move up and up as the tide came in!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Back in the US and a little Thanks!

Just a quick post to say that I am now back in the states. Mixed feelings there. Anyway, I will be back posting and reading within a couple of days (once I get over the jetlag and the horrible cramps in my legs/feet from the travelling!). I just wanted to say THANK YOU for those who have continued to pop in my blog and for the messages. I really appreciate them!


I have lots of photos to sort through and will post some when I've gone through them. I had an absolutely wonderful time and the weather was really pretty good.

Last week

I can't believe almost six and a half weeks have passed but this is my last week in England.  I am missing husband and my favourite camera ( it was just too heavy to comfortably bring with me). I have been enjoying myself and eating far too much good food lol. Mum and I have been lots of places. I'm pretty sure she's looking forward to a rest when I go back.

Today we went to Woodbridge. It was a beautiful day there.  We missed the rain that seemed to have hit partss of Ipswich. We took a lovely walk along the river. The sun was shining and it was quite warm. The bus we were waiting for to take us back to Ipswich was really late but we finally made it back. It was wet coming into Ipswich but when we got back to mum's it hadn't rained up her end of the town and the washing in the line was dry!

Checkin In/ Still in England

I'm just checking in.  Having a lovely time with mum.  We went away to Weymouth for a week and the weather was gorgeous. I have taken so many photos.  I am looking forward to sorting through them all when I get back to America. Time seems to be just flying by now but we're having fun and getting out lots. 

Yesterday we went to Southwold and Aldeburgh. Had some delicious fish and chips.  Yum! Today is a bit of a quiet day as the weather is a little drizzly. 

Hot Hot Hot/Sandringham Flower Show

Yuck.  It is terribly hot. I've had enough and can't wait for things to get a little cooler.  It's difficult to sleep as it is so sticky. Mum and I are having a lovely time.  We're off for a week on Saturday to Weymouth. I'm really looking forward to it.

Yesterday we went to the Sandringham Flower Show. It was a hot day but we had a lovely time looking around. There were so many beautiful displays and a lot of  plants I would have taken home if I could have. These were taken on my phone as I didn't bring my laptop to sort out camera pics

Arrived in England Safely

I left for England last Friday and -after a bumpy start where the plane I was on almost didn't take off - I made it to England on time.  The second flight was uneventful but really busy.  There were no spare seats at all. I'm having a good time with Mum.  I'll write more later.  Just wanted to check in.

This was from our trip to Woodbridge today. The weather was beautiful.

Getting Ready

I'm trying to get moving so things will be done when I leave. I had a horrible thought last week, when getting ready to go to daughter's, that I wouldn't have enough capris/trousers to take with me to England or shirts so today I went through my wardrobe and pulled things out and tried them on. I hate shopping for bottoms especially as they are either too short, the hips are too tight or the waist is too big. I had prepared myself to do some (horrible) last minute shopping, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I have enough to take with me for the trip! I shall probably have to whittle down the pile as I probably won't need them all. I shall take more tops as I can be a little clumsy and don't want to be doing washing all the time. Mum has a washer but no dryer so things have to be put out on the washing line weather permitting.

I also got up in my craft room and did some sorting. There are a couple of small projects I'll be taking with me so that I have something to do in the evenings. I won't take too much as it is all extra weight and I'd probably end up not doing it. I also took care of some of the things I hadn't got around to putting away yet. I'm hoping to leave things at least a little organised while I'm gone.

I did take a walk in the morning. I saw a mother and two fawn down by the lake. They were all so cute. I did take a picture but - story of my life - I haven't sorted them yet. I also had a hair appointment.  Tomorrow there are a couple more projects on my list and son will be coming up to eat with us and say goodbye to me. We keep in touch via Facebook Messenger while I'm gone so it's not like I'll be totally out of communication.

Today's photo. This is one I took while we were on our camping trip up north. I really enjoyed waking up in the morning to see the sunrise with the slight mist over The Lake of the Clouds. It was such a beautiful sight.

Took a Little Time...

Thanks for the lovely comments about Shadow. I really appreciated them!

I took a mini-break from blogging. I wasn't in the mood to share anything but more thoughts of Shadow. I'm feeling a little better now though the house still seems strange without him.

On Thursday we drove to daughter's in Minnesota. It was only a quick trip - for the long holiday weekend here in the states. We went with MIL and FIL. It gave them a chance to meet daughter's boyfriend and see their new house. We had a lovely time. The huskies were pleased to see us and I got lots of cuddle time with Shasta.

The journey back was horrible. It took us a LOT longer than it usually does and the traffic was pretty bad. We made it back late. Poor hubby had to go straight to bed and get up for work in this morning. I'm sure he will be pretty tired when he gets home from work. He has a really early start in the mornings - 5am on Mondays.

It's going to be a busy week for me. I leave on Friday to go to England for six weeks to visit Mum. I can't wait!

I have the requisite washing to do today and cleaning then I'll be sorting some photos and checking out blogs. Hope everyone has a good Monday!