Tuesday, March 17 - Home already?

Left Andrea's place in lovely sunshine. Google maps gave us exact directions to get to the airport and the car rental company gave us very specific directions to get back to drop the car off so it was pretty easy. The flight left five minutes early but unfortunately it was one of those nightmare flights, where the kid behind you cries and cries and cries. Then he banged himself and started screaming. It was a couple of hours before he settled down but was at it again on and off through the flight. There was still some snow on the ground when we arrived and also it was light out. Canada changed to daylight savings at the beginning of March but England doesn't until the end. This means we only have a 6 hour time difference so do hope we can get back into the swing of things fairly quickly. I cannot believe we are back already! It seems like we only just left because the time went too quick. Since we left in December it feels like it should be the beginning of winter. I had a WONDERFUL time!!!! So many memories and it was great to visit with everyone and catch up on old friendships. Now I am expecting people to come to Canada to visit us.

I am so grateful that we travelled safely and that everything back home was good. Since we weren't home when Daniel had his accident I always had, in the back of my mind, the worry that something would happen. Praise the Lord nothing went wrong. Janet was wonderful to stay and look after our place and bills. Now it is back to reality....tomorrow. Dad has come such a long way in these last 2 1/2 months I am anxious to see him, and Mom. Not so anxious to get back to cooking, that is if I can remember how to do it!?! Now it is time to get reacquainted with my bed....

Monday, March 16 - Fabulous picnic for our last day!

This morning we woke to a blue sky and sunshine. As the day went on it got warmer and warmer. Packed a lunch and then all 7 of us headed up to Hay-on-Wye. This place is famous for it’s used bookshops, well over 20 in this little town. Spent two hours wandering in and out of the shops browsing through all the selections. Then it was off to the bluff, along narrow roads, so narrow that if someone is coming, in the other direction, one of you has to back up and pull over where there is a little bit extra room! You can’t really even see anyone coming as the hedges are up too high. I just went slowly and prayed that no one would come flying down! At the top we had a fantastic view and Andrea, who has been up here dozens of times in the last 25 years, said she has never been when it is so calm like today. Here we had a picnic. A truly lovely warm and very enjoyable picnic, no gloves involved. After lunch, Andrew, Helen and Aaron climbed the “hill” behind us. I said, no thanks, as this is the one Janet and I climbed up when we hiked Offa’s Dyke nearly three years ago. Actually, we climbed up at the other end, walked along the top and came down here. While they were on the hill, Andrea, Blahne and I lay on the blankets enjoying the sun and the view. Leah wouldn’t sit on the blanket as there were money spiders around. These are tiny little spiders that are smaller than ants. Leah's arm is sore but she has been a real little trooper. She goes to see the nurse on Wednesday to get the bandaged changed. Eventually the climbers returned and we drove the twisty turny roads back home. We have to laugh because quite often you will see a sign indicating that the road ahead is twisting back and forth. We figure that they should just have a sign when the road is straight as it is always crooked! This evening I am repacking a couple of suitcases and making sure I’m not over the weight restriction. I’ve brought along my suitcase scale to make sure they aren‘t. This scale has a hook on it and you just lift the suitcase to check the weight. Just like a fish scale. Tomorrow we are heading back to Heathrow airport and starting the last leg of our journey.

Sunday, March 15 - Another trip to the ER

After church, this morning, Andrew went off with Aaron and we headed home. Decided to pop up my microwave popcorn as a treat. Since the sun was shining and it was so lovely out we decided to sit on the trampoline and eat. March is lambing month so Andrea and I and the girls went for a walk to check out the babies. There were a couple of them in the pens in the barn but we couldn't get very close as they were only a day old. Went a little bit further so we could look at the pond with the ducks. It was so nice to sit on the bench and catch a few rays. Helen was practicing some photography and captured some lovely photos of the daffodils. On the way home we saw that the farmer was letting the baby lambs out of the pens so we took another look. We were standing there watching them and Andrea was petting the farmers dog when suddenly he jumped up and bit Leah (who was standing next to her) on the arm. The farmer's wife went in to get some cream for the bite and then offered to drive them home. Helen and I chose to walk. It was a rather deep bite and Andrea decided to take Leah to the hospital to have it checked out. The farmer said the dog was good with children, but apparently not today. The doctor just dressed the wound and gave Leah some antibiotics. They don't like to stitch dog bites because dogs have dirty mouths and you don't want the germs trapped inside. We had decided to order pizza for tea which worked out very well because Andrea and Leah took a couple of hours. The farmer's wife (I feel like this is a nursery rhyme - The farmer in the dell..) felt very badly and suggested Leah and Helen come back in a few days so they can cuddle a little lamb. Tomorrow promises to be another 14 C day, hopefully without a trip to the hospital!

Saturday, March14 - Family visits

We headed off this morning, in Andrea’s car, to visit Nanny, Andrew’s Mom. Yesterday was her birthday and the girls had made some cards for her. Andrew was off working for a friend for the day and Aaron was still at his sleep over. As we drove along Andrea was surprised to see Andrew go by on his motorbike. She called him a short time later and he said that he had been doing some hedge trimming and a branch poked him in his eye. So he was at home lying down with a cloth on his eye. We continued on to Mary’s and had a cup of tea and some biscuits. I always enjoy visiting with her as she has quite a sense of humour. Blahne had to sit down as soon as he got there because the beams were so low he was bent over as he was walking in the room. Helen and Leah headed right back outside to play in their “den” in the trees. After a while Andrew called and said that his eye was really hurting so we headed back home. Blahne stayed at home and the rest of us headed down to the hospital with Andrew. We dropped him off and we went over to McDonalds for lunch. Every time I come to England I take the kids to McDonalds as a treat. Andrew called about an hour later and said he could be picked up. Since he had an eye injury he was sent to the eye department so saw a doctor rather quickly. Andrew was told he had “deep lacerations” and was given a prescription for an eye cream. Now he just needs to rest his eye. This evening Beryl (Andrew’s sister) and Mark and their children Natalie and Reece came over for tea.

Friday, March 13 - P..p..p..p..icnic at a castle

It was rather cold and drizzly this morning as we headed off to Stokesay Castle. Andrea always brings a lunch along so we can have a picnic. We first went in to The Church of Saint John the Baptist, which was a built about 1150 as a chapel to the castle. Andrea and Leah decided they wanted to see what it would be like to be the preacher. I sat on one of the benches, which were so high I wasn't sure I could see over. Plus they had doors on either side, possibly to keep the kids in the pews???? Next it was on to a tour of the castle. We all got the little device that you use to listen to, and get a commentary about the place as you walk along. Kind of your own private tour guide. After the look around we headed to the car to get out our lunch. It was so cold that I didn't even take off my gloves as I ate my sandwich! Headed back to Andrea's with Leah in the back seat. The kids take turns travelling with us as everyone can't fit in one car. Had to take the clothes off the line and hang them by the fire to dry. I checked the forecast and it is suppose to get up to 14 C on Monday and Tuesday. Just a little tease before we head home to -10 C or something like that. Tonight it is just Andrew, Blahne and I as Aaron is at a friends and Andrea took the girls to their youth group. I shall have to finish up the book I am reading so I have a new one to start on the plane. Actually the book I'm reading takes place in England in the early 1900's so I can really picture it in my mind. Plus when they say, "Even though it was early March it was quite chilly" I can TOTALLY relate to that! (Thanks Helen and Leah for proof reading my Blog!)

Thursday, March 12 - Hike up...slide down!

It was much clearer today so was able to see out our window. What a beautiful view. I felt like I could be in the movie "Oliver Twist" as the town looked like the one in the movie. After breakfast we went to the lake to feed the ducks, swans and sometimes the birds. They gobbled up half a loaf of bread. Mandy had a map for a hike up the mountain, which we could see from our window at the Lodge. It was mostly cloudy but quite pleasant as we started and then stopped when I got ahold of the map and realized we were going in the wrong direction. Off we went up the hill and there were so many view points so we took tons of photos. At one point Mandy slipped on some muddy grass and down she went! We laughed, with her, of course! I figured that if Mandy was up front she would slip and we could avoid that spot. I was wrong!! On the way down I went splat and got my coat, jeans and my lovely cashmere sweaters all wet and muddy. Luckily I had brought along some extra things to change in to. It was a great hike and we were glad Mandy had "guided" us on it. Had to change when we got back to Mandy's (she lives in the top room at the Lodge) before we could go eat. Had lunch with Anna, from Poland, and all four of us demolished our steak and mashed potatoes with gravy. We were so starved! We were so happy to have been able to visit with Mandy and meet her friends but alas we had to head back to Andrea's. Jane never got a signal until we were almost halfway back but I had directions on paper. We would have zipped home in less than four hours but there was an accident just ahead of us on the motorway. It had just happened so we sat for over half an hour until the police got there and directed traffic. In Andrea's bible study the other day we talked about praying for people who have been in the accident instead of getting angry that traffic wasn't moving. So that is what I did. I've come down with a cold so shall have to rest and relax so that I don't have it when we travel home next week.

Wednesday, March 11 - Mandy and the Lake District

This morning we headed off for the Lake District to visit Mandy, our niece. She lives in Australia but has been working and travelling in England and Europe for the last year. I started off driving and Blahne navigated using Jane (Andrea's GPS) and Google directions on paper. Blahne was doing such an awesome job that I decided to keep driving. Jane had some problems keeping a signal and then when we left the main motorway she gave up. There was no satelite signal so it was lucky that we had the Google directions. Drove in to Ambleside and Blahne said to turn at what I thought was a round about but wasn't so turned into the church parking lot to turn around. I headed back on to the street only to discover it was one way!! One guy came around the corner and started yelling, "You could have killed someone!" What was I suppose to do when I had cars coming at me in both lanes??? I just waited until their was a break in the traffic then proceeded down the road and turned on to a two way street. Parked at the B&B and checked in. Katie showed us to our room and then ran upstairs to wake up Mandy. We won't mention that by this time it was 12:30 pm! It was great to see her and after she got dressed we went in search of a pub for lunch. Later we took a walk around the town, Mandy showed us Lake House, where she works, and then we hopped in the car for a drive to another town. Everything was shut when we arrived at 5 pm so we walked over to see the lake and then off we drove, in the wrong direction! Mandy was the navigator and she didn't have the map in front of her but she THOUGHT the road we were on went back to Ambleside. After driving for half an hour, Blahne pulled over and I gave Mandy the map and she discovered we were going north instead of south. OOOPS! Back we went, eventually making it to the Lodge. Went to Mandy's favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner before we checked out the pub she meets her friends in. Blahne and I left Mandy with her friends and we headed off to bed. Us older folks need much more rest! Happy Birthday, Aunty Ardys.