home at last

My luggage finally arrived - one at midnight on Thursday and the other last night at 11. Both bags had take a small side trip to Newark, NJ!! This seems very odd, as they were clearly marked for Baltimore. Frankly, if I were choosing a place to visit, it would not be Newark - been there and wasn't impressed. (Hope I haven't insulted anyone reading this.) Anyway, all the stuff in the suitcases arrived in good shape and is now put away. The clothes are being washed this morning.


I was delighted to discover when I got home that I had not gained any weight on this visit. Despite having a lovely glass of wine nearly every night and eating far more than I usually do (Kate is a much more interesting cook than I am) I actually may have lost a bit. It's all that walking I do while in England. We walked the kids to and from school every weekday - about 3 miles per day. And we often walked to nearby High Streets to do a bit of shopping and have a coffee. I particularly like the many charity shops (thrift stores). I love poking around in thrift stores and what people discard in England is rather different than what we see here in the US.

Every small suburb has a High Street with shops where one can get all the basic needs. Of course, in the London suburbs, there are also huge supermarkets, bigger than anything I have seen in the US, and also some enclosed malls. One supermarket is within walking distance (about a mile) from Kate's home. She sometimes rides her bike to shop there, but for major shopping, a car is useful. She and Geoff have just one car, which is not used on a daily basis. England has great public transportation systems. Trains, tubes (subway) and buses connect and take one just about anywhere. Unfortunately, a person with disabilities, who could not manage stairs or do much walking, would find it difficult to use public transportation. Buses are handicap accessible, but not trains or the tube.


All my flowers and bushes here are healthy and thriving. Two of my neighbors water my plants when I'm gone. They did a great job. Fall is a good time for plants here. It's cool, but warm enough for growing. My many potted plants on the deck are thriving. The red canna lily started blooming while I was gone - FINALLY!. That stupid plant did nothing all summer except grow tall and put out leaves. It was supposed to be a dwarf variety. Ha! At least I get to enjoy it now that I'm back. The orange marigolds have taken over a corner of the front garden and are sprawling onto the sidewalk. Some of the mums, the ones that didn't get trimmed back in July, are blooming now. In the back yard, which is entirely flowers, bushes and (horrors!) weeds, the plants have run wild. I cannot reach the bottom of the stairs down from the deck without a battle with the hydrangea growing at the bottom. The forsythia, which I cut back to the ground two years ago, has come back as big as ever and is now about 8 feet tall again and occupying far more than its share of space. I must get out there soon and cut things back - waaay back. Maybe today or tomorrow.

One of these days, I will take some photos of the yard and figure out how to put them up on this blog. Not today, however.