She's gone!

Well, yesterday evening we said goodbye/au revoir to  daughter no.2 who left from Heathrow terminal 5 for Uganda for two whole years!!  It has been a crazy couple of days since she returned home with all her worldly goods, having given up her flat in Brixton.  There was much photocopying, sifting through clothes, books, medicines, photos, professional journals etc etc in order to get to under 24kg which was all she could take in one case plus two pieces of hand luggage laptop size!!!  Imagine for two years putting your life in a suitcase weighing no more than 24kg!!!  She did amazingly well.  Daughters 1 and 3 took yesterday off work to be with her and help (daughter no.4 is in Egypt just now - don't ask!) and after the case was packed we sat down to escape from all the emotion of it to watch "Howl's moving castle" - a cartoon which I had never seen before but which, right enough, did provide just the right amount of interest and imaginative storyline for escape.  Never mind the fact that we had a carpenter here sawing wood for the airing cupboard and the BT man to fix a broken telephone wire!!!!  It was utter chaos and the house looked as though a bomb had hit it.  But no matter, we had our time together and then headed for the airport amidst the sounds of Magic on the radio as a bit of fun (there are a variety of tastes in music in the family but in times of crisis we have been known to listen to Magic!!) then a trot around the new terminal building which is very smart indeed, with time for a coffee and then it was goodbye.  I was in 'coping' mode for the most part but nearly lost it right at the end when she moved into the security area.  It will be a life-changing two years I have no doubt and I have heard today that she arrived safely for which I am really grateful.

Travelling

Some of the work I am doing as consultancy just now requires me to travel to far away places! On Friday last I was in Southampton and just yesterday I was in St. Andrews, Scotland. Taking the train on Monday morning from Kings X, it was a lovely journey and once we got to Berwick upon Tweed, we travelled right by the coast with wonderful scenery. When I arrived at St. Andrews the sun was shining and it was warm so I quickly dumped my bags at my B & B and took off for a stroll down by the harbour.

and back up through the ruins of the cathedral

Later on in the evening I went in the opposite direction to East Sands and, never one to miss an opportunity to get right down by the water, I walked across the long stretch of sand watching oyster catchers and seagulls.

It was just beautiful! I was there for a meeting which took place the next day. So after the most delicious breakfast of home cooked scottish porridge followed by smoked salmon and scrambled eggs (I did consider taking a photo of the food but thought it would look a little strange - can you tell a blogger by the fact that the camera comes out in the most unlikely places!?) I took the opportunity to visit Di Gilpin's cosy wool emporium which was featured in Country Living last February (so the lady in the shop told me!). I resisted all temptations to buy the most gorgeously soft and colourful wool imaginable and just left with her card!!

Then it was time to come home, this time via Edinburgh and to the airport for a very late flight

but there was still time for some last-minute photos through the windows!

I really fell in love with St. Andrews. I could see myself living there, opening a fabric/needlework shop (they don't have one at all!) and enjoying those long walks along the coast in the evening! Ahhhhh - it's fun to pipe dream!