The Council of Christians and Jews was formed during some of the darkest days of the Second World War to help Christians and Jews build bridges through dialogue and friendship. Last year was the 70th Anniversary of the Council of Christians & Jews. A number of the CCJ Branches celebrated though various local events during […]
Thanksgiving in the USA
Getting ready for Thanksgiving The highlight of November in the United States is the Thanksgiving holiday. It represents the beginning of the holiday season. I am so excited that Steve and I will be going back home to California this year to have a real family Thanksgiving. This is the first time that we will […]
My Personal Thanksgiving
It was twelve years ago today ~ October 31st 2000 ~ that my life changed forever ~ as I heard those fearfully dreaded words, “You’ve got Cancer.” First the shock, then the denial and then the reality that I am going to have to learn to live with it. Well here I am today twelve […]
Every Picture Tells A Story
While clearing out and organising my Mom & Dad’s house for them (which has taken me nine trips home now), I came to the closet that has all of their picture albums and loose pictures in boxes and envelopes that filled one half of an entire closet. These were before digital cameras and many before […]
Settling Back Home in the UK
It seems like minutes ago we were in Costco in Garden Grove, California shopping for food and supplies for my parents; now we’re at Costco in Sheffield, England replenishing our own fridge, nearly empty from being away for a month. This was our third trip to Southern California in seven months due to my parents […]
Farewell to a Very Special Lady
As many of you know, my sister’s mother-in-law, Hanni, recently passed away. Hanni was a very special lady. A lady at that. No matter where she was going she dressed up, put her make-up and jewelry on, and made sure that her nails were polished. But make no mistake about it, she was one strong […]
Back in the USA
Yes, I know it has only been three months since I was here on an emergency visit to take care of my parents. Back in March-April, my dad was in the hospital. He is on dialysis three days a week, and my mom has Parkinson’s and needs full time home care. A couple of weeks […]
The Sun is Shining in Lincoln Today
The past few weeks England has had some of the worst rain storms of this summer season. In fact a month’s worth of rain fell in a 24 hour period in parts of the UK causing horrible floods and creating a number of problems in those places. But today, here in Lincoln, it is clear […]
The Olympic Torch Comes to Lincoln – Our City!
We were so excited when we heard that the Olympic Torch was coming to Lincoln. It was carried through our city on its way to London for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics next week. I immediately went online and found the websites that would show me the route and the schedule. I […]
Jean Turns 90
Jean is our neighbour and dear friend. We’ve been friends since we moved to Lincoln four years ago. She owns a flat in the same building that we live in. She has become part of our family. A few months ago Jean had to move into an assisted living home just a little over a […]
Getting Down to Business in Montpellier
On the way back from Provence to Carcassonne, we decided to drive through Montpellier and make a visit to the bank to begin immersing ourselves in the world-famous French system of red tape. We have a premier account with HSBC in France and wanted to speak to someone about a mortgage. I phoned earlier to […]
A Visit to Provence with Kristin and Jean-Marc
We met Kristin & Jean-Marc through reading Kristin’s blog (french-word-a-day) over two years ago. In my earlier post from 3 May 2012, “When Blogs Cross Paths” I describe the details of how we became friends. We had planned to be in France’s southwest during the first week of May, so we were very excited to […]
Back in the South of France to Reserve Our Property – We Found a House!
We arrived at Carcassonne Airport, a small and convenient airport, only a twenty minute drive to our friends Muriel and Richard’s house. They were very generous in offering us their house for the week. They knew that we had been house hunting in the area, only about forty-five minutes from them. They are excited to […]
We Have Arrived – Let the Garden Party Begin!
OMG! Here we are within the gates of the front grounds of Buckingham Palace, looking at the front of the Palace, as we walk through the main entrance into the main courtyard. We continue our walk through the entrance to the Palace, through the same doors that Will & Kate entered on their wedding day, […]
Arriving at Buckingham Palace!
OK, I promised all of you, my readers, that I would share all of the details of this very special day with you. From the process of getting ready, to arriving at the Palace, to attending the Garden Party and then leaving the Palace. Are you ready for the ride of your life? Well, here […]
The Wait is Almost Over: On Our Way to London
The wait to go to the Queen’s Garden Party is almost over! Steve and I headed down to London on Monday in preparation for the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace Tuesday. Being the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year makes it even that more special so we wanted to get to London the day before to […]
Anita & Ron’s Wedding
It has been non-stop over these past few weeks since returning from our recent visit to California. We just attended our friends Anita and Ron’s wedding in London. It seems like just yesterday that I introduced them to each other, when in fact it was more than a year and a half ago. Things feel […]
A Short Taxi Ride
It is amazing what you can learn on a short taxi ride. When we moved to England four years ago I chose, for the first time since I was 16 years old, not to have my own car. The main reason being that I wanted to immerse myself in the English culture and I know […]
Reversing Roles
Unfortunately I am referring to my ageing parents. Now I am sure that many of you “Baby Boomers” out there will be able to relate to what I am about to share with you about my ageing parents. I am dealing with their situation living almost 6000 miles away. I just returned from a three-week, […]
When Blogs Cross Paths
My husband Steve introduced me to the French Word-A-Day blog by Kristin Espinasse about a year ago. He found it while searching on the internet for life in France. Both Steve and I love France and are planning to retire there in the next few years. After reading a few of Kristin’s blog posts, Steve […]
By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea
My son Joshua spent my first full day in Southern California with me (he is my baby – 27 years old). He had his welding class final exam when I arrived in LA the night before so was not able to greet me at the airport. We decided to go to one of my favorite […]
Home for the Holidays
I did not think that I would go five weeks without writing to you, my dear readers, while I was visiting my family and friends in Southern California. But as you will read in my stories to follow, I had so many obligations and responsibilities taking care of my parents due to their poor health. […]
Hope You Didn’t “Mind the Gap” in My Blog Writing
Sorry for the gap in my blog writing and thanks to all of you that emailed me messages that you missed my stories. You encourage and inspire me to write. I was in Southern California for five weeks over the holidays visiting our family and friends and taking care of my parents – both not […]
Prince Charles and Camilla at Lincoln Cathedral
I was so excited when I heard that Prince Charles and Camilla were coming to visit Lincoln. This is big for Lincoln – a city that is three hours away from London. Lincoln is known as the hidden jewel and yesterday it felt like a diamond. The Lincoln Cathedral is the 4th largest cathedral in […]
Thanksgiving Day
Living in England almost 6,000 miles away from our family means that we have not celebrated Thanksgiving with our family in three years. I really miss having Thanksgiving dinner with our family in California. It is one of my favourite holidays. Not a religious holiday, a day with family and friends, food, and fun. To […]
Property Shopping in South of France
Steve and I love France and have visited the different regions of the country many times over the years. We always seem to go back to the Cote D’Azur region – Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo and the surrounding areas. We have even considered retiring to the South of France and talked about it for the […]
It’s Time to Take Out the Hot Water Bottle
Hot water bottle, thermals, layered clothing, wool socks, boots, wool scarf, heavy jacket, and a brolly or two. These are all signs of winter approaching. Autumn is moving into winter and the holiday season is almost here. We can feel the weather changing as the temperatures drop and become colder. We can see it in […]
Our Own Family’s “Who Do You Think You Are?”
Sunday was family day in Sheffield, UK. Shortly after her stroke in May, my cousin Doreen had reconnected with our Aunt Jackie and her son Warren and his family through a phone conversation. Warren then invited her to visit when she was near Sheffield. As she lives in Brighton, four hours away, it seemed the […]
Sometimes You Don’t Have to Go Somewhere to Travel –It Comes to You…
My cousin Doreen arrived Thursday on the train from Brighton – thru London – then up to Lincoln to visit us for a few days. She and her husband Malcolm had visited us once before about two years ago. They had stayed in a nearby hotel. This time Doreen came up on her own and […]
Old Home Week – In Cyprus
After an exciting five days in the South of France, the Cote D’Azur, looking at properties – a story for another day – we are back in Cyprus. Steve’s work brought us here just two months ago for three weeks. During that time we met a lot of people and made a lot of new […]