It all started when our friend Yvonne told us her story about how her family was on the run from the Nazis in France during the Second World War. They were living in Paris and ended up in Cazaubon, every step of the way having to stay ahead of the Nazis by finding places to […]
Harriet Comes to Town
Shortly after Steve and I returned from California in March, our friend Harriet came to visit us in Lincoln. We both agreed to keep a daily journal of her visit – her first to England – and then combine it into one, and then share with all of you. This is my first guest-authored blog. […]
Meeting in France and in the Yorkshire Dales
While in France last month, we stayed at the De Fleurus Bed & Breakfast in Pezenas. We met a wonderful couple Jo & Ken. We had breakfast together each day and as we talked about our move to South of France, we realized how much we had in common with them, as they are also […]
Finishing Touches
I am writing from the South of France, where we are meeting with the builder to decide on the finishing touches on our new house. We flew from Luton near London to Beziers, about 25 minutes from our new little village, Lézignan La Cèbe. How exciting a time it is to begin a new life […]
My Mom
It has been just over three weeks since my MOM passed away. It still feels so surreal ~ even though I have been back and forth from England to Southern California every three months for 3-4 weeks for the past two years. I have spent an enormous amount of quality time with her and have […]
My Dad’s Birthday – Christmas Day
Sorry for the gap in writing. I had planned on keeping all of you up to date on our trip to Southern California, however once we arrived at my parents’ house, I saw my mom and how her condition had declined so much over the past six weeks, that I knew I would need to […]
Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving
When we take the time to think about all of the things that we have to be thankful for, it is amazing the long list that we come up with. I do my best to live each day with the attitude of gratitude. It takes practice to be consciously aware of all that we have, […]
Changing Seasons
It seems like in the blink of an eye the seasons turned from Spring to Summer to Autumn. The leaves barely had a chance to turn from green to all shades of orange, red, yellow and brown before they ended up carpeting the sidewalks, footpaths and roads. Winter is not far behind – you can […]
Remembering September 11th
Twelve years ago today, we watched those horrific scenes on our televisions of two airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers in New York City, another crash landing in Pennsylvania and a fourth into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing all those on the four planes and 3,000 others that were trapped in the Twin Towers. […]
Inspiration in a Cappuccino
I had a relaxing day today as I walked down into city centre to do a few errands. The first stop was the bank to make a deposit. Did you know that you do not even have to sign the back of the cheque to endorse it here in England as you have to do […]
A Couple of Special Anniversaries
5 year Anniversary Living in the UK Steve’s 35 Year Work Anniversary at the Same Company It is hard to believe that it was 5 years ago today that Steve & I boarded an American Airlines plane in Los Angeles, California, for London, England. Steve’s work brought us here for what was meant to be […]
A Fabulous Long Weekend in London (Part 2)
It’s Saturday and the weather is beautiful – I knew it would be even though the weather forecast called for rain. The temperature was cooler but the sun was shining all day. We decided it would be a great day to go to the Borough Market – one of the biggest in England with over […]
A Fabulous Long Weekend in London
I had decided that I would like to plan a trip to London for my birthday in February, just Steve and me, and that we would do the “Tourist Things” that we had not done yet. Of course I wanted to wait until the weather got warmer and drier but had not chosen a particular […]
A Holiday Walk
Easter Sunday – A visit to my cousins in Sheffield (where my mom is from). Steve and I had not visited my cousins Brad and Maxine since I returned from Southern California a few weeks ago, and there was a holiday weekend coming up. This meant that Steve had Friday and Monday off from work, […]
Heading North
The next leg of our European Vacation with the kids took us to Lincoln, where we live. Jonathan and Joshua visited us three and a half years ago and stayed with us in Lincoln. We took them to our favourite restaurants, the Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Castle, Jew’s Court and the High Street. We also had […]
An Invitation from The Archbishop of Canterbury
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]