Back at the ranch....

We were gone for ten days.... flew to London and rented a car and drove around The Cotswolds.  This was our second trip "across the pond," having gone to London last year and loved it so much we decided to see the English countryside on this trip.

The entire time we were there, I didn't even give a split-second thought to spiders and scorpions, coyotes and snakes...... never crossed my mind.  Except for a few bees in the gardens and a tiny spider on the steering wheel of the car, that was the closest encounter I had to the insect world.

I don't know what it is about England... peaceful and serene in the country villages, lively and eclectic in the cities.  I must have seen at least a dozen thatched-roof cottages that I would have wanted to spend the rest of my life in... provided, of course, that they had a library big enough to hold all of my books.

Driving the car there was an adventure for my husband... steering wheel on the right side of the car, driving on the left side of the road. Took him a couple of days to get the hang of that.... and even for me, sitting in the passenger seat on the left side of the car, it felt strange not to have a steering wheel in front of me.

In the midst of our trip, we met a friend of mine that I've known since the 1970s.... we spent the day in a quiet village, exploring an ancient Abbey and its gardens, walking around the tiniest of streets with the most charming shops, and having "Bubble and Squeak" for lunch at a truly English cafe. After not seeing J for at least 30 years, but keeping in touch with letters and cards and eMails, spending the day with her felt as if we'd seen one another just last week.

I'd go back to England in a heartbeat.... back to London to walk around all of the museums again... back to the Cotswold villages with the tiny shops and winding streets and tea rooms and bookshops wherever you look.  I love it there, all of it... the bookshops of Charing Cross Road, the market squares in the tiny villages, the storybook cottages, the beautifully tended gardens, the graciousness of the British... whatever you're looking for in England, you will find it there.

We came back to a clean house and happy cats, thanks to friend C who took care of everything while we were gone. After ten days of Spring-like weather in England, it was 106 degrees when we got off the plane in Austin. Very hot, extremely hot, and it didn't rain a drop the whole time we were gone. Dog days of August indeed. Welcome back to Texas.