Posts

One more day until Christmas now. I swear, yesterday I still had a week. At least I’m done with my Christmas shopping, and I even managed to send out a handful of cards (by handful, I mean that literally, so don’t be disappointed if you’re not getting one). I’ve decided not to get sucked into all the usual Christmas stress, but rather, to enjoy the season and try and relax a little. I have to, as this car crash of a year simply has to end on a good note. 2020, I’m so ready for you!

It’s autumn in America.

We survived another Texas summer. This last week was so hot, but tomorrow, Canada’s sending down a cold front, and the temperature will dip below 18C/65F for the first time since April. Oh, Austin, we cannot wait! It’s been over a year since we moved back here, and it seems that the name of my […]

Spring has finally sprung in England. It is May, after all, so it’s about bloody time. Being used to perpetual spring, or at least spring starting in February for the last 8 years, these last 6 months of never-ending winter have been absolutely horrendous. But now England is starting to put on her ballgown at […]

We’ve been back in the UK for almost nine months now. That is, the girls and I have – S is still super-commuting, spending a few weeks here with us, then heading back to Austin for the next few. It’s not amazingly great for the family dynamics, but we’ve kind of got used to it, […]

It’s Thanksgiving, and I’ve only just realised that this is not something that is really part of my life any longer. For the first time in eight years I’m not on American soil. Rather, I’m at a loss. Obviously, nobody celebrates Thanksgiving here in England, why would they? (Why Black Friday is a thing here doesn’t make any sense to me. But we got a new dishwasher and a couple of Christmas presents at a reduced price, so I’m not complaining.)

I’m sitting under a huge tree in the morning sun, bees buzzing in the lavender bushes around me, the cicadas still somewhat muted, although I can hear a faint noise that will soon swell to deafening proportions. The cottage and its inhabitants are still asleep except for the chatter of two excited little girls, who […]

Wow, we’re really doing it. It is with very mixed feelings that we’re saying goodbye to America tomorrow. Time to get on that return flight we never took when we landed in this country over seven years ago. It feels right to go back to Europe – after all, that is what we had planned […]