my last day in jolly old england

boo hoo - in less than 14 hours i will be home (with the time difference) with tons of memories and tons of photos . . . . and tons of chocolate . . . in fact so much chocolate that i had to take clothes out of my suitcase to get under the allowed weight or it is £11 per kilo extra so i took out stuff that Debs can send over via surface mail, stuff i wont need for a few weeks. Pretty sad that i chose the chocolate for my friends over my clothes! what a good buddy i am!

I spent 1 hour in the local grocery store today - omg i could have bought home 100 kilos of food if i was allowed! Sticky pudding, custard cream biscuits, pork pies, my mouth was watering walking around the store. poor debs had to sit and wait outside for me the whole time.

we didnt go to bed until after 2am cos Cousin Janice was here with us - she is so funny, but what a hard life she had, now she is one of the most successful businesswomen in the history of the Body Shop empire. She met Joanna Lumley last week and is one of the great leaders in her indsutry

We stayed in bed til 10am then went off to Boots to get my pics developed for my mom (surprise I am workin on ) and do some last minute shopping. Then we headed to Kennilworth Castle, built in 1120 and now in ruins - it was an amazing site and i took tons of pics.

We are sitting here just relaxing cos we have to get up at 5am England Time to make my check in time and try to ponce my way thru the luggage control. I put a lot of the chocolate in my backpack as carry on luggage. Only supposed to have 5kg, but think it is closer to 10kg right now. hope they dont weigh that!

I had the time of my life while i was here, healed a lot of past issues, dealt with present issues and saw my family. I couldnt have asked for a better week weather wise, we even had the top down on the convertible today - we were real posers!

I will be home to my family at about noon tomorrow, then will probaly sleep for white a while to catch up on the sleep i did not get over here, i will be working on my pics and fixing them all on sunday and relaxing for the weekend before i go back to work - UGH -

a day with marg and jan

holy shit! talk about Davidson overload, went from a quiet auntie Marg and a wonderful day reminiscing and then Janice shows up and is like the energizer bunny - holy hyper! what a lovely family i have.

sitting here after a lovely chicken curry and a few drinks and crank calling my mom, oh what fun.

Tomorrow we are off to the castle that is in pieces, print some pics off and pack my already full suitcases, not sure how i am going to get everything in - shit i bought to much. i have a few pressies for my family.

loaded some more prics on facebook tonight, have a peak at some old ones i put up. not typing a long blog tomight as am too busy - will blog tomorrow

visiting my dad on the IOW

We both slept like logs, but Debs snores and talks in her sleep! last night apparently she was surfing the big wave on her bare feet! for someone that hates water, cant figure that one out

Sun was shining, birds were singing and we had an English breakfast at the BnB. The beds were very comfy and other than Debs dropping my Vokda and Seven on the floor all was great! Thank god Vodka doesnt smell

We set off to find parking - thank god we gave ourselves extra time - we made the ferry by 2mins. We wanted to stand up top but were not allowed, but it was a quick trip - 15 minutes, on a beautiful sunny day with hardly any wind.

We arrived in Ryde to find Dad, Milly and Darren (our stepo brother that we have never met) waiting for us at the ferry - first thought - omg, my dad looks old. He looked like he will be more of my grandfather, i guess a battle with liver cancer and diabetes will do that to a person. It was good to see him walking though and out of his wheelschair for a while. We had a lovely tea with them for about an hour and then walked the sea front where Deb and I got brave and walked o nthe beach, i even dipped in my feet into the english channel.

Although I had struggled very hard with the thought of seeing my dad cos of past stuff, and so had Deb, we were both very glad we went to see him, almost like ut was somethng we needed to do for ourselves as well as him. He thanked us 2 or 3 times for coming - i hope he enjoyed his day too.

We set off for the mainland about 315 and decided to visit the shopping outlet - i found a VANS oiutlet - sorry Deano they didnt have the shoes you wanted! but i tried! Deb got a few things - clothes at a grocery store - hmmmm - only in England (oh Superstores too).

Went for a drink at a pub in West Ken witha friend of Debs and had a wonderful time, turns out we are related thru the Edwards (his dad is my dads nephew) so we had some wonderful stories to share - and he had sexy eyes too! (i put that there just in case he ever reads this)

Am back at Ruthies with dialup, so no pics tonight, but will put up some tomorrow or Friday.

Love you Deano, miss my boys and my buds - but i have over 600 pics (def not gonna get 3000) and tons of great memories to share with you all! See you in 3 sleeps - wish it was 33 and that my family was with me - i wish i could have shared this with all of them!

Love you,

Auntie Marg - gotta love her

So we had to get up early again today cos the hunky builders were in again! But last night was pretty exciting - felt like i was in an episode of COPS, sirens, noises and then a helicopter hovering around the house and area for about 4 hours, till 2am this morning. And I was into a good book so I didnt put my head down til about 230 and then was up at 730! Typical sleep pattern for me!

We headed up to North End Road the shopping road in Fulham where all the barrows are out selling fresh fruit and knock offs - but there were only 2 or 3 out, but i did manage to get a couple of pressies for some friends back home at the local sports store. We stopped for a coffee then headed to Wandsworth so Deb could get jeans. After Wandsworth we headed to Denmark Hill which was only about 7 miles away, but took us an hour in London traffic - i just close my eyes cos the vehicles are so close and they are nuts over here - OMG - i could not drive here.

Well my trip was made the minute I saw my Auntie Marg - she has not changed a bit and is the most amazingly happy, go lucky lady - and i cant believe she is 74 years old. We started looking at some old pics and reminiscing - cousin Lisa, Lee and Keith were there too - so good to see them. But we were slowly running out of time cos we had to hit the road for Portsmouth at 3, so that only left me with 3 hours to see and catch up for 22 years. So after we left Aunti Margs, Deb and I decided to forego our trip to Windsor Castle and Kew and I will go back and spend the day with my auntie talking about her growing up during the war etc. She told me it was the first time she has reminisced for years because no one in her family asks her about it - she was really enjoying our chat - and to top it all off - SHE MADE BREAD PUDDING ! Bless her heart, when she hugged me i really felt like i was home - i love Debs hugs, but I had not felt Margs hugs in 22 years - and she said that noone has hugged her like i hugged her in 22 years either.

So we are in Portsmouth, across from the English Channel, lights along the waterfront, tomorrow Debs and I are gonna try and be brave and dip our feets it! Then we hope to catch the 11am ferry to Isle of Wight, spend an hour with our dad, and then head back to the mainland and back to London. We dont want to hit Londong between 4 and 7 cos we will sit there for hours, so we may have to sightsee more (Portsmouth is only 2 hours form London).

I miss everyone terribly, but I feel like i am surrounded by my family here - so glad we are going back to see Marg!

London - the tour

so up we get to some hunky builders working on Auntie Ruths house - I even made them a coffee!!!!##We set off at 9am to Fulham to visit where I grew up - boy has it changed, god forbid you try and get two cars down the road at teh same time! the streets are so narrow and full of porsches, jags, beemers and mopeds.

We hit Picadilly Circus at 1020 after being a sardine on the tube, thank god for deoderant! And Hannah was late - poor Hannah, slept in :) So we had time for a take out coffee - note to self - $10 for 2 coffees and $2 to pee in public toilet - hmmmmm - can you say Tourist Rip Off. But I had to pee so bad, made sure I got my monies worth (stinky).

Stopped in a great sports shop, very famous Lillywhites and got the boys some gear, then off to tour bus that would take us around London. It was a beautiful sunny day and the bus ride was great - lots of info about the history of London that none of us knew. There are some dishy guys here too - and their teeth were good as well Sue!#

We visited Westminster, Greenwich, Big Ben, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge, Earls Court and Tower Bridge. What a great day.

11 hours later Debs and I got back to Ruths and I had Fish N Chips - yummy - and a nice hot bath and a few drinkie poos and loaded up 280 pictures from today. Cant load here onto net cos am on dialup, will load some on Thursday.

Off to see Auntie Marg and Cousin Lee and Lisa tomorrow, then to Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight and to get my whelks - slimey snails!

Loving every minute of this - trip of a lifetime - Love you Sue, thanks so much!

day 2, in the Cotswolds

well, one sleeping pill and 2 vodkas later, i toodled off to bed at 1130pm, had been up 34 hours straight at that point! Debs had to wake me at 11am on Sunday! slept great.#
On a typical rainy misty day, we headed off to the Cotswolds, which is know for quaint villages, their brickwork and their beauty.

We visited Gloucesterhire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and London today.

Silly town names we went to Lower Slaughter, Upper Slaughter, Morton in the MArsh, Burton on the Water, chips in a bag (yummy) and found a sweets shop with over 200 jars of sweets - OMG - Heaven!

We had tea in a little village tea room, went to Notting Hill (where the movie was filmed) and the houses here are 3-4 million Pounds each! Flats rent for 500 to 1500 pounds per week for under 1000 square feet. Double it to work it out in dolars!

Went to an English Pub for Thai Food hmmmmmmmmmmmm intersting, drank lots of wine and got numb tongue from spicy stuff - pity those around me tomorrow - faraaaarrrrrrrrttttttttt

Tomorrow off to City of London Tour, dont care if it rains - haveing a blast teasing HAnnah! Love my time here!

day one and the flight

So i got thrown out of the van by a busy painting man -Deano - at 245pm after almost running a dumb ass driver off of the road. I got checked in in about 2 mins, absolutely no probs, and no probs thru security either. Picked up my smokes at duty free and settled in for a 2 hour wait for the plane to board - thank god for good books and people watching. I was so tired from the week previous that i felt i was sure to sleep on the plane - even too 3 Melatonin to help.

So I got to board first cos I was at the back of the plane, but that also means last off! I got seated next to a nice young lady that was going over to visit her nan for 6 months. So determined to sleep i slipped off my shoes and settled in for the long haul, did i mention i do not enjoy flying very much! So 6 hours later i am still awake! and as i am typing this it is 6pm uk time, 1pm canada time, so i have now been up31 hours straight! gonna sleep well tonight.

UK Customs was a bit crazy, but ok - the bags took forever, but that was ok too, cos i knew my sis was waiting outside the doors for me. And there she was, great big smile and great big hug as i came thru the gates! so glad to see her.

so we head to her place, OMG, the things that i had forgoteen about - roundabouts, narrow roads, driving on the wrong side, no Tim Hortons!, little cars and old old buildings - i started to feel totally at home, except for Debbi Donuts crazy driving skills! So glad I am not driving over here. I did manage to snap 35 pics before i even got to Debs house.

So we tried to nap for an hour when we got back to house, but i was overtired at this point and couldnt do it, so we had a true Full Monty English Breakfast - sausages, english bacon, eggs, mushrooms and toast - lovely. Then Hannah arrived and we spent the day driving around and visiting Stratford and Warwick I took another 100 pics! gonna have to speed up the pics if i want to reach my 3000

Visited Shakespeares birth place, and his wife and daughter (photos will be posted later) and saw the largest lock system in England, SHEEP and some of the most amazing churches, incluing the oldest Saxon church in the area.

So I am sitting here, struggling to keep my eyes open, but i have to upload some pics for Debs!

Tomorrow we are going to the Cotswolds, then to London for Sunday Night, Mon and Tues (to see Aunty Marg and Lisa) then to Portsmouth Tues night so we can head to Isle of Wight on Wed ot see my dad, then back to Kew and Windsor on Thurs, then home Thurs night to drink with cousin Jan, then castles on Friday!

I am thinking i will need another vacation just to recover when i get home.

Miss you all, love you Deano and Boys!

1 day to go

well in less than 24 hours i will be onthe plane probably trying hard to sleep and getting antsy, prob over the ocean and wanting to pee! i have a couple of good new books that i will be trying to read, one about England and one about John Thaw, the english actor - got to get into the English frame of mind!


I am looking forward to so much, my family, the whelks, winkles, fish n chips, pie n mash, time giggling with my sister and neice, seeing my aunties, seeing London from a tourists point of view, taking photos and just being home again.

Long day today at the staff retreat, i am ready for bed right now, 930pm, but will force myself to stay awake so i can sleep on the plane. I am gonna mis all my friends over here who i converse with on a daily basis, really wish my hubby was coming and my kids too, but reason for everything i guess.

I hope to do a lot of soul searching while i am away as well - make some decisions about my future and employment - but dont know if i will ever get a quiet minute between my sis and neice and family.

So il will head to the airport tomorrow, excited and nervous, hopefully sleepy!

this is the dream trip i have wanted to do - without Sue I would never have been able to do this, i cannot thank her enough. And congrats to her on her new job! she will rock. Love you Sue (and you too Marky Mark). Hey Mark, say hi to the m-in-law for me while I am away! :)

Hopefully I can update on a daily basis! see you all in 9 days!