Out with the old and In with the new

Hello 2013  

 may the year bring peace, happiness, health, love, hope, faith, grace, truth, charity, progress, travel, a home within a home, wisdom, safety, opportunity and friendship!
Goodbye 2012

The mathematical beauty of the majestic marquee, 

brought down in the storm within hours of being set up.

The Midsummer day storm threatened the fabulous marital party
for my dearest only son Seb and his darling Bee
which happened on a different site than the one planned.

Emotionally proud of the effort that these two lovely people had given
towards making their wedding a success in the face of adversity.
The wedding was the highlight of 2012.
I can't believe that the planning, expectation and excitement was over in the blink of an eye.
Be happy in 2013 ........ for days are short and gone before one can count them.

Happy Seb and Bee with their seaside wedding cake.

En Angleterre

It was rather hectic but I absolutely loved it.

I stayed a few days with my cousin's daughter and family and tried to support them in their latest angst. Then onto Sussex and the most delightful of cottages. I was lucky. It was a beautiful thatched cottage which I highly recommend to rent.  The owners were lovely and apart from a few mosquitoes I had a lovely time.....but then my own home is pestered with mosquitoes! Difference is I have a mosquito net!   I loved Arundel and Chichester.  So pretty, calm and assuringly steeped in history. I also visited Rye on my journey from Ashford to Littlehampton.  What an exquisite village.
Maybe I will tell you more about these villages in a later posting.

Apart from the prep for and clearing up of my son's wedding at which I did not help as much as I would have liked to .... (everyone did their bit)...  and apart of course from attending the lovely ceremony, I walked on a lovely SSI beach in Sussex. Then in Suffolk another SSI beach and how wonderful to be free from litter.

The next two weeks disappeared as quickly as the first two! Suffice it to say there was Englishness :

A day's journey to visit mother and brother
Barbecues and bunting 
Crabbing buckets with bacon
Dunwich 10 miles there and back
English scones and raspberry jam
Fish and chips, flying kites, flag on the sandcastles
Gigs in pubs
Hula hoops
Ice creams
James and Katie
Laughter as we climbed the lighthouse up and down the spiral staircase
Meals in pubs with Ad
Nams

Olympic torch flame carried past the cottage
Picnics in the dunes, paddling in the sea, promenade on the pier,
Questions from little ones and those who are so tall

Running along with wind in our hair
Shared meals
Tired people
Union Jack flags wherever we go
Umbrellas abandoned when rain stopped
Vicky and co aboard a river boat
Walks along beach to harbour, across common and marshes,

X,Y, Zee and Camarderie,

Thank you England and despite the weather I had a whale of a time and laughed for 4 weeks!