We arrived home in the wee hours of Friday morning after spending a mostly sleepless night in Detroit with the kids, due to the time change and jet lag (which is still lagging). Finally, around 3:30 in the morning we decided to hit the empty expressways (which was very eerie) and get home.
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| Bath, UK |
Our trip was wonderful and I'm eager to share it with you. We certainly did a lot and saw plenty. Here's a quick overview of what is to come!
- We set foot in two countries
- Traveled in planes, buses, automobiles, tubes, trains and afoot
- Met up with two bloggers!
- Visited four historic homes
- Explored nine churches
- Visited five museums (six if you count Bletchley Park as a museum)
- Went to one castle
- Attended our first rugby game
- Reveled in the fun of one huge street market/art fair
- Attended five classical concerts
- Attended three plays (alas, no musicals)
- And slept in five places in four cities/towns
- Ate (and drank and slept) in numerous pubs
- Enjoyed a beautiful afternoon tea
- Explored Rick's family history
- Did plenty of city-walking and exploring around, seeing landmarks, parks and traditions
There was so much to see, we often didn't even know where to look.
And we're tired! Definitely ready for a cup of tea.
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| Tea at the Pump Room, Bath |
I will be around to visit as I can. It was hard seeing blogs on my tiny phone screen while I was gone so I probably won't catch up (it was easier to do that on Facebook) and hope that not a lot of horrible things happened while we were away to any of you (including hurricane damage).
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| Neal's Yard, London |
My visiting and commenting might be a bit slow because I'm coming back to a mess and time crunch I knew about when I left. Three things are on the ticket.
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| Westminster/Big Ben, London |
There is prepping for my upcoming Mistletoe Market annual art sale in mid-November (and posting new things on the Gypsy Caravan here for anyone interested.
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| Relaxing in Midford at Morgan's Forge |
I'm anticipating a brief visit to a friend in Ohio while Rick is at a nearby trade show.
And the big one. Bed bugs.
We are pretty sure the bedbugs (that appeared here shortly before we left to close up the cottage) hitched a ride to Michigan with us when we overnighted in Wisconsin. There was zero time to deal with it before we left but now the exterminators are coming and there is a tremendous amount of prep work to do over the next two days. (Yup. Two.)
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| Cardiff Castle, Wales |
Everything of fabric (apart from upholstery) has to be removed from the house -- all items in closets, drawers, beds, sheets, towels, linens, kitchen, placemats, tablecloths, shower curtains, throw pillows, sleeping pillows and my fairly large vintage quilt collection, among other things. All major clutter must be removed from whatever areas possible, but particularly the bedrooms and closets emptied out.
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| Avon River, Bath |
All these things must be washed and/or high-heat dried for 25 minutes, which means taking most to a commercial laundromat and using their oversized machines. AND, it can't be brought back into the house to settle for another three weeks after (November 18) and the follow-up treatment.
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| Bath Rugby |
Needless to say, I am living in chaos with bags and boxes of stuff stashed in the garage, other things at Rick's and a sense of total panic!
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| Hampstead, London |
Fortunately, we caught them early, before either of us had too many bites (the google pix will scare the pants off of you!) but the timing couldn't be worse. If there is any bright side to this it is that thanks to a terrific page from the EPA about bedbugs and myths, I have learned it's not because I keep a dirty house (we are pretty sure they came from a hotel), although they do like clutter and that's a problem for me!
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| Basildon Park |
The other bright side (though again, the timing is terrible) it does, as the mold issue did, provide a great opportunity for donating tons of things to charity that I no longer wear or use, once they are cleaned.
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| Near Morgan's Forge, Midford |
So forgive me if I don't visit or comment right away or answer comments. I can tell you with all honesty that visiting your blogs and catching up is going to be the best part of my next days!
18 comments:
Welcome home Jeanie. Your photos and list make it sounds like you had an amazing trip. But you're coming home to chaos, definitely. I hope the bedbug issue gets taken care of quickly. Heat kills them I believe. My daughter needed to learn about them for a job she had, so to control, you could turn up the heat-a lot. (I think.) Can't wait to read about your travels. hugs-Erika
...what a trip you had! Home is always a great place to be, take care and be well.
Hello Jeanie,
It sounds like your trip was wonderful, seeing so many beautiful places! Great collection of trip photos. I can see you are very busy arriving home and so much to do! Take care, have a happy weekend.
Looks like you enjoyed a fabulous vacation and came home to deal with a difficult nightmare. So sorry. Hope all goes well.
You had a great trip, but the re-entry hasn't been so grand. Maybe Musk could have helped with re-entry. 😊
The trip sounds wonderful but coming home sounds like a nightmare! Take your time. You know we want to hear about everything and see tons of pictures, but you have a lot on your hands right now. Whew! I hope it all goes as smoothly as possible. *hugs*
It's a good thing you didn't go to France as well, the bed bug problems there are even worse than Britain.
I'm so happy you got to go on this trip and everything went as planned. It sounds like you packed a lot in and we are lucky to get you back in the States. (I could easily see you living there full time.)
Just so happy to know you & Rick are back home. The pix in today's post are so lovely! We missed you. Rest up as best you can. XOXOXOXOXOXO
Oh no, what a welcome home! But your trip sounds fantastic. Can't wait til you have time to share photos.
A fun and interesting trip Jeanie! Looking forward to hearing about it. You did a lot in such a short time. It would have exhausted me haha.
~Sheri
Looks like an amazing trip. Can't wait to hear more once you've conquered your immediate problems. Wondering how Lizzie fared while you were gone. Day by day, take it easy.
ps.....I forgot to mention, I'm sorry you are coming home to some house chaos. That's always hard to deal with. I hope you get it all under control when you return home. love ya.
OMG, what an awful thing to come home to! Looks like you had a wonderful time in England.
Oh, Lord, what a challenge those bed bugs must be! I'm sorry you're dealing with that right on the heels of your trip. It's great to see some of your England photos, though, and get an appreciation for some of the things you did while you were here. I posted a few times about the postcards you gave me, just FYI, in case you didn't see them! (I think you commented but just making sure. :) )
How did you fit in all those visits? I've lived here nearly 70 years and haven't done even half those things! Glad you had a good time.
Getting home to bed bugs sounds like some sort of nightmare situation. Hope you get through the hassle
What a grand trip you had. Sorry to hear about the bed bug chaos but at least you are home now. Hope the hassle can be eliminated soon.
I am so happy to see you back Jeanie. I missed you! It looks like you have had a fabulous time. I am going to look back at every photo and do some reading about your travels now Welcome home!
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