Back from bloggy break

It seems like ages that I wrote to say I was having a short bloggy break - this went on for rather a tad longer than I thought. Anyway its lovely to be back and I really have missed you all and your lovely blogs. To be honest, having been away for so long, when I did attempt to get back a couple of weeks ago - I experienced a form of writer's block. Just couldn't put pen to paper (or in this case fingers to keys). Anyway I'm raring to go now.

Just a short resume of the last couple of months to keep you updated:

We treated ourselves to a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate both John's retirement in February and my (last September's) Graduation from Uni. It was a holiday of a life-time and we thoroughly enjoyed both the relaxation on board …..

watching the gorgeous sunsets...

taking in a few tipples...

in our stateroom...

and by the pool...

(well it has to be done, doesn't it)

….and enjoying many excursions to some fabulous places. Starting in Istanbul in the Grand Hotel Hyatt for two nights we then embarked on our cruise ship the Aegean Odyssey and commenced cruising towards Greece and it's Islands, Dubrovnik, Italy and finishing in romantic Venice. More another time.

I also celebrated my birthday on board too

Last weekend we spent a long weekend in Lymington in Hampshire 

where we were able to hop over to the Isle of Wight for an afternoon. 

Several campervan trips and days out have taken up most of our time this summer - which we've enjoyed tremendously as well as catching up with friends and spending lovely days with our grandchildren. All in all a good couple of months.

Now though, Autumn is on its way - my absolute favourite time of the year. Sunny days (mostly) and chilly evenings as well as the evenings drawing in and watching Autumn favourites on the TV - Downton Abbey, Strictly Come Dancing - ooh it doesn't get better than this. I don't change - ever the romantic dreamer!!

See you soon

x

Some catching up and time out….

I realise I've been very neglectful with blogging of late so here is a small catch up/snapshot of what's been going on.

The final stage of my photography course - on location on the

River Chelmer

A very warm day indeed but I learnt such a lot

Enjoying learning about new techniques

Very soon after John took me away for a few days to a delightful guest  house in Arlington snuggled in the heart of the Sussex Downs

where we had our own little terrace from the French doors

to enjoy a cup of tea and cake

but more often a glass of chilled white wine

where the views were just wonderful

 and where I could put my new photographic skills to practice.





This iconic view of the Seven Sisters was something I was on a mission to capture - whew - it was a bit of a walk but well worth it in the end.

This weekend we went to a local VW rally at Battlesbridge, where we met up with the lovely Sandie from Itchifingers who also owns a V-dub. A fabulous afternoon where we spotted some great camper vans and too many to show here. Plus a selection of  some vintage and retro goodies to buy.

Well that's a bit of what's been going on - more another time. As I'm not going to have access to any broadband and internet for the next week, added to which there's a summer-load of busy-ness coming up - holidays, trips, family do's etc I've decided to take a short bloggy break. I'm going to miss catching up with you all but I'll be back mid August-ish when I hope to see you all then.

Bye for now xx

A book to re-kindle memories

Hello everyone - just to let you know I'm w-aaaaaaay behind with my post reading at the moment but hope to catch up in the next day or two. Apologies though if I have missed you, this was not intentional, just a glitch.

As I mentioned a week or so ago, I have joined Laura at a Circle of Pine Trees in the Year in Books challenge which you can find here. Basically we have to choose a book at the beginning of the month (a bit late in posting mine I'm afraid) and post about our choice and maybe write a little about last month's book.  So - my choice for February is

 East of the Sun by Julia Gregson, published in 2008

As I said before, as much as I love them, I'm trying to wean myself off historical novels, so this fits the criteria - well almost. Set in Autumn 1928, three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. 

Rose, a beautiful but naive bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. 

Victoria her bridesmaid couldn't be happier to get away from her overbearing mother and determined to find her own husband. 

Viva, their inexperienced chaperone is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past, and freedom.

Each of them has their own reason for leaving their homeland, but the hopes and secrets they carry can do little to prepare them for what lies ahead in India.

I chose this book as I was drawn to its location in India. We travelled to there five years ago for a ten day tour - known as the Golden Triangle where we visited Delhi, Jaipur and Agra (including the Taj Mahal) 

                              

At the end of the holiday we chose to tag on another five days to stay at the hill station of Simla, a beautiful old colonial town set high up in the foothills of the Himalayas which was once the official summer retreat for the British Raj.

                  

It was wonderful - the people, the culture, the history and the magnificent landscapes. 

Anyway - I digress

So you can see where I'm coming from with this book - I'm hoping to re-kindle some of the sights, sounds and smells of a fantastic trip with the added bonus that Viva herself travels to Simla too.

Anyway, last month's book Dissolution by C J Samson was definitely worth reading. I'm not a lover of crime novels but this had a slightly different edge to it as it was set in the era of the Reformation (which was right up my street so to speak). There are several others in the series which I would love to read - but for the moment will put them on the back burner for another time.

Thank you all for your comments on my last post and hope to catch up with you all very soon.