Joy comes to visit

Well, Joy arrived from Kingston for a nine-day stay on March 31st. I met her at King's Cross station in London. We travelled by train to Newcastle to spend a few days with Kate and Sean. From Newcastle, we returned to London where we stayed overnight (thanks to hotwire.com Website, I get fantastic hotel deals) in a Hilton hotel and went to see Porgy and Bess, an excellent musical. It was playing at the Savoy theatre, next door to the Savoy hotel.

Joy lived in London as a child and so she finds it very exciting to be there. We saw a few sights and met with Erich the next day. He came over from Germany. We all travelled to Somerton on good old Berry's Coaches. The drive takes us past Stonehenge ... always a very exciting scene to behold.

We all celebrated Easter together. It was April 8th and we were able to have dinner outside. Brian and Lili were here ... as was Kate! She surprised us by coming down for the weekend. Her very kind friend Shmaila worked all of her shifts for her so that she could spend Joy's last few days in England with her.

The photos: Joy on her first night in Newcastle, Joy/Sean/me on a Newcastle walk, Easter Sunday at Gill's ... there were thirteen of us!

Life on the fly!!!!

This is a quick ... and merciful rendition of what I've been up to. It goes to the end of March. There will be more :-).

It's great to steal a few moments in the early morning to write a little bit about what has been going on in my life lately. It's been fun, it's been hectic, it's been absolutely insane!

Where do I start? Well, after my visit with Judi and George to Kate and Sean's in Newcastle in early February, there was my old Montreal boyfriend Ron Pickering's very brief visit in mid-February. He flew over for five days for his aunt's funeral (she was 92) and then stayed with Gill and me for a few days.

Then, Judi Ryan arrived for nine days in early March. She came over for Crufts dog show (she's a stay-at-home mother of 22 ... Irish Wolfhounds and Ibizans) and to see me. We had a lovely time together.

Right after Judi left (the day after), we had a Korean student for the weekend. She was on a homestay visit - an arrangement whereby foreign students are guests in English countryside homes.

Then, at the end of March, Kate and I had a four-day visit to Kingston as our dear friend Harry Lawson was in hospital and very ill. The good news is that Harry is now recovering. He's defied all the odds, thank goodness!!

That's enough about my activities for now. Here are a few photographs. The first photo is of Kate and Judi Ryan in a pub, poring over Kate's portfolio. The next one is of Gill, the Korean student, our friend Frank, and me. The third is our celebration of Kate's 31st birthday on February 16th. The fourth is a poor-quality photo of Ron and me at Heathrow Airport.

More later ....