After a really
lovely week of family visitors, culminating in the warmest Halloween on record in the UK, we’re suddenly being reminded
that it’s November after all. DD and her family are safely home again and here
in Wales the temperature has dropped drastically during the day, the wind is getting up
and the rain has started to lash the windows.
It’s the kind of
weather that usually turns one’s mind to
thoughts of semi-hibernation, but not in our case. Instead, as we recover from
a busy week of talking and laughing and eating and playing board games, DH and
I are simultaneously making preparations to head off on Monday on our autumn
migration to the north coast of Scotland.
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| DD and I bonding over my fiendish birthday jigsaw |
It will be a
shorter visit than usual, but we’re really looking forward to the journey through
such glorious scenery and to seeing our friends again. While DH is busy with
the database project he’s working on for a local group, I’ll be settling down
to knit and natter with the best of them, getting on with a sadly-delayed pair
of socks for him, while catching up on all the news. I’ll also have lots of
time to make up for my recent shameful neglect of your blogs and find out what
you’ve been doing with yourselves whilst I’ve been otherwise engaged.
The very small
campervan won’t be transporting us this time. Instead, for both speed and
comfort, we’re travelling in the extremely small car. This means that I’m
packing with great care and selectivity and DH is reconciling himself to not taking
almost all his tools with him, as he usually tries to.
It will be
wonderful to see the North-West Highlands again, knowing that when we return,
it will be to the new house, which already feels as though we’ve lived here for
much longer than three weeks. Who said retirement is boring?
The jigsaw puzzle is different! And not easy I imagine.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Scotland, and your trip north in the 'extremely small car' ... I smiled when I read that and had visions of you and your DH squeezing into one of those three-wheelers, knowing of course that it isn't quite that small. Thankfully knitting needles take up little space.
The jigsaw puzzle is a one-off collage of photos of me, given to me by my sister, Shirley. All those black-and-white photos are a nightmare! Packing is proving interesting, but we'll get it all in, despite DH's gloomy prognostications. We usually take far too much, so this is good for us. :-)
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteCrikey, off again! Seems I am not the only Wanderluster!!! Am currently in Edinburgh, having visited a blogpal in Aberdeen; staying with the father until next Saturday then back to Dunoon... assuming it hasn't followed Atlantis. The West and North have taken serious downpours in the past week... good knitting weather &*> Happy travelling. YAM xx
We would normally have been in Scotland from mid-October, but the move and the half-term visit meant that we're now heading off for a shorter visit. I've been watching the weather in the far north-west and anticipating meeting some of it en route. Still, we're used to it by now. :)
DeleteWhat? No trailer for the tools?
ReplyDeleteI hope that you have good weather for the journey and while you are in Scotland - and time for clarinet practice too..
Ssshhh, don't mention the word trailer, Helen. DH has a fair-sized one and a tow-bar on the car, but has yet to put the two together, thank goodness. :) I'm expecting the usual November mixture of weather, but it will be good to have time to do some clarinet practice at last.
DeleteSafe travel, Perpetua and then, safe home. You seem so content and already beginning to settle in. A happy thing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Penny. I tend to be a fairly contented person in most circumstances, but you're right, I'm already feeling very settled here in the new house. :)
DeleteYou are amazing, Perpetua. Settled in and off again to beautiful Scotland. It all seems to agree with you, and I wish I had half your stamina! Have a great trip, small car notwithstanding, and I hope you take lots of photos to share with us.
ReplyDeleteNovember in northern Scotland is part of the annual round now, Patricia, and it's a very restful place - ideal for recovering from the stresses of the move. The small car is actually much more comfortable for long trips than the van, so that's no problem if we pack carefully. Photos are guaranteed. :)
DeleteYou have reminded me that this time last year I was in the Highlands too. Enjoy your journey, hope you don't get snow.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, I remember. You were there when we didn't make it because of my cataract operation. We're crossing our fingers for no snow, but it's always a possibility in November.
DeleteYour last comment had me grinning....I'd been thinking words to that effect as I read through all you've been doing and all you intend doing with widening eyes. Good on you both. Have a safe journey and look forward to hearing all about the next adventure. Axxx
ReplyDeleteI've never been one to bore easily, if at all,, Annie, but I was determined we wouldn't sink into a rut when we retired. So far I've succeeded. ;) I may have made it sound as though we'll be busy all the time, but that's not the case. It's a very relaxing place....
DeleteHave a good trip and give my love to the Highlands. All being well we will get up there next year in our home on wheels. Shirlwin's idea of a little trailer is a very good one - what about that for DH to think about?
ReplyDeleteSpindrift51
Thanks, Spindrift. I really hope you make it to the Highlands. We had so much fun exploring them in the first years after we bought the very small campervan, before we settled on one place to stay. DH already has quite a big trailer which he hardly ever uses, so I'm not even hinting at the idea of a small one, thanks.
DeleteI admire your energy, Perpetua. I can't imagine making the trek to Scotland right after both moving house and having family to visit. I'm glad you had a good time with your visitors. It must seem very quiet now that they've gone. That's the thing I notice the most once everyone has left our home after a visit. Well, that and the fact there are no longer a dozen mugs scattered all over the kitchen. Have a safe journey north!
ReplyDeleteTo be hioest, Kristie, my heart sank when I realised how little time we'd left on the calendar between the family leaving and our departure, but it will all work out in the end. Once we've unpacked the car we'll simply crash out for a day or two and then bounce back again. You're so right about the quiet when family visitors leave. The house positively echoed after their departure and as always I really missed them. But we'll see them again at New Year which isn't very far away now.
DeleteHave a lovely break in Scotland
ReplyDeleteThanks, Molly, we plan to, whatever the weather throws at us and in northern Scotland in November that could be anything! :-)
DeleteWith homes in three such different places I imagine there's not a chance of you becoming bored!
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping that the Scottish weather will be kind to you :)
That's very true, Annie, but I've never bored easily. :) The weather this morning is glorious. Let's hope it lasts.
DeleteHave a safe trip and fingers crossed you won't need those tools. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah. Don't worry, DH has a basic toolkit there in any case. He's just a belt and braces man. ;-)
DeleteI'm glad you are getting some relaxation time at last after a very hectic few weeks! Enjoy! And I look forward to some lovely photos from "just across the water" :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sian. I'm really looking forward to it, despite the cold DD kindly left for me. ;) I do hope the weather gives me chance to take lots of piccies.
DeleteDear Perpetua,
ReplyDeleteWishing you both a wonderful trip up to the north of Scotland.
Our weather here is changing too.
3 weeks already in your new home.
Time flies by..
look forward to seeing the finished socks.! ):- val x
Thanks, Val,. We had a good trip, despite the cold I caught from DD and are glad to be back on the north coast. The weather here is horrible at the moment, but set to improve at the weekend,. becoming bright but chilly, which OK for November. Good sock-knitting weather... :)
DeleteI know you say the pace is relaxing....but P. it all sounds so very busy. I hope you have a good trip north, that you have a really relaxing time there, and then look forward to returning to your new, amazingly well settled in, new home in Wales. Jx
ReplyDeleteHand on heart i have to admit it's been busy, Janice, but the pace of life really is much more relaxed now we've arrived and unpacked. All I have to do is to shed this dratted cough which accompanied DD's cold and I'll be ready to take advantage of the better weather forecast for the weekend. :-)
DeleteDear Perpetua, there is a note, a tone, a feeling of contentment in your posting. It warms my heart. Peace.
ReplyDeleteVery perceptive of you, Dee. Yes, I do feel very contented - a more lasting emotion that sheer happiness in my experience, though I do often feel happy too.
DeleteI think your life will never be boring Perpetua. Wales, Scotland and France must give you a real variety of ways of living. Long may it continue. Safe journey and enjoy Scotland x
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're right, Ayak. I've never bored easily, even when life has been very mundane for long stretches of time. I can always escape into a book. ;-) The journey went well and we're now unpacked and settling in.
DeleteAs ever, Perpetua, you seem to be living up to your blog title by being 'Perpetually in Transit' :-) Trusting that the cold from DD soon clears up & you can fully enjoy your time in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Ricky. :-) This visit had been in the calendar from early in the year, well before we had a moving date, and we're enjoying being here again. The cold has just about gone, thanks, though the cough is lingering far too long, but it's not stopping me doing anything except sleeping uninterruptedly. ;-)
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