Hugs! Make yourself cookies that YOU like.......enjoy!

We had a Sorento as a short term lease last summer and we really enjoyed it. For us it was an increase in size so all my issues with it were getting used to a much bigger car on UK roads.

I forgot to add to make sure the radiator is actually turned on even with central heating. My husband is notorious for turning radiators off in rooms he doesn’t expect anyone to be in during that day or night......I think that is pretty typical British behavior and we have been in hotel rooms that aren’t heating at first because the radiator is off.

I don’t think you will have a problem in a hotel in England as far as heat goes.......if you wanted a/c that is another story. They should all have central heat with a thermostat in your room. I don’t think you will be able to make the room really hot, maybe 70. It will likely turn off when you are not in the room....... I am not sure about a guesthouse (assuming you mean an individually owned holiday house situation) but would expect the heating situation to be spelled out in the description. I normally take a long sleeved soft nightgown to sleep in.....or Dd takes a long sleeved t shirt and leggings.

I haven’t read In a Glass Darkly before.......at least I don’t remember it. @tuesdayschild Now I know I really need to get reading both the Linesman ( on hold) and The Goblin Emperor( waiting on hard copy)😉. Thanks for the reviews!

@Robin M Thanks for the great update. You guys deserve a day off! Looking forward to seeing a picture of the ribbon cutting which is such a fun thing to have! Once again this month’s detective is another one I have never read.....for that matter I have never read any of Stuart Kaminsky’s Detectives . I picked a really fun audiobook to try for this detective, Murder on the YellowBrick Road https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16096469-murder-on-the-yellow-brick-road, which I can’t wait to start listening to. I love the Wizard of Oz and was so excited to see a mystery set on the set.......seriously. I have to finish my current audio first and may skip TV with the kids tonight to finish Vendetta in Death, JD Robb’s latest. I still have one book to read for last month’s Darko Dawson detective challenge. I just need one more O and have Balducci’s One Good Deed on my Kindle ready to start. I am currently reading the latest Flufferton by Lorraine Heath who is a favorite author of mine. I am still working on Anita and Me and Bones of Contention https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7771161-bones-of-contention. I have also started (but just read a few pages of) What is a Girl is Worth which is a recommendation from @Ottakee which is definitely not middle of the night reading for me. I need to start reading it during my morning tea break........because it is infuriating. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44288534-what-is-a-girl-worth?ac=1&from_search=true

Sending hugs and prayers for tomorrow’s surgery. I want to add I totally understand the feelings you expressed.

A bit late this week.........Brit Tripping at Ashby de la Zouch Castlehttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/ashby-de-la-zouch-castle/history/ The Castle is the site on a Tournament in Ivanhoe. It’s pretty and the pageantry of a jousting tournament is easy to imagine imo. We used to stop here frequently when the kids were young so they could run around a bit before continuing a trip but had not been for several years so last summers quick stop had some changes......the main one was the parking lot was gone, you now need to pay and display with a short walk away. I am not sure how a typical tourist would find the castle, as parking is at a premium in the busy town and the signage was poor. Notice the pock marks on one of the up close walls, they are from mortar fire during the Civil War when the Castle was largely destroyed. I also took a picture of some of the ancient graffiti. Dh wanted me to be sure to include both photos in my post as they are the good parts according to him!😉

I got tired of my long term quilting project and decided to make a far quicker baby quilt!

For international travel with a plane involved it is an incredible amount of work organizing it and it rarely goes smoothly from what I can see. Two of my friends have done long work related trips/relocations with pets........more than a couple of months but less than a year. It has been stressful. In both cases the weather was unusually hot/cold and doggie wasn’t able to travel.....both large dogs. In one case a friend came to the airport and kept the dog until it could travel and in the other the wife stayed behind with the dog and no housing......

😂 Your poor mother. For years I had to worry about where Ds was put to sleep in hotels, visits to grandparents houses etc. I wanted him to always bump into someone on his way to wherever. Sleep overs really weren’t something that I could do because change seemed to be a trigger. When we moved into a three story house in England he fell down two flights of stairs and curled up asleep on a landing. It was terrifying. His room was then organized so it was a very noisy place to walk through for him so we heard him. As to the hidden.......I couldn’t find it via google as I wondered too. Honestly I wouldn’t live anywhere it could happen after the first episode of it occurring.

Woot Robin! Thanks for the update. Some finishes............. Rabbit Cake was great......not at all what I expected but very good. As a side note, sleep walking was part of this book and as I was the mom of one I listened in horror to those parts. Ds was a sleep walker who grew out of it, I feel incredibly fortunate that I don’t have to listen for him any more while I attempt to rest. The Eye of Jadehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1614776.The_Eye_of_Jade was very good. I listened to it for my Asian Detectives 10 x10. There is one more but I haven’t had a chance to really search for it yet.😉 I found this series via this link Ahttps://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/crime-fiction-around-the-world-in-80-sleuths-873660.html. A female private detective in Beijing ..........this book’s author lived in China for the time period the story covers but now lives in England or US so it wasn’t translated. Since I am quilting again I also finished listening to one of Elle Griffith’s Mephisto mysteries, The Blood Card. This series is set mainly in Brighten in the 1950’s and features a detective and a magician who served in a special unit during WW2 called The Magic Men, whose job it was to use stage techniques to trick the Nazi’s. Now they solve murders together .........that so far are tied to the Magic Men. I really like the narrator for these. @Liz CA these might be a possibility for you. There is a continuing story so in order if possible. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33814222-the-blood-card

How much did your stash increase? I have never done a yarn crawl but did do a couple of quilt shop hops.........I ended up with some cute extra projects that I still haven’t completed and I received some really nice fat quarters as a present when I visited each shop.

Genevieve, Fiona, Tristan. Maximus (I like Max.....)

I don’t think I am quite young enough😉............but I think your theory is right. I am almost 56 but my mom was the youngest child and I was born when she was 41. My maternal grandfather was born in 1876 and married a younger woman born in 1890. He died when my mom was 8........ My paternal grandparents were both born in 1893. He was an only.

I like the burgundy too. I think it looks really good with your coloring.

Pretty sure there were Thomas Cook brand travel debit cards, but just a brand.....the actual bank behind the cards was someone different......issued by Wired Card Solutions..

We spent last night watching the timing of things........we were so glad that they were able to wait until this morning (7am gmt) so at least the people already in airports in the US were able to be in the air or just landed when the closure came. It’s likely a large family we chatted with on our flight was on one of last night’s Orlando to Manchester flights. Also credit card companies appear to have withheld payment of £50 million to Thomas Cook over the summer because of the known financial issues. That certainly didn’t help the cash situation for Thomas Cook. Although it will hopefully make refunds much easier for those who have booked for future travel.

So very cute! Our cocker spaniel had similar coloring.

Hugs, I hope they figure out what is going on quickly.

I have no idea how this is going to play out but have to say my family has loved this airline. We were just on it a month ago........it’s been in the horizon all summer so we were relieved to be able to use our tickets.

@Robin M I hope you finish the move successfully tonight and are ready to open for business tomorrow! I love the pictures @Negin ! All I can say is I hope I never have to drive down that alley.......I refuse to call it a road! I am currently immersed in the world of The Hod King. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32998292-the-hod-king. which is the final book in The Books of Babel trilogy which @Angelaboord recommended earlier this year. It follows a character named Senlin who lost his wife on the first day of their honeymoon at the famous tower. He has been wandering up the Tower with an entourage of friends made along the way and the question in my mind is does he really even belong with the lost wife or perhaps with one of the other characters........ I am also listening to Rabbit Cake which was also a recommendation from @Chrysalis Academy on Kareni’s recommendation thread. It’s good and sad all wrapped up together. It sort of reminds me of the Flavia books.........no mystery, but a young person struggling with way too much grief............ I started Anita and Me in part because of it’s place on GCSE exam reading lists and my not knowing what this particular book was about. I had thought it featured the current day immigrant experience to the U.K. and was quite surprised to discover that Anita is basically my age. Very interesting.......the setting is in the Black Country outside of Birmingham. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/483330.Anita_and_Me

Hugs, it is just fine to send a card.

I forgot the Rosalyn Chapel is beautiful but our experience was very crowded.https://www.rosslynchapel.com/

Brit Tripping..........The Tarquer Murals are roughly five miles(more like a half hour by road) from my house but I had no idea that they were there until this summer or the really cute village of Clayworth where they are located until Ds started his walking project. Clayworth is one of the places the boys thought they could cross the Chesterfield Canal so we dropped them off for the day’s walk and all went to view the murals. These murals seem to be a local mystery as no one could tell me why a somewhat famous artist came to a really remote little village and painted some incredible murals in their church.https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/phoebe-anna-traquair If anyone knows a reason why please share! I. enjoyed this blog post. http://nottinghamshirenotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/traquair-murals-st-peters-church.html. Once again please don’t copy as I plan to remove the picture of the boys in a couple of days.