Finally, Home and Back to the Blog

What a time we had! My two weeks and a bit more in England were filled to the brim with adventure and excitement, and even some family visits.

So let's start with the family. One of the main reasons my sisters Judy and Theresa and I went to England was to be there for our Aunt Grace's 98th birthday. We also met up with these two:

Those who read my cousin's blog By Stargoose and Hanglands may recognize the men in this mug shot as my cousins John Hagger, author of the Stargoose blog, and his brother Les who is often his tramping companion. We spent a nice afternoon with them. More about that in another post.

And here we are with our lovely aunt. She was determined that she would fix and serve our tea, and she did!

Our cousins Julie and Bob were also on hand for the celebration.

There was a lovely cake, and Aunt Grace had such fun opening her gifts. I brought her chocolates, a card and the "Birthday Girl" badge you see in the above photo. She loved it.

We had a good conversation with Julie, our English family historian and genealogist, and I was glad to catch up with cousin Bob and all the news of his family.

It's funny how even though it might be a few years between visits, we can pick right up where we left off with our English family. I only wish the ocean was not such a big pond to get across beause it would be so nice to see them--and the many others we missed this time--more often. But as my mother often said, if wishes were horses, we'd all be riding. So I am grateful for the time I get to spend with them. And I plan to go back for Aunt Grace's 100th birthday, when I am sure she will still be serving the tea!

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