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Whirlwind trip to the UK – August 2021

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We arrived in the UK with a clear agenda: spend time with my folks, receive furniture from Italy into Cowgill Grange and store the rest; meet close family and any friends who happen to be in London within a 2-3 days visit window. Stay well, avoid COVID and leave.  All achieved at our usual fast pace, with not much time for catching breath and relaxing in between. It was a relief to get on the flight out of Heathrow, even though 14 days of Managed Isolation/Quarantine (MIQ) in New Zealand was ahead.  Whilst every road was chaotic and the motorways crash sites/car parks/to be avoided, our journeys from A to B were hellish. Meanwhile inner cities were unusually quiet and peaceful- especially at night.  London was no exception. Norfolk with my folks made this trip. We would not have travelled otherwise. We are so glad we did though. Lots of time has passed since we last saw my folks. We were shocked by how Mum is so thin and frail. After she has had so much go wrong...
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A week in London

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Visited new places, experienced different things; always a joy in the sunshine in London. Mum came on the train from Norwich for a few days for palaces and musicals. Highlights were: Kensington palace and Buckingham palace tours. Hamilton and Tina musicals English Heritage: Apsley House  - Home of the Duke of Wellington, Hidden behind trees and Sarah at Hyde Park Corner. and the Wellington Arch (They moved the Duke to Aldershot barracks and replaced him with winged victory in Edwardian times) Quite intimidating from below Managed to catch the changing of the guard as they returned to Barracks via Hyde Park Corner. Cycling and walking along the Regent canal from Little Venice - through Regents park, past the zoo, all the canal house boats,  stopping for coffee at Camden Lock and on to the Limehouse basin. Touristy boat trip along the Thames to Westminster  Tower bridge and wobbly bridge at St Pauls ...
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Our Italian Summer

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Our Italian summer 2019  has flown by. A shorter time here than normal but we were still very glad when we arrived to the peace and tranquility of our home at the end of July. Summer was fabulous, blue skies every day and temperature in the high 30Cs.  The house looked stunning. The usual activities followed apace: opening the pool, searching for tradesmen to do various types of maintenance (everyone in Italy is on holiday in August, so that was very hopeful), going for a cycle, checking all the garden chores required (always includes weeding and cutting back roses)  Summer arrived late in Italy:  A very wet June and July after a very dry April/May confused the produce. Sunflowers around the house were not in bloom.  Blackberries came before a very poor crop of mulberries. Tomatoes didn’t start going red until the second week in August. Huge crop of cucumbers and zucchini (we had fun with these!); hazelnuts ready before the waterme...
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