Well, here I am having temporarily relocated to London for a few weeks. I went to the Ski show last weekend as my friend Kat had a stand there and I remembered how much I used to like skiing - before I became overly-green and anti-ski...Not sure where I stand on that now as I've remembered how much FUN skiing is! Anyhow, I’ve just about survived my first week here and it was lovely that my Grandpa happened to be in town visiting for a few days so I went out for a lovely meal with him :).

However, unfortunately after arriving in London and being exposed to lots of unfamiliar bugs, I seemed to catch one of them... but hopefully (fingers crossed), the eating of lots of Tunes and drinking plenty of orange juice and green tea and honey seems to have done the trick. Plus the copious amount of sleep and extra antibiotics…

After feeling pretty sick on Wednesday, I saw my friend Elena yesterday who brought me round extra-specially yummy freshly squeezed orange juice from the lovely Waitrose, as well as chocolate, pumpkin seeds and a book. She expected me to be half-dead on the sofa but seeing her made me feel much better and we went out for a nice meal.

Tomorrow I am hopefully seeing my uni friends again (the ones who came to see me in Bath) including my friend Ruth who I haven’t seen SINCE uni! I hadn’t spoken to her for years either but I spoke to her last night and it was like we had never lost touch so I’m looking forward to that lots.

I have also been up to Leeds since I last wrote and caught up with some friends there including Vanessa (whose dog Noodle I used to walk) which was most lovely indeed so I’m doing much better at keeping in touch with people – I could hardly be any worse than I have been!

Finally, I heard today that my cat Mich went to the vets for his annual check-up and passed with flying colours so I’m very happy about that.

And finally, finally Rob who used to live with me in Leeds and who I visited in Australia got married to Anu last weekend. I met Anu in Australia and she was lovely – I’m sure they’ll be very happy together and I wish them lots of love and happiness in their future lives together. xx

Last week, I went to Birmingham to spend a couple of days with my cousin and her little 'un Amelie. I even went to Rhythm Time and got to play a few instruments (Well when I say instruments what I mean is a shaking a multiple-bell-thingy) as I was a bit sad because there weren't enough glockenspiels for me and the kids - it seems, strangely, that they had priority over me. Although no one seemed to think that it was that weird for me to be there without a child of my own.

However one lady at the 'Bumps, babies and beyond' group the next day said that I was very brave for attending without my own offspring as when she first went, she couldn't believe how anyone could cope with the noise...I didn't mind though as there were some very cute kids and I got to play with the toys.

I can't believe another week has almost past and it's time for me to go and be creative with clay and glaze again. I always find it weird the way the colour of the glazed ceramic is so different from the colour of the glaze you put on but then I guess that's just the way it is. I hope some of the little animals I've been making have been fired as I'm feeling quite inventive today...

Last week, I went swimming and swam nearly a WHOLE width under water. I went with my new friend Ali which was really nice. I've been trying to do some more exercise and yesterday I even went for a walk on the beach. It was Weston, so obviously the sea was miles out but it was nice to feel the sand beneath my feet (shoes). The pier is still a crumpled burnt mess but the new designs are pretty cool so hopefully they should be able to come up with something nice or hopefully even spectacular or amazing to replace it.

I also saw my old friend Katie on Friday, who I haven't seen her for ages, and her little baby Rosie "bear" (how cute is that?), so that was really lovely too.

Hello there,
Well here I am, back after my country-wide adventures. I enjoyed the nice sunny weekend especially as it was my grandparents 66th wedding anniversary on Sunday, 66 years together, can you believe that? They made the lovely chicken lunch (although there seems to be something intrinsically wrong with making your own meal on your big anniversary but we did make an apple cake with lots of yummy apples from the garden so it sort of works out fair...)

This week I went to my pottery class yesterday and today I'm going swimming although now I might just go and make the most of sitting in the sun before it goes away...

p.s. Here's a pic of me doing the cultural thing outside Thomas Hardy's cottage in Dorset last month.

More busyness. After my fun time in Dorset I spent a few days at home before going to Sheffield to stay with my auntie and uncle. It was freezing cold when I first got to Sheffield and I started to freak out a bit especially as my uncle wore a woolly hat to the allotment which was slightly worrying and made me think that winter was well and truly here. I couldn't believe I hadn't brought my coat - especially when I've been wearing it all summer... Luckily I borrowed one of my cousin's, which she had left at home, but after that first night it wasn't too freezing at all. Hurrah!

I had fun in Sheffield and even went to a yoga class which was good. I haven't been to a proper yoga class since, well, Oz... I did go to one the other day in Weston but it was more like a very, very gentle exercise class which didn't really make me feel like I'd achieved anything - nothing like the hardcore Bikram yoga I'd done in Melbourne.

After Sheffield I went to Leeds for a few days - it was lovely to catch up with my Leeds friends and I hadn't realised how much I'd missed it. I met up with Tyne, one of my old colleagues, and we made fairy cakes for a leaving party. We even made the cakes without scales - who'd have thought such a crazy thing was possible?! The party was really nice and it was lovely to see my old boss and his friends. And the cakes tasted pretty good too despite the fact that there was supposed to be the same amount of sugar and flour and there clearly wasn't, as told by the quantities left in the packets...

I also caught up with lots of people I knew from Chapel Allerton - friends from the Oxfam group and my old landlady. It made me miss Leeds LOADS...

Now I'm continuing my route around the country and am hanging out at my friend Kat's flat near Wimbledon which is very lovely indeed. I've also been very spoilt as I saw my friend Joanna who brought me lunch one day and that evening, I had dinner at my friend Rebecca's lovely flat in Ravenscourt Park which is most pretty too. And the next day, I caught up with Fiona another ex-colleague of mine. In fact, I carried her rather large mosquito net with me during all my travels and didn't use it once - it reminded me of her tho. ;)

So loads of people and lots of things happening. Including a move to London in the near future...eek!

I've just spent a nice couple of days away in Dorset with my auntie and uncle, my cousin Becky, her husband Steve and their little 'un Amelie. Hopefully there'll be some pictures of us soon but in the meantime here is a pic of me and my mum with Elsa, my other first cousin once removed (or something like that). It was lovely to meet her and see her parents. Elsa came and played at my Grandparents in the summer before moving from Sweden to Norway - how very exciting and how very well travelled for someone so young.

Other exciting things that have happened is that I saw my uni friends who came to visit me for lunch in Bath. That was really lovely and I just couldn't believe it was so long since I last saw them.

Also, Grace, my Goddaughter, has just started school. How very exciting! Although I haven't seen her for a while, I can't wait to see her again soon.

Well I haven't blogged for a while - although obviously you can see that. Thought I'd start again. Let's see what the autumn has in store. Things have been a bit crazy but are getting more normal now; after being ill, I have been helping look after my Grandma who isn't very well and helping my Grandpa.

Yesterday I went to a green festival and so am now stepping up my greenness which has (to my shame) fallen off my radar a bit.

So hello to greenness and hello to me (again).