Simon says

I'm from the south-east of England, which is, in many places, lovely, bucolic: small country lanes, pubs and beer gardens, footpaths, villages that are hundreds of years old, and, in places, some rolling hills.  But as you head north, things get more rugged, windswept, hilly and spacious.  This is a generalisation: there are huge cities north of London and there are wild places in the south.  But head to Northumberland, and visit your friends in the countryside (as we did) and you appreciate the openess and opportunity of our northern counties.  It did rain a lot, including throughout our surfing lesson in the North Sea, and for some of our bike ride to the village hall/cyclists' cafe.    Heads down, into the rain, off to the surf A bleak but invigorating day on the North Sea  More rain, big smiles It's all about the tea room Bacon sandwich with brown sauce After Northumberland we headed west, across the country to the Lake District.  If I had to pick one area of the countr

Dinner, Wednesday, August 11th On release day we broadcast a message that we were free but car-less (accidentally add an "e" and that would be careless, really), so people should come and visit.  Damien and Rosie, bless them, got a baby sitter and came for dinner.  We had a proper little outdoor dinner party for four, foraged from the shops within walking distance.   Mmmm.... potatoes Train, Thursday, August 12th  I used to take the train to work from my Mum's house everyday.  There was no novelty and very little pleasure.  The focus was on getting from A to B as quickly as possible, rushing to the station to make the train; trying to find that precious spot on the platform that may mean a seat; avoiding too much physical contact with the other commuters; dashing from the train to the underground.  Almost all of that boyhood enthusiasm for train travel squashed.  Fast forward fifteen years, and I get to see it all again through the kids' eyes, only multiplied because

Poking the swab down the throat and up the nose does not get more enjoyable, but our day 5 covid test came with the promise of near imminent freedom.  I did a lot of research on the UK gov list of over 300 test providers to find the sweet spot between cost and reasonably favourable reviews.  There was a huge range in cost (from expensive to extortionate) and a generally inverse correlation with reviews.  Settling on Nationwide Pathology turned out well: we made the first postal collection on Saturday morning and had our results by early on Monday afternoon.  Following a morning of delightful sunshine, our freedom was met with a downpour which became rain, which became showers, and finally rain.  I had held off session four of my return to run program in the hope that I could hit the open road instead of another hour of treading a furrow in the back garden.  Patience was rewarded.   Embracing the big wide world on freedom run. Ottawa receives almost exactly twice as many annual hours of

Quarantine, day 4.  Actually it's been excellent.  We have a comfortable house, a big garden, and the sun has been shining quite a lot.  Our time has been split between football, trampolining, physio excerises, running (I clocked up 4.5km on a 200m lap!), and a whole ton of time on the internet, planning, planning, planning.  With all the uncertainty of covid, and the work load of packing up our lives and leaving Canada, we set sail with a one-way ticket to London and another one-way ticket to Spain.  We had exactly zero plans for England.  Now we have a plan: a rental car, a visit to Northumberland, surfing in the north sea, a stay in the Lake District, visits with family, hanging out with friends.  In fact we have planned all the way to the end of the year: the second half of September in sunny Spain and then 3 months in Chamonix in the French Alps (warning: may be less sunny, especially in November). Quarantine really doesn't look that onerous Unless you voluntarily pick up

I'm starting this sitting in Toronto airport. By the time it is alive on the interweb, we will either have made it to England, be back in Ottawa, or we will still be sitting here, staring at my screen which is itself in front of an iPad screen, which is offering me anything I want to eat, or drink, or play.  These are things I have not missed. Managed to get in some nice stress-busting bike rides last week as departure day loomed.  The admin involved in travelling right now is impressive: pre-departure covid tests, UK gov passenger locator form, book arrival covid tests... Hours and hours.  But as I keep saying, we are doing this voluntarily.  Anyway, that all ate into packing time, and packing had become tricky.  England in August, Spain in September, the Alps maybe in fall/winter, and then who knows where or when?  But we did it.  On one side of Crystal's parents awe-inspiring garage, the contents of our house: On the other side, our bags, ready to go, nearly two hours aead o