Back to Texas!

My "England blogging days" ended very suddenly in January with an abrupt change in our plans! We were supposed to have at least another four weeks,or even more, in England, but Ron was notified that Bell Helicopter, because of a money crunch, had cut the funding for the testing being done in England and that we were to get all of our belongings ready to ship so that we could fly back to the States as soon as possible!

There was so much to do to end our stay in England. We had to say our good-byes to our friends, give away the food we had stocked up, arrange for the shippers to come to pack our belongings, take our last photos, and try to get each of our suitcases to weigh under 50 pounds!
Our last day at the Bedminster Church in Bristol was sad for us, because we knew that more than likely we would never see our friends from there again. One or two said that they might be traveling in Texas someday----we hope they will. At the end of the church service, Geoff Daniels, one of the long-time members, presented us with a small hand blown blue vase as a remembrance of our time at Bedminster. The vase was made at a famous Bristol company called Bristol Blue Glass. It is a tradition at the Bedminster church to give a vase to people who are moving away. We felt very honored, especially being that we were not actually members of the church there. It is a treasure!


As I was cleaning our kitchen, I realized that I had some dishes and pans that the apartment owners would probably throw away, so I walked to the local Charity Shop and donated them back to the place where I had bought them! It seemed strange a couple of days later to go into the shop and see "my stuff" on the display shelves!

It was even a little sad telling the housekeepers goodbye, as I had seen them almost every day for eight months. (No, they really did not do much cleaning, but they did pick up the trash everyday.) The one on the right is Judy. She is married and has two teenage sons, so she was always talking about the different sports activities in her busy schedule. The one on the left is Claire, not married but her "partner" is one of the chefs at the hotel that owns our apartment. She always had lots of stories about her sister and her sister's five children (with #6 on the way)and her sister's husband, who Claire was always calling a "lazy bloke"! Judy and Claire said that they would miss the smells of my food----they especially liked the Snickerdoodle cookies and asked for the recipe. In return, I got a recipe for Cornish Pasties (haven't tried it yet). They were always willing to tell me the meaning of "English words", where to shop, and about traditions in England.


Our time in England ended much too quickly! We did manage to get everything packed. We took our last walks around town and drove through the countryside the evening before we left for London to fly home. The weather during our last few days was the very typical English weather----cool and rainy---but we could see a few signs of the coming spring. The daffodils were blooming along the roadside in Yeovil, rose bushes were beginning to put on leaves, and new growth from flower bulbs could be seen in the flower beds. People were beginning to work their flower beds in anticipation of spring. We enjoyed seeing people out walking their dogs (a very common sight in England----especially because of their small yards). Many of the people walking their dogs were wearing their "Wellies", or muck boots, in the rain. We tried to store up all of those sights of England so that we could remember.....

We did manage to get our suitcases underweight, even with a few of Katelyn's rocks in them!
Here are three photos taken as we departed from Gatwick Airport in London. Of course, it was a foggy day in England!