Summers end

August is over and all of a sudden autumn is here. The days are getting shorter and the air cooler and there is a real "back to school" feel in the air.  The boys in France went back to school on Monday and Miss J started school today.  Life seems to be racing away.  On the 14th we will have been living here for a year and on the18th, its a year since part of the family "Escaped to the Chateau".  Time flies and before we know it another Christmas will be upon us.  Does time go faster the older you get?

We enjoyed a lovely week with Rachel and the 4 grandchildren on the Normandy coast, hectic, noisy but fun.  We followed this up with four days to ourselves, 2 in Rouen and 2 in Le Touquet before heading back home and falling back into home life.  In the past year we have driven 15,000 miles, and being home seems strange for a few days until we get used to it again. Then before you know it we are back on the road again.  This is the new normal for us whilst we are able and wanted/needed.  Whilst home we are getting the garden back in order after this summer's heatwave.  The new grass area has been reseeded and plants moved around, in the end we only lost two, so not so bad.  I did hold off planting once the heat hit, so now have plenty of gaps to fill. We still have stuff to do on the house, but nothing that won't keep for another day.

Here are some photos from beach week.  I'll share Rouen on another post

Since getting home, we've been blackberry picking and Jess and I made jam. I've been knitting up a storm and will share in another post too. Till the next time

Our Autumn away

Southwold -we are just back from our annual trip to the Suffolk coast .  As usual I left a little bit of my heart there, just to make sure I go back.  Lets face it there is no fear of me not, having been every year for the last 51 years.

As its November, the weather was mixed.  Beck and the boys joined us for the weekend, and Rachel and her two were with us until Friday afternoon.

This was the Friday afternoon we arrived

Then Saturday - cold and it ended up raining - hard!

Sunday was glorious

Monday - grey day

Tuesday - cold and rainy

Wednesday - amazing morning turning cool and grey in the afternoon

Thursday - grey and showery

Friday morning - sunny and cold

 Friday afternoon - just us two

Then Saturday - an early walk to watch the sunrise before packing up to go home

I'm really not sure how many times I have taken some of these views, 100's I'm sure but I never get tired of them.  Until next year.....,

Southwold - its that time of year again

We are just back from our annual autumn trip to Southwold. So many photographs......

Southwold - my most favourite holiday location. The venue for so many holidays since the age of 9, and let's face it, I will be 60 in February, so thats a lot of holidays!  With the passing of my father in September I always knew that this year would be difficult, but I didn't anticipate it being quite so painful. So many happy memories around every corner.  I have to confess to many weepy moments.

This year we tried a new house, Tibby's View, a lovely property, a real home from home, smaller than we usually go for as we were only going to be 5.  Now that Rufus is at school, trips during term time are not possible. At the last moment Rebecca decided to bring the boys down for the weekend so as not to miss out.  We managed to squeeze everyone in and Suffolk Secrets kindly let us have the house early in the day which got us settled in and helped with the rainy weather!

We had a mixed bag week weatherwise, mild, wet, sunny, windy, boy was it windy at times, turning colder as the week drew to a close. Even though the weekend was not the best we managed to do plenty and even got on the beach. Lunch at the Red Lion, fish and chips from the new chippy, hot chocolate and tea cakes on the beach, cakes from the Magpie Bakery, we did lots of eating!!

I think someone tried to take his teacake

these two got soaked!!

We were so pleased that Rebecca and the boys got to join us even for just a short while.  I will share more photographs from the rest of the week tomorrow