Our very leafy neighbourhood…….

……….this morning.
I took the photo from the loft room looking across the back gardens of our road. They meet the gardens of the houses which are opposite on the lefthandside. This makes for a very green space and attracts all kinds of birds along with the usual hedgehogs and foxes.
Some of the gardens have ponds which is why we sometimes see the heron about.,
I had a very good night’s sleep last night going to bed a bit later as I had a sleep yesterday afternoon sitting here on the settee, before our friend came for her dinner after work as usual.
Today I got out my Pilates mat and went through some of the movements in order to loosen up a bit, before going off to the class this afternoon,
It certainly helped and as we were learning a couple of new moves I was glad I’d gone through quite a bit of our usual routine beforehand.
Coffee afterwards in the atrium where a few of the ladies who work at the centre were putting up Christmas decorations and had decorated a tree, which is looking beautifully festive.
I won’t post a photo of it until nearer Christmas.
Although someone pointed out today as we were remarking that now it really does look like November outside, as the light was fading mid-afternoon and a lot of the trees now have lost their leaves, that it is 4 weeks to the shortest day!
I should have told you all when you all said you hoped I’d had a better sleep last night, that the reason for my restless night on Monday was probably mainly due to the fact that our former daughter-in-law Heidi, ( who was married to our son who died), was finally flying back to the UK for good, via Paris, on a night flight from New York Newark airport. The flight was due out at 10:50 pm that evening, Monday, and being a plane nerd I had it on alert on Flightradar24.
I periodically checked it if I woke but then couldn’t get off to sleep again!
She has brought her little Weinberg dog, Peter, with her on the plane.
There’s a whole industry out there who specialise in pets on planes!
She had also had trouble with transferring her money into her UK bank earlier that day, and spent 5 hours in the bank in New York till it was finally sorted by mid afternoon! She had been sorting out all the details for a few weeks. But talk about going to the wire……….
That caused a lot of stress.
She flew into France with all the documentation for her dog, as this meant she could then come into the UK, without him having to be quarantined, on his Pet Passport!
Only certain airlines will allow pets in the cabin, and the one she came on was Business class only with 76 seats. Once in Paris she then just had to journey back via the Channel Tunnel and make her onward journey up to Chorley, in Lancashire, having decided that she would make her home up there. She has been in the States for 13 years having married again in 2011 to a Texan from Dallas, but they lived in Austin.
Sadly he told her just before Lockdown that he had decided to leave her.
She was left all alone during lockdown to cope with the fallout, and carry on working at the same time,
She then moved up to Dallas to be near some close friends who have been such good supports. She has no parents and she regards us as her mum and dad. But she has an aunt and uncle in Chorley and a cousin to whom she is close. The cousin has been helping her find a little house.
So last night she stayed with her aunt and uncle once she had finally made it there (roundabout 2:00am)
There is also a company that provide taxis for owners and pets, so they met her at Paris Orly Airport and drove her all the way back, travelling on the Car shuttle through the Channel Tunnel.
She is such an resilient person. And we are proud of her.