I’m writing this from a lovely little loft apartment on the tenth floor of a ridiculously old building in Edinburgh. I can hear bagpipes playing out the window on the street and Andrew is cooking up some vegan Haggis for breakfast. The sun is shining and this is the first time in a while I’ve had to sit down properly and pay my little online journal some proper attention. After a rip-roaring roller coaster week of packing, lunches with friends, dinners with family and a trip to Stellies to sort out some admin for our new place, we arrived in the United Kingdom on Monday morning. I thought last week was going to be painful, but with some distance healing from Colleen at Midlands House of Healing, and a lot of slow deep breathing, it sailed by without much of a hassle. Sometimes I guess you’ve just got to accept the craziness of certain situations and just keep swimming.

We spent our first night in England at Carleton le Morland in Lincolnshire, the little village where Andrew grew up. Early bird that I am, I simply had to go for a long walk in the morning. Andy reluctantly joined me, but once we got going, I was regaled with colourful stories of his childhood as he pointed out the wall at the vicarage they used to jump up onto as kids, the river they used to swim in and the Horse Chestnut tree they used to collect conker seeds from for conker wars at schools. There’s something completely entrancing about the English countryside for me and I think it has a lot to do with reading The Enchanted Wood, The Secret Garden and the The Magic Faraway Tree over and over again as a child. Andy’s mum also has the most beautiful big garden with gorgeous roses, bird baths and even a little wooden shed. I mean – I basically married into my own childhood fantasy. After naps and walks and yummy coffee, our break at Carleton was the perfect start to our trip – let’s hope we get a little more sunshine there on our return over the weekend!