Operation repatriation complete

So it's done. Our house in England is as empty as the day before our belongings arrived from Canada four years ago. Already we've had an offer on the property, so obviously an empty house shows as well if not better than a furnished one. While overseeing the packing up our furniture, etc., John and I managed several visits to friends (including a few truly wonderful homecooked meals), supper at our favourite local pub, a shopping trip to nearby factory outlets, and an excursion to Liverpool to visit the Lady Lever Art Gallery. London topped off our week-long visit with probably the best Thai meal we've had ever—and that includes South East Asian eateries.

WIP it real good

On the day I started another wip—that's writer speak for "work in progress"— I heard back from an agent I'd submitted a partial to ages ago, to learn that she's not interested. What a way to begin Chapter 1. Oh, well, I persevered as always and managed to churn out 9 pages. After all, I have yet to hear from the publisher who requested the full manuscript of my previous novel. Hope springs eternal.

SUVs and cell phones

Anyone who knows me well can predict I'm a fan of neither SUVs nor cell/mobile phones. I don't drive and I prefer to email my friends or catch them online to picking up a phone, cordless or otherwise. So when vacationing relatives entrusted their car and cell phone to us, we were grateful but hardly over the moon. I have to admit the phone can be very useful. However, our recent drive down to Kingston, Ontario in the "truck"—forgive me but it reminded me of the pickup truck I used to tool around in as a teenager—revealed that it's cheaper to rent a car and fill it with petrol than to borrow a gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle. Really, what is all the fuss about?