A posting halt

The time too quickly passes when one is on a strict deadline.Just forty eight hours to flight departure and last minute things are still being found to do
However confidence is high that all will be done
I must admit to some excitement to my returning to some old haunts in the UK and especially revisiting Westminster and the Houses of Parliament . 
More of that when the adventure ends

Rapid action required

The surprise trip arranged by my good wife has sent me in a flurry of planning. So much to do-so litle time. That is possibly the best thing really as it prevents the anxious mind from getting sidetracked
Handily most travelling needs are to hand and only the minor things require attention ,An old English proverb says "Make haste slowly" and this is my goal with just six days out from leaving home.

Turn of nature

What is happenening to our weather here in the dry tropics is completely baffling

A Tropical Cyclone threatens our coast and should it make landfall I believe it will the first in three quarters of a century of storm events to do so this late.  The temperature is still in the low thirty degrees C and humdity in the low seventies  All this and today is the first day of Autumn !

Not exactly the " Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness" as Keats wrote so long ago

Our friends overseas have less than promising news about their weather as well with the winter chill still hanging around their part of the Northern Hemisphere. We we are due to arrive over there in just eleven days.

"So much to do so little time " with thanks to Lewis Carroll

Out of the blue

What a day its been with some indifferent weather and  a threat of a tropical cyclone to our North  However this was all really nothing to the surprise I was about to receive

Good spouse it seems had noticed my much improved state of mind and had quickly organised  another adventure  Departure in just two weeks to sail the English Channel to France then  North to Scotland the Orkney and then on to Ireland and the Channel Isles  Sounds relaxing and informative and we shall be visiting some old favourite places we had visited in days gone by  We shall of course see some exciting new places with one side trip in particular to Girverny in France  I had mentioned in a much earlier post how a long time friend of mine had visited Monets home at Girverny last year and how surprised I was to find out she was a fan of Monet

The new relationship by our National airline has with its new partner airline will see us stopping over in the UAE which will place a whole new dimension before us '

How on earth this was all organised without my knowing is quite a feat and one which makes me exremely proud .We are also to be joined by good spouses two sisters who are also quite thrilled to go .I am of course not so sure if their husbands are so thrilled to be left at home

However I am reminded of the words of Izaak Walton who said -

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter

I sometimes wonder

What is it that drives people to perform acts of violence ? With the human mind so capable of good I despair that it also has the capacity to cause such pain.

The Boston  marathon incident really sends a shiver up my spine in the way it shows how easily one can come to harm.

Sadly I sometimes think these wrong doers see some sort of perverse fame in their actions - as Shakespeare wrote

The evil that men do lives after them
The good is oft interred with their bones

Lets hope no further incidents occur

Does the world need this?

The situation in Korea is enough to make any sensible person shudder with tensions running high on both sides.

A simple error could have devastating consequences and the loss of human life is just too horrible to contemplate

I sincerely hope cool heads prevail.

Light at the end of the tunnel

I guess I must have been feeling a little better as I glanced through the travel supplement in the weekend newspaper

I recognized the old feelings stir as I read the features and travels on offer. A small wave of excitement swept over me as I paused to take a drink of my tea   Interest had been piqued and I settled back with eyes closed and relished the feeling as I dozed

I soon returned to wakefulness when the words of Richard Hovey sprang to mind

I am fevered with the sunset

I am fretful of the bay

For the wander thirst is on me

And my soul is in Cathay

Yes - things are getting better and so the search for our next adventure begins !

Perhaps I can learn from the cat

I have had a very stressful time over the last few months and things are beginning to become a little brighter thank goodness

Through this all I have been followed around by the family cat who it seems to me, realised that I needed some support and company

Well that may have been the case and perhaps it worked but one thing I learned is that cats have an amazing capacity to relax.Certainly no insomia there.No obvious anxiety---just sheer relaxation !!

If only their secret could be bottled and sold Im sure the world would be a happier place

Good to be back

It’s so good to be back again after an absence of nearly twelve months  And what a lot has happened in that time- not all of it good

Perhaps the genesis of my troubles began on our return from New Zealand to find our daughter in less than good health

I invested so much time with her to help her though her health issues that I did not fully realize the impact on myself

Sadly I got bitten by a dog ---yes a dog  - the worst kind  of all   - the black dog of depression

A good Doctor and sound medication got me slowly on the road to recovery but many of the usual things I did got left behind including my little spot here in the world

The whole experience has left me with a different view of life and a newfound sense of family support   Yes - things are coming back to where they should be