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Hello from Sunday night…finally!

Hello everyone, I’m back in England.
Which may seem like a strange thing, because if you read my posts, it looks like I never left!

I did leave England for almost 2 months, but the day I left, my computer left me.
That is to say that the hard drive on my pc packed it in.

Just like that.
The black screen of death.

So the past two months have been a bit of a nightmare trying to recover data, trying to see if my old PC (still under warranty) is fixable or replaceable, and getting a new pc for the meantime as it became apparent that the company who made my old pc would take their time, (and need gentle encouragement in the form of an all-out rant on social media by my brilliant SIL), for me to get any recourse.

In the meantime, I’ve been back to Vancouver, became a family dog owner, went to see our little ones in Kelowna…twice, had a garage sale, taught my last journal course before my summer break, collected millions of photos….and had no computer and no Photoshop to share.

So, while this is where I am today, I do have a second pc that now has Photoshop, and I will share a sort of back and forth mix of posts, but for now, I’m back in Oxfordshire five fields away from my river.

The earth is sun-scorched.
I think I got here just in the nick of time to save parts of my garden.

But the river is beautiful.
I’ve been walking the jet lag off and my most favourite walk is the Thames right here.

It’s such a Wind in the Willows area.
Any minute it feels like Mr Toad could come paddling by.

As a matter of fact, each time I get close to the water, I frighten some creature which immediately splooshes in.

In the fields here is a pill box from WWII, looking now more like a relic from some tiny castle rather than a strategic military bunker erected in uncertain times.

On the river is a large flock of geese.
These guys tend to fly over the cottage later on in the summer.

The day is hot, but finally I come to my destination.
Today I wanted to come sit under this foot bridge.

Those cement footholds are perfect for sitting on and dangling your feet in the cool water.

To my left is a metalic green-blue damselfly.
He flutters around after some prey or to ward off other damselflies and returns to his perch again and again.

On the right, the river bends some reeds which give the stillness a small bubbling sound.

I stayed for a few minutes just taking it all in, and then turned back for home.

By the time I walked down the field, the geese were fed up wih doging boats and waddled up on the shore.

I don’t blame them.
Even though the river is quieter than normal, there still is a lot of activity.


I realised that everyone just might be indoors watching the Fifa World Cup when I walked past this narrow boat and heard a “YESSS!” and a “WHAAAHOOO!”, and glanced inside to see the brightly lit screen of the TV.

LOL,
Back down the river, back home to the cottage and about to send some more posts your way.

Comments: 11

  • Robert F. Gasch

    July 9, 2018
    reply

    Sorry about all the problems that you are having with the computer, etc. But I am glad that you are back. Thank you for the wonderful pictures and for sharing them with us.

  • jae

    July 9, 2018
    reply

    Beautiful pictures. Could almost imagine myself there. Welcome back. You have been missed!

  • July 9, 2018
    reply

    Welcome back! Hurrah! Yippee! Huzzah! xxx

  • July 9, 2018
    reply

    Welcome home.

  • Susan

    July 9, 2018
    reply

    Your countryside and river is beautiful. The tranquility of moving water is always a pleasure. The heat, this summer, is definitely a scorcher. Glad to hear you saved your garden from drying out. Your SIL does good work, sometimes a bit of social media pushes people in the right direction. Sad but true. Enjoy.

  • Rosemarie

    July 9, 2018
    reply

    all your pictures tell a story.

  • July 10, 2018
    reply

    Yes, what a wonderful bunch of images of a nice Summer in England, dear Veronica! Even in the North of Germany (where I live) and Benelux, Scandinavia it’s the prettiest Summer since years and I enjoy it very much. Nice to have you back in Europe 😉

    Love, Ariane

  • July 10, 2018
    reply

    Idyllic! Sorry to hear about your PC.

  • July 12, 2018
    reply

    Very glad to have you back, my friend! Have been missing you.

    Enjoy your lovely pastoral walks. So very sorry about your PC. That is extremely traumatic.

    Hugs

  • July 13, 2018
    reply

    Hey V .. I have missed you! Such a super post full of wonderful images! How lovely to be back in the UK and I hear the weather is stunning. Sorry to hear about your computer .. my worst nightmare! Hugs Miss

  • Daryl

    July 18, 2018
    reply

    hello and welcome back sort of .. i can feel the angst of a dead computer, its like losing a part of oneself .. and like your SIL i have discovered a good social media rant gets things moving quite well .. isnt that sad … i should do a blog post about my recent Fedex debacle…

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