Cardienscarf

Me too

Cardienscarf

It is beautiful here. I am so lucky and thankful to have lived here. There are views that have literally taken my breath away. There is one in particular - heading south on 285, driving up Kenosha Pass, you get to the top, round a bend and then the whole of Park County is laid out in front of you with plains and mountains. It has made me gasp and brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. Then you descend into North Park and drive along a seemingly endless straight road to the south of Park County where you can turn off to the little town of South Park I will never forget it. It will always be with me.

I have driven through the eastern part of Wyoming quite a bit and there are beautiful parts there too - not quite as breath taking but still amazing formations. I've been caught in snow storms driving west on 18 from Lusk. Absolutely terrifying and I hope I never have to do it again, but there is still something beautiful about it.

There is a quilt store in Hemingford, NE that is in the middle of cornfields. You turn off the main road, drive down miles of dusty roads and, at this time of year, the sunflowers that grow wild on the side of the road all have their heads facing you as though they are smiling and welcoming you. This is a customer I shall always remember for their kind hospitality. They have a big kitchen off the store and cook lunch for the farm workers who come in at noon and they always invite me to stay and eat with them.

How did I get so lucky? I know I have had times of moaning about all the driving I have to do, the bad weather, the heat, the cold, the long distances between my customers but I have been to places I never would have gone (who goes to Cozad, NE on purpose??!) and met people I never would have known.

For me, it's impossible to describe it all - how can I expect a friend in England to understand cornfields as far as the eye can see and a sunset you can see 60 miles away - but I have it all with me. It's part of me now.

And .... I am so excited to be going home. To me, there is nothing like the English countryside or a bracing walk along the sea front, or a drink in the pub with some friends. I think all of us who return have the same feelings for all those things which is what calls us home.

cheers

I can't think of any area of the US that I can say is beautiful. Some areas I like better than others but compared to England nothing measures up. No offense.
I like the California coast a lot and the Pacific Northwest.

Does this confuse you?

Cheers

Cardienscarf

That is the hardest part for me. My eldest son is the salt of the earth type of person. He loves his family and friends and he will do anything for them. I haven't wanted him to feel abandoned, after all I brought him over here. I've used him as an excuse not to make up my mind about going back though - always wanting to see him through the next stage. Now he's 27, has a lovely partner and true friendships that have lasted for several years. He has a whole life here and I doubt he will leave.

I'll be coming back a couple of times a year for work and they can come to the UK once a year, then we can Skype in between. And who knows, maybe it will be good for him to be here without me - not that I'm a hovering mother, heaven forbid.

cheers

Sally doesn't post on here like she use to.
She has probably moved on to other things or the novelty has worn off. I know she is busy and getting settled.
I miss her posts and pictures.

Cheers

Cardienscarf

That sounds so lovely! I had to look Bamburgh, Rothbury and Peebles up on the map. I've only been in that area a few times but I intend to explore it quite a bit more over the next few years.

What a lovely idea to join a choir, not that I will because I don't think they'd have me! What was it that made you decide to do that? Have you made friends that way?

cheers

How do you remove cookies?

Cardienscarf

No offense taken. I think I've been lucky to live in Colorado. I love the mountains, but I've missed the sea and rolling hills of England more and more as I've got older.

I've been to the Pacific Northwest a couple of times and really like it - because of the sea. I prefer the English coast though

dunroving

Click and drag from the Menu bar (top of the page): Tools ... Internet Options ... click on General tab if it doesn't automatically go to that one ... click on "Delete" button and choose what you want to delete (including cookies).

dunroving

Sally posted on here about 2-3 weeks ago to say she was moving on, although she does pop back now and then.

If you sign up for her Blog you can keep up with what she is doing. She posts some very nice pictures and thoughtful reflections on life in the UK.

lf1

I have been talking about taking singing lessons since the 90's and never got around to it, so there must be something telling me to sing. I always enjoyed singing in choirs as a child. The first night we arrived home we went to the village pub. Some locals asked us to join them for a drink and I was asked if I was a singer. I said no, but I would like to take lessons. Before I knew it, I was singing the scales in the pub and was declared to be a soprano. That was it, there was no going back. Fortunately, both of the choirs I have sung with do not do auditions, so the choir masters haven't yet caught up with me.

Yes, I have made friends through the choir. There are four of us who have a great time in the choir and socialsing outside of the choir. I feel as if I have known them for years. Just off to meet up with them and their OH's as it Quiz Night tonight. Might squeeze in a couple of libations too!

NiHao

I hadn't heard of Bamburgh either before reading IF1's post here and then just today I saw some great photos of the fields of flowers around the castle - looks beautiful.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...y-weekend.html

I'm pretty sure I visited Peebles as a child

NiHao

Cardienscarf,

I loved reading your post about all the beautiful places near you and that you have visited customers in. Some of it sounds breathtaking. There is so much natural beauty in the US, its often on such a big scale.

You should try and find a piece of artwork or two depicting one of your favorite views or maybe the cornfields so you can hang them in your new home, a keepsake and also so you can show your British family and friends

i'm so happy for you about your job its going to be so wonderful that you will get to come back and visit. Almost the best of both worlds

between two worlds

Sounds as if he will be fine. But yes, this is the hard part, when you have grown children. Many of us in the same boat, torn in different directions.

The good thing is, there IS Skype...and if one has the ability to travel, or the offspring do, that helps greatly. But still, it's hard. Here in France, many many young people are leaving to work in the US, Canada, or Australia. This global dispersion of families is becoming more and more common. Of course, if we are expats, we did it ourselves once!

trottytrue

Between two worlds..I think the hardest part for me was the thought of leaving my grown children behind but I think when they reach a certain age they do have lives of their own and very busy ones. Even though we now live only 2 hours from 2 of our children we rarely see them. So moving to the UK would not have been difficult but my daughter is a different matter she lives just 15mins from us and calls us and pops in to make sure we are alright. I think for me to leave her now would be really hard especially after we have both been sick. If she were married I think it would be different.

Once you get on that plane and fly to another country with children you have made an enormous decision and the longer you stay the less likely it is that you will go back without that feeling of loss. The only time you can leave with children is before they get passed 11. How many of us really sat down and thought of the future the next 30 years before we left the UK. I dont think many.