John back to Australia

Bye Bye John...safe trip home xxx

I am bereft.
Yesterday John packed up our hire car and returned it to Stansted airport before catching the bus to Heathrow airport for his flight back to Australia.
AAAAAAGH! I miss him already!!!

our hire car

John packs the car

Earlier in the day Geoffrey also packed up his BMW wagon and took the dogs with him down to Somerset. The dogs looked very happy to be going on a road trip. I guess they have done this trip lots of times before. Susan and I will be heading down there ourselves on Wednesday to join them.

Daisy and Bella happy to be going on a road trip

Susan, Daisy, Bella and Geoffrey

The house felt very quiet minus the dogs and the men. So Susan and I indulged in an afternoon of movies on the telly. We drank copious amounts of tea and then moved on to doing some handiwork once the movies finished.

Susan is currently working on her third knitted knee rug. They are intricately detailed pieces of art. Each square is knitted to a unique pattern, some with beads worked into the pattern, and then the whole lot is sewn together and a border knitted. It takes countless hours of work, but the finished product is quite stunning.

beautiful hand knitted rugs

beads worked into the pattern

Susan has lots of patience for this sort of fine intricate work evidenced by the many pieces framed on her walls. Some are needlework samplers, some are fine stump work which have to be framed in 3D.
She was also into lacework and attends lots of seminars and workshops to learn different techniques.
We kept ourselves happily entertained for the evening.

needlework Sampler by Susan

Stump work made by Susan

John called from Heathrow to say his flight has been delayed by two and a half hours meaning he'll miss his connecting flight in Sydney.They've re-booked a later flight for him and he got a meal voucher for an airport meal, but it's going to be a looong journey home.