We plan to get back to England for a trip at the end of the month. Face masks and social distancing and hand sanitiser. I hope we make it and things don’t get closed down at the last minute. My cabin is built and I hope to get back on track towards the end of September. My good friend Laura has asked me to teach with her again and I’m really looking forward to that. Life at the moment would appear to be idyllic and I do know that I’m very lucky. From my window of my home in the country I can look over the fields and watch the racehorses being exercised before a backdrop of the lough. I can look out my back window at my beautiful inherited garden and the fields beyond. From Tuesday to Thursday I go to my lovely little cottage by the sea and waken up to the weather. Every day is different. Sometimes the Haar ( a mist from the sea ) comes in. It can be so dense it’s like a thick,sweet fog. I love to go walking in it. The Mull of Kintyre,the Isle of Arran and the Glens of Antrim can be seen when it is clear, and in extra special conditions you can see the Paps of Jura. Sometimes when we set off to go to the cottage we wonder if it will be a “Paps of Jura day “. If it is we’ll see them when we’re coming down the hill. It usually isn’t 

I’m looking forward to coming back to England, I’ve been away too long. I want to be with my children and grandchildren and to get stuck in. I’ve been supervising by phone and yesterday one of my supervisees said “enjoy your trip home”, and I thought yes, England is home, but, I suppose Ireland is too,now, although fifty three years ago I had to get away.

Two very different life styles and I embrace them both.