Thank you so much for your patience and your well wishes for my little break. I have missed ‘chatting’ with you each day via my posts and comments,
I had a great break. I read a number of books (Ann Cleeves, Stig Abell, Ian Rankin, and more), ploughed through my fashion magazines (I read UK Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Hello! Fashion as well as Swedish Elle, Damernas, Plaza, and Daisy). I do a quick flip through of fashion magazines when I buy them, and then at a later stage I do a deep read of all the articles. The imported ones are so expensive these days that I feel I have to do them justice.
I also washed all our curtains, cleaned carpets, and donated to charity shops.
We tried to do a shorter ride most days and a longer one every few days, stopping at cafés we had never tried before. The Swedish countryside is stunning in summer, and it has been a beautiful summer. I was dreading a rainy one (which we have more often than not) but it was so sunny.
Our annual week-long 1500km trip to and from the south of Sweden went very well, apart from lightning and torrential rain for about half an hour on the way back (terrifying when you are on two wheels). We also bought a new motorbike (at least, my husband did) which has been incredibly comfortable for long trips.
We celebrated my birthday and our anniversary in July with great meals, long rides, and shopping. Weather-wise, we had the tail end of the heatwave that crushed the south of Europe, but it did not go over 28°C to 30°C
Once I had a little rest, inspiration came back to prepare for the new term and to write blog posts. I have been writing posts behind the scenes when I have had the energy and inspiration – I really hope you like them because from today today there are 113 of them all written and waiting for you!

Welcome back Janet! You had such a productive time! I have just been floating around thinking a lot but not doing much. I am so excited about reading your posts!
Congratulations on the birthday, anniversary and the mega post prep!
Janet, welcome back, I missed your posts because they always brighten my day first thing in the morning. I realise that when you are on holiday from work it isn’t what you want to do and I respect your time away from the computer and smart phone (gods know we all need some time off from technology from time to time). So welcome back and may you continue to enthral us with your stories, jokes and funny memes for years to come.
Thank you and I hope you like the upcoming posts!
You’ve been busy! Sounds like you had a wonderful summer!