Two days ago, I marked an important transition here at the cottage: I changed over to flannel pajamas. I held off as long as possible, but this week has shown a marked change in the temperatures and I can no avoid them.

Actually, I love  wearing flannel pajamas and would stay in them all day if I could. In fact, right before dinner last night, Don said, “You should go upstairs and change into your pjs.” I never got around to it, but that guy gets me.

Perfect scenario: I’m wearing flannel pajamas, reading a good book, and drinking hot chocolate.

That might happen later today. If it doesn’t happen today, it will definitely happen on Thursday when we are due for 3-5 inches of snow. 

Yes, indeed. I know many of you have already been blessed with the white stuff, but we haven’t. I have mixed feelings on the subject. The first couple of snowfalls are awfully pretty. But I’m not a fan in the long run. Tomorrow, I have to clean up some of the porch, move the rakes, shovels, etc., back in the shed and move the snow shovels to the porch. Oh, and we have to take the air conditioners out of the windows. As usual, we procrastinate about these chores and then we find ourselves running around at the last minute, trying to accomplish everything.

But today it is raining. It rained all night long. I’m almost halfway through my current read and I’ve kept to my goal of reading first thing in the morning. I usually read for a couple of hours and then it’s my turn to make our second cup of coffee (Don makes the first), which we drink on the loveseat in the den, coming together to chat about the day ahead. (See first photo.)

We had a lovely time at R & D’s yesterday. Our friend from back in the day at the Old Globe was visiting and I haven’t seen him in about 23 years! He’s such a nice guy and, as usual, the conversation was terrific and we laughed a lot. Sam is also doing well and made sure to demand affection from all of us. Love that dog.

I know these posts must seem incredibly boring after all the posts about the trip, but that’s daily life back home for you!

Happy Tuesday.

I’m taking a one day break here as I have to go into the city shortly to work on Anastasia  and I overslept, which is throwing me off!

So I’ll be back with more of our trip tomorrow, my friends.

Thanks for understanding. I literally have no time to write a travel post. Don just woke me up and I have to leave in an hour!

Happy Saturday.

I took this a few days ago. The only thing that’s changed is the status of the vines. The freezing temps we had a the other day killed off the morning glories and moonflowers. And maybe the zinnias – I have to check.

I’ve been staying indoors because it’s been cold and I’m still suffering from jet lag. Much harder to deal with on this end of the journey than it was on the other end. We’re still waking up at 5 am. I still fall asleep in my chair at 6 pm and then at 8 pm and beyond. It’s like I’m drugged. And my brain still feels a bit fuzzy, though much less than it did when I first got home.

We didn’t want to come home, so there’s that. Some of this might be due to a major let-down. I love our home, of course, and it’s tremendously comforting, but there’s nothing like the stimulation and excitement that comes from traveling in another country.

Sigh.

I thought I’d take a break from writing about the trip today because I suddenly had doubts. Are you enjoying these posts? Are they too long? Should I condense the rest of the trip down to one or two posts? I never really tailor my blog posts due to insecurity about what I’m writing, but I found myself wondering this morning if what I find exciting and wonderful about a very personal trip might not be boring to you.

I haven’t heard from some rather constant commenters and I stopped blogging for a week and a half (my choice, of course) which means I lost ad income. Would you rather I got back into the normal blogging about my daily life routine?

Let me know.

I did go into Manhattan on Sunday to work with an actor who will be replacing the male lead at the end of November. Manhattan was Manhattan: loud, full of car horns honking, with major traffic jams and all the crap and crowds that are a part of Times Square. I have a soft spot for NYC, but somehow London and Paris – cities with an enormous amount of traffic – seem to function very well without the endless honking of impatient drivers.

Anyway, let me know what you think! I have to get ready to go over to Rick and Doug’s for some brunch.

Happy Tuesday.