It’s been forever since this poor blog (and all it’s sweet readers) has heard from me.   The last few months have been so full – visitors, decisions, holidays – and because it’s so overwhelming to try to catch up, I’m just going to start fresh and easy.  No large sweeps.  Just a slow move forward. [...]

We’re less than a week away from setting our feet on the soil of Indiana.  I can’t wait!  It’s nearly 11 months since I was home for my Dad’s birthday and almost 13 months since Mark’s been home.  Are you as excited as we are?!  Probably not.  But we’ll take mild excitement anyway. In order [...]

I’m loving the bits of fall creeping into my days here and there: the colors popping up outside, the cooler breeze (which never leaves, really, but still feels different), the sun coming up at a reasonable hour.  And we have some lovelies blooming in the back garden.  *Sigh* We’ve been without a car for most [...]

I smell like that beautiful breakfast invention, the Ulster Fry.  For those of you who’ve not had the privilege of eating one, I’ll describe it:  egg, baked beans, sausage, bacon, potato farl, soda bread, all lovingly fried in oil, eaten with salt, pepper, HP sauce and maybe red sauce.  It might be single-handedly responsible for [...]

I can’t believe another week has passed.  And then I remember September is nearly here and I’m even more amazed.  We’re quickly coming to the first anniversary of our move here and I can hardly believe that!

We are so excited to have the whole Kristiansen gang here with us for the week.  That is Lars, Maria, Luca, and Silas for those of you who don’t know them.  They are in the process, albeit a rather long one, of moving to Newcastle to join us in our work here.  And we get [...]

You might recognize some of these places by now, as this is one of our favorite places here – Tollymore Forest Park.  Some of our favorite spots were blocked off when we went because a movie (Your Highness, I’ve been told) was being filmed.  It was raining, so nobody out filming.  I’m looking forward to [...]

My dear parents flew home yesterday after a whirlwind 3-week adventure here with us.  And we were absolute failures at communicating with the world during that time.  Sorry about that.  Right now we’re both in recovery mode, though Mark seems to be ahead of me on that front.  We’ll do some extra blogging in the [...]

Could I be any more creative with this post’s title?  Maybe.  But that’s just what this week has been.  Again.  And I’m not complaining.  It’s been full of hard work – Mark with computer work (of the required and voluntary sort) and me with sewing.  We made a loaf of banana bread for Sarah the [...]

It’s been sunny and beautiful here in Newcastle for the past few days.  And I’ve been eating up being outside (and not being on the computer) in the low-70s-warm-sun-cool-breeze weather.  Sorry I’ve been m.i.a. again.  We’ve decided a weekly posting time is in order for us Guinns as we have a pretty horrible track record [...]