Blogs from Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Well Here it is my last UK Blog. The last few days have been manic! Getting everything sorted for the house has been a nightmare and what I thought would be one car load actually turned into two car loads and 2 trips to the tip. At least the house is empty and clean and ready for the new people to move in next week. All of my goodbyes have been said, well apart from the one to my Mum and Dad who I will be wishing farewell two later. They are very kindly taking me to Heathrow Airport later today. Everything is cancelled or suspended or sorted. The only thing that has gone wrong is that the two spare batteries that I ordered for my phone have not turned up. Hopefully this won't be a ... read more

Picked up the rental car today after doing a tour of Euston station. BTW, if you're renting a car from Avis and the address says Euston station, it's NOT in Euston station. It's down the road next to a sex shop. Obviously! Robb was somewhat worried to drive on the wrong side but managed to figure out how to make car move forward. An amazing feat considering gear shift only has three settings - R, N and A. He mastered the roundabout and was officialy inaugurated as a driver in England by getting honked at three times within an hour span. We decided to do day trip into Staffordshire which is 225 km north of London. We drove through Birmingham ... it's very much like Cleveland we all thought - working town, not much going on ... read more

H - ... even if it is against Walsall! Its rare that I am in the England at the right time to actually get to a chance to see my team play. This week was different. The Villa were playing their first pre-season friendly game against Walsall at Bescott Stadium before heading off to Hong Kong for a tournament. Walsall are two leagues below the Villa so a comfortable win should have been on the cards, but one never knows in these pre-season games. With a little intrepidation I took my American nephew along to see the game ... He has seen the Villa play before a couple of times at Villa Park, but he hasn't seen them play away. Away games can often be more fun, as it is only the hard core fans that ... read more

Home to the UK from Calais via the Chunnel and then that boring drive up the busy English motorways to Staffordshire. Always a pleasant surprise to find home just as we left it, though the garden has turned from Spring to Summer in our absence and is full of poppies. Then the boring bit. Emptying the Tandy of all food, clothes and everything else we carry with us. Sort the washing, put away the wine, open the mail, open my Folksy JoysofGlass shop. All back to normal. A very busy couple of months ahead. First of all have to get Bob checked out, as per hospital instructions, to find out why he got the infection and ensure there is no serious underlying cause. Doctor’s visit to be booked asap. Most important and exciting happening of the ... read more

After a false start yesterday, today I finally start my voyage to work on Cunard's MS Queen Victoria. Later on today I have a 4 hour train journey down to London to stop in a hotel for the night, then at the crack of dawn tomorrow its time to goto southampton to get on board our floating city for the next 6 months. I will try to post as much as I can, obviously time permitting and internet on board is not free, but hopefully that wont stop me posting photos/news from my travels. Im going to miss everyone at home, but its time to start a new life. Bring on 5 o'clock today so I can get on that train.... read more

Found a new Camping and caravaning club certified location in Ipstones near Leek. Was very new and we were the second unit, The third came the next night so it was hotting up! Toilets and showers with loads of space for 5 units with village and its three pubs, two with food.... read more