Hi you all, I'm back from vacation...

...in more ways than one.

We arrived back from Spain about a week ago. We flew United on the way over and Aer Lingus on the way home, which felt right, given that I did some editing on the flight and Irish Hill played a part in my novel, and I've found out that just about every single human being on my father's side of the family is Irish, right on down to my great-grandmother, Anna Honora Sinnott, who was born in Ireland and traveled to the States to live when she was a little girl.

We spent the first week in Britain - London for a day and a half, then the train to Bournemouth for me so I could see my daughter Allison, and a drive over to Mumbles in Wales for John. Then JB and I met up in Wales, I saw family there, and we went back to Allie's to have lunch with she and her boyfriend and his family (wonderful people!). Then up to my sister-in-law Jan's house, which is a B&B in Glastonbury called Berachah, then over to Spain to see Sylvia and her family, and the last day, we spent in Madrid.

Here's the 'slideshow' (remember back in the day when your parents invited the neighbors over to see their slides?! I still remember the sound of the click as the slides, ummmm, slid.)



View from the top, taken by John, of our London meetup with FH, Janey, Whirl and others on the Southbank in London, on (of all days) the Fourth of July. It was so wonderful, hanging out with friends!



My gorgeous and sharp-as-a-tac daughter, Allison. She's working on her BA in Illustration.



My sister-in-law Jan's conservatory and view out to her roof garden. I love being with Jan and being at her home. A slice of heaven.



View from my laptop in the George & Pilgrim in Somerset. One of my favorite places, and since it is, I decided to spend a few hours there, taking in the atmosphere, right on down to the smell of time itself, and using that to edit a couple of tough scenes. It worked.

Next: on to Spain. Jan took these next pics. John, Jan and I spent a couple of days with Sylvia and her family. We had a freaking wonderful time - wish we'd been able to stay longer! The first night we were there, Sylvia and I sat outside in a beautiful area down past their pool, and stayed up until 3:00 am, drinking and talking about writing. It was beyond good, that.



View from a restaurant veranda on the Costa del Sol.



The dead body-and-head plate you see is Jan's (ewwww). The hand you see with the mushroom (and no dead heads) pizza is mine.



Miss Sylvia's home is drop dead gorgeous. This is a picture of the lower level that opens out onto the pool area. I could've lived in a closet there and stayed really happy for a long, long time.



See that blue just under the sky in the horizon line just past the pool? Yeah. That would be the Mediterranean Sea.

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497588621583865954" />

We decided to spend a day in Madrid, so we took the train up from the coast. The train was fast as a bolt from the blue. I think at one point during the trip were traveling 190 mph. Love the speed of it. Also enjoyed seeing the olive trees in grove after grove. And Madrid wasn't too bad either.

So now here we are, ensconced back in the mundane of the every day, here at home and at work. Been back for a week now. I'd rather be traveling, but there you go.

This is the last post for this blog in its present state. Soon, I'll be working on it to reconfigure it as more of an open-minded author place, where up to now it's been semi-closed and only 'us guys', which is how I've liked it. But even so, I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with it.

Because I've finished my novel!It's going out into the world soon.

Hope you all are having a good weekend!!