It was so lovely to see Jan and John at Keele near the twin cities of Newcastle Under Lyme and Stoke on Trent. I don’t know about the new castle bit of ‘Newcastle’, or the Lyme Brook of the Middle Ages, but I did get to stay in the best five star pad ever – the lovely home of Jan and John. It is so nice to hear Aussie voices when visiting Keele and seeing Reggie, dealt with my pooch homesickness. I always get totally spoilt at Keele. Between a short drawing of breath to eat, we went back once again to the gorgeous Hand and Trumpet. Apart from sublime food, the gin menu does your head in. Once you work out which gin you might have (out of pages and pages and pages) then which tonic? I love the oversized wine glasses that the chosen G&T comes in. Of course, Jan and I stopped talking briefly to eat, but then once home, the wonderful John plied us with tea and cake and if I hadn’t have been comatose at that point, we would have sat up all night talking UK and Aus higher education. I was quite sad when I left my lovely friends and left my brand new makeup in their bathroom just so I have an excuse to go back soon to collect it. I swapped the car for a new one (I wish) so the drive across the countryside to the home of that dastardly tryant the Sherriff of Nottingham was super easy. I really enjoyed my time teaching the third year undergrads. North to the lovely city of York for a brief reprieve on my way to the Highlands.
Sleeping under the stars 