UK time

It’s not exactly jet lag, but my body is still on UK time. I feel sleepy around 7pm because that’s midnight in Liverpool and then I wake at 1am because that would be dawn over there. We were shivering in Dublin as we waited to board the plane but as soon as I exited the airport here in Toronto, I was sweltering and overdressed. So I’m giving myself time to adjust. My cousin has once again welcomed me into her cosy home and we drove across the city yesterday to see my mother and young cousin. We stopped to get him some groceries and I snapped a pic of this cookie box; the design has changed but as a child, these used to be “luxury” biscuits that I only enjoyed at my grandmother’s house. I need a sugar detox but also picked up some butter tarts…my parting gift to myself back in Liverpool was a takeaway tea box from Cuthbert’s Bakehouse and it took me two days to finish all those treats!

I need to get back to a healthy routine once I’m settled.My room is full of suitcases and there’s one more still in the trunk of Bethany’s car; I need to leave the winter/spring clothes behind and just take the summer gear on the train to Montreal tomorrow. For now, I have no keys in my pocket, nothing to call my own except for the contents of four suitcases. I was up early yesterday so I revised and submitted my UK visa application. Now I have 15 days to submit the rest of my documents, including three letters of reference and evidence that I’m a leader in my field. We’re making really good progress with the Huguenot book and I can’t wait to share the illustrations by Christina Myrvold. Today A Song for Juneteenth celebrates its book birthday so I’ll send out a newsletter with more travel updates. I visited the Lake District last week and the Cotswolds the week before that. I’ll be doing some research in Quebec and plan to visit Stark’s Corner where my Scottish and Irish ancestors settled, but mostly I’m looking forward to being still for a while…it’s a privilege to travel comfortably, at will, but it’s also a luxury to feel safe in a home of your own…