When I first joined Facebook, I left the question about ‘hometown’ blank. To me, your hometown is the place where you are born and grow up and return to decades later for heartwarming family reunions (I love the thought of all that…)
But while I’ve enjoyed many family reunions in different pockets of both the UK and America where family ties remain strong, none of these places would qualify as my true hometown.
Today, I live at the ‘Animal Farm’ with hubby and Aspie D. It being true, home is where the heart is, it is certainly never truer for me than when my family gathers together no matter where we are geographically. But the town in which I live is not my ‘hometown’.
What are the boundaries of your hometown? I would like to open this gate and walk beyond the boundaries of this beautiful house and garden in a village in France…if the owners wouldn’t object…
(c) Sherri Matthews 2015
In meeting new people, I love to learn about their family roots, but when I’m asked where I’m from, I never know what to say. Surrey? Suffolk? Family ties to either place disappeared decades ago.
The constant in my life was when my grandmother lived in the same flat in Chichester in West Sussex for thirty-five years: visiting her always felt like a homecoming, but I have not been back since she died thirteen years ago. The place would seem empty without her, even though it is a beautiful city.
So then I think of America. I wasn’t born and bred there like my own children, but in many ways, I ‘grew up’ in California through almost twenty years of a big chunk of my life from my mid-twenties on.
My years spent there bringing up my children gave me a happy home with them.
Family Life in California 1990s: Three Kids & A Dog Called Monty
(c) Sherri Matthews 2015
But homesickness rolled through me like the pull of the tide when I missed my English family so terribly. Visits back ‘home’ filled me with excitement, but then came the dreaded goodbyes once again: floods of tears at the airport and promises to ‘visit again soon’.
Those forces of a true, physical, homecoming are powerful indeed. Wrapped in the arms of a someone so loved and missed, revelling in the delight of your ‘at last!’ arrival, makes for the best kind of celebration.
Every precious moment from then on milked for all it’s worth, enlarged and sharpened as if viewed through a magnifying glass, or shot through a prism with vibrant, bursting clarity. Humdrum, everyday life seems so far away. For a short while.
Now my homesickness is of a different kind, one I think will never leave, for wherever I live, I will always miss someone so dear, and always think of days long gone. Yet the boundaries of distance and travel and communication are easier to cross than they have ever been, and I am so thankful for my family and friends on both sides of the ocean.
This gate is weighted with a heavy rock attached to a chain, so that it swings shut when somebody walks through, ensuring the cattle stay put in the right field. They know their boundaries. So should we…unless they beg to be crossed, like this path leading down to a beautiful cove. (c) Sherri Matthews 2015
But when I look out across the shining sea, I feel that tug like the tide, ebbing and flowing across my heartstrings and I remember my Californian October; the cooling season of Fall after months of stifling heat, of upcoming Halloween festivities and of meeting friends for tea and planning children’s birthday parties.
And then I smile for all that is now, for my home and all that has brought me here. In fact, thinking of it, I think I’ve just found my answer to that question about ‘hometown’. Of course, I’ve known it all along – the answer is: ‘Today’.
********************
Charli has just returned from a homecoming week spent at her husband’s family’s ‘Wolf Ranch’ (isn’t that a great name?) in Nevada, her first family reunion in over a decade.
Thus, she asks us this for her September 30th flash fiction prompt:
‘In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about a return to home. What does it mean to return? Is it to reconnect, discover or let go? It can be a town, house, farm, castle or ruins. It can be a country or family, one of origin or one adopted. What does the return impart?’
This is my first ‘flash’ in a while, so to speak. Not at all what I had in mind originally, but then sometimes coming home isn’t always what we expect…or want…
Homecoming Queen
There they were, the same steps leading up to the same doors. She shivered as a gust of wind scattered dry, brown leaves across her boots.
And then she saw him, talking to a bouncer, a drunken rabble gathered by the steps as ‘Stairway to Heaven’ riffed through broken windows.
Thirty years a ghost and still she couldn’t slay him.
“You alright Miss?”
She gasped and turned to the creased face of the caretaker.
“Yeah…thanks…I’m…”
Silence again. Nobody but her and the faded church sign swinging in the wind,
but she hadn’t come home for a bible lesson.
A View From My Summerhouse 
When I think of “Home” my thoughts turn to the house I grew up in on Rosemount Avenue in Ottawa. My second home was a log house my husband built in the country for our family and our assortment of animals (pigs, turkeys, chickens, ducks, rabbits, geese). Since then I have lived in several rural areas and each one felt like “Home”. So I agree with you Sherri, that wherever one hangs her hat today, that is home. Good post, good story!
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So glad you enjoyed both, thanks so much Bev! I love your stories of ‘home’; your log house sounds like my kind of idyl, absolutely beautiful and you already know how much my daughter would adore having all those animals running around 😉 My dream is to move to the countryside in a cottage…or a log house…but meanwhile, it’s good to be ‘home’ today 🙂
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Like you I have been a wanderer, a gypsy most of my life – probably looking for the place that is my home. The actual home town is not a place to return to. My answer to the question is vague, I give the name of the province, which is also the name of the city fortuitously and that is generally accepted. I have come to accept that wherever I am, I am home.
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That is fortuitous Pauline…and I’m glad you have found your ‘today’ home 🙂
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Great story Sherri. I agree with you that home is where you feel ‘right’!
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Thanks so much Edwina…it’s good to feel that ‘right’ isn’t it? 🙂
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I live in the same county I was brought up in, albeit the furthest possible village away from where I started! So Surrey is my home, I guess. I’ve never really thought about it Sherri. My childhood house is still standing, next door to where my mother now lives, so in a way, I’m always going home to my roots. Now we’re thinking of another move…will this be out of county, I don’t know yet. But I’m not intending on going too far away.
I liked your take on the homecoming in your Flash. Welcome back😉
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I think that is so lovely that you have such strong roots and that your childhood house is a place you ‘visit’ so frequently. I can’t even imagine what that must be like for you and other friends of mine who have lived in the same county their whole lives, my life always seemed so disjointed in comparrison! I hope you soon decide the best place for your move (after such a long time too, that will be quite something!). Thanks so much Jenny, I’m glad you liked the flash, phew 😮 I hoped it made sense…
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I’m another who has been too much of a gypsy to have a home town. My parents are no longer here and my children are scattered. I sometimes think it would be nice to have roots, but where? When? I’m hoping my Cornish dream will settle me. One day. Soon.
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Oh Jude…I hope your Cornish dreams will settle you too and bring you the true home your heart desires…And yes…SOON!! 🙂
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That would be nice 🙂
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🙂
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Although I’ve lived in Charlotte for eleven years and I’m thankful for our home, my true home will always be Virginia. That’s were I grew up and so many wonderful memories were born.
I LOVED the California family photo, Sherri! That Monty, he’s beautiful!
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As per your fab sweatshirt Jill 🙂 The pull of home is so powerful isn’t it? Virginia is on my list to visit one of these days…and Charlotte for obvious reasons 😉 Ahh…thank you! Monty was gorgeous, we had another lab/collie called Bonnie. Both lived to 14, broke my heart when I had to leave Monty behind with my ex. But at least we had the two cats, Maisy still going strong at 13 🙂 She’s my California Cat 😉
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Beautiful story and nice flash fiction short Sherri. Agreed, home is where the heart is. Home is the place that fills our hearts with the most comforting memories. I’ve lived in the same city all my life and save for the little apartment I lived in for 12 years after leaving home as a teen, which was the happiest home I first had, I still haven’t felt really home In my own city for years. xo 🙂
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So glad you enjoyed it Debby, thank you! Your story certainly illustrates the true meaning of home. Without those comforting memories, there really isn’t much of a homecoming is there? Thanks for sharing that with me Debby 🙂 xo
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🙂 ❤
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Hello, my friend. I have been somewhat MIA lately and have not been here to visit. Bad Brick House! We’ve been dealing with the sudden death of my husband’s 53 year old boss and the added responsibilities bestowed upon my husband as a result. Anyway, it’s nice to read your words again. I know what you mean about not sure where to call home. I feel a sense of home both in Puerto Rico and here. They are different feelings but equally meaningful to me. Nice piece you wrote! 🙂
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Hello back to you my friend! I’ve missed you, but then I was away for five weeks and only just returned last week, and very slow at easing in…. I’m so very sorry to hear such sad news of your husband’s – too young – boss. What a terrible shock and also the added stress for your husband. I hope things settle down for you all and soon. And yes, you know only too well of those homecomings 🙂 Thanks so much Maria for visiting me at the Summerhouse, you always bring cheer to my day 🙂
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Although Colorado has been my home for 42 years and I love it here, going home is each month when we drive to Kansas. That’s where our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren are, and farther southeast from them is my mother, living in the town where I grew up. Home is where the heart is, and our hearts are wherever our family is.
I love your picture of the kids and Monty. When our daughter was in her early 20s, her black Lab Monty was a rambunctious, loopy, goofy and very lovable part of the family.
Excellent flash fiction Homecoming Queen, Sherri.
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Yes, you know only too well of those family-filled, joyous homecomings dear Marylin and how wonderful that you get to experience them every month 🙂 I feel like that everytime we visit the boys in Brighton, some four hours away! Ahh…we adored Monty and our other lab/collie mix Bonnie. Both adored, both lived to 14. And yes, your daughter’s Lab sounds just like Monty, he was just the same, we used to call him ‘Scooby Dog’ 🙂 We haven’t had a dog since, all the kids would love one…so we make do with cats, quails and now…well, that’s for another blog post 😉
Thank you so much dear Marylin for sharing your homecoming stories with me…and for enjoying the flash! 🙂
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I’m not sure what to say except that home to me means family. It is the same town, not necessarily the same house. But we live together in a broader sense. Of course, we have a labrador! They are the perfect family home dog:)
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Family equals home, for sure! And that definitely includes the perfect family dog naturally! Thanks Susan for your lovely comment, always a pleasure to visit with you 🙂
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I so understand that hesitation when someone asks the name of your hometown. I would answer my home was in a suitcase. We drifted from place to place never putting down roots. There are memories here and there but there has never been “home”. I cozy up where I live and invite any stranger to be part of my family. They are only strangers for a few moments. Loved your flash fiction story. Do understand the pull of two countries.
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Well your suitcase is as good as any…I like that answer Marlene, I should try it! And your life philosophy is one to be greatly admired. Absolutely love this: “I cozy up where I live and invite any stranger to be part of my family. They are only strangers for a few moments.” Wow. What a beautiful heart you have my dear. If more people lived as you do, this world would be so much kinder and gentler and better…Thank you so much for that, and I’m really glad you enjoyed the flash, I wondered if it made sense… 😉
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It did make sense Sherri and thank you for the kind words. Just a gypsy at heart. 🙂
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🙂
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The more places we live the more our hearts get pulled apart.
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Ahh…you got that my friend, you got that… xo
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Great conclusion, Sherri — home is today! I’ve struggled with this one mightily, too though not quite at the distance you’ve encountered. We leave pieces of ourselves in each place. It’s easier for those who’ve known one, yet rich richer for those who’ve encountered many. Your flash is fabulous! Gave me chills. Love the line, “Thirty years a ghost and still she couldn’t slay him.” Welcome back to your online home! 😉 ❤
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I loved your post Charli about your homecoming with Todd’s family because I understand how much the security of his family means to you after all you went through with your own. You illustrate perfectly how even if we don’t have an actual, physical place to return ‘home’ to from our own childhoods, we are given opportunities to find new families, new homesteads. You sum it pefectly here too….’…yet richer for those who’ve encountered many.’ Love that. And I’m thrilled you enjoyed the flash, it literally did come to me ‘in a flash’ 😉 And thanks so much for your lovely welcome…it’s great to be back with my online family for sure 🙂 ❤ 🙂
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Sherri, I very much enjoyed reading your thoughts about hometown and what a hometown means, but your final statement, your understanding, blew me away. What wisdom there is in those words, and how much truth. If we are not fully in the present then we are not really here are we. And if we are not here, how can we be home. I don’t think I have ever heard it expressed that way so I think you should wrap your quote up in a pretty sign and post it for all to see how clever and insightful you are. I’m certain it would be pinned many times on Pinterest.
And then your flash is powerful too. The desolation of the environment and her feelings so beautifully told. “Thirty years a ghost and she couldn’t slay him.” speaks so much. It begs for closure, but closure that probably cannot be. Well done.
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Wow…well dear Norah, I am blown away by your comment! I wasn’t sure I was making much sense at the end to be honest, but one thing I’ve learnt in life is that if it comes from the gut, then go with it, ha 😀 I’ve been thinking about Pinterest coincidentally, but am not over there. Hmmm…you’ve really given me some food for thought here, and your vote of confidence in me is humbling as I tend to think that there are others out there who have much more wisdom and wit to share far better than I! And I’m delighted you enjoyed the flash, I’m actually really excited that you picked up on the ‘desolation’, because that is exactly how I visualised it. Makes my day that. I did leave things hanging…like that old church sign…as I suppose there is no real ending…
Well, now I’m going to go away and do some serious thinking about your suggestion and I will keep you posted…thank you so much Norah 🙂
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Your wisdom is no less worthy than anyone else’s! Who are they but people living their lives and thinking their thoughts as well. If something resonates, as your “quote” did with me, then it’s a truth worthy of immortality. I have started pinning to Pinterest, but don’t do a lot there yet. I’m not much more clear about it than other social media.
I do look forward to an update. 🙂
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Thank you so much Norah… 🙂
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first up the flash is very powerful and thought provoking in an enigmatic way. I enjoyed your self debate as you concluded where ‘home’ is for you and it makes a bundle of sense. Both my wife and I have moved several times since our first ‘homes’ and while our current house is ‘home’ that has much to do with the fact the children think of it as such. For them, while they too have begun to live away they have never known anywhere else as the family base (we’ve been here 25 years now). So if we ever talk over moving, over down sizing we get serious grief; selling up is selling off their history. In a similar way when my dad died and mum sold the family home of 40 years I’d both been born in a different house and lived away from it for 30 of those years. Both mum and i remembered many good times but we weren’t sentimental about the bricks. My daughter was almost heart broken. Maybe it also related to the beloved grandpa she’d recently lost. She took so many pictures of it, determined to have a memory. Tat too was a home for her.
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I wondered if my flash might be a bit confusing…but I love that you described it as enigmatic, like that much better! Thanks for that vote of confidence Geoff, I sort of just flung it out there. A visit to what used to be a nightclub, now a disused church save for the old caretaker who keeps an eye on things, the woman alone, a stranger, thirty years since she’s been back, and yet still the ‘ghost’ of her past haunts her every waking moment. Well…now I’ll shut up because I’m rambling!! Anyway, all that to say, really love that you enjoyed it, and I thank you greatly for that!
So glad the ‘debate’ made sense to you..I didn’t have the answer when I started out, I know that much, not sure what happened there, ha!
Ahh, well, here’s the thing, I am so much like your daughter, very sentimental. I adored my grandparents’ home in Hale, Cheshire (it of the original Summerhouse) and was so sad when they sold it. I dream of it now…and of course, I was devestated when we moved from my first home in Surrey. But you know all about that.
I would have given my eye-teeth to have had the family home-base (and to have given the same to my children) of your upbringing and of your children. To me, that is the idyl, the one I longed for but never had. So you see Geoff, I’m totally with your daughter…no way can you move now I’m afraid. You’re stuck … 😉
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Now don’t you dare go to the vet school in Langford and form a conspiracy group with he! She’s not that far from you these days
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Not far at all! Hmmmm….. 😉
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Yes, home is where the heart is. I love digging through family trees, learning about ancestors, finding roots, all that jazz but the word “home” is tough to define. I miss places I’ve lived so much. I can remember the stairs, my room, the carpet…everything. But it’s associated with a memory. I love your “home is today”. ❤
So, wow. Powerful flash. That is fantastic.
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Me too Sarah. My mum has a box of old B&W family photos that I’ve rummaged through endlessly over the years, yet even now I adore doing the same…The stories they tell, memories of long-gone relatives. Ahh…I understand exactly what you mean about missing places you’ve lived. Even now, I dream of certain rooms, of the pale yellow curtains in my girl-hood bedroom in Surrey and the long driveway leading from the road to the front door of my house in Suffolk. Your longings and memories merging make for excellent writing fodder Sarah 🙂 And thank you so much about the flash…makes my day that 🙂 ❤
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Today. I like that since I moved too much to have a spot to go back too.
But ‘Today’ home is the house we’ve shared for 25 years and the children that are still close enough to call this building …home.
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Thank you Jules, that’s wonderful that you’ve shared your ‘Today’ home with your children for 25 years… 🙂
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I always class my home as Wales, Sherri. I suffer from home sickness a lot, but only when I am on holiday and wanting to come back home to all my comforts and familiar surroundings. I’ve moved home many a time and can guarantee that at some stage in my life I have suffered from homesickness for each home I have lived in. Yet, I’ve never suffered homesickness for Wales itself. Strange thing is, is that we are now considering moving back to Wales for good. I’m guessing the homesickness for Wales has always been there yet never showed itself?
Your piece of flash fiction is very chilling. Just in time for the Halloween season 🎃
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It certainly sounds as if your true heart and home resides in Wales Hugh. Perhaps because you always knew you would go back to visit, you didn’t think too much about homesickness, but it was definitely there. I feel homesick after I say goodbye to the boys after a visit to Brighton, or they leave after visiting here. If you move to Wales you’ll no doubt feel the same for hove…and I hope to see you there before you move!
I’m glad you enjoyed the chill of the flash…I’m not sure where it came from, but there it is, must be Halloween in the air 😉 Thanks so much Hugh for sharing your thoughts of home with me 🙂
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I was back in my hometown in June, but there had been so much change, and the house I grew up in as a small child was no longer standing. I’ve moved quite a lot, from country to country and continent to continent. I think I’ll just have to say that home is where my dear hubby is. As long as we’re together, I feel grounded and secure. Love your Flash Fiction, Sherri. It packs quite a punch. xx
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I remember you going back to your childhood home Sylvia, before I took my blogging break. It’s quite something to ‘go back’ like that isn’t it? You certainly know what it means to have many different homes, but how lovely that your true home is with your dear hubby. That is so wonderful and how it should be. So glad you enjoyed the flash…I hoped it would make sense…thank you so much 🙂 xx
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I love the story, imagination and memory combining to make your 99 words more sinister than the cost of a 99 these days!
Home is a strange one, I think that my home is me, my memories are there, it is an instant recall to happiness and catching up with people doesn’t happen unless I’m there…so logically it must be.
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Well my friend, thank you so much! Haha…that says something doesn’t it? The price of a 99 is frightening. And I love your thoughts on home…you’ve got me thinking with that one, you’re really on to something there… I love the way your mind works…
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I think of these things all the time, I should write these all down, if only I had somewhere to write and share these things…
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Hmmmm…I wonder… !
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Hi Sherri!
Your thoughts about where home is are written so beautiful and I can relate to every single thought. I am in a very similar situation. Born in Germany, I then lived in the US and now I live in Abu Dhabi for quite some time. But I know that I am depending on a resident visa here in Abu Dhabi; and that can be taken from me any time; without explanation. My parents still live in the same city I was born. I cannot imagine the city without them. I guess I go with you and just live Today’ 🙂
PS For some reason wordpress has me comment as Ilkae2014. I try to fix that. My website is still simplyilka.com
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Hi Ilka! I’ve found your blog again at last, hooray! I’ve had to re-follow, I don’t know why but I seem to have been unfollowed, not by me though! I’ve put it right and have now visited and commented over there!
Thank you so much, I can see how much you relate to the question of ‘hometown’ as you’ve experienced several different homes in different countries. That’s so lovely that your parents still live in the city of your birth, what a wonderful homecoming that must be for you whenever you visit. I certainly hope that you won’t find yourself having to move with no warning…that would be very difficult. And so indeed we make the most of ‘Today’ 🙂
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I like that: home is Today. 🙂 Today is what we will remember years from now and what will bring comfort and sense of self in the years to come.
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And I like your thoughts too…so very true, thank you so much Imelda, and for the pingback too…Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
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That was a Power Flash, Sherrie!
I was heartbroken when I found out my parents were selling the Michigan home I grew up in and retiring to Maine – I thought I would forever miss “going home.” To my pleasant surprise, going home turned out to be wherever they were. So for years I “went home” to Maine, now I “go home” to Florida. There was even a “visit home” when they lived in South Korea. With them now being 89 and 91, I’m not sure how many visits home are left, but each one is a blessing. But it feels like I’m very close to being emotionally homeless.
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Hi Shel, how lovely to see you again! And oh, I love your story of ‘home’ being where your dear parents are. I’m so glad to have my mum not too far away now after living so far for so long when I lived in California. So I do understand that pull. Even now, when I visit my mum, I feel very cosy and safe and home. Wonderful blessings for sure and what wonderful years shared with your parents…with many more to come for us both I hope and pray. And thank you so much for the flash, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Have a lovely weekend Shel 🙂
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As I live in the house I grew up in I guess home is there. Even so, I think you leave a little piece of your heart in all the places you live and I have many fond memories of my other homes, even those I lived in for just a short time.
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Wow…how wonderful! But yes, a little piece of us stays within those memories wherever we go 🙂
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Sherri another fab flash fiction piece. I learned when my mum and dad sold the family home, that it is definitely where the family is. On my return to my home it had changed but I could still see us climbing trees and playing outside in the mud puddles. Those memories will always be with me.
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Yes, those precious memories never leave us do they? Thrilled you enjoyed the flash, thank you so much Kath 🙂
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Sherri,
You are a wonderful writer. I loved this piece, your talk of where home is and your flash fiction. The flash was perfect for Halloween. Welcome back.
I’ve lived many places too and have no idea where home is exactly, although CA will always hold a special place in my heart after living there for twenty-five years. I guess I must like it the best of all th states I’ve lived in so far. Now I live in the desert and have for the last eleven years. I know i won’t be here forever, as the desert is quite harsh weatherwise. But It’s like the other places I’ve lived. I’m glad I got to experience the things here that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I’m in a small community here with open desert behind me. The wildlife is amazing, but I feel sorry for all of the little critters having to endure the intense heat and extreme cold.
Everything’s changed so much in my home state of TX. I haven’t lived in my birth state since 1973. Since then I’ve probably seen my family less than ten times. But all my siblings are still alive and it’s such fun to see most of my sisters. The youngest lives in NY and is usually never around. My sisters and I stay up all night chattering and laughing like we did as kids. It’s so much fun to talk about old times and lots of tears are shed once it’s time to say goodbye and get back on the plane to bring me back to my current house. My mom has dementia so she isn’t all there anymore and my dad’s been gone since 1980.
I usually stay about ten days and get about twenty hours of sleep during the entire visit but none of us want to aste time sleeping because we know it’ll be a long while before we see each other again. I come back wiped out but feeling like it was so worth it.
I think I’ll have to go with you for now and say that home is ‘today’ because as much as I love my family, there’s way too many of us and constant drama going on in someone’s life. I can’t see myself ever moving back there. And I know my husband won’t move there. I have to go visit my family by myself.
I enjoyed your post very much.
Sunni
http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/
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Oh Sunni, I relate to so much of what you share here, leaving behind those pieces of us with those we love when we visit and then all the tears when we have to leave again, but then going back to our ‘today home’ and knowing that we make every minute count when we are with our family while enjoying the life we have away from them also. I often wonder what it must be like for those who have never moved away and have all their family right on their doorstep. I can’t even imagine it. I’m so glad you get to visit your sisters and have such wonderful times when you do, and make such great memories. I’m delighted you enjoyed this post, thank you so much and for sharing your thoughts of home with me. Have a lovely weekend 🙂
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For me home is probably where my bed is. It is the thing I miss most when travelling and enjoy the most when I get back to it.
Your flash is powerful. Memories can be evoked by the smallest prompt. “Thirty years a ghost and still she couldn’t slay him” says so much about the relationship and the memories. I liked too that Stairway to Heaven was playing. Then I have to admit I got a trifle lost because I felt all of a sudden I was out on Dartmoor or the like with the creepy swinging sign. Where did the stairs go? I like the line that you hadn’t come home for a bible lesson.
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I love your idea of home Irene! Nothing like our own bed is there? 🙂
I’m delighted you found the flash powerful and that you got it about the relationship and memories. Good question about the stairs and I can see why you felt you were suddenly transported to Dartmoor or the like 😮 I was trying to convey that she was walking up to what is now an abandoned church building that was once, thirty plus years ago, a nightclub (a bit of BOTS here, ha!), she has returned to her ‘hometown’ and ‘sees’ the scene unfold of her long-lost lover with the song she remembers playing the night she met him (and I like that you liked the link with Stairway to Heaven, one of my favourite songs btw!). The caretaker’s sudden appearance brought her back to the present still looking at the stairs up ahead of her and now seeing the church sign for the first time, telling her that the building had long since been a nightclub. Hope that makes sense! I was a bit worried that readers might get confused, so I value your questions very much Irene, thank you!! 😀
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Unfortunately last night my little dog agreed that there was no place like my bed. Ugh.
Thanks for the flash explanation. Even though I got lost with the stairs I knew you had flash backed. So hard in 99 words and then there are the difficulties with subtle language differences (not in your flash just thinking of some of mine that I made clear by using a specific word not knowing that my meaning didn’t translate to the States.) All great learning experiences.
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Ahh…I have that with my cat Eddie sometimes, but he is smaller so maybe not so bad, but I know what you mean! Yes, those subtle language difficulties can cause a bit of a trip up, I forget what is American and what is British until someone asks!! But yes, we are all learning and how wonderful it is! Thanks Irene…have a lovely evening (or is it morning for you now? How many hours ahead are you to us in the UK? I’m never quite sure…) ❤
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We are ahead by about 10 or 11 hours. So you start your morning as we end the day. Goodnight. 🙂
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Ahh…got it, thanks Irene! Goodnight back to you now 🙂
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