Post vacation - now back to real life

Vacation is over.  We are now in the midst of remodeling the upstairs bathroom next to our bedroom and have been in a state of chaos and dust for 3 full weeks, and we start on week 4 today.  I painted both days over the weekend, leaving the housecleaning untouched, and managed to get the bathroom painted, which sounds so simple, but in actuality was a stupendous feat.  I primed--twice; I painted door and window trim--twice; I painted the ceiling; and I painted the walls and repainted portions.  The walls are at least 14 feet off the ground along one side of the room.  The first day my knee started to bother me and swell up and by day two I was in serious pain, but nothing to be done but push through.  So here it is Monday and I can hardly move.  My knee, which has given me trouble in the past (all initiated by time on a ladder) decided not to play nice, but to put on a full-blown hissy fit of pain and swelling.  I spent many weeks with a physical therapist about 8 months ago learning to strengthen the muscles which support the knee laterally, and did my exercises religiously until the knee was better and I had no pain.  At which point I stopped doing the exercises, naturally.  So here I am again today and here we go again. 
It all brings me to the point of today's homily---it's a bitch getting old(er).  hate it...hate it...hate it.  Feel like I'm turning into my mother; feel like it's NOT FAIR; feel like the future road looks like a downhill slope from now on and that's just too depressing. 

Travel Tips for anyone-anywhere-anytime

Rule One:  My first rule of travel is that you should be totally opportunistic.  In other words, when you have an opportunity to eat--eat; when you have an opportunity to go to the bathroom, do so; when you have the opportunity to rest--rest.  One more--when you have the opportunity to use an ATM, do that also.  We found ATM machines in England to be few and far between in the countryside and not always working, so having cash was a necessity when many of the small B&Bs didn't take cards, and many places only took cards from English banks and couldn't take "american cards" for some reason.
Rule Two:  prepare, over-prepare, print out everything you will need ahead of time, get confirmation numbers and emails to prove it, get good maps ahead of time if possible, put information like phone numbers, addresses into a small notebook (and take enough extra paper for making notes).  Then go with the flow knowing you have covered your a**.  We took accordian folders with stuff printed out for each day and it was a good system until our schedule went haywire and we mixed things up.  Next time it will be one folder with things alphabetized for easy access.
Rule Three:  Take the smallest suitcases you can get by with and plan to do laundry (or send it out) along the way.  Alternatively, I heard of people taking old crappy things and wearing them and throwing them away.
Rule Four:  Allow extra space in your luggage for souveniers and paperwork that accumulates.
Rule Five:   Get some money changed before you leave through your bank.  It saves standing in line at the airport when you are tired.
Rule Six:  Get your phone unlocked so you can make calls in an emergency.
Rule Seven:  Take any medications, including OTC stuff like Pepto Bismol, ibuprofen, etc. in your carry-on, as well as electronics, cameras, etc.  Don't put in your luggage anything that you feel is absolutely essential for your health or expensive enough that you couldn't lose it. 
Rule Eight:  Take an umbrella, coat/jacket, and something extra that you can use to layer and/or sleep in.  Some of these places were drafty and socks were So necessary, as was a sweater. 
Rule Nine:  Take at least two credit cards and a debit card if possible.  Some places couldn't/wouldn't take one card or another, some machines were touchy.  A couple of times the machine took hubby's card but not mine.
Rule Ten:  Take a list of all the people you want to send postcards to, with their addresses. 

Final thoughts about the trip

We're home now and this is my second day back at work.  Arriving late on Saturday we were pretty tired puppies.  Our flight had been changed so the new seats were at the very back of the plane for the long trip and we had been changed to middle seating instead of the side.  Our inflight system for the movies/music was not working and so it made for a very long flight.  But a safe trip with nothing worse than Jim picking up a cold somewhere along the way. 
Sunday was spent catching up with laundry, mail, shopping, putting away, etc.  The usual stuff.  And then back to work for both of us.  I'm so glad that I took my ipad and was able to at least keep up with the work email from afar, as I had deleted all the junk stuff and just had important stuff in my inbox.  Saved me a lot of time weeding through it all.
Everyone asked about the trip and if it was fun.  So my qualified answer was "mostly", because it was not a truly relaxing trip with the driving aspect.  And of course, the initial hassle about the car switch meant that we lost about a day and it threw off our plans.  We didn't see half of what we intended to see, no go to half of the towns we intended to visit.  We didn't get to see Salisbury or the great cathedral there. Owlpen manor was closed, Sudley castle was closed.  We had windy, cold, rainy weather for about 4 days.  And I was always worried about possibly having to pay for damage to the car which we didn't cause.  So all of those things led to much more worry and upset on my part. 
The Cotswolds were lovely, but we would never do it the same way again.  We would pick a central location and go out from there each day.  We would travel to surrounding towns back and forth via public bus (not tour bus).  We would take smaller suitcases and find somewhere to do laundry.  Hauling two big suitcases and two carry-ons, plus our small over the shoulder bags was just too much to wrestle with, especially moving every night.
But on the positive side:  we met lovely people along the way.  The English people were friendly, helpful, smiling, and cheerful.  We saw lots of great stuff in London: The British Museum, the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, The Greenwich Observatory, the Maritime Museum.  We saw cathedrals and small churches, gardens, quaint villages, marvelous pubs, rolling hills and beautiful vistas.  We spent 24/7 together and didn't fuss or fight.  We ate wonderfully well every day. 
So defintely a qualified "yes" to whether the trip was wonderful.  Not a relaxing vacation but an interesting one.

Last full day in London, and it was great

Took off early this morning after breakfast, took the tube to Tower Gate and, believe it or not, we were the first in line to enter the Tower of London. The first! That's never happened becore. So, of course, we walked straight to the Crown Jewels, and it was like going to DisneyWorld when no one is there. There were lots of ropes and stiles, and rooms to pass through with videos for the crowds to watch while they inch forward--and we just passed through and into the rooms with the jewels. Very, very much money tied up in all this stuff. Honking big diamonds, emeralds, rubies, gold, gold, and more gold. Gold cups,ewers, basins, plates, spoons, christening basins. You name it, they did it In gold. I kept thinking about how much it was worth.
So we walked around the Tower grounds, went to the armory exhibit and saw swords, armor, vans, cannons, chopping blocks, maces, etc. All the various and sundry things man has invented to help kill one another..
We left, after a spot of tea, and took the tube and then the light rail out to Greenwich to the Royal Observatory and Naval Museum. Jim got to stand on the prime meridian, and he got to see the clock exhibit and the chronometer which was invented to finally solve the puzzle of longitude. He was happy.
Back to the city again, and walked around and ate supper at a little Thai restaurant, which had very good food.
Our plane tomorrow leaves at 2 so we will leave for the airport about 11:00. That means that we won't have time to do much in the morning, so it's a leisurely morning and a walk to Russell Square Park.
Found out that my oldest cousin died early this morning, so now I'm thinking that there's probably no way I can get to the funeral without some serious and expensive changes in plans. And, I'm expected back at work--I've been following my work email and just keeping the important stuff and it's a lot! So I'm sad.

Question: How many times can you go by he Aldi's in Swindon?

Left Bourton on the Wsger this morning about 8:20 and drove to Swindon, which was about 39 miles away. This took us about an hour and then we proceeded to get lost in Swindon. We passed the same Aldi's grocery four times, asked directions three times, got escorted by a nice lady one time (who also didn't know which way to go). The problem was that the street was shut down for a few blocks as a pedestrian mall and you couldn't get there from here...
We finally found our way, and it took an hour. Then we tried to tell them that we hadn't done any of the dents and nicks, and the agent found a paper under the cover in the boot which vindicated us and had a list of all the damage. Whew! Bus back to London, quick grab of a late lunch, and off to the British Museum for a couple of hours. Then off to the nearest pub for a pint and supper. The pub was really great, lots of young locals, great decor--big carved fireplace and carvings on the ceiling. Beer was twice what it was in the countryside, but what the hey. Tomorrow is the London Tower and then the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, where my husband is determined to have his picure taken standing on the prime meridian.

If it's Wednesday, it must be Bourton on the Water

Left the farm this morning after another big English breakfast and my tummy is still quite upset and touchy.  Drove to Hidecote Manor Gardens (pronounced Hit Cot), and spent about three hours walking around the extensive, elaborate gardens, all through with walkways and arranged into different "rooms", each with a different theme.  Had to stop for a creme tea, which is a scone, jam, clotted creme (very scrummy), and then tea.  Tea, tea, tea...many cups of tea each day.  
Then we drove on some tiny, narrow winding roads to Bourton on the Water, which is one of the loveliest villages we've seen.  It has a small stream. Which winds through the center of the village with little stone humpy bridges.  We walked around in the grey threatening skies for a couple of hours and a shopped for souvenirs.  
Our B&B tonight is on the edge of the village with the pub in the front and separate little rooms in the rear with a nice large carpark. It's great to have a place to park a car because many, many places there is NO space and people just park in the street which reduces the lane to one and makes driving even more of a challenge, with cars having to take turns to pass.
We spent 1/2 hr repacking all our stuff.  I was so relieved that we will be able to come back without buying another suitcase!  But just barely.
So tomorrow is a very early start with about an hour drive into Swindon, a difficult city to navigate, and then a fight with Hertz about the car, I'm sure, about the nicks and dings which we did not cause....Not looking forward to that.
But tonight is a 1/2 pint and some good pub food.  Our time in the countryside is almost over.  England is a study in contrasts, with big, wide open farmland, fabulous views, rolling hills and then the villages are teensy, crowded, and everything jammed together.  Tea rooms are tiny, shops are tiny with low ceilings and narrow doors.  It makes you feel like a giant.  I have yet to see a straight road.  I cannot imagine driving, and my wonderful husband has sone ALL the driving--bless him.  It's incredible to see the big tourist buses drive down the streets, you just can't see how they do it, but they squeak by.        

English Roads - a tutorial and a warning

"you can't possibly get lost"---- that will be the motto for this trip, because we've heard it at every place, pub, village, out of every mouth to give us directions and we've always managed got, indeed, get lost.  And here's the reason:  the English road system is not like America's.  
1.  No directions-- North, south, east west.  No, they have small signs, usually hidden behind a very large hedge, that give the next town up the road.  Therefore, if you don't know where yu are going, you can't ge there.
2.  Hedges, see above
3.  Signs are only given once, right at the round about and you must read quickly and then navigate the roundabout.  
4.  Once you are on a road, they never tell you what road you are on, nor do they give speed limits.  Although for us, that has not been a problem as we have been driving so slowly, trying to miss the edge of the road, which grows right up to the edge with those very large, obstructive hedges.  No shoulder, no verge...

English roads fall into 5 levels.  The large blue roads-M roads: these would be equivalent to our interstates.  Then the green roads, usually A roads:  equivalent to our state roads.  Then the B roads, smaller state roads.  Then yellow roads, like county roads, then white roads, the country lanes.  White roads are usually 12 ft across and often require one driver meeting another to back up to a wide spot to allow passage.  Again, no shoulder, no verge...

It's been very stressful and I'm sure to have an ulcer at the end of the trip.  Jim is laughing as he reads this, but I'm dead serious.  Ulcer. My stomach has been upset for three days,such that I cannot eat much and only want bland, potatoes and bread things. I've been taking pepto bismol for two days just to keep stable. So Jim thinks it's stress, and perhaps it is. The roads are so twisty, steep, narrow, poorly marked, potted, and wife driving on the left and with the steering on the right----man! Constant stress in the car.