Long Time, No See.

It's been absolutely ages since I last wrote on my blog. One of the reasons is that they keep changing everything all the time, and just when I get used to one way of doing things on the blog, they change it again and I can hardly work out how to use the new system. The changes that are made never seem to be as good as what was available previously, and in fact, I think the people who have jobs with Blogspot must keep changing things just to keep themselves in full-time employment. There's no need for the constant change. If something is good and works well, as it did, then it should be left alone. Anyway, that's my "grumpy, old woman's" comment for now.

Since I last wrote, my beautiful labrador, Monty, who was almost fourteen years old, was put to sleep and I feel very lost without him. He was the most loving and faithful dog that anyone could wish for - he was my constant shadow - and it is hard to get used to his absence.

I've been living in Hobart for two years as I write this blog, and I'm glad I moved down here. It is just the right size for a city, big enough to have plenty of things to keep you busy and interested, but not so big as to be a damn nuisance with traffic jams, queues for everything and parking problems. Life down here is easy and convenient, and the scenery, in whichever direction you face, is just beautiful. So is the climate - not too hot and not too cold. The people are friendly, the air is clean and fresh, and the snow on the mountain in winter is always a joy to look at. There couldn't be a prettier location for a city, with sandy beaches along the River Derwent and a landscape that stretches up over four thousand feet to the summit of Mount Wellington. Sydney is also a beautiful city, but I think Hobart is even better.

At the end of the year, I'm planning a big trip with my friend, Oki. We are going to fly to England to spend Christmas with Benn and Nicola (son and daughter-in-law), to see friends and to do some winter sight-seeing. This time, we will fly north instead of west, passing over the Arctic before spending a few days in beautiful Prague and Cesky Krumlov, and then down to Venice, Florence, Siena and Rome, before finally arriving in London. We will spend about six weeks in Britain before heading home, via a three-night stay in Korea. Having taught many Korean children and got to know their lovely mothers when I tutored in Sydney, I am looking forward to catching up with some of them while in Seoul. It will be Oki's first visit to an Asian city, so he is in for some culture shock!

I'm going to stop this blog now, and see if I can get it to work. Maybe I'll manage to do one more blog sometime before they go and change everything yet again.  Cheers for now. Bye.