The tension between what is, and what we dream of, is important. Not to discount what we have, but to hold onto that middle ground, because it’s in there that the magic happens.

We didn't have a lot of money but just enough, apparently. because we had the basics, warm beds, clean jammies, friends, shoes, grilled cheese sandwiches, and parents wno loved us. I always thought we were rich because I felt so happy.

Goodbye Darcy, goodbye Jean, goodbye stone cottage, scratchy towels, fields of wildflowers; good bye gorgeous Peak District ... OK English People, for your own good, get off the roads, here we come!

The house was filled with Christmas joy and intoxicating expectations~ pies cooling on the window sill, mistletoe hugs and kisses, tree lights sparkling, music playing, screen door slamming with the coming and going of starry-eyed kids. Grandma had her boys, Mom had her brothers. And we had our two uncles to tease and play with. Everyone was happy.

England reminds me of a quote I saw on a packet of Swiss Miss instant cocoa mix: 'Like a basket of drinkable kittens, wrapped in a blanket, next to a fireplace.

It wasn't a matter of jumping on the bandwagon; it was a matter of being run over by it.

Gardens are heaven~gardens & churches have a lot in common.

The path has a cottage garden on both sides; clumps of old-fashioned flowers ran all over each other: lamb's ear, mint, & rhubarb, roses, forget-me-nots, bleeding hearts & wisteria. I walked very slowly, savoring. At the end of the slate path was the house, very recognizable now... "As nearly perfect a little place as I ever lived in" is how Beatrix described it.

Do not call anyone "mate" unless you have served on a boat with them.

Before Julia Child there was only onion dip.