Okay, I still haven’t done any planning for the England trip (see the post below), but I have finally made reservations for Sam and Alexis’ wedding in Massachusetts on a long weekend during the fall foliage season.

The hotel had booked all the rooms reserved at the special rate, but the woman on the phone was remarkably accomodating and sweet and added one for me. Alexis and Sam chose well, and I look forward to our stay there.

Rudi and I leave for England three weeks from today.

We have: one dress and one suit for wearing to a wedding, one night’s lodging reserved for us by the soon-to-be-wedded cousin, and two plane tickets.

We do not have: a rental car or train tickets, nine night’s reservations at hotels, a wedding gift, or an itinerary (except for Saturday night, when we will be going to the wedding in the Bristol area).

Methinks that we’d better get cracking on that…

Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t bring my yarn, because I can only think of one point when I could have squeezed that into my packed schedule.

Otherwise, it was a nice weekend. Karen and I got a chance to have lunch, pick peaches, and stand in the rain for an hour. I apologize publicly to Michael for getting in the way of his evening plans… I hope you both were able to reschedule/revise the fun.

I got to see some extended family members I haven’t seen a while at the reunion on Saturday. Some of them not in years. Others were unable to join us, but it was still great to see those who could come. And we got to meet Caera, the new (canine) addition to my uncle’s family. What a cute puppy!

Danny and I got to explore New London County together today. We ate Ocean Pizza (real burn-the-roof-of-your-mouth, fresh-out-of-the-oven Connecticut pizza!), wander through the Arbo at Conn, and watch ducklings body surf at Avery Point at sunset.

And the dress passed muster with Mum, Dad, and Gramma. I’m done shopping for clothes (maybe) for this fall’s weddings. Hooray!

I’m beat, so I’m going to toss stuff into my suitcase and hit the hay so I can catch my plane back home early in the morning.

But I’m so glad I came. It’s the good sort of tired…

You just have to get up really early and catch a train and a plane and an automobile.

I’m home in Connecticut for a family reunion and to catch up with some old friends. I also meant to do some knitting, but the needles and yarn got left behind on the couch in the last minute throes of my pulling things out of the bag and adding a few more.

Probably just as well. This will force me to do a little more sleeping instead.

Almost anyway. Bristol, actually.

We’ve bought our tickets to my cousin’s wedding in England in mid-September. I’ve come up with an idea for a wedding present. Haven’t bought it yet, mind you, but I’m feeling better about things than I was a week ago.

I will rent a cell phone while I’m there this time. No point in repeating the problem of our first trip when we managed to miss meeting up with Erik for dinner. I’d hate to miss Caroline’s wedding simply because I’d gotten lost or something stupid like that.

Should I buy a new guidebook? Ours are 4-5 years old. Should we fly to Austria or Germany or take a train to Paris for a day? Take the ferry to Ireland? Everything is possible right now. It’s almost the best part of the trip. I love this part of things — so much potential.

Well, we’re home. Vacation was just starting to get restful. Good thing we have another one coming up in September. And the cats were glad to see us roll in just before 3 a.m. Well, they might have been happier if we’d rolled in a little earlier, but that’s what happens when you’re driving home from vacation — you leave late, you drive slow, you stop to buy cat food…

I’ll post deeper thoughts on our vacation later on — after my brain has had a chance to regroup. In the meantime, I leave you with the list of new cds that now call The Burrow home:

• The FRFF sets of Eddie from Ohio, Brave Combo, and Arrogant Worms — Eddie from Ohio were Eddieless so took on the moniker From Ohio for their festival performances (I also saw them hanging out waiting to autograph stuff in the cd tent and were impressed by their Nationals caps); Brave Combo is the headbanging, Grammy-winning polka alternative (way more fun than any of us thought they would be!); and the Arrogant Worms are a hilarious Canadian trio you should see live if you ever get the chance.
• Erin McKeown‘s We Will Become like Birds — Erin wasn’t at this year’s festival because she’s busy being in demand — touring with Ani and getting ready to perform on Conan (Aug. 9!).
• Crooked Still‘s Hop High — I was impressed by Aoife O’Donovan’s voice last year, but forgot to buy this disc then.
• Signature Sounds Sampler #9 — This Connecticut-based independent label is home to many favorites — from Richard Shindell and Fred Eaglesmith to Tracy Grammer and Kris Delmhorst, as well as Erin McKeown’s early albums.
• Paul and Storm‘s Opening Band — Two of the four members of Da Vinci’s Notebook, whom we discovered at Falcon Ridge a few years ago.
• FRUiT‘s Burn — A catchy Australian band.
• Tracy Grammer‘s Flower of Avalon — Sweet and soulful arrangements of Dave Carter-penned, but unreleased tunes.