Home.

Over the course of the trip, we flew over a lot of spectacular and glorious landscapes, but it wasn't until we were flying from Montreal to Ottawa on the home stretch that it felt like we had come home. The rich green forests, patchwork of fields and farmlands, fresh rivers and lakes – this beautiful land will always be home to me.

After 33 hours in transit, and 40 hours of being awake (and a total of about 6 hours of “sleep”), we arrived home to bright balloons and a Welcome Home sign from our amazing friends and neighbours; a gift basket, an impeccably clean house, and a freshly cut lawn from our awesome tenant; and over the last week hugs from greatly missed friends and family (and meeting a brand new little one too!). It’s all enough to make me weep with joy every single day.

Thanks to the wonderful care of our dear friends, our cats were perfectly adjusted, and they settled back in seamlessly (except for a brief period of hissing between them about who’s in charge), and are back to their old habits. It makes me so happy to have my furry little beasts around again :)

It is surreal, but so wonderful to be home. All the familiar sounds – the key in the door, the creaks in the floor, the songbirds in the trees – home. And hugs! Skype is great, but it just can’t replace a good hug.

Those old feelings of wanderlust might hit me over the next few months and I'll yearn to be on the road again, but for now, I’m staying put. There’s no where else I’d rather be.

It’s good to be home.

We have the best neighbours of all time.

Simon curled up right where he used to always nap. Business as usual.

Wuzzle wasted no time getting settled back into her old nap spot.

So glad I didn't miss the peonies... they're my absolute fav.

Had to kick out the new tenants who were setting up shop...

It's so great to be in my kitchen again! This butternut squash lasagna was delish,
and so was this salad (didn't pause to take a photo before it was all gone...)