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We're now back home in the UK after our 2019 Australian adventure, and although we had a wonderful holiday, were sad to leave and I was sad to say goodbye to my sister, I'm happy to be back home with our lovely dog safely nestled amongst us. 

It's strange how much you miss your dog when you're away. We were lucky to have the company of my sister's dogs and other dogs in her family, but it's not the same. It's like not having a member of the family with you.  Our girl was so happy to see us when we picked her up yesterday, and didn't sulk at all this time, which is definitely progress.  She liked the Kangaroo treats and Kong balls I bought her too.

I'm forever amazed at how much happiness our dog brings us, and our home too.  Just to flop down in your own space is a big luxury in my opinion, and one that I'm very grateful for.  We visited our allotment on the day we got back.  Having arrived back in the UK at 6.30am, after picking up the dog, we were home by 9.30am and trying to avoid sleeping as much as possible.

OH and I wandered to the allotment, to see how things had fared in our absence.  Luckily, thanks to being included in our allotment site's What's App chat group, some of our fellow plot holders volunteered to water our plot during the really hot days we were away.  We are intending to return the favour now we're back.

As a consequence, the plot looked very good and everything had survived in good order. There weren't really any tomatoes ready yet, but there were quite a few cucumbers to harvest and a few beans and carrots.  The sweetcorn wasn't too far off either which was amazing.  Here are a few photos:

We stayed and did some weeding, as quite a lot of weeds had grown up over the past few months.  There's still more to do, but we made a start. We do both really love our plot these days.  I'm surprised at how much OH has taken to this one. It helps that it is so close, being just around the corner, but he's almost taken over it. I'm not complaining though, as with everything, it's team work that makes things work and enjoyable.

When I got back home, I fell asleep on the sofa for 4 hours, after not sleeping at all on a 22+ hours journey. We were then back in bed again by 9pm.

I have one more day off today and then I'm back at work. I'll be posting a couple more holiday posts, including my personal reflections and learning from our trip, which is always something I try to do on any visit to another country. In the meantime, I need to get some more sleep. I'm writing this at 4am after waking at 1.30am with a headache.  I think I might be dehydrated from the flight, as I'm feeling a bit better after a glass of water, ibuprofen and a vitamin C tablet. I'm hoping it's not some sort of lurgy caught on the flight, as there was lots of coughing and sneezing going on around me. Urgh!!

Later today, I will be dog walking, grocery shopping, unpacking, doing laundry and generally preparing myself mentally for returning to work. Thankfully, looking at the sales figures whilst I was away, everyone managed perfectly well without me, so I'm hoping things will be under control when I get back there tomorrow. In addition, an e-learning deadline, that I thought I had to meet today, has been extended for a month, which means that my last day of leave is my own to do as I wish. I'll keep you posted with how it goes on my return.