That's right, we are in the USA! We have decided to do something different this winter and do some land travel. My brother lives here and so we are basing ourselves here until the end of February, with visits to friends in the USA during our stay and hopefully some skiing in Canada.

It felt very strange leaving Deep Blue but we are confident that she will be fine in Messalonghi and we have great neighbours to keep an eye out for us.

Before heading back to the UK, we spent a couple of nights in Athens (separate blog to follow) which we thoroughly enjoyed. Our hotel (Plaka Hotel) couldn't have been in a better location and we are looking forward to visiting again when we make our way back.

Before crossing the pond, we spent two weeks in the UK visiting family and friends. We timed our arrival perfectly to avoid the snow but it started to fall as we went to sleep and everywhere was covered the next day. However, it didn't stop our planned visit to Norfolk to 'meet the chickens' that our friends Rosemary & Roy have in their garden and to catch up with friends over a meal at our favourite Chinese restaurant.

Snowball fights with sister and nephews, warm country pubs and logs fires
kept us going until we got on the plane to the USA. Again, we were lucky with the weather with Heathrow Airport closing 48 hours after we left.

So, here we are in sunny South Carolina, getting ready for Christmas Day. We are cooking a traditional Christmas lunch at my brother David's friends house - no pressure there then! The Christmas cake is iced (thanks for making it mum) and the mince pies have just come out of the oven.

We'll be updating our blog during our travels but in the meantime, all that remains is for us to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year.