Almost forgot

In the picture you will see a green hat in front of Mabs. The hat was made for me by my friend Jen Sloan specifically to keep my noggin warm when we are in Shetland. Itis my safety hat (long story) Thanks Jen!!

All ready to go

It is finally Jan 11th and I leave this evening for London and the beginning of the big adventure. My buddy Nick has offered to take me to the airport, and I am as ready as I will ever be.
I did a "test" pack over the weekend to ensure that everything would fit in the bag (it does) and that I would not have a bag that was overweight. Allowance is 23kg and I just did a final check and come in at 18kg, so a comfortable margin.
My cat Mabou (Mabs) has been increasingly nervous as she sees the preparations, and has no idea if I will be gone for a couple of days or (as in this case 3 months!)
My fish do not seem to care anywhere near as much for some reason.
I went back into the bedroom and saw Mabs laying on some of the clothes but not quie in the bag!
The weather in the UK is moderating and I hear that it is worse in the south and warmer up north. Glad about that as I head to Glasgow on Friday for a Carlos Nunez concert. I have several of his CDs (kinda Spanish Celtic music from Galacia in Spain), but he never tours in the USA. I am lucky the timing looks like it will work.
More when I get to the UK