31 years

We managed to escape today, even though it was only to Peebles, some 12 miles away. It was the first time I had been any further than West Linton since the snow began in late November, and the difference was amazing. From a snowy picture on the road (as seen at the bottom of this blog and looking much like our lane) to a town, where therewas hardly any snow to be seen.I took the opportunity to snap a blip that for the first time since I started blipping features no snow. Instead it's of the war memorial in Peebles High Street and it's stunning copper dome. The actual blip was a closer detail of the picture seen below.

And talking of escape, that's also what I did on this day 31 years ago, but on a very much larger scale. I moved from The Netherlands to the U.K. on a day without snow but with galeforce winds (not much fun on the ferry!) and unending rain. I still remember that we got lost on the North Circular Road in London before finally reaching Slough, where I was renting a flat in time for starting my new job in the U.K. Who could have guessed I would still be here after all that time?

Over the years gone by, I have come to think of myself as British or to be even more precise Scottish and I have developed a fierce pride in my adopted home country. Despite that, I will never fully belong here just like I don't belong in the Netherlands anymore. Most of the time I don't give the whole question of emigrating a lot of thought but the 29th December is always a moment for contemplation.

Who would have thought back in 1979 that one of my quilts (Variation on Vasarely) would be made into a map of that new home country of Great Britain to advertise the exhibitions organized by Grosvenor Exhibitions. They used it for their advertising last year and it gave me a real jolt of pleasure to see that my quilt will perform the same function again in 2011. A great beginning to a year that hasn't even started yet.