Well friends, here we go…it’s Wednesday the 7th of September, a day that has been in our minds for quite some time. Not only is today the day the United States was nicknamed Uncle Sam (in 1813), but it’s also take-off day for us. We’re driving to Johannesburg and flying out this evening to head almost due north for a brief visit to the UK, and after nine days split unevenly between London, Edinburgh, and a special wedding in Linlithgow, we’ll arrive in the Carolinas on September 17th. Which, incidentally, is the day before my birthday.

New Year. New Decade. New Continent. New Adventure?

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In the meantime, I’ve grabbed some spare moments here and there to prepare a few things for you, and I had the delightful joy of welcoming some guest posts from friends near and far. So there’s a heap of good stuff scheduled to come your way over the next ten days!

Beware, however — the posts headed your way are scheduled to show up without me pushing a button every day, and I might not get a chance to check that it’s behaving properly, that all the comments are polite and don’t need moderation, or that there aren’t any pictures posted where I have something in my teeth.

Be that as it may, there’s definitely a nice line-up on its way to your computer screen, or iPad, or cell phone, or whatever other device you might use for internet viewing.

So please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their upright and locked position, slide that seatbelt around those gorgeous hips of yours, and get ready for take-off…

Auto-pilot begins in three…two…one…

xCC