Back to Blighty. . .

The signs are everywhere.  This is the huge banner hanging outside the Gardiner Museum:

And browsing through my local bookstore, I came across the latest issue of Granta:

Incidentally, on their website there's a great ode to British Theatre by one of my favourite writers - A.L. Kennedy.  You can read it here.

But it wasn't really until last night when I attended the Art of Time Ensemble's terrific concert in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, that the enormity and excitement of what I'm doing later this month, really hit me.

And yes, while I realize that the current fascination with all things Brit has a little more to do with the Jubilee and upcoming sports events than my own personal life,  it's all resonating just a little stronger because  (takes DEEP breath) - in less than three weeks, I'm moving to Liverpool!  I'm going to be in the city (along with thousands of other fans) when the Beatles celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first appearance at the Cavern in August.   I'll be able to watch the Olympics in the time zone in which it's taking place.  I'm going to be a freaking two hours away from London by train.  I'm only a 90 minute drive away from the Lake District.  I'm about 20 minutes away from a Marks & Sparks Food Hall.  I keep pinching myself.

I can get excited now because the chaos and stress of May and Project Move is finally over.  One piece of advice if planning an overseas move - give yourself more than two months.  Much more if you have a huge book collection and you can only take about twenty percent of that overseas.   But that's a post for another time. At the moment I'm just enjoying these last few weeks in Toronto, visiting old haunts and spending as much time as I can with my family and friends before setting off on my new life adventure.