I'm Back!

I'm home at last. It's been a full-to bursting trip with loads which I'm desperate to tell you about, but on Monday morning, Julia and I had to wrestle our swollen luggage back into our suitcases and head back to Beijing Airport, ready for the long flight home to England. I finally got to sleep in my own lovely bed again last night. There's nothing quite like it after you've been away for a while. 

We had a wonderful trip, a whirlwind adventure, full of children and books and sketching and new friends... We worked really hard but also had lots of fun. I'll get to all that soon, but for now, this is a sketch which I did in the beautiful Temple of Heaven park:

Beijing was of course extremely sketchable and, though I didn't have a fraction of the time I needed to capture all the wonderful sights, I did make full use of every spare moment and so filled a few of my concertina sketchbooks, which I'll show you soon, I promise.

Thank you to everyone who looked after us so well while we were away. I haven't dared to step on the scales yet - so many gorgeous meals out!