Nani is here visiting and we've been out and about seeing the sights. First up, of course, we spent the weekend in Woodbridge at the boat. Alex was very disappointed that we didn't get to take the boat out into the river, but alas the tides were not with us and his crew was not as willing to sail on a cloudy, overcast day as he was hoping for so we spent some time in the pubs, saw a movie, sailed the remote control boat and met a few more nice people in the marina.
Monday was a bank holiday so we spent the day in Cambridge. It was a gorgeous day, and it was SOOOOO crowded with tourists it felt like visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando, only all the buildings actually were centuries old. There were so many people taking pictures with giant cameras that I almost felt embarrassed by my small camera lens, I just snapped a few and put may camera away, I didn't want to feel so cliche. It is an amazing city though, I plan to go back on a weekday, maybe when it is drizzling a little bit and take my time to see al the buildings properly. We popped in the Fitzwilliam Museum for a bit, I think the last picture says it all.
Tomorrow we will drive to Hastings to visit Alex's sister and spend the weekend. I'm excited to see another part of England and I'll be back on Monday with some pictures from that trip.
Lots of people who I talked to before, during and after the trip asked me "aren't you worried about Alex and the crew?" I can honestly say that I was never worried that they wouldn't make it across the Atlantic. It never crossed my mind. Some may call that denial, because obviously things can go wrong and they sometimes do, but I had the utmost confidence in the crew and the captain. I knew they would meet whatever challenge presented itself and get across, I slept well every night. And lo and behold, I was right!
I was worried though, that the boat would take a beating and things would get broken and this worried from a financial point of view. I was afraid we would get to the UK and have the expenses of beginning our new household here AND the expenses of fixing something major on the boat. Well, that didn't happen either, there are only a few minor things that need attention on Nani and Alex will get to them over the next few months. Of course we are in such good shape now because Alex was able to take care of all the little things that needed fixing along the way, and they were well documented. This set of pictures should be called something like: "Alex is always fixing something."
There are loads of blackberries growing around our house, and most of them are just out of reach.
It is VERY frustrating. I've been picking what I can (and embarrassing my entire family in the process) and so far I've got 2 quart bags full in the freezer. I'm saving them for when visitors come since Alex and Eric don't partake. Book your tickets now for blackberry crumble in Bury St. Edmunds!
I love the plants that grow wild around here. There are Butterfly Bushes everywhere and they get gigantic, we have one in our backyard that desperately needs a trim and lavender also seems to thrive and is everywhere. As you can see from my front door picture, that also needs to be cut back. Does anyone know when to trim it?
There is also Lupin which is beautiful and this yellow weed which looks a lot like dill but I don't think it is even though it kind of faintly smells like dill, maybe it is the British cousin.
We are getting back to normal after a weekend visit with my sister in law and nieces and preparing for my mother in laws visit this weekend. Nani is coming to visit on Friday and Alex is thrilled. (me too!) In the 25 years we lived in Georgia, she visited us there for a total of 14 days. They came 3 times, once when Jordi was born, once when Eric was born and for Alex's 40th birthday and each stay was very short because of my father in laws work schedule, so this is exciting. We are hanging pictures, unpacking the last boxes and hiding the rest of our stuff in the garage. Thank goodness for the garage. We plan to show her Woodbridge, explore Bury and a few surrounding little towns and then we'll drive to Hastings for the weekend to visit with Eva and her girls some more. Should be fun.
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| we made pillows! |
My nieces Milena and Matilda have been visiting this weekend.
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| M & M |
Oh, and my sister in law too, she had to drive them here. The last time I met Matilda she was 5 months old she will be turning 8 in 12 days. (Not that she's counting or anything, but oh yes, she is counting very carefully!)
I've really enjoyed getting to know them for the first time, we've been busy and even got some sewing accomplished.
Our neighbors gave us permission to jump on their trampoline while they are out of town so there has been a lot of bouncing going on.
It's been a fun weekend.
I don't have any big news or much to post today. This has been much like a normal week of work, paperwork and routine. It's real England weather today: drizzly and overcast. Luckily it hasn't gotten cold yet so we still have all the windows open. There are no screens on the windows here, I haven't noticed a single house that has them. It is so nice to live in a place without mosquitos! We do get a few flies and moths coming in, but it is not bad at all.
This picture is the view from my backyard. The pigeons often take a rest on that streetlamp and they get very loud with their cooing and such. When you look up there is usually a pigeon on every chimney and every lamppost, it really is quite picturesque. Did I mention how loud they are?
So you can see there really isn't that much going on today. We are waiting for the weekend just like everyone else everywhere. Have a good one everybody!
One of the major tourist destinations in Bury St. Edmunds is the "Abbey Gardens" so Eric and I went on a little exploration the other day to check it out. I had heard about it for awhile and briefly took a look at the gardens on our first walk to town, but didn't really know what to expect other then the spectacular flower beds at the entrance.
I had no idea it was full of ruins. They are beautiful and strange I love the way the kids were climbing all over them and using them as their very own 12th century jungle gym.
It was just another day in Bury St.Edmunds, playing hide and seek on the ancient ruins!
Afterwards I did take a peek at Wickipedia and found out that during the Abbey heyday (I forget which century it was, the 8th or the 12th, they all run together to me) there were 3 breweries on the grounds and each monk had the right to 8 pints of beer a day. 8 pints! That is a lot of beer! I can barely finish one pint, I can't imagine drinking 8 pints a day. No wonder the townspeople revolted and destroyed their gate, the monks were hogging all the beer.
I plan to go on one of the free tours they give everyday at 2:00 to find out more and after that I'll definitely go and enjoy my 1 pint of beer per day.
We finally got around to transferring the pictures that Alan and David took on the first leg of the trip to my computer so I can post some here. I thought I would post them in small batches over the next few weeks and sort of categorize them in groups. Let's just call this first group "horizons".
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