Life's a beach

We're making friends and getting connected!  Two fantastic ladies from the St. Ives Cycle Club (about 10 minutes away from Brampton) took me along on a 20 mile road bike ride this past Saturday morning, giving me tips on dodging potholes and coddling me through the scary round-abouts.  It felt amazing to be on a bike again! The St. Ives CC have regular 40-60 mile rides every Sunday that we’ll surely take a part in if we’re ever in town…

Map of historical English counties

Chris had an away match at King’s Lynn (in Norfolk: middle right on the map above) that Saturday afternoon so after my ride we headed north an hour towards the coast. He’s finally a bit settled with the whole soccer thing, playing center mid or sweeper for the Huntingdon reserve team and enjoying the level of play and the guys on the team.  It is really quality football and fun to watch even though I have to pay.  The only part that really gets me is watching half the team “warm up” and “cool down” (their words) with a cigarette!  Their coach is lighting them, so I guess he doesn’t care… Ah well, not everyone has the same thoughts on conditioning! 

Chris in the middle with his bright yellow shoes : )

After the game  (ouch, they lost 4 to 1... maybe they should put down the Marlboros) we jumped back in the car and continued a half-hour farther north to the town of Holkham near Wells-next-the-Sea (what a sweet name) which is known for its gorgeous beach.  The beach is part of a nature reserve, so although you can take your dogs, coolers, blankets, etc the area feels quite remote.  There are no houses or hotels or cheesy vendors… just a huge expanse of beach three miles long and at least a half mile wide.  If the weather had been 20+ degrees warmer we’d have stayed the rest of the weekend!  It’s only an hour and a half from the house so I’m sure we’ll be returning regularly. 

Double rainbow from the beach parking lot.



Holkham Beach, Norfolk



Holkham Beach, Norfolk



Holkham Beach, Norfolk

Dinner at the Victoria Hotel in Holkham was almost as good as the beach itself. The food was excellent - lobster, salmon, halibut, gazpacho, crème brule- and beautifully presented. And it came with a laugh.  I almost spit out my champagne as I overheard this little tidbit from the next table over (imagine this in a strong British accent): “it’s called a chicken biscuit.  Basically it’s like a scone but sweeter and deep friend… and then there’s a piece of fried chicken in the middle… it’s delish. Then there were ribs, this sort of massive rack of them that you just pull apart and gnash with your teeth.”  Ha!  We had to ask where they had been.  One of them had just taken a trip to Atlanta, Mobile, and Memphis.  I just wouldn't have imagined pork ribs and chicken biscuits topping this (very well-off) woman’s culinary adventure through America.  Love it! 

On the way home Chris got a message from an AF soccer buddy who said he was stuck in England for a few days.  He's a pilot and told us a crazy story about how they had taken two cranes (birds), one to each engine on one side of his jet, on takeoff in Sweden that morning.  Yikes!  Scary for him, but nice for Chris because we got to hang out on with Jason on Sunday!

Well, customs must think we’re more interesting than we truly are, because they’re still holding our stuff hostage.  Dang, man, just release our comfy couch, the camelbacks, the king bed, and our kitchen stuff.  Keep the rest, I don’t even care anymore!  One good thing has come out of the wait, though.  I’ve almost caught up on two years’ worth of scrapbooking.  LOL.  Two years in 10 days is a personal record that I hope never to top.  It made me remember how much fun stuff we've done over our time in Little Rock... we have and continue to be so, so blessed. 

Well, time for a spot of tea.  Hugs and love, Claire (and Chris)

Corgettes, Rocket, and Abergine (?!)

England and the USA were famously described by Winston Churchill (or was it  George Bernard Shaw?) as "two nations divided by a common language".  In MY English, the title above would say “Zucchini, Arugula, and Eggplant”.  Its weird to have to translate (from English to English!) the awesome garden book my cousins gave me. 

Chris is going to be gone for two weeks in September doing a pediatric dentistry short course in Texas so instead of moping around here by myself, I’m volunteering at the farm that Katherine worked at this summer. It’s a working organic fruit/veg and animal farm that’s also a wedding venue.   Admittedly, my motives are a little selfish because I’m trying to glean knowledge before attempting a massive garden of my own next spring.  The soil here is rich and black and a garden seems like a great way to get some organic veggies (earning my lost income?) while at the same time keeping me from going stir-crazy.  The problem is as I get more and more bored my garden plans become more and more ambitious.  The backyard is big, and don’t we NEED artichokes?  40 ears of corn?  Enough basil to make everyone in Brampton a jar of pesto?  

There are so many new plants around here to exploit, too!  Take this little purple berry:

Katherine and I kept seeing these berries on our countryside rambles so I took a bite of one.  Two bits of good news: it wasn’t poisonous, and Katherine found out it’s used to make a special, very English liquor.  If we can figure out how to safely ship bottles of liquor you’re all getting drinkable Christmas presents.  Has boredom turned me into Martha? Is anyone else scared?

Katherine just left us after almost two weeks.  Booo!!! I really miss her company, cooking ideas, and watching the Chris vs. Katherine political debates.  LOL.  We  didn’t have a TV this whole month, so that counted as quality entertainment.  We kept baking our butts off (or on?) but in full disclosure, failed miserably on one thing: making yogurt (yoghurt).  We managed to ‘make’ a couple gallons of spoiled milk over the course of her stay here, but never ended up with the good stuff.  Sigh.  Guess she’ll have to come back J

Walking

"Chris, go pick some apples"

People have repeatedly asked about the riots that happened last week.  Yes, there were some big time riots and some people were very sadly killed.  I know absolutely nothing more about them than any of you, though.  Here in our sleepy town we’re much more likely to get run over by an electric wheelchair than involved in a riot so it seems as surreal to us as watching a riot in LA when you live on the East Coast.  Yes, I can see it on the TV but no, it doesn’t affect us day-to-day.  People around here blame the riots on a poor economy combined with a lack of parenting and weak family structure.  Pretty sure the US would also welcome solutions to those particular problems…

On a much lighter note, one of our biggest joys has been using Skype to talk to our parents and nephew Wyatt.  Everyone with kids, a nephew or niece, or whatever knows exactly what I’m talking about – Skype let us see Wyatt’s first haircut (tear!), let  us watch him do a puzzle, demolish some blocks, and made us laugh when he tried to hand us a toy through the screen.  Thank you, thank you Skype!  Also thank you to the Facebook guys and girls for keeping  us connected and allowing us to see photos of houses being built (at astonishing speeds, Lunsfords!), of babies getting ever cuter (too many to mention), and of couples starting to plan their weddings (congrats David and Jamie!)  I have to insert a plug for one of my old Seattle buddies http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-himi-bosworth-20110731,0,5626887.story who actually created Facebook’s Newsfeed (no joke).  I used to hate it, Boz, but now truly feel like it’s the thing that most makes me feel a part of the everyday life of some of my friends. 

We should probably remember all our blessings right now and not get so frustrated by the little things that go wrong, and the little differences with culture, work, etc that make everyday life a bit more difficult than in Arkansas.  General rule: everything is easier, faster, and less frustrating in the US, God bless it.

All our household goods should arrive and will hopefully clear customs next week, YAY, so hopefully the settling will begin in earnest. Here’s to hoping the rest of our things arrive in better shape than the sledge hammered (best guess) TV.

And now for a little tour of our town, Brampton (these photos are all of the main street):

A house on the main street whose dahlia garden I adore.

The butcher (his hours are "when I'm here")

Newly re-thatched roof.

Our fish & chips place.

The co-op grocery store on the corner of our street.

Lots of ivy.

Cute house.

One of three Brampton pubs - the Black Bull

Love the flowers!

Our sponsor, the midwife?!

I’ve mentioned our wonderful sponsor, Lanny, and his gorgeous wife Brooke, but I forgot to mention that when we got here she was 8 ½ months pregnant with their third baby girl (and she wanted a natural birth after having to induce the other two).  After doing a lot of research they decided to utilize the British National Healthcare System for their prenatal and birthing care.  (The other option would’ve been to get care at the AF base an hour from here.)  Obviously this was interesting since we’re open to the idea of starting a family here and would have the same decision to make!  Well jump to the day before yesterday – Brooke’s water had already broken and when her contractions were about 10 minutes apart she called the midwife at the hospital.  The short version:

Midwife:  Great, call us back when the contractions get to be less than 5 minutes apart

Brooke (30 minutes later): They’re 4 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds a piece

Midwife: Don’t come in yet, call us back when they’re each lasting a minute

Brooke (not long thereafter): They’re every three minutes and this is my third child.  I need to come in now

Midwife: Fine, come in

I guess it should be noted that Brooke is extremely calm about everything.  I’m really scared of cows, but that’s nothing compared to how scared I am of childbirth so I just am amazed by her. 

So Brooke and Lanny packed a bag and went to the hospital.  The two midwifes were apparently unimpressed by her contractions?!  They told her she wasn’t in active labor, she should go home ‘and take a Tylenol’, and a midwife would check on her the next morning.  Brooke said she thought she was going crazy so they drove the 3 minutes home, got in the house, AND LANNY DELIVERED THE BABY TEN MINUTES LATER ON THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR.  Thank God there were no issues –baby Ava Kate and mom are healthy and doing great!  Lesson learned – if I am so blessed as to have a child in England it will be delivered at the hands of a USAF-trained doc!  Socialized medicine at its finest – no one was even reprimanded for the mistake!

After studying at Bristol University this past year (southwest England), my cousin Katherine is spending her remaining two weeks in England with us.  What a wealth of knowledge – she’s taught us how to search for the best train tickets, gave us all her old books on traveling, and sucked us into the world of baking.  Since she’s been here we’ve made an apple crisp and apple cake (from our tree!), homemade Reeses, a myriad of cookies, and Kahlua-frosted fudgy brownies.  Next on the docket are molten chocolate cupcakes.  I want to be mad at her for ruining my diet but just can’t be.  There’s always next month to get rid of those extra ten pounds, right? 

Katherine and I have explored some more of the footpaths around the house.  We’ve encountered more cows, (yikes), some cool parks, and lots of wild plums/cherries/blackberries (a quart of which are now in the freezer.)  The blackberries always seem to grow alongside these awful plants called stinging nettles, so you really have to want them.   

Wild plums and cherries

A footpath right through a golf course... funny rules!

Yay blackberries!

Our village church (Brampton)

There's one footpath that goes along a river and leads to The Brampton Mill, a relatively fancy pub.  We went for a drink one evening.  Katherine likes her cider (hard to explain the taste - like a mix between beer and apple juice), Chris had his first Guiness on this side of the pond, and I tried a local brew. 

Pints of the local brew, cider, Guiness

Claire and Katherine at the Brampton Mill

This past weekend we went to Bristol to pick up the last of Katherine’s things.  She was a great tour guide and her friends were absolutely amazing hosts. Her good friend Tanya’s boyfriend John’s mom even gave us some homemade black currant jelly after hearing about how much Chris enjoyed it at breakfast that morning! (And she relayed some cow advice: don’t look at them when crossing a field, just walk in a straight path and look where you’re going.) 

HAHAHA

Clifton suspension bridge (Bristol)

Bristol

On Sunday we drove from Bristol to Chipping Camden, a ridiculously cute town in an area of England known as the Cotswolds.  Basically the Cotswolds are rolling limestone hills that are dotted with idyllic medieval villages built during a boom in the local wool trade.  The threat of rain kept us from doing a long walk but we did have tea time, complete with a scone with clotted cream (tastes like sweet whipped butter) and jam.  It’s really hard to get more English than that. 

Chipping Camden (downtown)

Chipping Camden (market)

Scone with clotted cream and jam

Note about English football (soccer):   there’s the Premier League, directly under is the Championship League, then League 1, League 2, etc.  Every year the bottom three of the Premier league get ‘relegated’ down to the league below (and the top three Championship League teams get promoted).   Good thing that same thing doesn’t happen in the NFL or my beloved Panthers would be in trouble!

The English have horrifically graphic public service announcements.  Mild example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVBfMMMUsGs

Hate:  How they serve their beer warmish and semi-carbonated.  The weather.

Love: Stoplights turn yellow before green so you can get ready to go. 

Football and pants = Soccer and undies

We’re starting to get settled in now.  Other than not having a TV, the vast majority of our things, or Bailey we have set up quite nicely in our new place.  We bought a car!  It’s larger than we planned… plenty of room for guests and their luggage I hopeJ.  It was really good to give up little red rentie.  We’re not going to miss the nonfunctional parking break, ‘rent me’ stickers, and cracked side mirror. 

Rental

'New' car

Chris played his first football (soccer) game last Thursday.   A guy he played with on the Air Force team actually grew up a few miles from here and connected him with a pretty competitive team right when we arrived.  Rumor is some of the players get paid about $60 a game – maybe he’ll start making back some of my lost income?   These Brits take their football really seriously!  I don’t entirely understand the system but this team (St Ives FC) seems like it’s in the equivalent of a baseball farm league – scouts are always looking to pull players up through the ranks (the ultimate of which is the Premier League with teams like Arsenal, Chelsea, ManU, etc.)  The Premier League and a couple of the leagues directly under it are all full-time commitments so obviously even if Chris was that good he wouldn’t be able to play at those levels.   Most of the guys he was playing with and against were really young – like in the 18 to 22 yr-old range.   Before the game started a guy walked through the stands collecting money.  I thought he was kidding when he said to watch would cost L2.50.  That’s like 4 bucks!  Ah well, Chris really needs to start getting paid to play so I can afford to watch.  Even at this level there were a lot of (loud, heckling, hilarious) fans.  Very fun.  Worth the L2.50 to see Chris so happy!  He said the play was decent but the young kids have a lot to learn on how to ‘be calm on the ball’.  Maybe he’ll add more to the blog from his perspective later. 

Today is our two year anniversary, boy does time fly by or what?!  We started with big Paris plans for this past weekend but again, needed more advance planning than we allowed this year and so ‘settled’ on an overnight in London.  What a fantastic city.  First off, there’s absolutely no way you could appreciate all of London in a weekend.  We were given great advice by friends here to take a hop on/hop off double-decker bus tour on the first day just to get our bearings and touch on some of the sights.  It was only a tiny bit cheesy but overall really helpful to demonstrate the sheer scale of the city and what it had to offer.  London is only about an hour by train, so we figure we’ll hit one or two sites on each subsequent visit (whether it be with guests or by ourselves).  We didn’t plan enough ahead to book any of the Michelin Star rated or really popular restaurants (again with the planning! – old Claire needs to come back ASAP).   That stays on our ‘London to do’ list, I guess!  This is el problemo numero uno with traveling – the more you do, the more you realize you want to do!  Some London sights:

The London Eye

The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square

Big Ben (actually Big Ben specifically refers to the bell inside the Clock Tower)

The Tower of London

Big battleship museum

Trafalgar Square (most impressive square I've ever seen)

Countdown to the Olympics!

Tower Bridge

Cleopatra's needle - a gift from Egypt dating back to 1450BC (wow, old)

Oh crap, hopefully it holds!

One of many, many pubs

Bachelorette parties are always fun : )

Culture shock: the seemingly mild mannered English drop the F-bomb more during one football game than most rappers do in a year.  Yikes. 

Also, those things on your legs are trousers.  Pants are underwear.  Don't do what I did and tell the guy at the gym that "I forgot my pants in the changing room" meaning I forgot to grab the jeans I had changed out of upon arriving.  Oops. 

Interesting Facts: 4/5ths of London was destroyed by the Great Fire in 1666

Christopher Wren designed a TON of buildings and monuments in the city.