(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover

"There'll be bluebirds over 

the white cliffs of Dover,

Tomorrow, just you wait and see.

There'll be love and laughter

And peace ever after

Tomorrow, when the world is free."

-Popular WWII song, Words by Nat Burton

to hear it, go here.

Saturday, we visited Dover Castle.  It has a long, impressive and somewhat battle-weary history.  There are ramparts dating back to the Iron Age as well as the hill mound or fort.  There is a church on the site dating from Anglo Saxon times around 1000AD, next to the church is the ruins of a Roman lighthouse dating from 1 AD.  William the Conqueror also built up a defense here after the Battle of Hastings in 1066.  The main keep was built by Henry II in the 12th century and it still stands.  Around the outer walls, you can see various forms of reinforcement built up throughout history including both world wars.  The castle hill is located in a very strategic location, facing the Channel and within view of the French coastline.  I won't go into the whole history of the castle here as it is very lengthy, but if you get a moment, you can go here to read about it.  It is worth your while- very interesting!!

And now, for the pictures!  Back in 1999, DJ and I visited this site and I was completely enamored with the 2000-year-old Roman lighthouse.

Here is a picture of me in front of the lighthouse in 1999:

22 September 2012 : 

Zoe with the English Channel in the background.  Just over her left shoulder, you can barely make out the silhouette of land- that is France.

Church records dating back to 1226!

Altar of Anglo Saxon church

The view looking the other direction:

The English countryside from the top of the castle keep:

The English Channel, Anglo Saxon Church and Roman lighthouse from the castle keep:

Look!  We found Henry II and his daughter, Matilda, wandering around the castle!

There are sheep in the trench

Just because they are cute

A small glimpse of the white cliffs from the secret wartime tunnels:

It was a great day out- free for us as we are English Heritage members.  The weather was beautiful and the kids had a great time too!  The weekend before, we went to the Queen's winter residence at Sandringham.  That was a lovely visit as well.  I will save that for a future post.

** I just realized I don't have a good picture of the keep!  It is really a fabulous keep, too!  So, I found one on the internet so you can see what it looks like:

photo credit here

Conversations with Noah and Zoe

If you have read any of these in the past, you know that I am constantly comparing Noah to an old man.  He really does have an old soul.  Bear in mind, he is only nine.

While listening to one of the few radio stations that comes in in the car the other day (a pop station), Noah says, "Can we just listen to BBC Radio?  I like talk radio."

What nine-year-old likes talk radio?

Mine.

This morning, he tried to crack a joke at the bus stop and while I found it funny, it totally got crickets from everyone else.

There is another little boy that comes to the bust stop that is a year older than Noah.  He is a very nice little boy that loves to chat our ears off until the bus comes.  This morning, we showed up and he was wearing a hoodie, some RayBan Wayfarer lookalikes and a pair or old school big headphones attached to his MP3 player.  He looked like a disc jockey or rapper from the 80's.  So, I said, "Hey there, Grandmaster T (his name begins with a T) !"

He was also holding an ice cube up to his lip, so I asked him what was wrong and if he had a fat lip.  He explained that he felt a fever blister coming on and just had the ice on his lip for the swelling.

There was a pause- long enough for us to move on to other subjects in our brains- and then Noah inserted, "What?  Did you show up to a party and forget your records and someone beat you up?"

Crickets.

I smiled and patted Noah on the arm.

He rolled his eyes and said, "Never mind!"

I then said, "Noah- what nine year old references records?  Have you even witnessed a record being played in your lifetime?"

"Well, no- but I have seen records in like old stores and stuff."

Now Zoe's turn:

A couple days ago, Zoe was playing in the floor and mumbling and talking quietly.  I heard what sounded like various forms of the "f" word coming from her mouth.  And she was even saying it in an exclamatory manner.  So, I finally said, "Zoe?  What are you saying!?"

"You know?  What the cat that catches Tweety Bird says, 'Fuccery Fuccotash!' "

"You mean, 'Sufferin' Succotash!' "

"Yes.  Fuccery Fuccotash!"

"How about you don't say that anymore, because you can't quite pronounce it right and it sounds like a very bad word?"

"Yeah, that is what my teacher said too."

Fabulous- she was suspended from school on the second day and now it appears to her teacher she is throwing the f-bomb around.

Parents of the year right here.

Parents. Of. The. Year.

Two years and eleven months until we move again and get to change school districts.

A Day in the Life...

When I saw Mama Kat's writing prompts last week, one in particular jumped out at me.  "Share your a day in your life represented only in pictures and the time the pictures were taken."   I was scheduled to get internet on Friday, just one day after her link-up and thought it would be a perfect way to start my blog posts about life in England.

Of course, as everything else has gone during this move, things didn't happen as planned.  We didn't actually get internet until yesterday (Tuesday)- far too late to link up with her blog.  But, I decided to go ahead and post it anyway, since I had already taken the pictures last week.  I would like to revisit this post again when we get our furniture and car, because I will be able to leave the house and it will more accurately represent life in England.  But, for now, you get the "life in England, in transition mode, with ugly loaner furniture and a mostly-empty house."  Enjoy.

This is what 6:45am looks like from my bedroom window:

6:55- breakfast 

7:00- lunches made

7:35am- the beginning of our morning walk to the bus stop

8:05am- back in my living room for a hot cup of tea before I start my day

laundry in the wash and then out on the line for a dry (it started raining and had to come back in to the dyer)

I usually arrive at the bus stop in the afternoon about ten minutes early, so I sit on the bench by the village sign and wait until time to walk around the corner to the bus stop to get the kids.

Rainy English afternoon walk home from the bus

Rainy English afternoon turns into rainy English evening

bathtime!

 bedtime!

 a little television after the kids go to bed (our big tv is with the rest of our furniture, on a boat somewhere in the North Atlantic- this is Noah's tv that we packed in Unaccompanied Baggage so we would have something to watch until our stuff gets here)

Like I said, I will have to revisit this idea when we get all our things.  My day will be slightly less boring when I have a car and can actually leave the house.  I am feeling a bit like a shut-in at the moment.

At least I have internet now- it took nineteen days to get a phone and internet hooked up in the house.  I have been going insane!  I am so happy to be connected with the world again.

An update from across the pond

Hey y'all! This is Jennifer from Momma Made It Look Easy. Jennifer sent me an email and asked if I would update everyone with how things are going for them in England.

They are settling into their "new" house, which is actually pretty old, but beautiful. Here is a photo I grabbed from her Facebook account. I'm sure she will have some fantastic photos to share soon.

She said it takes a while for her phone and internet too be connected so she will not be able to update the blog until that is finished. There is also no 3G so she can't update from her phone, and their American car has not yet arrived (DJ is using the car they acquired in England to drive to work) so she can't even drive to a free wifi spot. (If it were me I would be having some kind of daily panic attacks.)

She is hoping that she will be re-connected with the world (wide web) soon, and she promises loads of tales of life in England as soon as possible. I, for one, can not wait!