Our English House, Part 5

So- I kind of left y'all hanging.  I was all into showing you different parts of my house and then I just quit blogging.  Sorry about that.  I have no excuse except that life gets in the way.  I intend to blog- especially with family so far away -I want to keep y'all updated about what is going on with us, but it just doesn't happen.  A big reason is that I can't post a blog heavy with pictures at night- the internet is too slow.  And I am used to getting things done at night. If I plan ahead (like I did today, but that doesn't happen often) I can upload the pictures earlier in the day and then write the blog at night.  But, yeah... that kind of planning is not a regular thing here.

For a refresher or if you missed the first four parts, I brought you inside my kitchen and three of the bedrooms in part one.  In part two, I mainly concentrated on the outside and now reading it again, I remembered that I wanted to take more pictures of the outside when everything in the garden was in bloom.  And now that has all passed and I forgot.  Oops.  Hopefully, I remember next summer.  We took a look in my craft room (an out building) and the office in part three.  And part four brought you inside the dining room for a cup of tea beside the wood-burning stove.

I decided today was a good day to take a look in the bathroom since my lavender is in bloom outside and I have been waiting for it to bloom so I could put a few sprigs in there.

The entry:

 In England, there are no electrical outlets or light switches in bathrooms. Because of their 220 voltage, they fear the possibility of electrocution with all that moisture in the bath.  So, older homes have these pull cord light switches that turn the light on (newer homes have a light switch OUTSIDE the bathroom door in the hallway).  The other cord you see there is a pull cord that turns on the shower.

 I was elated to see this clawfoot tub when we looked at the house- and it is beautiful.  But, the reality is that it is pretty cold in this cavernous bathroom and you can freeze to death while sitting in that bath.  It is also quite a pain to clean.  

 I found a beautiful pitcher and wash basin at an antique store and thought it would go nicely in this bathroom.

 I found the towel rack at an antique shop but it was in bad shape.  I gave it a nice little paint job and now it looks great!

 The picture there on the wall is a canvas print of one of my photos I took this past summer of the roses around the back door of the house.

 I found this little plaque while shopping one day and had to have it!  I have also placed the little bottle here with sprigs of lavender from the plants I put in a few months ago in the back garden.

 Lavender from my lavender plants:

 The shower:

I think the only rooms left are the guest bedroom and the living room. Hopefully, I will get to them before we leave (in two years).

In other news, the kids started their new year of school end of August.  Noah is now in his last year of elementary school and I am choosing not to think about the fact I will be the parent of a middle school kid next year.  Zoe is trucking along in first grade, working on reading and memorizing poems for class.  

Noah starts back up with piano lessons and his new piano teacher (the last one moved back to the US) this week.  Both kids started swim lessons two weeks ago and are doing well considering their hatred for getting their faces wet. They are still in the "armband" class and I imagine will be in that class for some time.  I feel bad for Noah, though, because he is ten years old and in a class, wearing floaties, with a bunch of children all five and under.  Even Zoe seems a little old for the class, but they both have to learn.  As much of a lover of the water as I am, I did not pass that trait on to either of my children and I was unable to teach them to swim.  

As for school, they are both currently working on a project for the librarian sponsored by the PTO.  They are hosting a pumpkin decorating contest where the children are required to decorate a pumpkin like a storybook character and the pumpkins will be used as fall decor for the library and school.  Both kids know what they are aiming for and I am going to a craft store tomorrow to see if I can find supplies.  Stay tuned for those reveals later.  

And last, I have mentioned over and over how the Air Force world is a small one and it is amazing how we tend to cross paths over and over again or with people that have mutual friends.  Back in New Jersey, I had a friend that I made when we were both pregnant with our first kids and our husbands (in the same squadron) were deployed at the same time.  Our boys were born 6 weeks apart and were each other's first friends.  They left New Jersey in 2006 and we haven't seen them since.  Well, they found out last summer they were moving to England this fall.  Her husband arrived today and she and the kids will arrive on Friday.  We are so very excited to see them again.  DJ met up with Jeff today to take him to get a rental car and hopefully, once Claudia gets here, we can maybe see them this weekend.  Here's hoping they can find a place to live near us.