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.

Afternoon Tea Party

Zoe's birthday was last week and I had promised her a birthday party.  You see, I was great at having birthday parties for her in the past.  She had a Pink Poodles in Paris first birthday party, a Circus themed second birthday and the mother of all parties, an ice cream sundae parlor themed party for her third birthday. After that third birthday, I was exhausted.

The following year, for her fourth, we were in Texas visiting family, so we had a pool party at my dad's house and bought Hello Kitty party supplies.  I got off really easy on that one.

Last year, for her fifth, we had just moved overseas and were still staying in temporary lodging.  It was very low-key.  I bought a few tinker bell decorations to hang while she was sleeping so she could feel a little special when she awakened the next morning.  It wasn't a great celebration as we were busy trying to find a house, still without all of our things, and essentially homeless.

This year I promised she could have a party.  We settled on a tea party theme (what better theme when in England?) and went to work.  From the moment we moved into our house last summer, I envisioned a garden tea party out amongst the flowers with twinkling fairy lights hanging from trees.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.

Even though we had to cram five little girls and their mothers indoors, I think the party went well and Zoe had a great time!

Here is the invitation I made using Photoshop with all of the personal information blocked out:

I made place cards using Photoshop as well:

Luckily, there are loads of antique and second-hand stores here and I was able to find tea trios for fairly cheap, so I purchased one for each girl for about £5 ($7.50) per set.

 In order to make all of the chairs uniform, I found some Cath Kidston pillow cases on ebay and used them as chair covers.  The bows came from The Range.

The bunting hanging on the cabinet was also purchased at The Range.

The paper lanterns and plastic tablecloth came from Oriental Trading (thankfully, I ordered them back in June, because they took almost two months to get here in the mail)

 The cookies were made by a local baker- a military wife with a phenomenal talent.

The plates and napkins came from Oriental Trading as well.

When the party was going to be outdoors, I had planned to set up a blue backdrop with a bunting on it and let the girls dress up and have a photo booth.  Since the party had to be moved indoors, I had the bucket of supplies on the side in case someone wanted to wear something.  They really didn't wear anything during the party, but after the party was over, everyone picked something from the bucket and I took them outside for a group shot. (it had stopped raining).  I do not have the permission of any of the girls' parents to post their photo, so just know it is cute, but will not be included in this post.

The paper bunting came from Oriental trading too.  It was supposed to be a cake topper but looked silly on the cake, so I decided to prop it up as a backdrop for the tea.  Just an hour before the party started, I was trying to figure out how to make them stand up when I remembered I had pink and white pearl cupcake sprinkles, so I poured them in wine glasses to anchor the bunting.  The tea I served was regular black tea, rose, Earl Grey and an herbal tea for our caffeine-free guests.

I had scones with lemon curd, raspberry preserve or strawberry wine preserves along with shortbread biscuits and homemade pound cake and lemon cookies.  On the sandwich tray, I had nutella sandwiches (the ONLY sandwich apart from pb&j that Zoe will eat), turkey sandwiches and chicken salad with fresh dill using greek yogurt in place of mayonnaise.

 The same girl that made the cookies also made the cake.

Each girl took two cookies and a china trio home as her party favor.

 I loved this photo I captured of Zoe blowing out her candles.  I blurred the girl in the background's face as I do not have permission to post it.

It was no ice cream party, but I think as a whole, it went well, and Zoe was pleased.

I hope to get back into blogging more soon and apologize to my friends and family that are keeping up with us through my blog.  The problem I have run into is that the best time for me to blog is at night and our internet is so slow at night, that it isn't worth it.  I just sat here for over an hour while the above photos loaded.  And now it is past 11pm and I have to get up in the morning.  The internet is considerably faster during the daytime, but I don't have much time for blogging during the day.  Again, my apologies- I hope to figure it out and start blogging more so my family back in the US can follow our adventures.

More Conversations in Our House

Conversation last night: ( background- the British don't refrigerate their eggs. They are on the regular shelves in the grocery store and they keep them out at home.  Also, our British refrigerator is TINY and I have a hard time finding places to keep everything)




ME: I think we are going to start handling the eggs the British way and leaving them out.  They take up too much room in the fridge and I need that space.

DJ: Okay.... but...

ME: They don't even refrigerate them in the store.

DJ: I know it is fine, but they DO stay fresh longer in the fridge.

ME:  The date on the eggs I bought today is 20 May.  That is plenty of time to eat them.

DJ:  Well okay, but if they start hatching....

ME:  They are organic free range, so I guess that is possible...

ME: ... but you know what it means if they hatch?

DJ: baby chicks?

ME:  No!  BONUS- CHICKEN DINNER!


I know.. we're bad.

Earth Day

New Jersey was pretty serious about recycling.  It was actually a law that you must recycle there- you could be fined if you were caught not recycling.  We had a large bucket-style bin in which we placed all cans, glass and plastics (numbered 1 and 2) and we also had a large lidded bin (like a garbage bin) for paper and cardboard.  Recyclables were collected every other week and garbage was collected twice a week, every week.  Also, it is worth it to note, that the garbage men would take whatever you had on the curb next to your bin.

In England, they are serious about recycling too, but it is different.  They are so serious about recycling that they inadvertently make it mandatory by only picking up your garbage every other week.  And, they will not take anything that does not fit into your garbage bin.  So, if you don't recycle, you will be overloaded with garbage.  We have a black garbage bin and a green recycle bin.  Plastics, paper, cardboard and cans can be placed in the green bins, but not glass.

  There is a separate large recycle container (dumpster) at the village hall for dumping glass.

Our recycle bins are picked up on alternating weeks with the garbage bin being picked up on the recycle off week.  We also have small gray bins- a really small one for under the sink...

 ...and a slightly larger (but still small) one for outside.

These gray bins require compostable liners and are for food waste.  I can put leftovers, vegetable peelings, bones, eggshells, coffee grounds and tea bags in them.  Once the small container under the sink starts filling up- or starts to smell foul- I can remove the bag and place it in the bin outside.

This gray bin is collected EVERY week.  It's brilliant, really.  I really like the concept of the kitchen waste caddy as it seems- without garbage disposals in the sinks- I dump out a lot of food.

Finally, even though this is not related to recycling it is still about conserving energy and therefore relevant, I wanted to talk about the wall outlets here in England.  In America, we were always being told to save energy by unplugging items from the wall while not in use.  It makes sense, and it helps, but, let's face it, I don't have time (or maybe I am too lazy) to go around unplugging everything every day when I leave the house.  It just isn't going to happen.  And that is why I LOVE the way England handles this.  Each outlet has a switch that can be turned off and on.

When you need to use that outlet, simply flip the switch to on and when you are done, flip it back off.  Again- brilliant!

And if this whole informational post bored you- here is a previous Earth Day post about the time Zoe locked me out of the house on recycle day.  She was two at the time.


Happy Earth Day!

Half a Year

That is how long we have been here.  Well, almost.  We will have officially been here for six months on Wednesday.  I cannot believe it has been six months already and yet, in the same breath, it seems like a lifetime has passed since we boarded that plane in Philadelphia leaving the last 12 years of our lives, our house, our friends, and the only home my kids have ever known behind.

I was excited to move to England.  We loved it the last time we were here.  I know I sound like a parrot here- because I keep saying, " I know we will love it again." That is me trying to be positive.  I keep saying that over and over like some sort of mantra but it doesn't seem to be sticking.  We are having a harder time here than we did last time.

Of course, I didn't expect it to be exactly like last time.  I can't recreate that experience.  I know that.  I mean, I arrived here after my husband had already lived here for two years.  He already had a house and a British car and had set up all the important things like television service, tv tax, road tax, electricity, etc.  He knew his way around, was familiar with his job and had some friends.  That meant that we had people to hang out with when I got here.  Our neighbors were very friendly and Andrea would just pop by all the time and ask me along on errands or nights out, so I learned, from a Brit, my way around and how things worked.  Since they were just next door, I could just pop over and visit whenever I had a moment or was bored  ( and I spend a lot of time over there).  Four months after arriving here, I started working on base (although it was not the most desirable job) and made some American friends too.  I settled in, had friends, went out and enjoyed life in England.

This time around, I have two children to worry about.  I have done my best to put on my happy face and try and show the children how fun England is and help them cope with the move.  But, the reality is, I am lonely.  I am miserable.  Other than a quick, "Hiya", in passing, our neighbors don't talk to us.  I don't even know most of their names.  A few have introduced themselves in passing, but that is all.  I have to come to terms with the fact that I am terrible at making friends!  I kept excusing myself saying, "Well, I'm still new here.", but I've seen people get here in the last few months and already have friends and going places with them.  So, it is me.  I miss having a friend to just drop by and have tea/coffee/cake/cookies and chat.  I miss having a friend to invite me over to do the same.  I miss having  someone to go shopping with, another family for my family to hang out with.  And the thing is- so do my kids.

Many a night, Noah has come down the stairs after bedtime crying and saying he wants to go back to New Jersey. He had friends there.  He went to play at his buddy's house, had friends over to our house and was comfortable there.  Not one person has invited him to play since we have been here.  Within the first month of school, he had identified two boys in particular that he plays with.  I sent notes in to school to go home with them giving their parents our phone number if they were interested in letting the boys get together.  Neither of them contacted me.

Zoe is having a hard time too, but being only five, she doesn't know how to express it.  She's having serious behavior problems, exhibiting alarming (to me) behavior when she is her most upset.  She cries because she hates her room and hates our house.  She doesn't want to go to school- she just wants to stay home with me. She appears to be needing extra attention, but it is to the point of being ridiculous.  She doesn't like for Noah to receive ANY attention. If we tell Noah "thank you" or "good job" on something, she is immediately asking, "What about me?  Didn't I do a good job?"  and the situation won't even be relevant to her.  We do praise her plenty and thank her, but it never seems to be enough.   We only have the weekend to all spend time together and I like to do things all together, but I have decided that perhaps we need to start splitting up and DJ taking one kid while I take the other and we have solo time with them.  Of course the problem with that is that I don't get to spend time with DJ.

Both of the kids are in need of playmates and friends.  They are not playing well together and just push each other's buttons, causing a fight and causing me to get angry with them.

DJ is grumpy.  He's not feeling fulfilled in his job.  He doesn't feel like he is accomplishing anything which makes him miserable. This bad mood carries over into other things in that when the little things go wrong, he feels overwhelmed (this weekend alone, our tv, that is only 3 years old has started going out and two space heaters- one that is just a few weeks old and one that is about a month old- have decided to intermittently quit working).  The brakes on the Beetle seem a little flaky too and need to be looked at as well as the fact we never figured out what was wrong with the Zafira after it left me stranded on the side of the road.

So, while I keep telling myself "It will get better. We will love it here again.", I am starting to not believe it.  Before, I was confident we would be fine and we would settle in, but now I am not so sure.

I told the kids this morning that they cannot keep comparing England to New Jersey.  They need to accept this as a new experience and enjoy the thing they can do here that they can't do in America.  I reminded them that if they continue to hang on to New Jersey, it will be a very long and miserable three years here.  I need to listen to my own advice.  I thought I had.  I came here excited to be here, with an open mind, ready for adventure.  I was ready to show my kids why we loved it here so much.

And yet, six months later- here I sit- with a silent phone and a dusty front door mat, unable to capture the magic I left behind twelve years ago.  Here's to the next six months!  May they go nowhere but up and may they be filled with love, laughter and acceptance.

The Window and "I'm Cold"

When I was reading through my last post taking you into my dining room, I discovered that I had left the most important feature of the room out:

The window.

In various photos I have posted before of my sideboard, several people have asked if that was a dumbwaiter. It isn't, but has a great (to me) story!

When I first introduced you to our house, I told you how it used to be a home and a shop.  Our living room was the shop. During that time, the owner would have primarily lived in the dining room space- warming around the fire.  They would have needed to know if someone walked in the shop, so rather than having to keep checking, they built a window that provided a clear view of the shop door from the vantage point of someone sitting by the fire in the dining room.  (Remember, I told you the shop door has been turned into a built-in bookcase in our living room).

(the view if you zoom in on the window from the chair next to the fireplace- see the bookcase?  That used to be the shop door.)

Now, onto other things.  In order to cut down on heating costs, which are expensive here, I have had to learn to get used to a cooler temperature in the house than I am used to.  In New Jersey, we kept it around 70 (21 C).  Here, it generally stays around 64 (18 C).  I just keep thick socks and a hoodie or cardigan on.  So, this morning, after I walked the kids to the bus stop, I could not get warm.

I have my fuzzy socks:

I am wearing a hoodie AND a hat:

And, although you can't see them, I am also wearing thermals under my jeans.  When I am sitting, I also have a blanket on.  As I type this, my hands actually ache from the cold.  We filled up our oil tank in September and were hoping to make it through the winter as oil is more expensive in the winter. But, it is becoming apparent to us that we will probably have to fill it again by January.  And that should cost a small fortune.

Anyway,  as I was saying, I cannot get warm.  So, I wandered in to the office to look at our thermometer.  Fifty-eight degrees (14 C).  No wonder I am freezing!!  I went upstairs and bumped the heat from 16 to 18 to try and warm it up a little more in here!  I am so thankful, England doesn't get that cold!  I don't think I could take New Jersey temperatures in this house!  OR.. I wouldn't be able to AFFORD New Jersey temperatures in this house!  THIS is why these houses are built with so many fireplaces!  It is a shame ours don't work!

So, for now, I sit in the corner of my couch, typing this blog within easy reach of the radiator (see it behind the curtain?).  Aside from the heat radiating from it,  I also like to alternate between placing my hands on it to warm them up.

Our English House- Part 4

One of Mama Kat's writing prompts this week was: "Friends are on their way over to your house for a coffee date.  What kind of afternoon can they expect with you?"  I thought this was an excellent way to marry the Writer's Workshop link-up with part 4 of my series on our house here in England.

I don't drink coffee, but I do drink tea.  Perfect for England, right?  So, assuming you are coming over to my house for tea, you will have to see my dining room which is less spectacular than the rest of the house, but quaint in it's own right.  Since it has not yet been revealed, this is the perfect opportunity for it.

Upon entering the back door, the dining room is immediately on your left. The print hanging over the fireplace is one of the original deeds to the house complete with a wax seal.  The landlord left it there and I think it is a nice touch.

The view from the back corner facing the dining room door (you can see the back door in the background):

The house has four fireplaces but they have all been sealed off.  All except the one in the dining room which was fitted with a wood burning stove.  It has been really cold lately, so when you arrive, I will have the fire going to keep you warm.

I got this tea set at a secondhand shop for £30.  It includes service for 5- 5 teacups and saucers, 5 dessert plates, the cake plate you see above with the biscuits (cookies) on it, sugar bowl and creamer.  I was lamenting the fact I didn't have a teapot to go with it when I remembered the little teapot DJ bought me on a trip to California last year.  It actually goes really well with the set!

Here is your seat with a cup of tea waiting- one lump or two?

And if you are having the kind of day where tea just doesn't hit the spot, the landlord also left a nice bottle and glass rack on the wall- I would be more than happy to pour you a glass of wine.

Cheers.


**If you missed the first three parts, let me catch you up.  In August, my family moved from New Jersey to England and are living in a charming English home built in 1812.  I am writing about and sharing it's quirks and rooms so my friends and family can experience this adventure along with us.  Part 1 shows you the outside of our house, the kitchen, the kids' bedrooms and our bedroom.  For Part 2, I give you some of the history of the house and take you around the back yard showing you the remains of an old cottage, the well and the furnace in the blacksmith's shop.  Part 3 explores my craft room I set up in one of the out buildings and then brings you back inside the house to see my favorite room- the office.