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.

Air Force Families

The wonderful thing about the Air Force life is that goodbyes are not always goodbye- all too often, they are "see ya later".  No matter where the Air Force takes you,  you almost always cross paths with someone you have met before- or a friend of a friend.  It is a big ole family.

I was in New Jersey so long I went through three full cycles of friends that left me and then, finally, it was my turn to leave.  Although, I left behind a wonderful sweet friend (Karyn) that I miss dearly- I can only hope that the Air Force will bring us back together one day too.

I met Claudia when her husband was deployed with mine and we were both pregnant with our first children.  We soon formed a friendship and our boys were born only six weeks apart and were each others' first best friends.  My son was cranky, cried all the time and never slept.  Her son was happy, slept and a dream.  She was concerned I had post partum depression and finally talked me into going to a playgroup on base when Noah was almost a year old.  That is where I also met Amber, Catherine, Lucy, Jennifer, Becca, Sarah Jane and Marlana.  They had also just had their first children who were about a year younger than mine and Claudia's boys.  I only saw these ladies weekly at playgroup but remained close to Claudia, having playdates at the house with the boys and getting the whole families together at each others' houses for dinner, barbecues and just hanging out.

So, when Claudia's husband got orders the summer our boys were turning three, I was devastated.  The rest of my first cycle of friends had just left and Claudia was all I had left.  Claudia was neighbors with Amber and Amber was having a scrapbooking party.  I had no interest in scrapbooking but Claudia insisted I go to the party- she was trying to take care of me and insert me into a new friend group.  What a great friend- she was worried about me and didn't want to leave me friendless.  I started hanging out with the other ladies and gradually started scrapbooking.

Over the next few years, these ladies became my best friends.  We spent many late nights at each other's houses scrapbooking, bouncing advice, fears and concerns about things like breastfeeding, potty training, biting, and other parenting issues as well as deployment frustrations off of each other. We relied on each other doing simple mundane things- like meeting each other at the post office so one could babysit the minivans in the parking lot while the other ran in to mail packages without kids, strollers and diaper bags. These were the ladies that surprised me with a baby shower when I was pregnant with Zoe because I wasn't going home to Texas to have one. These were also the ladies that quietly prayed after Zoe had her stroke and got together to make a "Welcome Home Zoe" sign and put it on my front door with balloons the day Zoe was released from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Lucy left first, then Marlana, then Jennifer followed by Catherine and finally Amber.  Sarah Jane's husband separated from the military and was still in the area, but we saw less and less of her as she adapted to civilian life and lived an hour away from the base.  Becca and I were left behind but Becca completed her schooling and got a full time job and we lost touch.

When we received orders last spring to England, I was ecstatic.  Catherine is in England, Jennifer is in Germany and Amber is in Italy.  We decided we MUST have a "Jersey Girl Reunion".  Alas, Jennifer's husband's job does not allow a lot of flexibility, so she was not able to participate.  Amber is leaving for her next assignment in June, so Catherine and I got together one cold, dreary day in February and booked plane tickets to Italy!  Our trip was this past weekend.

It was absolutely beautiful in northern Italy!  The weather was great, the scenery beautiful but the friendship was phenomenal.  It seemed as if time had never passed and was great to be together again.  That very same weekend, Becca (who has now moved on to another assignment somewhat close to Marlana- whose husband separated a few years ago and has moved to their forever home) and Marlana got together as well back in the US.

So, without further ado, here are some pictures of our fabulous Italian weekend.  Don't worry, Jennifer, Catherine and I were already discussing tentative plans for Germany next year to see you!

Lake Barcis

 We hosted Flat Stanley for a family in Texas and I took him to Italy with me.  Here are my friend's boys holding Stanley at the Italian market.

 **snicker**  These were incense sticks for sale at the market- they had cannabis scented ones.  It made me laugh. (NO- I did NOT buy any).

 Pasta with curry sauce- oh my goodness, it was SO GOOD!

 Gorgazzo underwater cave

Stanley holding British money (a £5 note and a £1 coin)

Stanley holding Euro (for his Italian shopping needs- a 20 Euro note and a 1 Euro coin)

Stanley on the train to Venice

 Venice!!  (Venezia)

Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square)- it is not uncommon for this square to be ankle-deep in water. They even have floating sidewalks they put out when the water floods the square. This past fall, though, there were pictures circulating of the square waist-deep in water. 

The flooded square (this image is not mine- I got it from the internet- here)

 Bridge of Sighs

Grand Canal

This is my favorite photo I took all weekend:

 my lunch: gnocchi- yum!

 Stanley visiting the American base in Italy- I took a picture because look at the beautiful mountains towering over the base!

The church in Amber's town

The view out the window of our plane as we taxied away from the Venice airport, England-bound. 

Zoe's souvenir- a Carnivale mask (she loves cats) made in Italy

Noah's souvenir

I feel so fortunate to have friends literally all over the world!  It is somewhat comforting to know that wherever we may go next, chances are high, I will see a familiar face there!  I love my Air Force family!

Oh- and Claudia (whom I mentioned earlier in this post) has just messaged me in the past few weeks to tell me they will arrive in England this fall!   

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.