It's Friday!!!

Where did the week go?  On Monday I went with a friend to Leeds to do some shopping.  Hit up Costco and Ikea (a place I couldn't be paid enough to go into at home!)  I was on a search to find a bathroom cabinet and was successful.  Can't wait to organize the bathroom!

Tuesday night we had a work dinner and Wednesday I was invited to lunch with a woman whose husband also works at the refinery.  She took me to a lovely cafe and then we stopped at the Hull mall. Don't think I need to go back there, nothing like The Galleria.

 Today I will be busy packing my suitcases.  Tonight is the manager's Christmas dinner and tomorrow we go to Manchester to see Kurt Vile.  Sunday I fly to Houston YAAAAYYYYY!

Driving on the wrong side of the road

As a person with no sense of direction, even if I knew my way around, driving here scares me to death!!  The first thing I had to learn is to get in on the correct side of the car and shifting with my left hand is very strange. Believe me, it takes some serious brain re-wiring.  And just riding in the passenger seat is scary enough because it always feels like we are going to go off the side of the road.  Larry has been here since August so he has mastered driving and he knows where's he's going.  We are allowed to drive on our US driver's licenses for one year.  From what I heard, the whole process can take almost a year so it's best to start the application process as soon as possible.  First we get a provisional license, which requires we send our passports away for a month.  We'll apply for that when we get back in January.  We are also provided driving lessons and I will do that in January as well.  The average person fails the driving portion of the test (even the Brits) 3 times before passing.

I have been driving to the grocery store in Barton for a few weeks now. It's probably a 5 mile drive.  I take the back way to avoid as much traffic as I can.  The roads here are VERY narrow, 2-lane country roads, no shoulders.

I seriously think I should have a large, flashing sign on my car that says "American driving, stay back."

           I finally got comfortable and decided that I would go to the store through town.

 With my handwritten directions (because the GPS is a whole other story) in hand, I took off.  The main road is extremely busy and full of lorries (semi-trucks to us) and even farm equipment.  I have no idea what the speed limit is or how fast/slow I'm going.  It wouldn't matter if I did, as my eyes are glued to the road.  Can't look at the speedometer!  Can't take a hand off the wheel, whiteknuckling it all the way! I am going to have to change that as there are speed cameras everywhere.  So far no speeding ticket has come in the mail!  I was surprised to learn that distance is measured in mileage and speed in miles per hour.

In the villages, there are no traffic lights, just roundabouts.  Lots of roundabouts!  I have seen only a handful of stop signs.  The traffic lights have a nice feature I think the US should add. The light not only turns yellow right before it's going to turn red but also turns yellow before it's going to turn green.

The good thing is if I miss my exit out of the roundabout, I can just keep going in circles until I hit the target.  Adding to the excitement of the narrow streets, are cars parked in the driving lane (by the way, you can park going either direction!).

But I'm very impressed by how polite the other drivers are.  When it gets down to one lane because of a parked car, everyone waits their turn and there is almost always a wave as the other drivers go by.  And EVERYONE uses their blinkers!

Parking at the grocery store seems like it should be the easiest .  But I've noticed everyone usually pulls through to the parking space ahead.  I figured out why after several attempts of pulling in, reversing, pulling in, reversing again until I was almost within the parking lines.  It finally occurred to me that 1) that's why they pull forward, they can't do it right the first time either and 2) I'm sure the parking spaces were painted back when cars were much smaller, before SUVs were invented.

Yesterday was a REALLY big day!  I drove across the bridge to meet a friend for some shopping.

I had to get on the dual carriageway (our interstate) and even managed to pass a few cars.  Here, you only get in the inside lane to pass a car and then you get right back in the outside lane.  I love that rule!  I made it to the meeting spot with no problems, didn't get lost and didn't anger any other drivers.  On the way back home, I drove in complete darkness (something I said I would NEVER do) and rush hour traffic.  Feeling pretty darn proud of myself!

A new pastime

I realized I was getting old when I wanted to buy myself a grabber

We have 3 huge apple trees that have been making a mess on the lawn

  

The wind we had last week has finally left the trees bare but if I ever get bored,

there's a whole lot more for me to pick (I think I'll just leave them

for the birds)

Weekend wrap-up (the food edition, 2 very different lunches)

Had a nice, quiet weekend, much appreciated after the excitement of the past few days.  Larry had short meetings at the refinery each day and yesterday we went to Winteringham Fields for our Christmas lunch.  He took me there the first night I arrived in England.  It is one of the best restaurants I have ever been too.  The food is local and fresh, fancy but in a very inviting way.  They even have a helicopter pad for when the Beckhams or Elton John decide to drop in.  We had:

Starter

Pumpkin soup, wild mushroom ravioli, truffles, pumpkin seeds

Pan fried foie gras, puy lentils, Quince* Ximinez sherry
Spatzli with textures of onion, cardamom puree
Main

Wild local Venison suet pudding, cassie roast loin, ash baked parsnips and  peanut crumb

Braised pork jowl, black pudding, Brussels sprouts, pommes purée, crackling

Dessert

Valrona BFG does Christmas of blackberries and kirsch

The electricity blinked on and off a few times when we got home, just enough to remind us to never take it for granted again.

Today we had errands to run, bits and bobs to pick up at the hardware store and groceries for restocking what we had to throw out.  I can't remember the last time I've eaten at McDonalds but it was calling my name today.

I was very skeptical that it would taste like home (not that it's great at home) so was pleasantly surprised that it was as tasty as it was! 

Oh what a night…and day…and night…..

After hurricane force (ok not quite, but seemed like it) winds all day on Thursday, little did I know that Mother Nature was at work in other areas….

The plumber (I think I'll call him Sir Richard from now on) finished installing the boiler around 5:30 Thursday night.  The wind had stopped howling, the house was starting to heat up, the in-floor heaters were getting toasty, all was good.  Sir Richard told me that the main road into the village had been closed as a lorry (semi-truck) had jack knifed. I'm guessing from the wind.  I worried about Larry getting home from work but he assured me there were alternate routes.  He also informed me that there was a chance the river could flood.  I knew the wind was strong but it seemed strange it would flood when it wasn't even raining!  News reports started coming in that the villages along the river were to evacuate.  A VERY low pressure system, high winds and an abnormally high tide would be the cause of the worst tidal surge in 60 years.  At 7:30, the electricity went out.  So much for heating up the house.  At 4:30 a.m the security alarm siren went off.  Larry flew out of bed, frantically trying to remember the code to turn it off.  5:30 it went off again.  No amount of pushing in the code would turn it off.  It finally went off by itself after what seemed like an eternity.

The first two bodies of water are new

I spent the day in a cold house, except for the room with the gas stove, listening to the alarm system alternating between beeping and the siren going off, a dead cell phone and food in the refrigerator starting to spoil.  (The house must be very well insulated as the temperature stayed in the low 60's, not bad considering we'd end up being without heat for 3 days.  Outside it dipped into the 30's at night and 40's during the day.)  Decided to try charging my phone in the car in the garage.  I knew Larry had disengaged the garage door opener so I thought I'd just open it up, start the car and get the phone charged.  There was absolutely NO WAY to open that door.  I'm sure it weighs close to a ton and there isn't one handle on the blasted thing.  What's with the doors in this country!!

Larry said he barely got it open when he left for work. He had to pull on the disengage cord and at the same time, try to lift the door WITH NO HANDLES!  

I did get A LOT of reading done until the sun started going down between 3:30 and 4:00.  Back to sitting in the dark, working on a headache/nausea from smelling the mixture of pumpkin chai, wild oats & bourbon and tahiti vanilla candles.  The refinery had problems caused by the flooding so Larry didn't make it home until 8:00.  We took off to find dinner, noticed Vic next door had electricity.  REALLY!  Did he have it the whole time, right next door?!  With our bellies full, got ready to climb in bed and at exactly 10:45, the electricity came back on.  HALLELUJAH!!!

I am VERY thankful that the lack of electricity was the only problem we had to experience.  Hundreds of people had waste high water in their homes, just in our village alone. Others up the coast, lost their homes completely and there were a couple deaths.  Seems pretty trivial when I put it in perspective.

I will be stocking up on fragrance-free candles….

Blown away

When I woke up this morning, I thought I heard a jet constantly circling above the house.  Then I got up and realized it was the wind.  It is blowing 25-40 mph with occasional 60 mph gusts!  It's 45 degrees out and I can only imagine what the "feels like" temperature is.  At least I'm not in Montana or North Dakota experiencing their frigid weather.

Speaking of blowing, yesterday Richard (the plumber) showed up with a new boiler for the house.  Houses in England are heated with hot water.  Soon after we moved in, I was in the kitchen when there was, what felt like, an explosion coming from the boiler room.  The house shook, scared me to death.  It happened a couple more times that day, even blew a crack in the boiler room door. I called Richard who came right over, took the boiler apart, cleaned it, found nothing!  I'm sure Larry thought I was imagining it until at 3 in the morning, it felt like we were blown out of bed.  Thankfully, the landlord decided to replace it!

Out with the old

In with the new

This is turning into a 2-day job, so far.  I'm glad we have a stove to keep part of the house warm.

Weekend wrap-up

We kicked off the weekend Friday night (or as I like to call it "Susan doesn't cook on Friday night") at the village pub around the corner.  Larry had stopped by the pub back in September when he was out here to check on the progress of the house renovations.  Gavin, the young owner, was quick to say "oh, you're the American who's moving in."  I've got the feeling news travels fast in this village.

I have heard stories about English pubs ("pub"lic houses) but never been to one.  They were the center of activity and business for the villages, more than just a place to drink beer.  But they are a slowly dying business.  Grocery stores have undercut their beer sales and people are staying home to drink.  They started offering meals as a way to bring the people back and it worked for awhile.  The pub, which Gavin leases, was bought by a large corporation and now he can't afford the rent.  In a few weeks, the pub will shut down, very sad.

But, good news, mystery solved, kinda.  Ran into Richard (the plumber) who asked if "so and so" had stopped by to welcome us.  I told him that yes, a woman had come by with flowers but that I didn't get her name.  He said she had told him that she was going to stop by.  She "lives on the big farm down the road."  Once again, I think news travels very fast…. and I still didn't get her name.

We hit the road early Saturday morning for a visit to the city of York.  It is about an hour away and we have been told by many people we have to go there.  It is a walled medieval city, with tiny cobblestone streets and dates back to AD 71.  

Our first stop was York Minster, the largest Gothic cathedral north of the Alps.  It is home to the largest collection of medieval stained glass in Britain.  Quite an impressive place.  We even climbed up the 275 steps of the tower and 275 back down.  My legs are still aching!  

Some of the streets are closed to traffic and the Christmas markets are set up.  There were lots and lots of interesting shops and kiosks, even one selling Cadbury drinking chocolate.  Oh my was it delicious! By noon, the place was a complete zoo!  It was shoulder to shoulder people and we couldn't get out of there fast enough!

We spent Sunday finishing up some projects around the house.  Larry spent most of the day out in the retreat, now named his bike man cave.  He's happy that it is completely organized now.  

There are only a couple more things left on the list, which we hope to cross off next weekend.