a quick succession of busy nothings

A Rural Devon Cottage

2012-02-10T10:42:00.000Z

Oh goody, I'm so pleased you are here my friends! I have so many photos to share from our trip to Devon and Dorset this past weekend. I hope you don't mind if I bombard you with a load of photos.... I'm seriously out of control with the camera sometimes! (linking up today with Show us What you Shot)

Down a pretty leafy lane in the rural Devon countryside

Sits a sweet little cottage

....which is the home of this beautiful American family. We met through our blogs awhile back (one of the reasons I love blogging so much - making so many lovely friends!)

They have been living in England for the past two years on a work assignment and are moving back to the States next month. We are so pleased we got to spend some quality time with them before they go back home.

And as you can see, Tess was instant friends with this very loving family.

The boys had some quality time with Mario.

And they even made me a belated birthday cake! Isn't that the sweetest?!

This loving family made us feel right at home in their beautiful cottage.

I'm totally obsessed with how cute this English cottage is.

Isn't it perfect? Look at that pretty view to the green fields outside.

It's so secluded and peaceful here.

You can see right onto the River Exe from the garden.

Another really unique thing about this cottage is that it sits directly across the street from this 13th Century church.

and like all old churches in this country, it has it's own peaceful cemetery.

Here's a pretty view of the cottage and church. Apparently, a long time ago, this cottage is where the family lived who cared for the church grounds and dug the graves in the churchyard. Cool!

There's even a castle just down the road from the cottage and church.

Our friends took us on one of their favorite walks.

We passed through green fields, along the train track, and right up to the River Exe.

Susan pointed out where the river empties into the ocean - the English Channel.

The kids collected shells and stones from the bank of the river.

Then we splashed in puddles all the way back home

I'm going to show some restraint and stop here for today. I think I've bombarded you with enough photos for one day. Come back soon for photos of our snowy visit to the moors and the city of Exeter.

366 Days: 30-36

2012-02-06T15:46:00.000Z

Welcome to a new week dear ones! Did you get snow this weekend? We are disappointed that we missed the little bit of snow that fell on Oxfordshire. We were in Devon this weekend, and they didn't get much snow down there. Photos from our short trip later this week, as for today, Tess and I are staying tucked inside on this cold and foggy day.

A view of the early morning out our upstairs window

We've been watching a lot of Alice in Wonderland - especially on very cold days when we don't feel up to venturing out.

Early evening on our street, as we walked back from the shops in town.

My birthday present from Miles finally arrived in the post - a new lens for my camera! (Friends, this 35mm is a pretty great little lens for a relatively low price.)

This girl adores dressing in her mommy's jewellery

Road trip! Our weekend getaway to Devon and Dorset (along the southern coast of England) was splendid! Oh boy, and I took hundreds of photos, and I promise to share many of them with you later this week.

We spent some time in a seaside town in Dorset that I'm absolutely in love with. I can't wait to show you more later this week.

Sharing with: Your Sunday Best, Sweet Violet, The Creative Exchange, Sweet Shot Day, Communal Global, and Then She Snapped.

A Winter Holiday

2012-02-03T17:38:00.000Z

We are headed down to South Devon this weekend for a mini vacation. We get to stay with our friends in their adorable rural cottage. Isn't it the most perfect setting? (and it's rumored to have a ghost too. Ooooooo!)

Photo Source

I hope to be back on Monday with plenty of photos of foreboding moors, fishing villages, and ragged coastlines... unless this frightfully cold weather which has settled over Great Britain keeps us indoors the entire time.

Have a lovely weekend dear friends!

Cottage Kitchen: before & after

2012-02-02T08:33:00.000Z

I know many of you loved our sweet little cottage as much as I did, so I thought you might be interested in seeing a few changes that have happened to the old place since we left. The second we moved out, the landlord set his men straight to work on a massive redo of the kitchen.

Remember how it looked when we lived there? It worked, but it was pretty run down.

Look at it now! It's so spacious and clean and light. They tore down the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom - that little window in the corner was originally the bathroom window (the bathroom has been moved upstairs). The washing machine and refrigerator are concealed behind cabinet doors.

Remember the unsightly boiler?

The boiler has now been concealed in a built-in closet. Oh gosh, it's so pretty, don't you think?! I always knew this old place had such potential.

They also added a brand new bathroom upstairs. (Curses!! I'm just remembering all those nights when I was pregnant - getting up in the dead of night and making the long trek down the stairs to get to the toilet in time.)

Miles and I haven't really missed the cottage, but after seeing the new kitchen I feel a little sad about it. We just remind ourselves, though, that the new tenants have probably turned to ice cubes right about now (the weather has turned dreadfully cold this week!) I'm so thankful I now live in a toasty warm house.

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p.s. Wow friends, thanks to everyone who contributed in January's Photography Club! I so enjoyed seeing each one of your photos and seeing where your links sent me. The link-up is still open for another day, so if you haven't joined there's still time!

January Photography Club

2012-01-31T09:36:00.004Z

Friends, I would like to welcome you to the first official meeting of the Busy Nothings Photography Club!

Oh boy, I'm so excited you are here! I really can't wait to see your photos from this month. And I don't care if you are a professional photographer, an amateur like me, or just taking random snapshots on your mobile phone - I just want to see what my lovely readers are taking pictures of!

photo source

Simply click below and follow the directions to link-in a favorite photo you've taken from the past month. (There are lots of ways to do this: Link up a recent blog post, a photo you've uploaded in Flickr, Google+, Facebook... you can pretty much link-up through any website where you've uploaded a photo. Give it a try and let me know if you have any trouble.)

Also, pretty please will you help me spread the word? It's way more fun if we have lots of participants in our photography club. And make sure you share the love by taking the time to click on and view the photos that other's have shared in our club.

Now get linking!

p.s. Want another fun link-in party for today? Hop on over to Happy Homemaker UK and join her Post of the Month Club. I know I'll be linking up there!

366 Days: 23-29

2012-01-30T16:57:00.001Z

Did you realized this year is a leap year? It took me a while to catch on. I guess now I should call my photo-a-day project 366 Days, since we get that extra day thrown in at the end of February.

Tess' doll stroller gets used on a daily basis. Nothing pleases her more than pushing this thing around.

We made homemade play-dough. Did you love this stuff when you were a kid? I know I did, it's so soft and squidgy.

We went to play with Sarah & Maren. I just love Sarah's front door and porch. (and have you seen inside her cute house? Love it!)

I love the texture of this moss that's growing on the roof of our garden shed. Moss grows everywhere in the winter here and I'm fascinated by it. We just don't get anything like this where I'm from in Utah.

My birthday! Aren't these lights on Harrods so magical? I'm pretty sure they turned them on just for my special day. (I had my heart set on riding the London Eye, but we had no idea you have to book tickets in advance. Rookie mistake I guess.)

Miles has been putting his energy into organizing his man cave garage.

Sacrament meeting at church. That's not Miles who Tess is playing her game with. She is a little miss social and makes friends easily - especially with strange men! - hmmmm.

I want to say a quick word to anyone wanting to get started on your own 365 Day project (or 366), but haven't made the jump yet. It's never too late to get started - no one ever said you can only begin on the first of the new year (my friend Kate started in mid-November on her 33rd birthday). There are so many great platforms out there that make taking and sharing a daily photo a piece of cake. A friend of mine uses this iphone app. There's a Project 365 group like this one on Flickr, and check out this really cool website for uploading and sharing a daily photo. Hope that inspires you to get started on your Project 365.

See you back here tomorrow for our Busy Nothings Photography Club! Yay, can't wait!

Busy Nothings Photography Club

2012-01-28T13:19:00.002Z

Photo source

Friends, I'm so excited to tell you about my new club: the Busy Nothings Photography Club. Once a month, at the end of the month, I'll host a link party right here on my blog. All you have to do is choose one of your favorite photos that you've taken from the past month and link it into my blog (I'll explain how to link up later.)

So will you join the club? Oh pretty please say you will! Won't it be wonderful to have a big lovely collection of all of our favorite photos from the past month? It will be so inspiring to see what you are all taking photos of. Be sure to check back on January 31st (tuesday) for more details and to take part.

London

2012-01-26T14:30:00.001Z

It's my birthday tomorrow. We are going into London for the evening to celebrate with some friends. I'm trying to come up with some ideas of what I want to do for the few shorts hours that we will be there. I don't want to see a West End musical, and don't really want to eat a big meal out.

Image source

I kind of think it would be fun to take a ride on the London Eye. I know that's so touristy, but I've actually never been on yet. I think it would be magical at night, and make my birthday really memorable.

Have you ever been to London at night? Do you have any suggestions of things to do?

An English House: my little girl's bedroom

2012-01-25T22:07:00.002Z

After showing you my toilet in the last post, let's move on to something much more pleasant - My daughter's room. It's my favorite room in the house. I love the tall ceilings in here, and the warm wall color.

My favorite place to sit, with Tess in lap, while reading story after story.

A built in closet - and it's all mine! It's full of my clothes and shoes. Tess thinks it's her hide-out, where she squirrels away and tries on shoes.

Oh, and I need your help please! I want to paint that bookcase in the above photo, but can't decide on a color. I'm thinking just cream to match everything else, or is that too boring? What color would you suggest?

I love the big window in here. Tess does too - she crawls onto the footstool and looks outside. (Don't worry, we keep the window locked - and it's only the top half that opens, so there is no chance for her to fall out.) Did you know in England there are generally no screens on the windows? In the cottage we would sleep with our window open on warm nights, then wake up in the morning to a bug or two sharing our bed with us. Eek!

It's hard living in a rental when you have to live with someone else's decorating taste. Oh how I long to paint walls and put up wallpaper! But actually, there probably isn't much I would do to this room. It's perfect for my girl, just the way it is.

An English House: the bathroom

2012-01-24T23:32:00.000Z

Eek! I can't believe I'm showing you my yucky bathroom. But I shall persevere for the sake of all you curious non-England dwelling people. A peek into my very own English bathroom.

So probably one of the first things you will notice when walking into a British bathroom is that there is no light switch. To turn on the light, simply pull the cute little cord hanging from the ceiling. British building standards require all bathroom lights to be fitted this way, so that if you happen to reach for the light switch with a wet hand, in a steamy bathroom, you won't get an electric shock. (I guess in America we like to live on the edge when it comes to electricity.)

Next up... the sink. I used to love the look of a pedestal sink... until I moved to a country full of nothing but pedestal sinks. I've since learned that I would so much prefer a sink that's built into a cabinet and offers plenty of storage for my many toiletries.

Oh yes! The classic separate faucets (which Miles likes to refer to as his and hers). Actually, for some reason I'll always love this about English bathrooms, even though every night I must make the same choice: 'Hmmm, should I wash my face in the freezing water, or the scalding hot?'

Oh gross!.... I'm so sorry friends. Why am I showing you my toilet? ...But while we are here, did you know in England instead of saying toilet paper we say toilet roll, or even better loo roll.

Another interesting thing about an English bathroom is that there are no electrical outlets. (I've had to get used to drying and straitening my hair in the bedroom!) I think it comes down to the same reason why there is no light switch - fear of electrocution? I should probably point out, though, that in the US, outlets send out about 120 volts of electricity, while in the UK it's almost double that, at 230 volts. So you can see why there are so many safety standards when it comes to electricity in a wet bathroom.

Finally, the electric shower. These things have the worst water pressure. Unless you love the look of weighed down hair, stay away from these. (Reminds me of this awesome Seinfeld episode. Ha ha! ) And I'll never understand why an electric shower is okay, but not a light switch? Hmmm.... (Miles has some great stories about the electric shower at his work that has actually electrocuted a few people!)

Also, did you notice there's no shower curtain? Totally un-awesome, right? These glass screens are very common, but in my opinion, not very effective at keeping water from getting all over the bathroom floor.

So what do you think of my English bathroom? And just to make myself clear, in case I came across as a bit fat complainer above, I actually really love my little bathroom. Okay, not so much the black and white color theme, but most everything else. Remember the dreadful bathroom in the cottage? Yeah, this is so much better than that. I can actually take a bath in the nice shiny bathtub without fear of catching some kind of infection. Nice!

365 Days: 16-22

2012-01-23T19:15:00.002Z

Stroller parking. Tess and I tried out a new toddler playgroup - we both loved it.

I took this right before heading up to bed - Miles burning the midnight oil on the computer.

I went to a ballet in Oxford with a few of my lady friends. We saw Sleeping Beauty. I've said it before, but let me say it again... I love ballet.

Matching pedicures

Tess has a favorite stuffed friend, pink monkey. About an hour before the below photo was taken, pink monkey was placed into the washing machine by Mommy to take a much needed bath. Tess spotted pink monkey through the glass of the front-loading washing machine and was beside herself with worry. There were many tears and sobs, and she would not be comforted until Mommy forced the washing machine open (have you ever tried to stop a front-loading washing machine mid-cycle? Not an easy task.) Pink monkey was spared death by drowning, and Tess spoiled and cared for wet pink monkey for the remainder of the day. (watch the heart-wrenching video clip)

sharing lunch

We went to the London LDS temple on Saturday. It takes nearly two hours of driving to get there, but I think it's worth it...

(Want to know more about Mormon temples? click here)

Crepe night! Lately we've been into crepes, and we especially like sharing them with our friends. (I'm so happy to have a proper dining room and large dining table - it makes entertaining so easy.)

Frozen & Frosty

2012-01-17T16:19:00.002Z

Saturday we woke up to a chilly and frozen morning. Frost covered everything...

We decided last minute to head up to one of our favorite hiking places so we could take in the frosty views. Unfortunately we got out of the house a little late, and by then the sun had already begun thawing the land.

The white dusting of frost left the green hills muted of their color, and the sky hazy.

We explored a frozen path.

The remaining frost quickly melted to once again reveal the pretty green hills and valleys.

We stayed and enjoyed the views until every last bit of frost had melted away.

366 Days: 9-15

2012-01-16T15:15:00.002Z

Our neighbors on both sides of us have two cats each, much to mine and Tessa's delight. We are both crazy about cats, but are not in a position to have a cat of our own. The neighbor cats are friendly and will climb the fence and visit us while we are out playing in the back garden.

Check out those long legs! Miss Tess is getting tall - a few nights ago her big toe poked right through the seam of her jammies and ripped a big hole in the foot.

Walking home from the park. Sidewalks in England are made of asphalt, unlike the concrete sidewalks in America.

I love the warm light that spills in through Tessa's window in the late afternoons.

Is it just me, or does it seem crazy that the roses in my back garden are blooming in the middle of January?!

Our first frost... it's been freezing all weekend long. And I'm sorry to report, the roses in the back garden didn't survive the frost (more frost photos here).

We had lunch at a friends house in Reading. This is one of the streets near our friends house. Would it make you nervous to drive down a street like this? It's not a one way street, so if a car approaches from the other direction, whomever can most conveniently pull over into an empty space, does so to let the other car pass. English streets like this used to scare me to bits (but not anymore!) Drivers here are usually very courteous and patient.

p.s. I've just realized today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in America. Hope you all get to enjoy a lovely day off from work. It's just a regular boring Monday here in England.

Linked-in with: Nest of Posies.

An English House: my bedroom

2012-01-14T17:51:00.002Z

Weeks ago I promised I would give a photo tour of the interior of our house, once we were settled in. The inside of ones house is such a personal thing, so I've been quite reluctant to do this. I'm reluctant too because it's really just a mundane average house in England, and I've not gone to much effort to style it (I'm currently burned out from interior design). I'm pretty nosy though, and I love seeing what the inside of other people's houses look like - so if you are like me, maybe you would like to have a little poke around mine?

Welcome to my bedroom

It's quite tiny, but I really love this room. It's cozy and comfortable, and one of the warmest rooms in the house. (Removing that wall sconce is on Miles' To Do list! There are far too many lamp shades in this room.)

Three things here: 1- Many bedrooms in English houses don't have closets (or a built-in wardrobe, as they say). This wardrobe stores Miles' clothes. 2- Notice the light fixture? This is a pretty standard light fitting for English homes - a cord and bulb with a shade, dangling from the ceiling. 3- I love the high ceilings in this room! It makes the space feel larger than it really is.

The windows face east - I love getting the warmth of the sun coming through these windows on clear mornings.

The view out the window to the awesome trailer park behind our house!

We've adopted the English way of bed making. It's so simple: a bottom sheet to lay on, and a duvet on top - and that's it! No top sheet or extra blankets to contend with when making up the bed each morning. So easy, so brilliant. (Someone needs to iron that duvet cover though.... embarrassing!)

I insisted on having this little dresser for my bedside table, and as a result Miles is a little cramped on his side of the bed. One of the sacrifices husband's make for their wives, I suppose.

It's quite popular to expose the original floorboards and finish them in a nice varnish or whitewash. Usually I really like this look, but not so much in here, since the wood has been left raw and not given a proper finish. Not to mention, I'm constantly worried that Tess is going to drop important items down the cracks - to be forever lost. Thankfully this is the only room that has exposed floorboards. (Can you spot our cricket bat there in the corner? It's standing ready for any late night intruders!)

And that's it - my bedroom! What did you think? Could you sleep in a little room like this?

Next week I'll show you Tessa's room and the bathroom (with our totally un-awesome electric shower!)

Utah Winter

2012-01-13T12:43:00.000Z

My dear friend took these gorgeous photos around the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City. They make me homesick for my home state and the snowy winters.

Above photos all by Katie Armstrong

It's so different compared to the rainy and mild winter we are experiencing here in England. (I say mild because, although it's cold, it's not nearly as cold as a Utah winter - which I'm grateful for.) What's this winter looking like where you live?

365 Days: 1-8

2012-01-11T15:36:00.000Z

Welcome to another year of daily photos. I wanted to change things up this year by posting a photo on a daily basis, but I soon realized that it's a bit more work than I'm willing to take on (blogging ever single day?! Yikes!) So I've decided to stay with the old format of posting the 365 Day photos on a weekly basis.

The New Year started off wet and rainy (my metal cat seems perfectly content in the damp outside).

We went out for pizza. I snapped this while walking to the restaurant. I love this time of day - before the sun sets, when the sky still holds the faintest of light, and car lights and street lights have just begun to switch on.

Discarded broken umbrellas, blown inside out - proof that it had been a very windy day.

One of her favorite books

Tess and Maren playing nicely (these girls are fond of one another, but they're not always happy about sharing their toys!) (Photo by Sarah Scott)

A sunny day at the park. Tess goes down the slide by herself.

Tess and her friends feeding ducks after a birthday party.

Bath time

I've received comments and emails from some of you letting me know you have decided to take on a 365 Day photo project of your own this year. Leave me a comment so I know who you are and so I can follow along. I'm so excited to see how you all capture your daily life in photo (my very dear friend is sharing her daily photos here). Just remember: the trick to staying with it is not to be too hard on yourself. Don't worry if you miss a day here and there. Maybe you noticed that last year I would miss the occasional day, and even took a week here and there off (and even an entire month when I was in Utah last summer!) If you miss a day, don't worry, just start up again when you are ready. It's so rewarding when you can look back on an entire year of photos and relive some very precious memories that otherwise would have been forgotten.

E. Hagbourne

2012-01-09T12:08:00.004Z

Would you like to join me for a tour today? Let me show you around a sweet little village. It's one of my favorites.

First follow me through the green grassy fields...

and past old St Andrews Church

And into the village of East Hagbourne

It's lovely and perfect, don't you agree?

It's the sort of place where hens are kept in back gardens...

where moss grows on side walks...

and every cottage has a name of its own.

This is the village cross (known as Upper Cross) and dates from the 15th century (thanks Wikipedia).

There are thatched cottages

timber framed cottages

and old brick houses

The main road is narrow and winding.

This hidden path runs along a tiny brook

In years past, it's won awards for "Best Kept Village" in Oxfordshire.

So what do you think of this magical place?

Tess can't see what all the fuss is about, she's just happy to get out of the house (and look... she's sporting the hat I knitted for her!)

Have a happy Monday dear friends!

p.s. Have you seen Sarah's photos from Wales? So gorgeous! Miles and I were supposed to go on that trip with them, but my dreadful cold kept us at home instead.

January Book Club

2012-01-06T13:46:00.002Z

Left: US Book Cover, Right: UK Book Cover

Oops, I'm late again announcing our book club choice for January: Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's a collection of 8 beautifully written short stores. I've already read the first two stories and I'm really enjoying it. If you haven't joined me in book club yet, I highly recommend you join in this month. I think you'll enjoy this one! (Click here if you would like a synopsis of the book.) Happy January reading!

365 Days: Week 52

2012-01-01T22:34:00.001Z

I've done it! This is the last installment for my 2011 Photo-a-Day project. I've really enjoyed this little project, and it's been a fun way for me to document the life of my family and me. Thanks to you dear friends for all of your encouragement and the many kind comments you've left throughout the past year. (Photo-a-day will continue for 2012.... but with a new layout. Watch for it!)

A lovely little walking path near our house

I'm still sick.... ugh! It's been a huge blessing that Miles had the entire week off from work, as he's been able to help look after Tess while I get some much needed rest.

I haven't been getting much sleep at night (this annoying cough) so I've been doing some late night knitting. I finally finished the winter hat for Tess that I've been working on for ages. Next, I think I will knit some warm mittens.

We went on a walk that had this pretty views to a nearby village.

Tess playing with her dad at the park

We had our own little New Year Eve celebration with Tess before putting her to bed. Miles and I then stayed up and watched movies, then the countdown and fireworks in London that were aired on TV.

So Happy New Year my dear ones! Do you have any goals or resolutions for the new year? I don't usually do New Year resolutions, but decided I could use a bit of structure in my life at the moment, so have made a few goals for 2012. I'd like to start running and doing yoga again. I'd like to knit more and play my piano more. I want to go on more dates with my husband. I'd like to plant vegetables in my garden (now that I have one of my own!) and I've made a few personal goals in my religious life as well. What about you?

Book Review: Like Water for Chocolate

2011-12-30T20:22:00.000Z

Source

Okay, time for another book club discussion. Did you read Like Water for Chocolate? What did you think? I'm going to be honest with you - I didn't like it much. So I'm going to keep it short and give you a quick run down of what I liked and disliked:

Liked:

1. The layout with the monthly instalments... which happened to make it a quick read (and we always love a quick read!)

2. The recipes! Those Cream Fritters sound amazing, don't they? I really loved how descriptive Tita was with how to prepare each recipe, and how the recipes were woven into the story.

3. The author's writing style, The magical realism was really wonderful. It was almost like reading a Latin-American folk-tale or something.

4. I was intrigued how Tita's emotions would pass through the food she had prepared, to those eating it.

Disliked:

1. I found Pedro to be really annoying. He was jealous and over-dramatic.

2. I felt a little sad for Tita's sister. She was no peach of a woman, but she was ill-used by Pedro and Tita.

3. I was disapointed when Tita didn't end up with John. (but I always go for the nice guy!)

4. This book was a little bit too risqué for my taste - made me blush quite a bit!

Thanks for reading along friends! By the way, did you know this book was the number one bestseller in Mexico for almost two years? Interesting! Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of this magical story.

365 Days: Week 51

2011-12-29T10:21:00.001Z

Tess is bundled up on a frosty afternoon. She's looking at a man out walking his dog. She's crazy about furry animals (she takes after me, I guess.)

Not a very pretty building, but I thought I would show you the pharmacy where we loaded up on our cold and flu meds. (Tess snuck her sippy cup into the top left of the photo).

That's me taking a photo of myself in the large mirror in Tessa's room.

We braved the very busy grocery store to purchase food for our Christmas meal.

An ornament thief, caught in the very act.

On Christmas Eve we took a walk through a sweet little village... where every single cottage was decorated with Christmas lights. It was magical.

This girl sure knows how to tear through a Christmas gift. She's helping her dad unwrap the (boring, but much needed) new vacuum that we got for Christmas.

p.s. More Christmas day photos here. I was going to do a full blog post about it, but decided it will probably be boring to everyone (except Tessa's grandparents maybe). Tess wasn't feeling well that day so it was not the most relaxing Christmas.

2011-12-27T20:12:00.000Z

I planned to share our Christmas day photos with you today, but I'm so very tired. Tess and I both have colds again, just as we were getting over our last ones. I'm going back to where I've been all day -- just laying on the sofa. And I'll finish watching one of my favorite movies (which Miles just got me for Christmas) Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens (have you seen it? You'll love it!) Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow friends.

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-24T19:39:00.000Z

Just popping in again quick to say Merry Christmas dear friends! It's Christmas Eve and Miles and I are just about to curl up in front of the fire to watch a few Christmas movies and to wrap Tessa's presents.

I hope you all have a very lovely and wonderful Christmas!

(I'll leave you with these photos that we sent home to our parents and grandparents in this year's Christmas cards.)

(Above two photos by Nicole Anderson)

(above photo by Sarah)

365 Days: Week 50

2011-12-22T22:50:00.001Z

My bedside table with a stack of night time reading. I couldn't decide at the library which to read, so I checked them all out.

A busy street in my town (fyi... see the painted white circle on the road? That's a mini roundabout... I'll tell you all about them one day.)

I have a new hair style (and a new friend who is Canadian and a hair stylist - all around awesome!) Not a great self portrait here - I'll try to post a better picture of my new hairdo soon.... that is, if I get around to actually doing my hair again one day. (I think I'm turning into one of those frumpy housewives who just throws her hair up into a messy bun every day. eek!)

It was a miserable week with the weather - lots of wind, cold and rain. Tess and I found things to keep us busy indoors.

My favorite way to do most of my Christmas shopping: online ......

...but it's still fun to go out to the shops too. The Christmas lights make everything so atmospheric.

Tess and her dad on Sunday morning reading stories in their jammies.

Pepper Jelly goodness

2011-12-20T22:40:00.000Z

Just popping in quick. I've had a dreadful cough for over a week now and haven't had much desire to blog. I coughed so much today I actually pulled a muscle in my tummy - and it's so very painful. One good thing happened today though - receiving two bottles of Miles' dad's pepper jelly and a giant box of Wheat Thins in the post (we don't have Wheat Thins in the UK). Have you ever had pepper jelly? It's divine with crackers and cream cheese - a holiday tradition in our house.

Okay, signing off now for some pepper jelly goodness (and more wretched coughing).

365 Days: Weeks 48-49

2011-12-16T23:38:00.001Z

Eek! Can you believe the year is almost over?! Just a few more weeks to go in my 2011 photo-a-day. I'm still deciding if I should continue with the daily photos for next year. What do you think?
..... Now on to the photos....

Tess really loves playing in her new back yard.

We are so happy to have a functioning fireplace, and we are already putting it to a lot of use.

Exploring our new neighborhood - I love the tall chimneys on this row of lovely brick houses.

Tess spends a lot of time looking out her bedroom window.

It's just not Christmas without a bowl of nuts in the house. Miles and I crack these while sitting by the fire and watching Christmas movies.

Sorry - not a good quality photo... Tess received a gift from Father Christmas at our church Christmas party. (I love that Santa is called "Father Christmas" here in England.)

We put our Christmas tree up.... though I'm not very pleased with this small artificial tree. I wish we had gotten a lovely fresh tree like last year, but our artificial tree is just easier.

On rainy days Tess and I are happy staying indoors all day (and in our jammies).

I love this about England - in the dead of winter the grass and fields stay pretty and green (in Utah the grassy lawns go brown and ugly in winter).

Tess took her first train ride! We rode into Oxford for an afternoon with our friends Sarah & Maren.

Another yucky cell phone photo...... This is the restaurant in Oxford where Miles and I went for his work Christmas dinner (Browns). It was totally posh. I just love the people who Miles work with.

The Christmas market in Oxford - where I found yummy gourmet mulling syrup (a spiced syrup for making mulled apple or mulled wine).

Our messy garage - Miles spent the day getting it organized and cleaned out.

Playing with her nativity set in her bedroom window

Have a lovely weekend dear friends!

p.s. Did you notice? This blog's on Facebook! Pretty please will you "like" me?

It's just over there on my sidebar, near the top of the page ------------------->>>>

Expat Interview

2011-12-13T10:10:00.000Z

About a month ago I was interviewed by Easy Expat and am now featured on their website. I'm so excited about it! Go and check it out here, or read the full interview below.....

Hi I’m Kris from “A Quick Succession of Busy Nothings” blog. I’m an American from Utah, but now living in a little stone cottage in rural Oxfordshire, England.

1. Why did you move abroad?
My husband has always dreamed of working for a Formula One race car team. On a whim, he applied for a job opening with Williams Grand Prix. We couldn't believe it when they flew him over for an interview, and then offered him a position as a CFD Aerodynamicist. Even though he had just started his masters degree, and we had just purchased our first home only
six months previous to this, we chose to drop everything and pack our bags for England.

2. How do you make a living?
I was working as an Interior Designer with a local design company, until our little girl was born last year. Now I’m so happy that I get to be a stay-at-home mom, blogger, and budding photographer.

3. How often do you communicate with home and how?
I'm in contact with my family on a daily basis, thanks to my lovely friend, the internet.

4. What's your favorite thing about being an expat in England?
Eye candy everywhere I look. I love the quintessential English villages, the "chocolate box" cottages with those thatched roofs, the tangled little gardens surrounded by tall hedges, and mossy stone walls. It's like stepping into a storybook setting every time I leave the house.

5. What’s the worst thing about being an expat in England?
Everything is so expensive!

6. What do you miss most?
I’m from a large family, and I miss them like crazy, on a daily basis. But I also miss the hot Utah summers and the snowy mountains. I miss fireworks on the 4th of July, and I miss a good proper deep-fried American doughnut.

7. What did you do to meet people and integrate in your new home?
Being a trailing spouse, it was tempting to stay inside all day while my husband was off working his new job, but I wasn’t making any friends this way. The best thing I did for myself was to make myself go out and find a job. It forced me to get out of bed each day, get out into my new city, interact with the locals, and become a part of the community.

My husband and I also made a lot of friends through the local branch of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We've made lifetime friendships with many of the people there. When we first arrived in the UK, members of the church found out that we were living in an empty house with no furniture. Even though we were complete strangers, they were so thoughtful and showed up to our new house with a van full of furniture and household items for us to borrow until ours arrived from America.

8. What custom/ habits do you find most strange about your adopted culture?
The English obsession with queuing (standing in lines). Just as a suggestion, don't ever cut into a queue, or watch out!

9. What is a myth about your adopted country?
"The English are not friendly." Please don't ever believe this! A bit reserved, yes, but the English are actually very polite and friendly, and will always offer you a cup of tea when you visit them in their home.

10. What advice would you give other expats?
Stop comparing everything in your new country to how things are back home. It will only make you depressed and homesick, and keep you from fully
enjoying your experience abroad (I know this from personal experience). Make the most of your time, live as the locals do, and embrace the differences around you.

11. When and why did you start your blog?
I started my blog in September of 2007 as a way for my family to stay in touch with me and to follow along in my adventure over seas. Since then, it’s grown into my creative outlet – a place where I can share my photography and my thoughts about living abroad.

12. How has the blog been beneficial?
I’ve “met” some really wonderful people from all over the world through my blog. Many are other expats who are going through similar experiences as me. It's amazing to have never met a person face-to-face, but to develop a friendship, share advice, and give support to one another in this way.

4 years today

2011-12-12T13:45:00.001Z

Photo: High Street, Oxford England

On this day 4 years ago, Miles and I first arrived at Heathrow airport, ready to start a new life in Great Britain. Last night Miles and I stayed up late reminiscing about some of those moments from our first few days here. Discussing it brought back many feelings..... some of excitement, but mostly loneliness, feeling scared, overwhelmed, and homesick. (I wouldn't recommend an international move two weeks before Christmas.)

Here are a few of those moments from 4 years ago that I'll never forget......

I'll never forget..... how tired, grumpy, and hungry I was while waiting for almost an hour at the luggage carousel in London's Heathrow airport, hoping that my two missing suitcases would eventually show up. (They didn't. Not for three days anyway. They didn't make the connecting flight and were stuck somewhere back in New York).

I'll never forget..... seeing all the strange hatchbacks on the motorway, and especially the ugly bug shaped car called the Ford KA. (and four years on, I still don't like that car).

I'll never forget..... the first English town I ever saw. It was just a typical town, but to my fresh-off-the-plane-from-America eyes, it was everything I imagined an English town should be. I will never forget that image of the narrow street with crooked shops all squished together with their timber store fronts and steep rooftops. (in fact, here's a photo from the very street taken two months ago.)

I'll never forget..... seeing green moss on all of the stone walls

I'll never forget..... the cold damp air and feeling like I would never be warm again.

I'll never forget..... the smell from when we first walked into our empty house, then looking around and thinking.... "well, now what?"

I'll never forget..... that feeling of being completely overwhelmed in the grocery store. I didn't recognize any of the brands and products and had no idea what to buy.

I'll never forget..... that wretched leaky air mattress we slept on our first few nights here.

I'll never forget..... sitting on the empty living room floor with Miles at 5 o'clock in the morning (jet lag!) and eating a breakfast of scrambled eggs.

I'll never forget..... when Miles drove us around the neighborhood while I held the laptop, searching for an unsecured wireless internet network to connect to. We were desperate to check our email and update our family and friends back home (we didn't have phone, TV, or internet for the first week).

I'll never forget..... our second day here. Miles' first day of work, and my first time ever driving on English roads..... alone!

I'll never forget..... (this one is from Miles) feeling scared out of my wits for my first day of work with a Formula One team. It's fast paced and hugely technical, so I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to learn everything and keep up with it all. (But of course he did! That Miles is totally brilliant!)

I'll never forget..... walking through the streets of Oxford for the first time and being overwhelmed by the beauty of the architecture around me. It was like a dream and I remember feeling extremely grateful for this big amazing adventure.

Happy 4 year anniversary to us and our English adventure!

English Christmas favorites

2011-12-09T22:44:00.000Z

Now that we are settled into our new home (photos coming soon), I feel like I can focus all of my attention on Christmas. This time of year can be a bit difficult when you are thousands of miles away from home and family, but there are so many things I love about Christmas in England, so I try to focus on those things instead (this will be our 5th Christmas here, can you believe it?!) Would you like me to show you some of my favorite things about Christmas in England?

1. Mince pies

2. Chocolate advent calendars

3. Mulled Wine
(or for us non-alcohol drinkers, mulled apple juice. Oh boy, it's good!)

4. Christmas crackers
Pull both ends until it makes a firecracker sound and pops open. Inside is a joke, a toy or trinket, and a paper crown (see number 7).

5. Christmas dinner.
This usually consists of turkey or goose, stuffing, pigs-in-a-blanket, roasted potatoes & gravy, parsnips, carrots, & brussel sprouts.

6. Christmas pudding

7. Christmas crowns

8. Christmas markets

9. The Queen's televised speech on Christmas day
(I just think it's cool to hear what she has to say.)

10. Boxing Day
The day after Christmas, and one of the biggest shopping days of the year. The sales are comparable to Black Friday in America. It's also another day off from work for most people.

So tell me friends, wherever you may be in the world, what sort of things are you enjoying this Christmas season?

Photo credits: 1. Photo 2. photo 3. photo 4. photo 5. photo 6. photo 7. photo 8. photo 10. photo

December Book Club

2011-12-05T21:18:00.000Z

Oops, I nearly forgot to tell you our new book for December! The book chosen by my book club is: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. It was written in 1993, but I have never read it or even heard of it. Have you read it? If you haven't, I hope you will read it along with me. It's a short one, so should be a quick read for this busy month of December.

Remember to check back at the end of the month for our book club discussion!

Book club discussion: The Help

2011-12-05T15:27:00.002Z

Friends, let's have a little book discussion, shall we? What did you think of Kathryn Stockett's novel, The Help? I've gotten a lot of comments from you, and so far I've heard all good things. I loved it too, and would give it 4 out of 5 stars (only because I reserve 5 stars for my very favorite books!)

Here are a few of my thoughts on The Help (may contain spoilers):

I just adored all of the characters (wasn't Minnie so funny?!) but my favorite was probably Aibileen. I don't know why for sure, maybe because I loved her sweet relationship with Mae Mobley. I just thought of my little Tess, and it made my heart ache for Mae Mobley as I saw how distant and sometimes aweful her own mother was to her.

The funniest part was Minny's description of the visit from the naked man in Miss Celia's back yard. I laughed out loud.

Miss Hilly... Grrrr! Didn't she just make your blood boil?! I was totally fascinated, however, with her ability to control the white women around her. Aibileen describes perfectly how "Womens, they aint like men. A woman ain't gone beat you with a stick." But in their own subtle way, women have a power to destroy anyone who crosses them. Do you think there are "Miss Hilly's" in many social circles still today?

We all know there was a lot of hate and racism from this era in American history, but there was also a lot of affection and kindness that sometimes get's overlooked. I appreciate that the author showcased examples of this affection between some of the white and black women.

I thought the ending was very satisfiying (although it was heart breaking when Aibileen had to say her good-bye to Mae Mobley.) After Aibileen leaves the Leefolt house and is wondering what she's going to do with the rest of her day, she realizes she doesn't have to be a house maid any more - the occupation that many black girls are brought up expecting to do. She can be anything she wants, and you know she's going to be okay.

Once I had finished reading the book I found myself missing the company of Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter. It was like they had become good friends of mine.

Oh gosh, I still have many more thoughts I wanted to share, but I don't want to drag on. Mostly I want to know what you all thought of the book? What were your favorite bits, who were your favorite characters? Please do share! I'm really looking forward to reading all of your comments.

p.s. have you seen the movie yet? I loved it as much as the book - and for those of you in America, it's out on DVD tomorrow!

365 Days: Weeks 46-47

2011-11-30T16:12:00.000Z

Friends, I'm back in business! Did you miss me? I don't like neglecting this blog, but thankfully internet and phone were installed yesterday, so now I can get back to a regular posting schedule. Yeah! So here's a little catch up from the past two weeks, courtesy of my photo-a-day project.

Tess and I often take walks down to our local village to post letters in this lovely red post box.

Cans of Libby's pumpkin puree in my kitchen cupboard. I've made several loaves of pumpkin bread - Miles and I can't get enough of it.

A cold and foggy morning

Little corners in the cottage still needing to be packed up, with just a few days until moving day.

A sweet little goat at the farm Tess and I like to visit.

Tessa's muddy wellington boots. She is crazy about splashing in muddy puddles. (Here's the muddy proof.)

Our friend took family photos of us around the outside of the cottage. I love how they turned out. (This one is just a teaser- more photos to follow.)

One more day until moving day. Most everything is packed and ready to go.

Moving day arrived. The entire day went much better than I anticipated. We had a lot of muscle power from some strong man friends, a sweet lady from church babysat Tess for most of the day, and we had various friends bring by dinners for three nights in a row. Awesome!

A sad and empty cottage. We came back the day after to give everything a good cleaning.

Awww, Thanksgiving Day, but just another regular old day for everyone in England. Miles went to work, and I tackled a stack of unpacked boxes. We took a break that evening to attend a street fair in our local town.

We had our Thanksgiving meal a day late with a group of Americans from church. It was awesome to come together with a group of people who share the same sentiments about this day of thanks and gratitude. (I roasted a turkeys in my new oven, and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't burn to a crisp. I had no idea which setting to use on my new oven - click and see just how intimidating it is! )

The new house is beginning to come together - this corner anyway. I'm not ready to show you the mess that occupies every other corner in the house.

Sunday morning with my little family

P.S. I'll be back soon to discuss the book, The Help, for November bookclub, and to announce December's book.

Moved in

2011-11-27T18:57:00.003Z

Moving day has come and gone. We are making great progress unpacking and making ourselves at home. I hate to say it, but we aren't missing the cottage much. We love our new home. We won't have internet set up until Tuesday, so a full update coming later this week. I just wanted to nip in and let you dears know we are still alive....and wanted to give this blogger android app a try..... I'm posting from my cell phone! See you soon!

Ten things I'll miss

2011-11-19T17:24:00.002Z

I'm sorry I'm a day later than promised, but here's my list of ten things I will miss the most about our dear old cottage:

1. The tree lined drive. This was a given. You all know how obsessed I am with the drive because of the thousands of photos I take of it.

2. The living room. I love this room. I'll miss the pretty arched doors most, and the large stone fireplace (even though we shamefully never used the fireplace, as it doesn't draw properly.)

3. Our sheep. They were sold by their owner, so are already gone. We miss our woolly friends.

4. The wood floors

5. The solitude. Besides our landlord and his family, there's no one around - just a bunch of farmer's fields. I will miss the peace and calm of this place. I love how dark and quite it is at night. Sometime I lay in bed and wonder if I've gone deaf and blind.

(View from Tessa's bedroom window)

6. The large bedrooms. A large bedroom is rare in an English house, and even more rare in an old cottage. The bedrooms in our new house are much smaller than here. It's going to take some clever furniture arranging on my part to get everything to fit!

7. The creaky old floorboards

8. The wild life. Everyday we see squirrels, rabbits, and a variety of birds out our windows. The deer and the sweet old hares are my favorite.

9. The windows. I'll be happy with my double paned windows in our new place, but gosh, the windows in the cottage are just so darn pretty. (The big kitchen & bedroom windows, the cute round window, the lovely arched living room doors)

10. The quiet country walks

So that's it. I guess it's farewell to thee, sweet old place. It's been a happy 3 1/2 years within your walls. Thanks for the memories. xo

p.s. Miles and I are knee deep in boxes and chaos, but I'll try to keep you all updated with our big move on Tuesday!

Ten things I won't miss

2011-11-17T15:48:00.002Z

I realize that I tend to paint a pretty picture when I talk about my life living in an English cottage, but you are in for a treat today, friends. I will be discussing the dreadful things about this place that I'm always hiding from you, the things that I crop from the pretty pictures (that's a lie, I'm still going to hide some). My top ten list of things I will not miss when we move next week, in no particular order:

1. Spiders. As if you didn't already know this would make the list, as much as I complain about those creepy crawlies. Am I just a big baby? Check out this guy and tell me how you would feel turning on the light and seeing him on your bedroom curtain (Warning: click at your own risk: scary spider).

2. Living next to the landlord. Don't get me wrong, our landlords have been really wonderful neighbours, but I feel as if we are always being watched. Not to mention having to deal with their house alarm going off in the middle of the night while they are off on holiday; or trying to sleep through their sons wild drunken parties.

(See how close we are? Our cottage on the right, our landlord on the left)

3. The bathtub. The unsightly, no-enamel tub that's probably a hundred years old, and no matter how hard you scrub, it will never come clean. Once I actually overheard one of our house guests tell another house guest that they were going to wear flip flops in there to shower. Think how guilty I feel every time I put Tess in there to bathe.

4. The attic. In general, attics make me uncomfortable. The attic here is straight out of a horror film. Creepy dark corners, thick masses of hanging cob webs, and was that my imagination, but did I just hear a scratching noise coming from up there? (see number 6). Sorry no picture of the attic, there's no way I'm poking my head up there for you lot!

5. Filling the oil tank. Many older properties in England have big tanks outside that hold kerosene oil that's used to heat the radiators and hot water. It will usually cost over £500 ($800) to fill our oil tank, and it usually has to be done about 3 times a year. It ain't cheap.

(The tall green metal thing, that's our oil tank.)

6. The unexpected visitors. The squirrels in the attic, the crows that came down the chimney, the pigeons outside our bedroom window that wake us at 4 a.m. Don't forget the mysterious hissing badger that sneaks around the property at night. He really scares me.

7. The Kitchen. I will miss this little kitchen. I have many happy memories from in this room. Yet, there are also so many things I hate about it: the tiny oven, sink, and refrigerator. The lack of storage space (Mr Landlord, I do believe the big empty stretch of wall space above the stove would be the perfect place for a nice long row of cabinets. Don't you think?)

Below is the view of the kitchen that I usually don't like to show because of the big ugly boiler in the corner (it's like a furnace, as it heats our water and radiators). Ugh, I hate it, such an eye sore.

9. The dampness. Since living in this damp old place, my allergies have never been so bad. We have to keep a dehumidifier running constantly to keep the humidity at bay. It keeps mold and mildew from growing on everything from shoes and books, to bed linens and baskets.

10. The cold winters. The original single pane windows are lovely, but they don't do much for keeping the heat in. Not to mention, none of the windows or doors are sealed off very well. When the wind blows, you can feel the wind blowing right on in through the cracks.

(This is our front door, you can see the sunlight pouring right in at the bottom!)

And there you have it. Let me be honest though, I actually really struggled coming up with ten things that I won't miss about this cottage (did you notice there's no number 8?) The truth is, I love this dear old place and will miss it terribly. The ten (nine) things listed above are part of the whole wonderful experience of living in a place like this, and have made my time in it complete. Looking back, I will forever cherish the memories, good and bad: Like when we had to go out and buy new cookies sheets because the ones we brought over from America were too big too fit into the oven; or when a crow came down the chimney; or when the boiler stopped working in the dead of winter and destroyed the kitchen floor.

Coming up for tomorrow, my list of ten things I will miss most about the cottage. See you tomorrow, same time, same place!

365 Days: Week 45-46

2011-11-14T10:29:00.001Z

The house is slowly getting packed into boxes.

Out for a walk in our nearby village

A favorite lunch for Tess and me, scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

Trying to get a good look at the sheep in a farmer's field

Bonfire Night (I've told you all about it here.)

Most pubs serve a traditional roast dinner on Sundays. There's not many things I love more than a roast dinner. Sadly Miles and I have never had a pub roast, as we don't eat out on Sundays because of our religious beliefs. I'm trying to master making my own roast dinner though, and think I'm getting pretty good at it.

The playground where Tess likes to be pushed on the baby swings.

A wet road on a rainy day

Looking through books at the library

Tess loves her new car seat. I wasn't quite ready to move her into a forward facing seat, but that little weasel figured out how to get her arms out of the straps in her old seat. It was time to move on.

Young Cadets were giving out poppies and collecting donations for Remembrance Day.

Shopping in the town of Wallingford on Saturday (Looks like they are getting ready for Christmas!)

We drove to the city of Reading to have dinner with our dear friends, who were married recently. We refer to them as Uncle Austin and Auntie Lizzcy, to Tess.

Thank you

2011-11-11T09:35:00.002Z

Today is Veterans Day (called Remembrance Day here in the UK), and I have a few people on my mind who I would like to thank.

To my Great Grandpa, who risked his life in the First World War, in France & Belgium. He was wounded and received a purple heart - THANK YOU.

To my Grandpa, for his service in the Pacific during the Second World Word - THANK YOU.

To his mother - THANK YOU. She had five sons gone at one time in various parts of the world fighting in the war. I can't imagine what that must have been like for her. She used to tell my Dad that her heart would drop every time a car pulled up to the house. She was always afraid it was someone coming to tell her one of her sons had been wounded or killed. All five of them came home.

To my Daddy, for his sacrifice in Vietnam - THANK YOU.

He missed the birth of his first daughter and the first year of her life while overseas in Vietnam. He was wounded, and watched fellow Marines die, as they were ambushed by the enemy. His life has never been the same.

Over 40 years later, he still serves by presenting the flag to the widows of brave veteran's at their funerals.

To my brother Dustin, for his sacrifice in leaving his wife and three children for a year to serve in Afghanistan - THANK YOU.

To my brother Rory, for leaving his wife and two children for 15 months to serve in Germany, caring for the sick and wounded from Afghanistan - THANK YOU.

To Miles' brother, Jeremy, for putting himself in harms way in Afghanistan - THANK YOU.

To my nephew, Jacob, for your sacrifice in Iraq - THANK YOU.

Let us not take what we have for granted. We owe them everything. All of my loved one's made it back home, but many did not. Please remember them today. There will be a two minutes silence across all of the UK today (on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month) to remember those people who have sacrificed everything for our freedom.

p.s. a heartbreaking story of a British mother who lost five sons in the First World War.

Saying goodbye

2011-11-08T12:42:00.003Z

It been cold and cloudy the past few days, and represents a little bit how I've been feeling lately. Moving day to our new house is in exactly two weeks. I'm not ready. I'm not ready to say goodbye to our leafy lane and the little cottage that it leads to - the place we've called home for the past 3 1/2 years.

As I sat on my favorite bench watching Tess play in the leaves, I thought to myself "What have I done? Why would we leave this magical place behind?"

But I know there's no turning back. Just as the bright autumn leaves make their final encore, so must I let go and move forward.

Even our sheep have moved on. Their owner sold them, and just like that, they were gone. They left only an empty field behind them.

In the meantime, Tess and I are making the most of our final days here.

We will both miss our many hours of play in our leafy little lane.

I can only be grateful for the time that we've had in this magical place and for the memories we are taking with us.

p.s. Stay tuned for my upcoming farewell post to the cottage: Ten things I will miss the least and the most about our little stone cottage.

Bonfire Night

2011-11-07T15:18:00.003Z

What did you do this weekend? Here in England we were all busy celebrating Bonfire Night (or Guy Fawkes Night). What is Bonfire Night? It's only one of my very favorite English traditions!

Simply put, back in November of 1605, Guy Fawks and his gang secretly placed barrels of gunpowder into the basement of the Houses of Parliment, with the intent to blow it (and the King) to smithereens. Their plan was discovered, and Guy and his gang were later executed.

Miles and I celebrated by going to a traditional bonfire and firework celebration in a nearby Cotswold village.

There were big and grand fireworks...

...and all the traditional foods to eat: hot dogs, mulled wine, hot chocolate, even a pig roast.

And of course, a bonfire was lit. (Per tradition, the local school children made an effigy of poor old Guy Fawks to be burned on top.)

The bonfire was two stories tall..... and it was warm!

A school girl watching the fire near us was chanting words to the rhyme:

"Remember, remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason, why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot."

Sounds like a dark and disturbing celebration - but it's really not. It's a fun and light-hearted tradition that I love being a part of.

a Fall Festival

2011-11-05T11:15:00.002Z

There's this lovely little farm nearby that Tess and I visit often (probably once a week). It has little shops and a cafe. Tess likes to see the animals: goats, pigs, horses, ducks. I push her on the swings, and help her go down the slide in the play area. We buy fresh produce, and in the summertime we even pick our own berries. Last week we went to the Autumn festival with Sarah and Maren.

We went round and round on the carousel. Tess and I shared a horse.

It was a rainy day, so Maren was sporting her new wellies.

We avoided the spooky haunted house.....

...but let ourselves get lost in the corn maze.

We waited it out in the hay bales while it poured down rain, and even hail!.....

....and had a general good time running around and being as cute as possible!

p.s. Do you recognize that little cartoon character on Tessa's boot? She's called Peppa Pig, and she's the cutest little pig in all of England. Tess and I love watching Peppa Pig episodes together......just listen to her cuuuutie pie English accent!

Friends

2011-11-04T12:24:00.005Z

You've heard me mention mine and Tessa's new friends quite a bit recently, but I don't believe I have formerly introduced you. Let me do so now, as I suspect you will be seeing a lot of them around here now.

Meet Sarah and Maren.

Sarah and I "met" through our blogs over a year ago, and when we finally met in person a few months ago, we were instant friends forever.

It's a bonus that our sweet girls love spending time together too.

(Above photo by Sarah)

Although I've made some really wonderful British friends, there's something comforting about having a friend from your home country. We just "get" one another. Like when I get overly excited from discovering a can of Libby's pumpkin puree from a local grocery store, Sarah understands perfectly the importance of this. And I can totally and completely sympathize with Sarah when she burns a batch of cookies because she still hadn't quite figured out the workings and temperature conversion of an English fan oven.

I'm grateful for the many friends I have made here in England. In some small degree, they make up for the vast physical distance between family and childhood friends. And in the life of an expat, finding a friend and forging those strong new bonds is vital to our survival abroad.

365 Days: Week 44

2011-11-01T13:18:00.000Z

A pretty drive home on a sunny Autumn day

We went to a kid-friendly Autumn festival, where we romped through the corn fields and rode on a carousel (more photos from here to follow!)

I've been collecting apples from the apple tree in the garden (so I can make an apple crisp and apple muffins - yum!) It's our landlord's tree, so I only take the apples that fall to the ground. It's a challenge getting to the apples before the deer do, though!

It was a very damp and rainy week, so the moss on the lane has had lots of opportunity to grow.

This little witch is ready for some tricks.

Miles and I attended an international pot-luck dinner, hosted by our church. Oxford is a very diverse city, so it was fun to taste foods from all over the globe. There were authentic dishes from Mexico, Canada, Australia, England (of course), China, Scotland, Italy, and France.... just to name a few. We brought my grandma's good ol' American sloppy joe's. (Most Brits have never had a sloppy joe, or even know what one is!)

You've already seen this photo, but I had to include it in my Photo-a-Day collection because I love it so much. It shows perfectly the relationship that Miles and Tess have. Tess is crazy about her daddy and sometimes even cries when he leaves the room.

Our dinner-in-a-pumpkin hit the spot for dinner last night. I look forward to this meal all year long.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T11:57:00.000Z

One of the many things I love about living in a foreign country, is seeing and taking part in the cultural differences between my home country, and my host country. Take trick-or-treating, for example: In America, hugely populer. In England, sometimes considered quite rude to go door-to-door "begging" for candy! ha!!

We opted for a good ol' American style Trunk-or-Treat, hosted by our church. Here's the cutest witch you'll ever see (and her black cat).

Here's another America/ UK difference with Halloween: check out all these scary costumes available in the shop. You won't find any cute puppy dog or super hero costumes over here.

Now onto my favorite Halloween tradition: pumpkin carving!

(Don't worry, we have a third pumpkin saved for tonight's annual dinner in a pumpkin. Yum!

Want to know more about Halloween in England (and how it all started?) I love this Halloween description from a fellow American expat blogger.

Have a happy and safe Halloween friends! How will you be celebrating?

365 Days: Week 43

2011-10-25T09:57:00.001+01:00

Miles moved Tessa's crib into our room, just until we move in a few weeks. (It's very costly to keep this old cottage warm, so we like to only have one room to heat at night.)

Walking home through the old cemetery, after playgroup on Tuesday

A pretty view of the lake at a nearby farm. Tess likes to feed the ducks & birds and see the other animals.

A nice old-fashioned sweet shop - Sweet Sensations (the one with the brown storefront) . They even have a nice selection of American candies (at extortionist prices - as they are imported from America.)

We met up with Sarah and Maren at the University of Oxford Botanical Gardens

Our pumpkins are ready to be carved for Halloween

On a Sunday afternoon walk with Mommy & Dad

November Book Club

2011-10-22T22:59:00.000+01:00

I'm in a book club here in Oxford with a fabulous group of ladies, and we've just started a new season. Would you like to join us? Every month I will post our current read. Then at the end of the month we can have our own book club right here on the blog, to share our thoughts on the current book. So November's book is: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

(left: US book cover, right: UK book cover)

Probably many of you have read this book or watched the film (or both). I haven't read it, but I have seen the film (it's not yet out in the UK, but I had the opportunity to see it during my visit to Utah in September).

I've heard great things about this book, and really looking forward to this read. So let's get reading friends! (And don't forget to check back at the end of November for our discussion.)

The Ridgeway

2011-10-20T10:16:00.005+01:00

On Saturday we did some exploring along a section of the ancient Ridgeway Track, which is Britains oldest road (And I mean old....like 5000 years old!)

The views were gorgeous

Everything was warm and golden

Travel by piggy back is the best way to go! (By the way, have I mentioned that I finally splurged on the best baby carrier ever? We LOVE our Ergo! Tess can ride on the front or back, and it's amazingly comfortable.)

Have a happy Thursday everyone!

Crafty Mama: baby booties

2011-10-18T22:51:00.001+01:00

It's been a while since I've shared a craft with all of you lovelies. I really want to get serious with my knitting lessons again, so I picked up this fantastic knitting book at the library. It's perfect for someone just starting out, or someone with very basic knitting skills.

I seriously want to make all the projects shown. They are all really cute, and the step-by-step instructions make everything look easy peasy.

I just finished these baby booties and they were amazingly easy. I've been learning how to do cable knit, and for my next project will be knitting a little winter hat for Tess.

p.s. Speaking of crafts, have you been on Pinterest yet? I'm addicted! Feel free to follow me!

365 Days: Week 42

2011-10-17T23:44:00.001+01:00

There was a little fair in our local town. Tess and I sat on a bench and watched as the carousel went around and around.

I snapped this photo of a one-way street, while out and about running a few errands

The Autumn colors outside my bedroom window

Chasing pigeons is an extremely enjoyable pastime for this little girl.

Tess had the best time swimming with her little friend Maren at the community pool. (Photo again by the lovely Sarah. Sometimes I'm so lazy about getting my camera out!)

A perfect way to spend our Saturday as a family: Following a little dirt road that led to amazing views of the green countryside. (More photos from here to follow!)

Miles and Jake speaking html lingo together after dinner. Our sweet friends had us over for yummy Sunday dinner at their cute-as-ever little house. (I love that our hubbies get on so well together!)

Our "New" House

2011-10-15T11:10:00.006+01:00

Would you like to see the house we will be moving to in November? I have just a few photos from the estate agent. Try to imagine it filled with all of my own lovely things.

So what do you think? Could you live in a little English house like this?

This is going to be a big change for us after living in our rural country cottage. Our new house is located right in the middle of a busy town. We are in walking distance to all the shops, and even a train station (just think how easy it will be to hop onto a train bound for Oxford or London).

I'm just guessing, but our new house might be close to eighty years old (a lot newer than our cottage, ha!) It has all new double glazed windows (double paned), so we will stay cozy and warm every winter. Miles is excited about the massive garage in the back garden. And did you spot the enormous "American size" refrigerator in the kitchen? Yeah!!

We don't move until the end of November, so thankfully I have plenty of time for packing and organizing, and saying goodbye to our lovely stone cottage (sad face).

365 Days: Week 41

2011-10-13T17:35:00.004+01:00

On a warm Autumn day, while sitting with Tess on a bench in our nearby town centre, this bike caught my eye. (For no reason, other than I just love the image of bikes leaning against walls.)

Tess playing with her toys (in her jammies).

My friend, Sarah, and her little girl came over for a visit and to meet our sheep (this sweet photo was actually taken by my lovely and talented friend.)

I love collecting pine cones while we are out on our walks, and then displaying them around the house.

Miss Tess playing in front of Christ Church College. We met up with our friends for a little bit of shopping and a wander around Oxford City Centre.

Choosing a varnish finish for my lovely old bookcase that Miles is sanding down and refinishing for me. Love that handy guy! (Sorry, icky cell phone photo.)

Cleaning up, after having our new lovely friends over for dinner

Oxford Skyline

2011-10-04T22:10:00.007+01:00

Ooh, I just adore these little note cards I found on Etsy, which beautifully show the Oxford skyline. It is indeed, as the say, the City of Dreaming Spires.

Be still my heart, there's Salt Lake City too. Check out the entire Skyline collection, maybe they have your favorite city too.

365 Days: Week 40

2011-10-02T20:20:00.005+01:00

After a very long break, photo-a-day is finally back!

I love coming home and getting unpacked, but my head was in a sleepy, cloudy haze for several days as my body readjusted to the time difference.

We are determined to get out of our cottage before winter, so we've carried on with our house hunting . This house was a winner! We are moving in November. Eek! (More on this later.)

Autumn is in full swing around here.

Tess and I have fallen back into our schedule of daily walks and explorations in the countryside.

Someone turned a year older! Happy birthday handsome!

I finally got to meet one of my good blogging friends in person. She and her family just moved from America to Oxford. Tess and I just adore them. (Check out her lovely blog.)

We consume a lot of carrots in our house. We bought these fresh from a local farm. Yum!

My girl, playing on the bed

We've started buying fresh eggs from another nearby farm.

These two have been inseparable since we got home.

(p.s. Did I tell you? Tess is walking! It's been almost two months now.)

We're back!

2011-09-26T13:04:00.005+01:00

(A view of Salt Lake City from I-15)

Tess and I are back in England. Despite both being unwell with colds, the flights back to England were much easier than the flights to Utah. (I probably owe that to the empty seat next to me for Tess, and the blessed sleep-induced medication that I slipped into my daughters bottle... bliss.)

Our trip home to Utah was just what I needed. Before our trip, I was feeling restless and homesick, and wanting some change in my life. Being away for a month from my husband, our little stone cottage, and my daily routine, helped me realize just how much I love my life abroad with my little family.

Tess and I just need a few more days to recover from this silly jet lag, but then I'll be back to a normal posting schedule here on a Quick Succession.

Some thoughts on being home

2011-09-07T18:11:00.004+01:00

I'm half through my lovely stay in Utah. I'm really missing Miles, but it's such a joy to be home and for Tess to be surrounded by so many people who love her. She is such a social little gal and loves meeting all of these strange people who are her family.

It took a full week for Tess and I to fully adjust to the time difference. Our first night in Utah she woke at 3 a.m. The next few nights she woke between 4.30 and 5.30. Thank goodness she's now back on schedule of waking around 7 a.m.

I've been going out running most mornings, but not getting very far because of painful side aches. I never get side aches when I run in England. I'm guessing that it might be due to less oxygen in the air because of the higher elevation. (Elevation in Utah county is 4,774 ft above sea level (1,455 m). Elevation in Oxford England is just 184 ft (56 m))

I've been caught whining about the heat more than once. The week I arrived the temperatures were in the 90's Fahrenheit (30's Celsius). I guess the English summer's have turned me into a bit of a wimp in this dry Utah desert.

Baby formula is just as expensive in America as it is in England.

Summer nights in Utah are my favorite. The air is warm and filled with the sound of singing crickets.

Tess had her first real Oscar Mayer baloney sandwich (like a proper little American!)

I've enjoyed indulging on a few of my old food favorites, including: cinnamon bears, Life cereal, Wheat Thins, and Mexican food (have you ever been to the Red Iguana in Salt Lake? Yum!)

Since when did frozen yogurt become so popular again? There are new little frozen yogurt shops everywhere in Utah county.

My sister-in-laws introduced me to sweet potato fries at Red Robin. Yum!

And finally, here are a few photos. I wish there were more, but I've been pretty lazy with my photo taking these last two weeks. (My Photo-a-day project has pretty much been put on hold until I'm back in England.)

Downtown Salt Lake City

The view from my Dad's yard of my favorite mountain

Tess meeting her great-grandpa

Miles's three lovely sisters (His sister Jenn just got married and I was so pleased to be here for it)

Tess pretty much lives in her swimming suit and the little splash pool in my Dad's backyard

A baseball game

Birthday cake for Miss Tess! (She's not quite a year old, but we celebrated early with my family.)

London to Salt Lake

2011-09-06T16:57:00.009+01:00

I'm trying to erase the long and arduous journey of London to Salt Lake City from my memory. It was just plain stressful. Just for you, however, here's an overview of what happened:

Arrived at London Heathrow Airport 3 hours early for departure

Stood in the check-in line for nearly an hour, only to be told that we had to go back to the ticket counter to pick up a printed ticket for Tess, then go through check-in all over again

Nearly cried when I was told no bulk head seat was available for me

But then nearly did cartwheels when I discovered that my reserved seat was already a bulkhead seat

Cried as I said good-bye to Miles at security

Despite having a carry-on full of liquids (six containers of pre-mixed formula and three containers of baby food), got through security quickly and easily

Took advantage of one of the few perks of travelling with children: getting to be one of the first passengers to board the plane

Spent 8 long hours (London to Detroit) trying to entertain my wiggly Tess with new toys, walking up and down the airplane isles, and watching Disney movies

Avoided eye contact with the other passengers while standing in the isle bouncing my screaming and overtired baby to sleep

Was beyond caring when my daughter kept eating food from the airplane floor

Felt gratitude toward the kind lady sitting across from me who entertained Tess and gave her snacks to eat

Looked around in envy at the other passengers as they sat watching their movies, reading their magazines, and taking their naps

Was happy to get through customs so easily in Detroit, but frustrated when I had to collect all of my checked-in luggage (including the car seat), re-check it, and go through security AGAIN, where I was hassled by a mean security officer.

Drank a massive Dr Pepper during a 2 1/2 hour layover in Detroit

Boarded a plan bound for Salt Lake City, where for three hours Tess slept in my arms, and I got to converse with the two nicest ladies ever

15 hours after leaving London, stepped off the plane and was greeted with hugs and kisses from my mom, dad, step-mom, and niece

----------------------------------------------------

My time in Utah is half through..... just think, in two weeks I get to do this all over again!

(a few photos coming soon)

365 Days: Week 32

2011-08-30T03:45:00.004+01:00

I'm failing miserably at my photo-a-day, now that I'm in Utah. But here are a few photos from the week before Tess and I left England for our little holiday. An update on Utah coming soon (including tales from the wretched plane ride!)

The kitchen table on a sunny morning

My jeans drying on the line

A very (very) rainy day

A trip to the library
I dream of the day when I have a dishwasher again.

York

2011-08-22T00:13:00.003+01:00

On our way back from Newcastle, we stopped in York to have a little poke around. I first visited York a few years ago with my good friend, and at the time deemed it one of my very favorite cities in all of England. I really wanted to show Miles around, and after taking a second look myself, I've concluded that it's still on the top of that list.

York Minster Cathedral is stunning

Miles climbs to the top of the old (Roman?) wall that surrounds the city

Me on the wall

The famously narrow street called "The Shambles" (where all the butcher shops were located, back in the day).

Tess & mommy hanging out on the steps of York Minster

The North

2011-08-21T23:13:00.007+01:00

We had an amazing time last week visiting the north east of England. We stayed with our friends who have recently moved there from Oxford. As always, I took way too many photos, and wish I could share them all with you. Here are a few of my favorites. (And please bear with me, I'm learning a few new tricks in Photoshop, but got a bit too carried away with some of these photos! Ha!)

Durham City Centre

I adore these old paved streets.

Overlooking Durham

Durham Cathedral

The Angel of the North

Newcastle Upon Tyne

A really rad art museum (The Baltic Centre)

Miles with his favorite Geordie

Tynemouth

Castle ruins by the sea

Sorry for the lack of captions, but just to recap, I totally fell in love with Northern England. The people are extra friendly, the accents are extra awesome, and by darn, it's just so pretty!

Utah

2011-08-15T21:22:00.008+01:00

Tess and I are headed off to Utah for a month starting next week! Yippy! It's been almost two years since I've been home. I have a massive list of things I want to do in my home state (most of which include foods to eat!) Here are a few things on my list.

I miss those mountains! (photo by Ryan Houston)

1. Eat lots and lots of banana Creamies

2. Cheer loudly at a Bees baseball game

3. Toast marshmallows while camping with my family

4. Take Tess on my favorite hike in Provo canyon

5. Order a Turkey/swiss/mushroom sandwich on sourdough from my favorite deli

6. Pick all of the raspberries from Dad's garden (and then eat them!)

7. See my big sister cross the finish line in her marathon

8. Sit on the front porch and watch a thunderstorm

9. Introduce Tess to her 50+ cousins

10. Let the hot, dry Utah sun absorb all of the English dampness out of me. Aaaah!

Sadly Miles won't be coming along (I will be missing him and thinking of him every five minutes), so I will be doing the long international flight alone with a very wiggly 11 month baby. I'm seriously panicking! Got any good advice for travelling with a little one?

p.s. photos from Newcastle & York coming very soon......

365 Days: Week 30

2011-08-10T12:30:00.004+01:00

Miles has two weeks off from work. Tess and him have been inseparable the entire time.

Strawberry & Raspberry picking

I love brown eggs. They just feel so fresh and natural to me. (It's all about brown eggs here in England. I don't know that I've ever seen any white ones here.)

Fridays are my cleaning day. The living room is usually never this tidy anymore. (It's usually scattered with Tessa's toys and found objects that she drags around the house.)

A shopping trip to one of the cheapest clothing companies in all of Britain. Primark is amazing! Have you been?

Cornish icecream with strawberries. Yum.

We're heading up north to Newcastle for the remainder of the week. I'll see you back here on Monday with plenty of photos!

Beach Day

2011-08-09T11:31:00.006+01:00

Last week we finally had some weather that actually resembled a proper summer. We made the most of it by heading off to a beach in North Devon!

Saunton Sands was the beach

This is how the English do a day at the beach.... using these clever wind breakers (colorful canvas on poles stuck into the sand) It keeps the chilly English wind off while sunbathing.

We used a wind breaker too.

Tess loved the sand.

But how do you think she liked the water and waves?

Not one bit!

She soon changed her mind and was off cruising.

I adore those chubby little legs.

Much to Miles's disappointment, the waves weren't big enough for surfing (though that didn't stop some).

So instead we collect shells from the sand,

soaked in some sunshine,

and flew a kite (or tried to fly a kite, in my case!),

while Tess watched on in confusion

Then Miles happily perused a few small surf shops,

in this cute-as-a-button surf town (or surf village).

365 Days: Weeks 28-29

2011-08-01T23:38:00.005+01:00

Our sheep are very friendly and will gather in close to you when you walk into their field. Tess loves them and laughs at them. (Not really our sheep, of course, we just like to call them "ours" because they live in the meadow right next door to us).

Driving on the M25 during a rainy rush hour. (Had to go into London to sort out some details for Tessa's Visa..... headache!)

She's discovered the pleasure of digging in dirt, much to my displeasure!

Watching Teletubbies, her favorite.

The gorgeous and fragrant lavender plant growing just outside our front door.

Our new car! It's another Toyota (more on this later).

Sleeping in Daddy's lap during church.

The parking garage that I often park in when I go into town. It costs 65 pence for an hour, and I always get the best parking spaces.

Lovely old buildings in the town center

Had an activity for the children from our church and got to take a ride on this cute miniature train (sorry for the icky quality phone photo).

My lavender pretties up the bathroom window.

Back from grocery shopping. I've turned slightly English and bring my own bags to the grocery store.

Miles, Tess, and I spent the afternoon at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The Pissarro exhibit was my favorite.

After church we had a lazy afternoon of napping, eating lollipops, and laying on the lawn.

365 Days: Week 27

2011-07-21T21:28:00.004+01:00

Friends, I'm sorry for the slow blog lately. Some things have come up that are taking all of my spare time & energy. I'll be back soon with an update. In the meantime, the Photo-a-Day project carries on!

Boats on the River Thames

Prepared the guest bedroom for an upcoming house guest

A friend's fiancée arrived from Peru and stayed with us for a few days. I took a few amateur engagement photos of the lovely couple.

Tess playing with one of her favorite little mates

Gave my lovely new Peruvian friend a tour of Oxford

Car shopping! We're trading in our two door Toyota, for a family friendly four door. (Hopefully we'll have the keys next week.)

At a friends house for a barbecue. Sometimes I take photos of my husband on the sly, because I think he's pretty darn cute!

365 Days: Week 26

2011-07-12T21:11:00.004+01:00

I go once a week to a baby and toddler play group for Tess, and this is where we meet....... an old Church of England church. While walking past the decrepit headstones, I smiled to myself and relished in one of those "only in England" moments.

I've been reading The Hunger Games trilogy. It's SO GOOD! I got through the first book in a matter of days. Have you read it?

The weekly Antique market held in Oxford.

The pound shop (where everything is just a pound) always has a way of luring me in.

The British Grand Prix was this weekend. Miles let me take a friend to the Saturday qualifying while he stayed home with Tess. It's so fun to have a lady friend who is as crazy about F1 as I am, and who misses Kimi just as much as I do. (See for yourself just how big of an F1 nerd I am!)

Miles took a friend to the race on Sunday, but our poor Williams team really let us down.

365 Days: Week 25

2011-07-08T16:01:00.004+01:00

A perfect summer day spent out in the garden.

A pretty dirt path nearby that Tess and I often take long walks down.

Freedom! The day I passed my driving test.

Tess at her friends princess birthday party.

I went and looked at this house for rent..... but didn't like it. We've been looking on and off over the past couple of months. (We're not sure we want to spend another cold winter in our drafty old cottage). I get a bit depressed when I look at houses here, it really makes me miss how cheap it is to live in a nice house in Utah.

We attended the Goodwood Festival of speed and saw lots and lots of old fancy race cars

One of the prettier neighborhoods in Oxford. Some friends had us over to their place for dinner.

Rows of docked punting boats

4th of July (English Style)

2011-07-06T17:27:00.004+01:00

Picnicking, punting, and fireworks is how we celebrated America's birthday this year from across the pond.

Setting off the fireworks (in a dry grassy field......!)

Tess did not like the noisy fireworks.

Neither did this little chap.

Time for a little punting on the River Cherwell

Miles drives our boat

It was a perfect day. What did you do to celebrate?

365 Days: Week 24

2011-07-01T23:42:00.003+01:00

I do believe cherries & summer go perfectly together.

Summer Solstice (this photo was taken at 10 at night). I love these long summer days.

A homemade salt scrub that my hands are addicted to (and so easy to make!)

I built a tent in the living room for Tess... she played in it all day long.

The best EVER used book shop.

We met up with some American friends in Oxford who stayed at our place for the night. I really wish I had gotten a photo of them, but instead here's a little street that Miles and I usually find ourselves walking down every time we go into Oxford City Centre.

Tess is doing a lot of this these days. I suppose it won't be long until she figures out how to put one foot in front of the other.

On the Road Again

2011-06-29T20:47:00.004+01:00

I took my driving test today, and guess what?............. I passed! Yes indeed, I now hold a UK driving license! The last several days were full of a lot of anxiety for me as I agonized over whether or not I could do it. Anyone who has gone through the process of obtaining a UK driving license knows how difficult it is, and especially how tricky it is to pass the road/practical driving test. There's only a 43% pass rate, but little old me passed on my first try! (I highly recommend taking professional driving lessons.)

Needless to say, I'm extremely relieved to have my freedom back. I'm already planning all kinds of daily excursions to get Tess and me out and about again: the library, the weekly antique market, baby play groups, shopping, visiting friends, farmers markets, walks along the river, meeting up with Miles for his lunch break..........!

Peak District, Chapter 2

2011-06-22T15:43:00.003+01:00

Okay, so I'm finally getting back to telling you all about our holiday in the Peak District. Our second day was spent hiking and wandering through little towns.

First we climbed to the top of Stanage Edge.

I had a Lizzy Bennett moment

The view was lush

Miles kept the girl warm from the wind and cold.

We explored some lovely little towns. This is Castleton.

There were cyclist everywhere.

This sweet little village is Ashford-on-the-Water and came recommended to us... It did not disappoint!

We took another short hike up the tall green hills, to look down upon the village of Ashford-on-the-Water (and a humongous house).

Sigh, it was a perfect day. I would have to agree with Jane Austen when she wrote in her novel Pride & Prejudice, "There is not a finer county in England than Derbyshire."

365 Days: Week 23

2011-06-22T09:48:00.007+01:00

My little secretary always does a fine job of un-filing my papers

I'm feeling brave about posting a close up of my mouth. Maybe because after going to the dentist for the first time in 4 years, I'm pleased to announce that I have healthy teeth and gums (daily flossing really does work!) I always like going to the dentist, do you?

Miles and I met some lovely new friends last month while we were at the American Embassy, I had her and her baby over for lunch and she brought these sweet little M&S fruit tarts.

A pretty patch of daisies

Tess helps hold the umbrella when it's raining. (I love how the Brits refer to an umbrella as a brolly, but I can never get myself to use that term.)

We like getting our fruit from this weekly farmer's market

There were many kids and babies at a birthday party we went to for Tessa's little friend. Miles and I have noticed that Tess is quite social with other babies and children, which is very unlike the two of us, but we are really happy about it.

365 Days: Week 22

2011-06-17T16:42:00.002+01:00

Freshly planted petunias in my hanging flower basket

A new Asda shop in Oxford - yippy! Asda is owned by Walmart, and pretty much the same thing, just on a much smaller scale.

There's a beehive in the eaves of our cottage (hard to see in the following photo). My landlord isn't going to do anything about it because apparently beehives are protected in England. Really? Bees? It sounds a bit insane to me. Anyway, he can't just have the bees exterminated, but instead would have to have a professional actually move the entire living hive, which of course is very costly. So far the bees haven't been too much of a bother, so we shall leave them in peace for now.

Tess playing in her room with her friend Vivian

Bubbles in the park

Poppies!

Have a lovely weekend friends!

Chatsworth

2011-06-14T11:32:00.006+01:00

Just for you lovelies, a little photo tour of our visit to Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, or a little place that I like to call Pemberley!

I was super upset upon driving up to the house to see half of it covered in yucky scaffolding!

This view is what I was most looking forward to seeing. Totally ruined..... grrr!

The grounds and gardens are lovely and almost made up for the scaffolding.

A little picnic break

Tess made friends with the ducks

What kind of Janeite would I be if I didn't show you a few interior photos, which you may recognize from the 2005 Pride & Prejudice move adaptation.

Stunning!

A fab little video about the filming of P&P at Chatsworth.

365 Days: Week 21

2011-06-07T21:39:00.006+01:00

I painted and "antiqued" one of the ugly brown chairs in our office. I can't decide if I made it better or worse. I'm just tired of painting everything white all the time so thought I would try a bit of color. I'm still trying to decide if I like it.

Baby Tess finally received her passport & birth certificate in the post. She's been learning how to turn pages of books, so I let her have a little practice with her new passport.

A new high chair for Tess. It's a great babysitter when I'm trying to get a few things done outside. She loves to sit and watch me from inside the door.

The trees in the lane are looking extra full and leafy this summer.

I've noticed that little girls here in England are always making daisy chains from these tiny flowers that grow wild in the grass. I think they are so sweet, so I watched a short video online and then made a few on a sunny afternoon while sitting on the lawn with Tess .

The start of our holiday to the Peak District. This lovely view is on the grounds of Chatsworth House. I loved the gardens here and can't wait to show you more of my photos.

Miles did a great job composing this photo of me taking in the view from Stanage Edge.

Lyme Hall (aka: Pemberley). Many more photos from this lovely place to follow later this week, and that's a promise!

(Oops, did you notice that weeks 19 & 20 are missing from my Photo-a-Day project? Well, that's no mistake, just me taking another little break from photo taking. Sorry!)

Peak District

2011-06-02T10:18:00.005+01:00

We are taking a short holiday to the Peak District in a few days. I'm really looking forward to it, as seeing this part of England has been on my "must see" list for a long time. We will be sure to stop by Mr Darcy's house and gaze off the same wild and windswept cliffs as Elizabeth Bennett. It will be interesting hiking with a baby, but we are determined! Have you ever been to the Peak District? Do you have any suggestions of things to do and see?

Photo by Breezy Baldwin (check out all of her gorgeous photos from the Peak District).

Expat Women: Confessions

2011-05-29T20:51:00.004+01:00

The kind ladies of Expat Women shared a copy of their fabulous new book with me. I've just finished reading it, and I really enjoyed it. This book is full of all the advice I wish I'd had when I'd first moved to England (I had no idea what I was getting myself into!) Even after living as an expat for the past 3 1/2 years, I still have my days when I feel I'm in way over my head, and I found some really helpful advice for some of those things I'm still struggling with.

If you are currently living abroad, or thinking about doing so, go grab yourself a copy.

Crafty Mama: crochet flower headbands

2011-05-25T09:50:00.004+01:00

So I'm taking a break from knitting lessons to try my hand at crochet. I must say, I think I like crochet better. It feels much easier, and goes a lot quicker. These crochet headbands and flowers are an easy project, if you have basic crochet skills. I followed this video tutorial for the flowers.

For this first band, I did 6 single crochets across, and then continued each row until I had the length I wanted to fit around the head.

For this second band, I did 4 double crochets across, then continued each row until I had the length I wanted.

American Girl

2011-05-20T16:15:00.005+01:00

We took Tess to the American Embassy in London last week to officially claim her American citizenship. We applied for her American birth certificate, social security number, and American passport. We were a little bit worried about going, since two days before there was a protest in front of the embassy that turned violent. But all was calm and well during our visit, and Tess is now an official American gal. (We get asked this quite often, but just because Tess was born in the UK, does not automatically entitle her to a dual citizenship.)

In front of the Embassy

Here's what else we did for Tessa's first day out in London: Played in a grassy park.

Wondered through Hyde Park

Consulted maps, took a small nap

Watched some guards from the Household Calvary clopping past

Ogled over pretty buildings

Had crepes for lunch

Went to the science museum (Miles' choice!)

Felt really old when we saw this stuff in the museum.

Wore our legs out and were half tempted to hire a couple of these

Took Tess on her first Tube ride (while she tried to eat some of dad's wrapped candy bar)

365 Days: Week 18

2011-05-20T16:11:00.004+01:00

My junk food snack of choice. It's called a yum yum (I'm totally serious) . Why do I like it so much? Because it tastes like a proper greasy American style doughnut.

Took Tess to the American Embassy in London to get her registered as an American.

Tess is a busy little girl. She climbed the full length of the stairs all by herself.

It's called TK Maxx here in England. I love shopping here.

A gift for a friends baby shower.

Shopping in a lovely farm shop, where everything is sold in pretty packaging, and is way overpriced. (and the only place where I've ever found chocolate covered pretzels over here.)

A nice diversion from my usual breakfast of boring bran flakes.

365 Days: Weeks 16-17

2011-05-13T22:26:00.005+01:00

My favorite thing about a Bank Holiday Monday is hitting up a car boot sale (a bank holiday is a national holiday). It's a great place to find second hand toys and clothes for Tess. Miles got a cricket bat and a skateboard for a pound each. We also scored some games, books, kitchenware, and a few other bits and bobs.

There are several lilac bushes blooming in the garden. They smell heavenly and I love to bring the scent indoors by picking the blossoms and putting them into tiny vases throughout the house.

Miles and I enjoy playing board games together. Our recent favorite is an oldie but goody.

We moved our bed back into our room. (We had moved into Tessa's room for the winter because it's the warmest room in our drafty cottage). I thought it would be hard to be separate from Tess at night, but we actually love it! We can turn the light on and read in bed, and we're not having to quietly stumble around in the dark all the time.

Royal Wedding Day. Loved it, but I'm tired of talking about it, so let's just move on, okay? (Yes, this photo again.)

The queen on her thrown. She loves it up there.

Enjoyed the afternoon relaxing on the grass in Christ Church Meadow in Oxford.

Miles is the best car washer I know.

I have never had eggplant and decide it was time to give it a go. I found a yummy sounding recipe for breaded & fried eggplant, but the truth is, I didn't like it one bit. Definitely not a fan of eggplant. How do you feel about eggplant? (FYI: In England, an eggplant is called an aubergine.)

One of my finds from Monday's car boot. I had been looking for a dainty little locket. It's perfect.

I'm taking a few driving lessons from a qualified instructor. I think I'm a great driver, but I left my first lesson feeling really frustrated at how I'm expected to drive now. More on that later, though. (Miles took this photo while I was driving.)

Tea & crumpets anyone? We're not really into tea, but Miles does love eating crumpets smothered in jam for his breakfast.

We took Tess to have her passport photo done so we can apply for her American passport. This little smirk is so typical of her. It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

We went with some friends and their baby to the Uffington White Horse, where you can see one of the best views in all of Oxfordshire.

365 Days: Weeks 14-15

2011-05-09T17:01:00.006+01:00

I'm so far behind on posting my Photo-a-Days. The month of April was mad busy with Miles having loads of time off because of Easter holiday and the Royal Wedding. And then April turned into May and I just got lazy. Oh well, here's the first catch up batch, and more to follow shortly.

I try and go out running a few morning a week. I wear Miles' sweet Casio to time myself.

Tess loves splashing in the bath water.

While doing an online grocery order I did a search for breakfast cereals, and this is what came up: baked beans! I do love how the English eat beans with breakfast.

Tess and I went with friends to the Royal Botanical Gardens in London (Kew Gardens). My favorite thing about this place are the big glass Victorian greenhouses. Isn't it pretty? A few more photos here.

Miles having a very manly barbecue with a group of guys from church.

After church we found a dead squirrel in the garden. Poor thing, but he was kind of stinky, so Miles cleared him away using a stick while still wearing his Sunday suit.

Tess loves playing with faces.

A perfect day.

The Wisteria in full bloom outside the kitchen window.

On nice days I like to dry the clothes outside on the line. I love how the fresh air and sunshine leave my laundry smelling better than any detergents. Do you ever dry your clothes outside?

Grocery shopping.

The car dash showing it to be the warmest day of the year so far: 27 Celsius (80F). Loved it! And see the time? We use the 24 hour clock around here, so it's second nature for me to see that and know the time is 2:38pm.

Lady Tess in her Easter dress. She looks completely innocent, but half a second after I took this photo, that little flower went straight into her mouth.

Blossoms

2011-05-04T10:00:00.003+01:00

This spring a lot of the trees in the garden had the most amazing and fragrant blossoms. When some of the trees dropped their blossoms, it left a gorgeous carpet of petals that Tess and I couldn't resist stomping around in.

Tess was a little unsure at first.

And she's off.

These blossoms smell delicious, so they must taste it too!

So soft on my feet.

Crafty Mama: Lampshade Redo

2011-05-02T16:11:00.003+01:00

There's this lovely little wall nook in the cottage that I really love, but I've always thought the ugly lights sort of ruin it. Time for a little lampshade makeover!

I used some left over fabric to cover the glass shades and turn them into pretty lamp shades. I just used spray adhesive to stick the fabric to the glass. Then I sewed my own little bias tape using the same fabric, and attached this to the top with a glue gun.

I'm thinking the nook could now use some new accessories, but I like my little nook much better now.

p.s. I haven't given up on my Photo-a-Day project. Just getting behind a bit, but will post those soon.

How We Celebrated

2011-04-30T13:30:00.007+01:00

I woke up yesterday feeling quite giddy. Wow, what a wedding! I was glued to the TV. We watched the BBC coverage, and I took in every detail. I got a bit emotional while watching William & Harry on their way to Westminster. What must he and the bride be feeling? I couldn't help but think back to the feelings I experienced on my own wedding day. Everywhere we went yesterday, you could feel the patriotism and pride among the British people (something they seem to be very hesitant to show). It was truly a great day and I feel lucky to have been a part of it.

Miles is such a good chap to go along with all my oohing, aahing and swooning. I think maybe secretly he was gagging through the whole thing. Just look at him in the below photo!

I told Miles that if the "Tea Party" we were planning on attending didn't have any bunting, we were leaving right away to go in search of a party that did.

They did not disappoint!

"Wedding cake" was being served, along with scones with cream, & tea.

I hope you enjoyed yesterday as much as I did. Just to sum things up, my favorite parts from the wedding were: Union Jacks everywhere, the thousands of supporters, the couple's carriage ride to Buckingham, and the permanent smile on Kate's face. What were your favorites?

The Wedding

2011-04-28T10:15:00.004+01:00

I had been looking for the perfect thing to commemorate the Royal Wedding (I'm tired of all the tacky souveniers), when I stumbled upon the perfect suggestion from this blog. A lovely biscuit tin from Marks & Spencer. I've just gone to eBay and bought it for myself. I'm sure I will enjoy eating the biscuits very much and using the cute tin to store bits & pieces.

(Image)

So yes, the big wedding is tomorrow! How are you feeling about it? I'm pretty happy. I'm surprised that many of my British friends couldn't care less and are just happy to have the day off. Miles and I will be celebrating by first going to a friends house where we will watch the wedding live on TV while enjoying a bbq. Later we will go to a Royal Wedding Tea Party being hosted by our village. So how will you will be celebrating (if at all)?

Bluebell Forest

2011-04-28T10:12:00.007+01:00

Friends, I'm going to make you insanely jealous. Have you ever seen a forest of bluebells in full bloom? Oh my, how amazing! Total deliciousness for the eye.

Is this place for real?

Even color blind Miles was impressed!

Bluebells make the perfect backdrop for baby portraits.

Stop eating the bluebells baby Tess and look at daddy with the camera.

The forest was so fragrant with the bluebell's sweet smell.

Up close, so delicate.

This is the view from just outside the bluebell forest

Is this too much for your visual senses? (Just a few more!) On our drive home we went past many bright yellow fields of rapeseed.

And that ain't no Photoshop trick (well, maybe just a little)! Look at that gorgeous vibrant color!

Happy Easter

2011-04-23T23:27:00.005+01:00

It was 28 degrees Celsius today (82F). In my opinion, that's the perfect temperature. We've had a busy four day weekend so far. Tomorrow Miles and I are speaking in Sacrament meeting at church... on Easter Sunday. Talk about pressure!

I just wanted to leave you with a few more photos of our lovely sheep and lambs from across the road for your Easter enjoyment. And to tell you about this fab video about Jesus Christ. It's really beautiful and only 2 minutes long, so if you haven't seen it yet, go give it a little looky. Happy Easter friends!