Around the House

Just to highlight some of the differences we're dealing with, I thought I'd take you on a little tour around the house.

Bedrooms/ Living areas 

Heating.  First of all, there are radiators in each room. I know some houses in the States have these too, but it's never something we've lived with. So we can't just set the thermostat at a nice, comfortable temperature and leave it. I know, it's not a big deal. It is a difference though, so I've included it.
We also have fireplaces in each bedroom, the living room, and the dining room, but as far as I know they're no longer functional.

Cooling.  There's also no air conditioning. And no built in fans. You cool your dwelling by opening windows, but there aren't any screens on these windows, so you just have an open hole. We'll see how this goes next summer...

Windows.  Speaking of open windows, we have to at least crack them at times all year long. Since we get a good amount of rain, and not a lot of ventilation, mold can grow very easily. So you have to try to keep the house dry. Also, we, like many others around here, have only single glazed windows. Even when the windows are closed, it's chilly and drafty. It's not uncommon for Americans to have astronomical hearing bills when they move here, because we're used to having warm houses. For now we have several throws in the living room to keep the chill off.

No closets. That's right, most places don't have closets at all, not even in the bedrooms (the horror). Fortunately, Miles and Lily's room has a built in wardrobe, and there's another large built in wardrobe in the hallway for Matt and me. Sorry, Clara, you're out of luck.

This is the one in the hallway

Kitchen/Bath

Faucets. In the States, we're used to mixer taps, where the hot and cold water flow through one faucet. In the UK, it's not uncommon to have two separate faucets, one for hot and one for cold. So after using the toilet, you get to choose whether you want to wash with over cold or soon to be scalding hot water. All of our rooms have mixer taps except one, so that's nice.

Outlets. There are no outlets (besides shaver outlets) in bathrooms, at least not in any of the places we've stayed. This doesn't bother me, since I rarely use blow dryers and heat styling tools. Another thing is that the outlets each have on/off switches. It took some time to get used to turning on the plug before using it, but now I like this feature since it saves electricity.

Small and slow washing machine. Wait, we're talking about the kitchen, right? Yep, unless there's a utility room (and there usually isn't), washers are located in the kitchen. They don't hold a lot, and are terribly slow. I think mine takes between 1-2 hours to wash a load, which means I'm never caught up.  Naturally, this leads us to...

Dryers. Some places (like our apartment) don't have a dryer at all, and most of the places that do have condenser dryers. Instead of blowing hot air over the clothes and expelling the moisture through a vent, all air is sealed in the machine. The air blows through the clothes, and the water condenses into another receptacle. The first time I used one of these, I ran it about 5 times and the clothes never got dry. Matt's been told that a nice dryer can work well, but I'm skeptical. I'll still get one though, since I really dislike crunchy clothes that have been drying all over my kitchen.


Small appliances. Our fridge is a typical UK size, which is between the size of a US refrigerator and a mini fridge, ha. It's been working for us so far, but you can't fit a gallon of milk in the door. It's an adjustment since we were weekly Costco shoppers in Colorado. Also, the oven is very small. The movers forgot to pack our flat pans, like cookie sheets. But it's just as well, since none of them would fit anyway. Basically my 9"x13" plans just fit inside. Thanksgiving will certainly be interesting this year - we may be eating a chicken!

I had to look up instructions on how to use this online.

Kitchen sink. I nearly forgot about my least favorite inconvenience (tied with the dryer)! Our kitchen sink is tiny. I can fit my crock pot in it, but washing it is a major pain. But I think the worst part is not having a garbage disposal. I can't stand cleaning slimy stuff out of the little basket thing. Yuck!

And that's a quick tour of the differences within the house. Really none of the difficulties are insurmountable, but it does take some time to get used to a new normal.

Because I'm Basic

Matt brought a little surprise home for me last night...

It's not as easy to find around here, so I was pretty excited. It's full on fall weather here, and I've been craving pumpkin desserts, and turkey pumpkin chili (got that recipe from Pinterest).

Now I just have to decide if I use it all now or save some for our Thanksgiving celebration...

More Food

We finally have wifi, yay! Now I can upload pictures again with abandon (that day in the life post sucked up all of my data when I wrote it).

Anyway, we've had the chance to try a few more foods since my last post about it.

Last time, I'd mentioned that I wanted to try tea, a traditional English breakfast, and pub food.

Well I've had a lot of tea. I'm not a hot tea drinker really, but it's definitely one thing that's done better in the UK! I have a box of Yorkshire Tea at home, which I like with sugar and a bit of milk. I've also ordered tea out, but I have not yet done the full afternoon tea service with tiny sandwiches and cakes.

Lunch at a tea room with my girls

English breakfast. Well, I can't say that I've ordered the full English, but I've had most of the components. I've had the bacon, eggs, sausage, and toast together, along with sauteed mushrooms sometimes. I've had the grilled tomato with different foods, and I've tried the black pudding. Well, sort of.
We went to a small plates restaurant for dinner one night, and bravely ordered the fried cake with black pudding and duck (& something else but I forget what). It wasn't gross. It was okay, but I don't know that I'd order it on its own after that.

Do I look excited or scared?

And pub food. We've tried this category many times now, and love it. We lived in a pub for a week, so we ate there nearly every night. Our favorite was the steak and ale pie (I love a meat pie), served with chips, peas, and gravy. Also worth a try were the bangers and mash, which are sausages with mashed potatoes. And sometimes gravy. Yesterday I tried a cottage pie, which is minced beef covered with cheesy mashed potatoes, served with chips and peas, and more gravy. And this country does gravy right. Thick and full flavored, sometimes with bits of onion. Great comfort food.

Bangers and mash served in a giant Yorkshire pudding

Cottage pie

Bangers with bubble and squeak

Oh yeah, the bubble and squeak. This is a mixture of mashed or crushed roasted potatoes with leftover vegetables (typically cabbage, but can be a mixture of anything). It's made into a patty and fried until brown. The one I tried was really good, and I'll have to try to make it sometime.

On Sundays, many restaurants have a Sunday roast. This can be pork, beef, or lamb, and is served with roasted potatoes, vegetables, and gravy. And a Yorkshire pudding (made of a batter of milk, eggs, and flour). We've tried this mean once so far.

The last thing I'll touch on here is what the kids like to eat. There's not a lot of mac and cheese on children's menus here. Their favorite thing by far is fish fingers with chips and peas. I don't eat peas, so I was surprised at how much the kids love them. Lily also loves bangers with chips and peas, and every now and then they will have a burger. But there's really nothing too out of the ordinary on the kids menus.

What should we try next? Matt is voting for haggis in Scotland. I think I'll go for something a little more tame.

Things I'm Missing/Things I'm Loving

Just a few things...

MISSING

Friends and family

Wifi (we have another couple of days before our internet is hooked up - 2 weeks after we called to set it up)

Colorado sunshine

Costco (there's one in Leeds, but we haven't gone yet)

Having a TV (we're getting one soon)

Having a yard

Tumble dryers

American sized ovens



LOVING

Being able to walk everywhere

We're starting to think about travel plans (& there's so much to choose from!)

Yorkshire Tea and an oaty biscuit or scone with jam and cream

Cider (the adult kind)

Being a bit distanced from politics right now

One Step at a Time

My grandmother never learned how to drive. Ever since I can remember, I had wondered why she didn't just get out there and do it, but after moving here I can completely empathize.
We've been here for a month and a half, and I'm still not driving. It's not driving on the left side of the road that worries me. It's the narrow streets in town, where cars park partly on the sidewalk on both sides. This leaves just enough space for two cars to get through (sometimes barely enough room for one). Even as a passenger this is frightening, as it feels like the left side of the car is much closer to anything than it actually is.
Roundabouts are another thing that worry me. I'm not talking about a dinky little roundabout like you can find in the States, I mean a 3 laner with 4 or more exits. And I can't even think about getting on the motorway yet.
But, I have to just get out there and do it, right? And last night I had a go. I drove from our place to the grocery store, which was about 2 miles and 15 minutes. I drove on one narrow street, and through two roundabouts. I got a little confused with the lanes in a roundabout, but I managed. I'm still anxious, and won't be trying to drive everywhere, but I'm proud that I did it. It has to get better from here.

Day in the Life

Julia over at My Life in Transition does this quarterly collection of day in the life posts. I've enjoyed reading them, and now I get to participate.

This will be a long one, so feel free to skip it if you want (there are pictures though). It's just a snapshot of one of our days.

It's Wednesday, 5 October 2016. It's been 6.5 weeks since we moved to England, and one week since we've moved into our apartment.

5:55am My alarm goes off, and I actually whisper, "Nooo." Clara woke up twice in the night, and I don't think I've been asleep long since the second time. But I get up and take a shower.

6:15 Miles wakes up on his own. I wake Lily up, and Matt gets them dressed while I get dressed.

6:30 Clara wakes up. We all go downstairs for breakfast. The kids have yogurt. I have meuseli and get a cup of coffee.

7:15 Matt leaves for work. I realize that I forgot to put Clara's clothes on. Do that and my hair and makeup. The kids play in their room. I'm not really feeling my trousers today, so I change clothes. Realize I forgot to set my "leave for school" alarm.

8:05 Check phone, and of course we're running late. Yell about getting shoes on and we run out the door. I leave a full cup of coffee on the table. We walk to school.

8:27 Get to the playground. Miles gets in line, and I drop Lily off at nursery. I chat with other mums and walk home.

9ish: Clara and I get home, and I drink my cold coffee. I gather the clothes that are drying all over kitchen and take them upstairs. I throw another load of laundry in and straighten up the kitchen.

9:37 Clara wants to nurse. I remember I wanted to do this post today, so I have no pictures of the morning up until this point.

Here's the messy living room

9:42 Clara hits herself in face with toy phone and cries. I nurse her to sleep and play on my phone. Miles has to bring his favorite poem in to school tomorrow, so I look up short silly ones to read to him later. Do 5 year olds really have a favorite poem?

10:00 I try to put Clara down. She wakes up

10:05 I start picking up the living room while drinking my cold coffee. I find a sippy cup of chunky milk (gross), and drawings that the big kids made last night (cute).

10:12 I start unpacking living room boxes.

11:25 I have unpacked about 6 boxes, and I'm feeling productive. I unload the washing machine. Yes, it's the same load of laundry I put in a couple of hours ago. These machines take forever.

11:30 I throw Clara in the Ergo, and we leave to get Lily from school.

11:55 We arrive at the school. Clara is sleeping. Lily comes out of her classroom, and is happy and chatty until I take her picture.

12 We slowly make our way home. We play I spy, watch construction people working, and collect conkers until Lily gets mad about something.

12:40 We arrive home. Clara wakes up and Lily puts on a princess dress.

12:46 I make lunch and tea. PB&J with yo yos for princess Anna, Cornish pasty and cheddar cheese for me (Clara shares with both of us).

1:15 Lily falls asleep on couch. I finish feeding Clara, then look at Facebook.

1:40 I've lost my motivation, but have to do something. I straighten the living room again and start on another box. I make more tea and hope to drink it at least warm.

2:00 I've unpacked one box. Clara says "mama" and crawls into my lap, and we play with Lego. She keeps getting down, then back in my lap and hugging me. I love it.

2:15-2:40 Try to wake Lily up and bribe her with candy to get dressed.

2:55 Load the kids into the stroller and leave to pick up Miles.

3:17 We get to school, and I talk to other mums.

3:30 Miles is dismissed, and we start walking home. Miles plays Pokemon Go.

4:03 The kids ask to stop at park on the way home. The weather is nice, so we stop.

4:30 We get home, and I get the kids some pretzels. I eat a carrot and wash a dish with Dial since we don't have dish soap.

4:50 I nurse Clara in the big kids' room while they play with toys I unpacked earlier. I start on this post.

5:08 Clara has poop. I change her diaper and have to put her in a pull up because she's out of diapers. Then I help Miles get into his Stinger costume.

5:15 I start cooking dinner. We're having tortellini and garlic bread.

5:40 Matt gets home from work.  I try out a new lip color, then we throw a sheet on the floor and have a picnic dinner.

6:00 Matt and I read poems to Miles so he can pick for school. Matt is reading Poe and Frost, and I'm trying short and silly ones. Miles doesn't like any until I say that he can't play until he picks one. He picks Snowball by Shel Silverstein.

6:15 The kids play while we clean up the dinner mess. I get my grocery list, because we still don't have basics like olive oil and spices.

6:45 We get in the car and leave for Aldi. Shopping with three kids at 7pm is not fun.

7:48 Pay for our groceries and leave Aldi. The kids are done. I forget to take pictures for the rest of the night.

8:10 We get home and get the kids and groceries inside. Put groceries away and give the kids cheese sticks. Miles and Lily start playing and end up crying most of the time. We tell them to go upstairs and put jammies on.  I realize that Miles didn't do his schoolwork, and put it on the table for him to do during breakfast. (It ends up not mattering because he wakes up with pinkeye.)

8:40 The kids are all crying again. We make them put jammies on and brush teeth.

9:00 I nurse Clara while Matt puts the big kids to bed. I don't know why we can't get them to bed at a decent time since we've moved.

9:15 Finally the kids are all in bed. I message my sister, play on my phone, and work on this post. Matt and I talk and show each other funny things online.

10:25 We're done and go to sleep.

A Walk in Pictures

All of this is during our walk to school.

View from the bottom of our street

Getting some work done

Moss growing on a wall

... And on the pavement

Many houses have gates

And the houses are named!

Street sign

Mini roundabout

Post box

It's really common for cars to park partway on the sidewalk

Great company!