Moving House

We loved the house we rented for the last two years. It was massive, the rent was reasonable, and it was within walking distance to town. Alas, our landlord, who is a great guy, had no choice due to circumstances other than to put the house up for sale. He was going to let us stay in the house until it sold, but we would have had to deal with estate viewings, lookie-lous, and all that jazz. We're pretty private people and we have the two young cats to consider, so we started looking for a new house to rent. 

We wanted something similar to what we had (size and rent), but either as close or closer to town or out in the countryside. While we saw several houses in the country that would have been a lovely departure to town life, none of them could offer us high enough internet for video calls home to family, and that, for both of us, was a deal-breaker. 

New Kitchen

Fairly quickly we spotted a house very close to town that ticked a lot of the boxes for what we wanted, so we took a leap of faith and signed on the dotted line. There were other parties interested, so we had to act fast. Now that we're in, we like the place, but it's not nearly as awesome as our old place. 

Although the new house is situated for a very convenient walk into town, it's also very convenient for everyone else to park on our street and walk into town. We have two designated car parking spots, but the space is so compact, it would only fit two cars if we each owned a smart cars or mopeds. (Bill, always the gentleman, has allowed me to take the spot and he parks on the street.) 

Soon to be dining room

We have the same number of rooms, but they're all smaller than our last house and have no closets and only two cupboards total (save the kitchen, that has a lot of space for all my kitchen doo-dads and whatchamacallits). So we've had to purchase wardrobes for our hanging clothes and will have to figure out a few other storage solutions for around the house.

The new house gets a lot more sun, and that's a good thing in dreary England! Instead of sharing only one wall with a neighbor, we now share two walls. Thankfully both sets of neighbors are very quiet and sharing walls means our house stays a lot warmer than the old house. 

TV / Family room

This last weekend the weather was fairly nice. Unfortunately, that meant a lot of people walked into town for dinner, drinks, and/or clubbing and around 2:00am we could hear the drunken parade walking back from wherever they came. Our new residential street is peppered with BandBs, so as Spring and Summer rolls on I am sure we'll get a lot more after-dinner foot traffic tromping past our house at all hours of the night. Oh well, it's kind of funny - I heard a young drunk couple arguing last night about whether or not he had been flirting with someone else at the club. Oh, my, the drama!! 

Harry Potter's bedroom - one of two cupboards in the home

You never know when you sign a new lease whether or not you're doing the right thing. I know we'll eventually settle in and enjoy living at this location until we move back home. Trust me, we do not want to move again until we move back home! Moving is so stressful! On our moving day, it decided to snow off and on all day.

The best part of that frigid, crazy day was the moment one of the burly lads, carrying some heavy object out of the snow and into our house belted out "The cold doesn't bother me anyway!" from Frozen :-) 

Moving day snow

We're slowly settling into the house, finding where everything should go. 

Ada and Grace? They're doing just fine, thank-you-very-much!

Grace, at home

Spring has Almost Sprung!

The days are finally getting longer and the air a wee bit warmer. A few weekends ago, Bill and I walked into town for breakfast, and got a good look at all of the pretty little crocuses that are popping up all over town. 

Crocuses on the Stray

Everyone gets so excited to see the crocus, as it means Spring is really, truly, on its way. A few weeks after the crocuses come the daffodils, then it's Spring, through and through! 

World War II Monument

We enjoyed our little jaunt around town. It was a nice break from packing up our house for our impending move across town. More on that in our next blog post! 

More crocuses on the Stray

Video Proof: Indoor Skydiving

We bought the indoor skydiving school's official movie of our flights, alas, I cannot seem to edit the hour-long video. But, never fear! I took a few short videos with my phone and here are the three best, quick videos. 

First up is a video of Bill's second flight. I wish I didn't have to film through a scratchy window, but, well, you do what you gotta do!  

This video of Colleen shows how the instructor would, for a bit more money, spin-fly you really high. It looked like great fun! 

After I thought all of the indoor skydiving fun was done, and my phone was back in my purse, the instructor busted out some super-crazy moves! 

I don't know how I got sideways, skinny footage, nor do I know how to edit said sideways, skinny footage, so here you go...

I think almost everyone on our trip is up for more indoor skydiving adventure. I know I am up for photographing more indoor skydiving adventures. If you ever get the chance and are able, you should go indoor skydiving, too!

INDOOR SKYDIVING!!!

We stayed in the town of Milton Keynes the night after our adventures at Bletchley Park. The next morning we   walked across the street to a strange adventure-centric mall for a scheduled 9:30 indoor skydiving adventure. I wasn't able to fly, but that was okay — I had so much fun photographing the flyers! 

I made all of the excited / anxious friends pose in their fab borrowed flight suits.

The Adventurous North Yorkies

Pre-flight excitement (or nerves)

Bill, being a former amateur sky diver was the most excited. Therefore, our friends made him fly first. I had a front row seat in the viewing platform, but alas, the window was severely scratched. You can see that the wind inside the skydiving tube was pretty extreme, all you have to do is look at the wind made cheek dimples! 

Bill 

Dan took to flying with gusto!

Dan 

As did his wife, Julie. When Bill suggested we go indoor skydiving a few months ago, she was the first person to slam her fist down on our dining room table and shout, "I'm in! That's on my bucket list!!" 

Julie

Regine enjoyed her time in the air, but complained she couldn't keep her mouth closed, she was smiling too hard! :-) 

Regine

Her husband Brian was the most reticent to fly. He enjoyed it, but was one of the few not to add on an extra flight or the fly-higher option. He's glad he participated, but I think he's not going to be flying again anytime soon. 

Brian

Cindy loved every minute of it. She has proclaimed she will go back and fly again, anytime, anywhere, with anyone at the drop of the hat! 

Cindy

Dan and Julie's daughter Colleen is one of the most chill teenagers I've ever met. She took to flying like a duck takes to water. 

Colleen

At the end of their flying adventure I made everyone post for a quick post-flight photo, complete with crazy wind-tunnel'd hair and all. There's a bit of me that wished I could have flown, too. But honestly, I had such a contact adrenaline high, I felt like I had flown right along them! 

Post-flight smiles and adrenaline

1940s Babes... And How the Brits Won World War II at Bletchley Park

Since moving to England, Bill has wanted to travel down south to visit Bletchley Park, the location where Alan Turing and other mathematical smarties helped break Germany's Enigma machine. Breaking thier secret code enabled the Allied troops victory in WWII. Many of our friends hadn't been either, so Bill looked into organizing a group trip for us all to visit. He found out Bletchley Park was hosting a "1940s day" where they talk about the history of the female workers at BP, and teach us about the make-up and hair of the time period.

Attempting 1940's hair and makeup

Us gals were excited! We could do a bit of touring Bletchley, learn the history of the ladies, and get all glamed up in the process. We learned Hitler didn't like red lipstick, so British women took to wearing bright red lipstick as a great big ef-u to Hitler! Also, there was no shampoo to be found during the war, so women took to washing their hair once a week with laundry flakes. And they jerry-rigged eyeliner by burning cork, then using a stick to scrape the burnt cork off and apply it as eyeliner. 

Colleen's a natural

Our teacher said, although there weren't a lot of luxuries available, and what was available was very, very expensive, women took it as their duty to look nice for the boys fighting on the front line. 

Is my hair done yet?

Victory rolls, the big donut-shaped hair rolls, were a practical way to put hair up to work (as the women had to do while their men were off) and worked well on unwashed hair. Our hair was nice and washed, so we had to add loads of product (dry shampoo, mousse, hairspray) to get our hair to co-operate. Cindy was the fastest learner, and ended up doing most of our hair, while she only got small little pin-curls in her short hair. 

Cindy styling Regine

Regine's victory rolls turned out quite well for her medium-to-short hair. 

Regine's victory rolls

Reg was the last one to get her hair styled. Since my hair was done, she was the lucky lady to get photos taken during the process of getting her hair all curled up. 

Finished! 

Our youngest co-hort, Colleen, took to the style quite naturally. She and her Mom both looked great! 

A beautiful mom and daughter picture

We were the last five ladies to leave Bletchley that day. I don't know if we were slow or just meticulous, but we had fun regardless. 

Beauty is your duty! 

And when we left, the guys finally saw us in our finished style and laughed and laughed! They thought we looked great, just so very different. They made us line up against the wall for another photo. The picture below reminds me of the photo still for the movie The Usual Suspects. 

The Usual Suspects... Who is Kayser Soze?!?

At dinner that night at a fancy Indian restaurant, us gals got quite a few looks and questions. It was fun for a day, but I certainly wouldn't want to go through all that rig-a-ma-roll every time we had to get ready in the morning! 

The only downside to the day was that the ladies only had a short window of time in which to explore Bletchley Park. The guys spent the whole day touring the park and the nearby Computer Museum, where Bill took the pictures below of the famous Colossus computer. Honestly, the gals had a lot of fun, but I think the guys geeked out big time and really had a blast as well. 

The Colossus

The Colossus

Owl Encounter

I heard about a 2-for-1 owl encounter voucher at a country estate hotel located about an hour north of where we live. There were only 10 vouchers available, so I hopped online, purchased the tickets, and tucked them away to give to Bill as a Christmas present. We decided to make a short weekend out of it, and booked the owl encounter for a Saturday evening, with an overnight stay at the hotel.

Coniston estate hotel

After arriving, we took a short walk around their private lake. Although the "estate hotel" was not an old country house turned hotel as I had imagined, the purpose-built hotel off the side of the highway was pretty nice, and the man-made lake was very pretty.

Pretty lake

We arrived at the falconry centre a few minutes early and were able to walk around and take photos of the birds of prey. They had several falcons as well as the owls. But tonight, it was mostly about the owls! 

Barn owl

The owl below was at least twice as large as the other owls and had deep red, devil-y eyes. I was secretly happy when the falconer said "We won't be flyin' that lad, he dun like me a bit!" 

Scary owl - maybe a great horned owl? 

We flew two owls (barn owl and long-eared owl) and the hawk below. The hawk flew so fast we didn't get good photos. But I will say when the hawk was on my arm he stared into me eyes, moved in closer and cocked his head. Bill said my eyes got really big and scared as I told the falconer, "I'm a bit intimidated, to be honest!" And right then, the hawk flew away. Whew! 

Hawk (cannot remember type - sorry!)

When it was time to fly the owls, the falconer gave you a one-day old chick's leg to hold out for the owl. (Shudder! I am glad he tucked the leg into our gloved hand; I know that's what Owls eat, but I didn't want to see or touch it.) Once the chick's leg was held out, the owl came swooping in for dinner and a nice rest on your gloved hand.after a minute or two, s/he would get bored, and fly back to the rock wall to await another chick's leg. 

Coming in for a landing

Just chillin'

Later!

Bill enjoyed "his" Christmas present. But I'll be honest, I know this was a gift I purchased for myself!

Bill and the long-eared owl

We got to fly both a long-eared owl (above) and a cute barn owl (below). 

Bill and the barn owl

Barn owl enjoying some tasty chick leg...

My barn owl friend

I loved every minute of it! But, I doubt I'll ever keep an owl as a pet. I can't imagine purchasing dead, day-old chicks in bulk. Eww!! And sad face :-(

SNOW!!

2014 saw very, very little snow, and none of what fell ever really stuck. Although there still hasn't been as much snow as the year we moved here, we've had nice little dustings off and on, all through January and February. 

Whee!!

And when the snow started to fall, I was really, really happy! 

A few days later, We were driving around in the country and got off the beaten path for a while. Not only did we see the pretty sheep below, but my poor car actually got hit with buckshot from a group of clay pigeon shooters. We sure were glad we hadn't been walking by, that could have been problematic! 

Wooly Jumpers

And just a few days later, the first telltale sign of winter's end we're starting to pop up all around town - snowdrops!!  

Snowdrops

After snowdrops come the crocuses, then the happy, spring daffodils!

Science-y Stuff in London

When we decided to go to London for New Year's, Bill asked if we could avoid any and all castles and churches. For the last year and a half he has gone to every historical sight I've suggested (usually castles and churches), so I thought it was more than fair to accommodate his wishes. 

After spending the last day of 2014 window shopping, seeing a play, fine dining, and fighting the hordes at the fireworks show, we spent the first day of 2015 doing science-y stuff.

Charles Babbage's differential machine

We spent the majority of the day at the Museum of Science & Technology, where we saw Charles Babbage's early computer, created in 1822. Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron and an amazing mathematician, was Charles Babbage's working partner. An unsung hero, she is the namesake for one of our cats.

Radio Shack's TRS-80

They also had a display with some of our childhood computers, including Radio Shack's TRS-80 and the Mac Apple computer.

Apple II

Later that day, we walked across the way to the Natural History Museum where we saw a complete stegosaurus skeleton. If you look closely in the first picture, you can see a blurry Bill! 

Bill and a Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus

We also saw a real, still-wrapped dummy. It was kinda creepy!

Mummy

That evening we made our way to Leiscester Square and saw The Theory of Everything, the movie about Alan Turing and decoding the Enigma Machine at Bletchley Park. It was wall-to-wall science, all day long, and we both enjoyed every minute of it!