Walking Paths

One thing that's fun about being a pedestrian in England is that there are always paths off the roads that are just begging to be taken.  Sometimes we take one and then have to take it back as we have no idea where it leads, but other times we've found great shortcuts and found nice new places to walk.  Here's Helena on on path that we use quite frequently: 

Since the path is so autumn-y, I can't help but post another autumn pic.  We have been really enjoying the colors this fall, as they're so much more plentiful than they were in downtown Toronto!

Shutting the Door

We're definitely committing all kinds of social faux pas every day without knowing it, but there was one social action different from our North American one that we noticed from day one.  Shutting the door when you leave someone's house - you don't do it here!  When you walk out of someone's house, you do not shut the door behind you.  It doesn't seem to matter who you are, whether a friend or a furniture deliverer, you just don't do it.  You let the owner of the home shut the door, even if they're not at the door with you.

We had observed this action but then I heard a friend tell a story.  She was saying how one morning the kids were going absolutely crazy and she just had to leave to go to work.  Her husband told her to just go and so she walked out CLOSING THE DOOR BEHIND HER.

Laundry

John commented this morning that our house is very British.  When I asked why, he said, "Because we have towels hanging everywhere!"

It's true - as soon as we're done with breakfast, we turn off the extra radiator and throw a wet towel on it to help it dry.  If the sun comes out and I'm not planning on doing laundry that day, the towels get put on the line to help them dry and to just air them out.  After the kids take a bath at night, their towels get hung on the railing upstairs to dry out.  Helena commented on the kitchen stinking a couple days ago.  Why was it stinky?  I'd washed towels but it was raining so they were hung up in the kitchen.  There's just nothing like the smell of wet towels - even clean ones!

But I don't really mind.  I'm just loving having a washing machine right in our house.  It's so nice not having to take at least 6 elevator rides to do laundry!  Plus, I have the greatest helper to hang up the socks.

Harvest

Canadian Thanksgiving was last week, American Thanksgiving is next month, but we've been celebrating Harvest for the last three weeks.  Harvest was originally a time to celebrate all the food that had been harvested but since the agricultural side of the country is much smaller than it used to be, it's mostly a time to be thankful for the food we have and to contribute food to those who may be in need.

Helena's school celebrated it by having an assembly to see all the food the students had contributed and to discuss where it was going to go.  The above photo was taken when Helena took her mandarin oranges and spaghetti sauce up - it's actually posted with a bunch of other Harvest photos in the entrance of the school. We've now celebrated it at two different churches, where we had a typical service about being thankful but many many flowers. Harvest is seen as one of the 3 big holidays for church flower arrangements (my friend the flower coordinator told me that!).



So we did our own Harvest activity, seen above.  We all took turns writing down things we are thankful for and then sticking them to our dining area wall.  I was amazed at how much our kids enjoyed it.  Can you guess which color was Benjamin's?

Helena and school

Helena loves school.  I'm having a hard time knowing what else to write!  She just loves it.  Every day she gets dressed in her school uniform and wears sturdy leather black shoes to school.  As soon as she enters her classroom she changes into her plimsolls, a pair of very simple black shoes.  Every time she goes outside, she changes her shoes.

She's been coming home and telling us about the different words that are used in her classroom than what we use at home: plaits instead of braids, pudding instead of ice cream, biscuits instead of cookies, swap over instead of switch, pants instead of underwear, trousers instead of pants, and bananas (said with a long a) rather than bananas (said with a short a).  She hasn't quite caught on to the idea of no school days yet, as every weekend day she has said something like, "You need to take me to school!  I'm really late!"

Livin' a British Life

Yes, you read that right.  We're livin' a British life because we are now in the United Kingdom.  This was not the plan when we drove away from Toronto.  We left thinking we'd be buying a house in St. Paul, Minnesota, John would be working, we'd be settling into our native country, and the kids and I would be home for one more year before school entered into our family's life.

The only thing that is true about our life now, 3 1/2 months later, is that John is working!  John was given a postdoc in Oxford, so our plans changed.  We are now enjoying life in a rented rowhouse, we're discovering new things every day about this country, and Helena is in school.

So the blog will continue - but now from Great Britain!

My Little Brother is Married!

So that's kind of old news - Rob has now been married for 3 months.  But the thought still surprises me.  How can my little brother be old enough to be married?

But he and Sarah just fit together in so many ways, and I'm so happy for both of them!

Helena & Benjamin were both in the wedding, and you couldn't have found a happier flowergirl!  Benjamin seemed to be doing well - until he noticed John wasn't walking down the aisle with him.  Then he was done.  Rob & Sarah had put ring pops on the ring bearers' pillows and in the flowergirls' baskets, and that kept Benjamin happy during the ceremony!

I just love family weddings.  And I love you, Rob & Sarah.