The Second Floor

The stairs.



















John's office. (I told him if he doesn't put his clothes in our wardrobe soon I will annex his half of it.)















Our bedroom. (Look, the bed is made!)






























Our bathroom. (No bidet. I guess I'll have to shave my legs in the sink.)



















Today was a magical day when things we have been wanting showed up at our door. First, a new power cord for the Wii was delivered.

While we were staying at the hotel I tried to hook up the Wii. I very carefully used an adapter AND converter so that it wouldn't get fried. Well, it didn't get fried but it didn't work either. Now it does!

The television was delivered just a little later, so we were able to set up the Wii and play Mario Kart.

While John was out buying a lamp, the package that contained our phone/internet/cable stuff was delivered. We have the Vonage phone set up so we can call you guys in the US from an Atlanta number. We are no longer borrowing internet from whatever open connection we can find. AND we just watched the third season of Red Dwarf on demand.

Life is good.

The Garden

The mud room.














The walk from the mud room to the garden.



















The back deck.















The brick grill.



















Plants! And a lawn mower! And a composting bin!














I "gardened" for the first time this morning. I did take down one clothes line, but one of the spiders made a convincing argument for leaving the other one up. Namely, he refused to get off of it and climbed inside a clothes pin.

Because there are so many spiders, I decided there wasn't much I could do without gloves. I did trim back the rosemary plant. You can't tell in the picture, but there is another plant between the rosemary and the bigger leafy shrub. It has sent out long tendrils, I think because it was not getting enough sunlight. Maybe it will now.

I also mowed, but I'm not sure I made much of an improvement. The lawn mower blades may need sharpening.

I found moldy things in the compost bin. The pamphlet on the refrigerator about the compost bin says it probably needs more nitrogen-creating compostable material. Hopefully the grass clippings I put in today will help.

The First Floor

My office!!! Also, where you will likely be staying if you come to visit us.














The living room. And John.














Entrance to the fourth bedroom. Only used by people named Harry Potter.*



















The kitchen.



















The guest bathroom.














My day went something like this:

First, I picked up the back yard and almost face-planted into a spider web. I have found several drying racks in the closets so I am thinking of taking down the outdoor clothes line. It allows the spiders to build webs across the middle of the yard.

Next, Ashby drove over in his car to take me and John to the Asda where we purchased much needed items like toilet paper and a bath mat.

Then, furious cleaning of the kitchen. England is damp, as you have probably heard. I don't think anyone was living in the flat for a few days to even a few weeks before we moved in. So, there is some mold. It is feeling my wrath.

After that, John and I found the grocery store we will be using: East of England Co-op. All the chicken is free-range. I love it! We bought stuff for breakfasts and lunches and food to cook for dinner tonight. Yup, free-range chicken.

We devoured some home made sandwiches before hiking into the city center (we are a little further away now) to look at TVs, guitars, and bikes. We did not actually buy any of these things yet.

And finally we came home for the night where I relaxed by scouring our shower.

*Just in case there is any doubt. There is no fourth bedroom. That is the closet under the stairs.

The Day

We signed a lease on our flat today!!!!

I may not be able to post as frequently over the next week since lappy and I will have to go to a hot spot to do so until the flat has internet.

But you can expect jubilation!

Not for the Wrestling

John and I went to Great Yarmouth today to see the ocean. It was our first time riding the train. It was pretty easy and not a long trip.

Here are some old British men playing lawn bowling near the beach:














There is a wind farm in Yarmouth:














And some other pictures of the water:

This is the Flat That Jack Built

...or more accurately, the flat that John and Sarah Beth waited a really long time to move in to.

We harassed the rental agency again today and were told that the flat failed its gas safety check. They had to order a new valve which will arrive (and hopefully be installed) Friday morning. So fingers crossed, we can move in Friday afternoon.

Negative: We have to wait yet another day to move in to our flat.

Positive: We won't die in a gas explosion.

I have started compiling the list of American picture books I will be recommending to the Memorial Library. If you have a favorite childhood book or two you would like so suggest, leave them in the comments!

Two Swans

John and I got up early, ate breakfast at the hotel one last time, and checked out! We left our luggage at the front desk while we walked to the rental agency wearing our back packs to make us look more homeless. We had a real hobo look going today, I in my patched jeans and John with his not-shaved-since-the-move facial scruffery.

The woman we have been dealing with talked to us and said we should be able to move in tomorrow, but they are consulting with the landlord about minor things that need repairs/cleaning.

John and I moved our stuff to Ashby and Christine's flat. They were kind enough to offer to let us stay with them and store stuff as we are going through this transition.

While we were at lunch we got a call from the rental agency. The landlord does not want us to move in before the repairs are completed. So now, we are told Thursday is the earliest we can move. We are very thankful that we have a place to stay for now, especially one that is not costing us anything, but we are definitely ready to have a home.

We spent some time exploring thrift stores and tried a new pub, Ten Bells.