Thursday, the 18th of October

I was wrong.  We took the driver’s test but they won’t tell us the results until tomorrow.  As always, nothing moves fast here.  We can call after 8:30 to find out if we passed.  I’m certain I passed.  There were only a couple of questions I was unsure of, one I got right and the other I missed.  I’d be surprised if I missed many more than that and they allow seven missed questions.

Before the written test we were required to take a ride with a driving guide.  I’m not really sure what to call her.  We got into a van with a police officer and drove from the base into Harrogate.  Along the way she explained the road markings and signs.  There are a lot of road markings.  They paint all over the place!  Some of the things she pointed out helped to clarify some things for me, but most of it I had already figured out. 

I went to base with Greg first thing this morning.  He had to get some work done before the test.  There wasn’t much to do.  I ended up sitting at Burger King and studying the driver’s code.  I hate to admit how many times I’ve eaten American fast food since being here just because there’s no other choice or nothing else to do.  I had just enough time to make a quick commissary stop before driving over to pick Greg up from work.  I bought a pumpkin.  It’s my one little attempt at decorating for the season.

The internet connection finally came up strong yesterday and stayed strong until around 8pm when streaming started to slow down.  And it was doing great today until around 4pm and it’s been on and off ever since.  I was Skyping with my parents earlier and saying how impressed I was with the good internet.  I may have spoken too soon.  They did tell me that for the first two weeks they would be testing the line.  Hopefully that’s all that’s happening and it will start working again soon.

I’m looking forward to taking another long walk tomorrow.  I feel like I haven’t had any exercise in days.  I think I’m going to let Greg take me out for dinner tonight.  The Sportman’s Arm’s salmon is sounding really good right now. 

Wednesday, the 17th of October

The internet is up and running!  It is such a strange thing how isolating it felt not to have that access.  It's not been long ago that having internet access wouldn't have occurred to me.  Now it's such a big part of life.  It's been wavering on and off all day, but I think it's about settled for staying on.

The morning started off rainy again.  As soon as it cleared the pups and I went out for a short walk.  I was hoping to find the trail through The West Wood.  The ordnance survey shows a trail through the edge of the wood up to the road Greg and I were walking on Saturday.  I think these woods were the inspiration for the story of Red Riding Hood.  Dark, thick, old and just a little bit creepy.  We stayed on the edge searching for the path through to the field.  It was not clear where it was... nothing new.  I felt a little uncomfortable doing this alone.  I think maybe we'll save that trail to do with Greg this weekend.  Meanwhile the pups and I can always walk into the village.

Tomorrow Greg and I are taking our driver's tests.  In order to get a license we have to take the Theory test.  It's a multiple choice 50 question test.  We've been using a practice DVD to take mock tests.  So far I've passed every one I've taken except for the very first.  I think I'll do okay, but it's good to know that we can retake it as many times as we need.  Hopefully by the time I post tomorrow I'll have a driver's license in hand.

Tuesday, the 16th of October

Greg had arranged for me to attend a newcomers briefing on the base.  It’s the first time I’ve gotten up early since moving into the house.  I realized why I’ve been sleeping so late, the sun isn’t up here until 7:30am!  I’ve just been waking up with the sun and it doesn’t wake up early. 

It was raining lightly when we walked out this morning.  That seems to be a running theme, some rain every day, but we also seem to have some sun every day as well.  I’m thinking it’s going to be important to make a priority of getting outside in the sun some each day. 

The meeting was held at the club and run by a lady, Vickie, with a British accent that I could understand.  Thankfully.   She had a string of speakers throughout the morning that answered a lot of my questions.  …and a lot of questions I really didn’t have.  Biggest news of the day, there is a Costco in Leeds and my US membership works there!  Unfortunately I left my card in Colorado.  (So… Lydia, stick that in the envelope you are mailing.)  I also found out when the PWOC Bible study meets and when the yoga class meets. 

Greg picked me up at noon.  Several speakers had made comments about the weather as they spoke.  It sounded like the rain was torrential.  As we stepped outside the sun was shining and beautiful.  There was a gale force wind however.   Vickie did say the weather was always changing. 

After a stop at the commissary we headed back home.  We were supposed to have internet up and running yesterday but it didn’t work.  They said they would work on it today.  We hoped we would come home to it working, but no such luck.  Hopefully tomorrow.  

Monday, the 15th of October

I forgot to write on Monday and now I've completely forgotten what happened.  That’s why I should write every day.  I could lose whole weeks this way!

The Weekend

We stayed so busy this weekend I didn’t take the time to stop and write.  Saturday morning we set out to show Greg the footpath into Pateley that the pups and I had found earlier in the week.  We’ve still not located the trail through the woods from our house to Wath.  Again the walk took around 45 minutes.  Maneuvering the pups through the gates and over rock walls takes at little time. 

In Pateley we wandered around town a bit.  We wanted to see how the pups would handle walking through the narrow streets.  They did well.  We even encountered a few other dogs along the way and they hardly took notice.  Greg said it was a shame that we would have to take the same path straight back to the house and wouldn’t it be good to find a circular trail back home.  We sat down on a bench to look at the Nidderdale Ordnance Survey (map) and found a possible route home using trails just off to the west.  It didn't seem like it would be too much longer than the trail we came in on.  Of course, that wasn't taking into account the hills.

We set off crossing the River Nidd and found a marked footpath through some of the shops that headed us up into the sheep pastures on the edge of town.  First the path took us through the edge of some pastures.  We soon ended up in a pasture where our trail disappeared on us.  We searched and searched the rock wall fence until we found the exit for the footpath in the far corner.  This time it was just a rock step in the wall, making it hard to see from a distance.  Usually as we move through the sheep fields the sheep will either ignore us or run out of our way.  This time one of the sheep lunged toward MacGyver.  I’m still not sure what it was thinking, but when MacGyver lunged back, the sheep took off running. Good thing I had a good tight hand on his leash.  Out of the field we found ourselves on a narrow country lane.

The lane continued up hill.  We thought the trail we were looking for next would turn off the road in just a few hundred feet, but we couldn’t find it.  We continued on and on, up and up.  Eventually a car passed us and stopped to ask if we needed help with the map.  He gave us directions to the next footpath entrance which was just a short distance further.  Through that gate we started across another sheep field, and again lost track of the trail. 

We ended up at a gate to a pasture with cows.  One of the cows was especially interested in River.  Greg allowed River and the cow to sniff each other until River pulled back with a growl.  After walking back and forth and studying the map we finally concluded our only option was into the pasture with the cows.  As we opened the gate it became obvious that the curious cow was still interested in River and we were not sure it was a good interest.  We tried to stay as close to the fence line and as far from the cow as we could but the whole pasture was SO muddy, it was very hard to walk at all.  Greg and River were moving ahead quicker than MacGyver and I when I looked back I saw the cow coming toward us.  I put on my ‘talking firmly to animals voice’ and told him to ‘GIT!’ and he did.  Not sure what I would have done otherwise. 

When we finally got out of the muck of the cow pasture the trail got more pleasant.  We had a couple of fords to cross.  I've had some bad experiences with fords while hiking and wasn't looking forward to what might be ahead.  It turned out that there were excellent bridges across the water.  After the second bridge we were back on the Nidderdale Way, the largest and most popular footpath in the area.  We figured from here on out the path would be well marked.  We found the marker pointing us uphill into another sheep pasture and sure enough, in the middle of the pasture, the path ended.  Again.  We pulled out the map to study it closely.  When I looked back up we were completely surrounded by sheep all staring at us.  These sheep had horns and it was just a little creepy.  We were learning that just going to the nearest gate is usually the best bet for finding a lost trail.  This time the gate appeared to be going into someone yard, but when we got there we found the mark for the Nidderdale Way on the gate. 

From there the trail followed alongside a rock wall through pasture after pasture going straight uphill.   I kept telling myself ‘at least there is oxygen here’, other than that, all the uphill reminded me a lot of hiking in Colorado.  When we got to the top there was a bench.  It was like a hiker rest area.  Beautiful too. 

I was kicking myself for not having my camera.  But we really didn’t set off from the house planning a hike like this!  The sky was bright blue, the fields a gorgeous green with sheep grazing all over.  Unfortunately the sheep were spray painted a Florissant blue.  The farmers here mark their sheep with spray paint on the backs.  Most of the sheep in England are raised for meat rather than their fleece.  Makes me a bit sad.  I’ll have to figure out how to photoshop the sheep in my pictures back to white. 

As we headed down we found ourselves on another country lane.  This one, according to the map, is on the hill just above our house to the west.  We had to find one more footpath straight down the hill.  The only way to do this was to walk through what looked to be people’s yards.  Being the Americans we are we felt a little strange doing this, but it didn’t seem to bother anyone else.  We followed the footpath signs downhill through pastures and past houses and ended up on the road just a few feet from our house.

The entire walk took us just over three hours.  It was a great work out.  And we feel a little more like we understand the footpath system now.  And it was time for a hot bath!

From one extreme to the other, Saturday night was the Navy Ball.  Greg had told me some time ago that there would be lots of social obligations for this job so I came prepared.  In our excess baggage shipment I included two formals, dress shoes and a wrap.  Unfortunately I forgot the dress handbag.  Oh well.  I have to say though, after that long walk, high heels were torture! 

The ball was held at The Old Swan hotel in Harrogate.  As we stepped into the lobby there was a sign saying this was where Agatha Christie showed up when she disappeared for ten days.  I had heard the story but didn’t realize it was here.  I so wished I had my phone with me so I could text Lydia!  She would LOVE this.  Someone told me that they hold murder mystery nights at the hotel in honor of Agatha Christie. 

The ball was nice.  It was a good chance to meet a few people from Greg’s work.  We sat at a table with the Vice Chair of the Yorkshire Council, Burton and his wife Linda.  They were very nice people.  We had a great time chatting with them all through dinner.  The mayor and mayoresse of Pateley Bridge were also at the ball, but sat at a table on the other side of the room.  We also met the Canon of the Ripon Cathedral and his wife, whose names I can’t remember.  I met too many new people too quickly.  And of course, everyone was all dressed up, I may not recognize anyone next time I see them.   It was a great evening, but we headed home early since we had heard such terrible things about driving the country roads at night.

We aren't quite clear on what’s wrong with the country roads at night.  There is hardly any traffic on them. 

Sunday I conquered my next big fear.  I drove on the left hand side of the road, with the left hand stick shift up the steep hill out of Pateley Bridge.  I prayed the whole way that the red van in front of me just wouldn't slow down.  I did NOT want to have to slow to a stop on this hill.  I don’t think I breathed the entire time.  And we made it.  As a matter of fact, I made it all the way to the Base.  Whew.  As far as I was concerned that’s all I really needed to accomplish for the day.

But we did even more!  We drove to the base to pick up some things to start organizing our dressing room.  Since there are not closets in the house we have decided to use one of the bedrooms as a dressing room.  Without closets most of our clothes have been piled in the floor in the middle of the room.  The housing department on base gave us a couple of wardrobes to use but they were just big enough for Greg’s suits.  At the exchange we picked up a clothes rack and a shoe rack.  With those put together we were able to get everything up off the floor.  That will hold us over for a little while, until our household goods shipment arrives with all the rest of our clothes. 

Then we just chilled.  It was nice to relax.  We turned the tiny little couch in our one furnished room so that it looks out the window toward the water and just watched the day.  We read for awhile, took a couple of practice driving tests and just talked.  We don’t often have quiet afternoons like that.

Sunday evening we had been invited over to Norm and Judy’s house for dinner.  They live in a townhouse in Harrogate.  They originally had moved into a converted barn in one of the villages but it turned out to be a bad experience for them, so they have recently moved into town.  They have a very interesting, old, four story townhouse.  We had a great visit and a wonderful dinner.  It was the perfect way to end a nice weekend.

Friday, the 12th of October

Today we learned a little more about our new home. 

In the first couple of days in the house I had taken the time to read through the inventory of the house.  It was incredibly detailed.  One thing it noted was a small cabinet located in the central hallway at the top of the wall near the ceiling.  The inventory commented on the cabinet but said it was too high for them to check.

This afternoon we made a trip into Harrogate in hopes of finding some of the things on my shopping list that I hadn’t been able to find on base.  One of those things was a ladder.  There is so much I need to do around the house that I won’t be able to reach without a ladder so we went off to find B&Q, the local Home Depot.  We discussed getting a small step ladder but decided it wasn’t tall enough to change the light bulbs.  The tall one would be good, but maybe too tall.  We settled for the in between sized ladder.

Back at home this evening we sat down to do some work on the computer.  Greg had brought home a DVD of the practice driving test and I was downloading it when the electric outlets switched off along with the heater.  We began searching the house for the electric box.  We searched and searched everywhere obvious.  Greg finally asked if I had seen a cabinet anywhere hidden away.  Oh, there is the one at the top of the hallway…  but we’d need a ladder to get to it.  =) 

If I hadn’t gone through the inventory I would have never seen that cabinet.  If the power had gone off yesterday we wouldn’t have been able to reach the cabinet.  But instead, everything fell into place and the electric and heat are back on.  It’s so amazing to see God working head of us before we even know the need.  

Thursday, the 11th of October

Today at lunch Greg came home to pick me up so that I could get some errands done on base.  I had about four hours free to get some things accomplished.  Driving around the base was pretty good practice.  The base is small and the speed limit low so there shouldn’t be too much pressure.  Still, at one point I drove around the block a couple of times because other cars were following so close behind me I couldn’t make the turn into narrow parking spaces.  I managed to get through the afternoon without a mistake. 

 First I started at the library checking email and financials, but best of all I caught Lydia on Skype.   Since I was at the library I didn’t turn on the video.  Instead we just chatted by text.  It’ll be nice to have internet at the house and be able to see the kids again.  …soon.  Then off to the exchange.  I’m about ready to give up on the exchange, I rarely find anything I’m looking for there.  The only other option for shopping is to go into Harrogate and that’s the last thing Greg wants to do in his time off.  But I’m afraid we are just going to have to break down and do it this weekend.

 The commissary was next and seems to be a bit better stocked.  I’m working at figuring out how to stock the fridge with keeping in mind how small my fridge is here.  I’ve cooked for so many for so long and for the past several years I’ve had two large refrigerators and a chest freezer.   With my Costco card in hand I’d stock up with groceries for weeks at a time.  It’s going to be a big adjustment for me to shop small and often.  I guess I’ll have to work out a way to shop fresh nearby in Pateley Bridge and things I can stock up on from the commissary. 

I do have shelf space for stocking up.  We have a large pantry with very roomy shelves.  The downside is that the shelves are very tall.  I can just reach the bottom of the cabinet door.  The knob for the door is so high, I can’t imagine anyone could reach it.  …not sure what the thinking was there.  They will be very useful cabinets as soon as we get a ladder.  Until then, they are sitting empty. 

After the commissary I had my first experience pumping gas at the base station.  It was just a little frightening.  The pump is very old and made a loud noise while it pumped.  I was glad when the car finished filling up, but then came the best part.  If you fill up your tank you get a free Reese Cup.  I haven’t had a Reese Cup in years. However, it gave me a sugar buzz so I saved the second for Greg. 

 And once more back to the library.  I didn’t connect with Lydia this time.  I was going to work on a practice driving test but there wasn’t time.  Instead I searched the DVD shelves for something for Greg and I to watch tonight.  I found Calendar Girls.  I knew Greg would just be thrilled. 

The four hours flew by and it was time to pick Greg up from work.  We headed home, unloaded groceries and made some dinner.   We’ve moved our little temporary couch into the same room with the folding table and my spinning wheel.  We are trying to figure out how to keep the heating down as much as possible.  We curled up on the little couch with a bowl of chili and watched Calendar Girls.  I caught Greg laughing a time or two.  

Wednesday, the 10th of October

We decided to try out our footpath today.  First though we had to wait for our mail carrier to arrive.  Greg had received a text about a package coming from the cable company.  For the first time I finally heard him arrive and was able to step out and introduce myself.  His name, of course, is Peter.  I’m beginning to think this might be a game they play with newcomers.  Everyone just introduces themselves as Peter no matter what their name might be.  Nice guy.  Seems a bit skittish of the pups. 

Introductions done, we were off for an adventure.  I’d been curious how long it would take to walk The Nidderdale Way into Pateley Bridge.  We have yet to figure out how to get from the house to Wath without walking on the road.  Today it wasn’t a bad road walk since traffic was very light.  On the weekends the traffic can be very busy.  At the bus stop at Wath we crossed the old bridge over the River Nidd.  Then we had the narrow little log bridge that the footpath crosses.  Deep breath… to get across this with two pups on leads with none of us slipping.  I had considered sending River across on her own but I looked ahead a saw sheep grazing in the pasture and decided against that plan.  Turned out to be much easier than I expected.  River walked ahead, MacGyver behind and we all took it slow.  No problem.  But that was just the first of many new obstacles for us to learn our way through. 

Now we found ourselves in a pasture with a flock of sheep.  Some sheep ignored us.  Some moved away.  The pups took no interest.  It was a good start.  The footpath itself was interesting.  Unlike the dirt trails we are used to following, this one was grass.  And though it went through a grass field it was still clear which direction people had been walking.  Straight across the field toward the rock wall on the other side. 

The first rock wall had steps built into either side.  Then across another field.  In this field the path was lined with giant old trees.  This is where I saw my first tuft of wool.  I had joked with a friend that walks around the neighborhood were for collecting wool.  Unfortunately this tuft of wool was lying on a pile of manure.  I passed.  The next passage was through a swinging V gate.  These are a little more complicated.  They require stepping through the gate into a small holding area, closing the gate and stepping out on the other side.  River preferred to try to force herself underneath. Since they are built to keep in sheep about her size, this didn’t work.  She had to learn patience and take the correct route.  MacGyver’s greatest fear has always been doorways and getting through these gates as a big deal for him.  To trust me enough to follow me into a small enclosure and then out the other side was hard for him.  But they both managed.  We had several of these types of gates on our way to Pateley.  By the end they were both getting very good at it. 

We cross another field with sheep, then into a field with lots of cow piles, but not sign of the cows nearby.  Eventually we entered a small wood with a dirt trail, which is much more familiar to us.  Before arriving in Pateley the River Nidd, which had been running off to our right took a turn and came up next to our footpath.  The last couple of fields we were walking along side the river.  As we arrived in the outskirts of Pateley we crossed over a bridge to the west side of the river and walked the trail next to a very large and active caravan (RV) park.  The footpath enters Pateley at the park on the north side of the village. 

I’d been thinking it might be nice to get some fish ‘n chips for lunch but realized I left the pounds Greg had given me on the counter at home.  All I had were dollars.  But I did have an apple and cheese and some Milkbones for the pups.  We sat on a bench in the park and had a picnic.  I forgot to look at the time when we left the house so I wasn’t exactly sure how long the trip had taken, but I believe it was about 45 minutes.  Considering we weren’t walking fast and we were taking time learning all the new gate crossings, I thought that was a pretty good length for a walk. 

When I stood and said it was time to go home River looked at me with such disappointment.  Her expressions are so vivid, it’s funny.  She wasn’t near ready to go home but the main street through town is so narrow I didn’t feel we could walk around safely.  Later I realized we could have taken the opportunity to explore the back roads and side streets of the village.  That will have to be our next adventure. 

By the time we got home I was sweaty.  It’s going to take some work to figure out how to dress in this damp and cold climate.  When we entered the house with the heat off I got chilled.  I took a hot bubble bath to warm back up, which of course made me sleepy.  Then we all crawled into bed for a nice afternoon nap.  Taking a nap every time I take a walk probably isn’t the most productive way to spend the day.  I’ll have to find a way to adjust not only clothes, but the house temp and my energy level.  But, for now, an afternoon nap isn’t too bad. 

The rest of the day was spent trying for organize clutter.  We have all this stuff that came with our express shipment, but without furniture no where to put it.  So there are just piles of stuff all over.  Every now and then I’ll sit down with one pile and at least figure out what should be in what room.  And then I make more piles out of the one pile and put them into different rooms.  I’m just really moving around clutter.  The rest of the household shipment can’t get here soon enough. 

Then I made dinner.  In the evenings Greg and I have been watching movies that I had recorded from old VHS tapes and saved on my hard drive.  We’ve just about gone through them all now.  We spent most of the night watching videos of the kids when they were little.  They were so cute!  Well, they’re still pretty cute.  Missing them today.

Tuesday, the 9th of October

And there it is, finally caught up to date.  It’s been complicated trying to think back on the past week or so.  Hopefully now I’ll be able to write each day so I don’t miss the interesting stuff.

Speaking of interesting stuff, I did miss something yesterday.  Last week when I met Peter he warned me that the dam would be a busy place on Monday.  He said it will usually be very quiet around here but on Monday they would have a work crew out doing maintenance on the dam.  It seems that there is a vault that opens with a chain to let water flow through the dam.  The chain had broken.  They were having divers come out to repair the chain. 

Yesterday morning first thing this large truck arrived with a remote control vehicle loaded on it.  We watched a workman remotely drive it off the truck and down the dam.  Cars came and went all day.  At one point we could see what looked like an orange inflatable boat next to the dam, but we never actually saw the divers.  Eventually they all packed up and left.  Later last night I stepped outside and heard the strangest noise coming from the dam.  It sounded like a large chain dragging on something.  Then this morning first thing, the truck with the remote control vehicle was back.  Even more cars are coming and going.  I assume they are having some problems fixing the problem. 

But we’ve been told this place is normally very quiet.  The last tenants, also employed at the base, decided to move after just a year because her husband traveled all the time and she felt it was too isolated.  It doesn’t feel isolated to me at all!  I think there are more cars and bicycles passing by here throughout the day than there were at our house in Colorado.  This place is popping.  I can’t wait to get completely settled in so we can get out and explore the area more.  

Monday, the 8th of October

Greg had the day off work because of Columbus Day.  I guess Brits don’t celebrate Columbus.  We had to hang around the house anyway.  Our express shipment was arriving between 8 and 5pm.  We were very surprised when they showed up about 10am.  We assumed we would be hanging around all day waiting. 

Since this shipment was small, basically a ‘starter pack’, it didn’t take long to unload.  We were allowed 700 pounds for this shipment and our weight came in just under that.  It was mostly clothes, linens and cooking utensils.  (And my new bike.  =)  We picked it up just before we left.  It’s a cute little cruiser just perfect for riding into the village. )  We just dumped everything in the drawing room.  It’ll make a good project for me on Tuesday. 

First thing I had to check out of the shipment were my pots.  Would they work on this crazy induction stove?  The first one I tried is from an older set that I have and it didn’t work.  Then I tried my new skillet… yes!  Then the saucepan…  yes!  Then the kettle… yes!  Whew.  I did not want to be forced to replace all my good cookware. 

We left everything else just lying in the floor and decided to take a ride into town.  I thought I’d try driving just a little further.  I can make it almost all the way into town and stop at the Riverside Car Park.  That way I wouldn’t have to deal with downtown traffic or parking on the street.  It went really well.  Greg gasped a couple times.  Something about almost hitting the rock wall on the left.  I didn’t think I was that close.  I made it without incident. 

Greg took over from there and went in search of street parking that we didn’t have to pay for.  So far everywhere we have parked in Pateley Bridge requires payment.  After driving up and down every back street we finally found an open space.  I think walks or bike rides into town will have lots of benefits. 

My next big scary thing to try with driving is going uphill.  Our car has very little power and to get out of Pateley Bridge in any direction requires going uphill.  Once there was even road work that required Greg to stop on the hill.  He really struggled with getting started back up without rolling backwards.  Now that scares me.  …and I’m not even thinking about driving into town and tackling roundabouts yet!

About the heat, Greg may have figured it out.  After searching and searching the house over we finally found a thermostat hidden behind a door in the Sitting Room.  We had been trying to close off any rooms we weren’t using but apparently the Sitting Room will determine the heat of any rooms we want to heat.  This is going to be complicated.  Hopefully we’ll have it figured out before it gets very cold.