Friday, the 26th of October

The movers arrived early.  Shockingly early for how long of a drive they had.  It was a trick parking the truck in front of the house but they finally worked it out.  It appears all household goods arrived safe and sound except for one glass pitcher.  Everything was packed so well, except this one piece which was still in it's original box.  It will be easy enough to claim.  And the nuts were missing from the dining room table.  That turned out not to be bad thing since it gave us an excuse to go in search of the local hardware store.  Which turns out to be an amazing find in the midst of a small village.  Overall the day was exhausting but successful.

Thursday, the 25th of October

I feel like I had a very productive day today.  I got up early with Greg and rode with him to the Base.  I dropped him off at work so that I could go to the Bible Study held at the chapel.  I had heard about the study first at the newcomer's brief, then again from a new friend Saturday night.  They were doing a Precept study of Ephesians, a study I have done before so I hoped I could jump right in.

I had an hour to blow after dropping Greg off, which is tough to do when nothing is open yet.  I arrived early at the chapel, but it gave me a chance to meet the lady leading the study and a few others.  I sat next to a young lady who I was told also lives in Pateley Bridge.  As we talked I found out she had moved here from Annapolis during the summer and had attended Bay Area Community Church while there.  I love making connections like that!  I have several friends at BACC.  I'm looking forward to getting to know her better.

After the study I made a quick trip to the commissary.  I had just a hour to get several errands done before picking Greg up from work.  We were hoping that he would have time to drive me home and have some lunch but when I picked him up he didn't have time in his schedule after all.  Instead, I was left to my own efforts to get home.  This was a first...  to drive all the way home and back on my own.  Thankfully the fog of the past few days had lifted and I could actually see and thankfully there was little traffic.  I drove home, unloaded the groceries, loaded the pups in the car and drove back to the Base.  No problem.  I have to say I feel much more comfortable after today.  Of course, I still have those traffic circles to brave.

This evening we spent some time moving all the temporary furniture into one room.  We need to clear out space for the movers arriving tomorrow.  I am SO ready to make this house into our home.

Wednesday, the 24th of October

I had decided to stop daily entries either one month into our move or when the household goods shipment arrived.  Turns out, it's just about the same time.  We will have been in England one month on Sunday the 28th and our furniture is being delivered this Friday, the 26th.

Meanwhile I'll keep posting.

Today is another foggy day.  I was taking a few pictures to add to yesterdays post and thought I'd snap some for today too.  The fog is pretty thick, but looks cool over the reservoir and up the dale.

Moss tries to make it's home everywhere it can.

The road across the dam.  

You can't even see the dam this morning through the fog.

We seem to have some berries growing in the rhododendron hedge.  

That'll be nice come summer.

Rock by the kitchen door, just cause I think it's interesting.

The shed/work building next door is supposedly used by the water company.  

But it doesn't look to me as if anyone has been in it for years.  

Tuesday, the 23rd of October

I got up this morning determined to accomplish some things.  Outside the weather was not looking any better, inside there was stuff to do.  You would think with as little furniture as we have in the house that there couldn't be much to do.  However, with no furniture I find we (as in me) are tossing things in piles wherever…  floors, window seals, kitchen counter.  Nothing is getting put away, partly because I haven’t taken the time to decide where ‘away’ should be, but also because I need to do some cleaning.

When we moved into the house it was pretty clean on the inside, except for some dead bugs in window seals.  However, there were clearly some areas that not only weren't clean, but hadn't been used in some time.  The front steps were nasty with spider webs.  The last folks living here both worked so I imagine they came home late at night and didn't notice them.  But I did.  And as soon as I got a broom I started working on them. 

Then there were the ‘old’ spots.  For the most part the house has been remodeled, but there are a couple of places were the old farmhouse still shows through.  The first floor bathroom with its old, grey tile floor, the pantry shelves made of rough lumber and the basement.  The basement is a whole post to itself, so we’ll put it aside for now.  For now, I’m working on the pantry and the bathroom.  I think the bathroom is cool.  Yes it’s old but it’s got character.  With just the right accents it will be great.  Though I suspect the grout is not supposed to be black.  It will take awhile with a toothbrush and grout cleaner, but I finally started working on it. 

And there is the pantry.  It looks to be so useful…  at first glance.  Then I realized inside the sliding doors on the bottom it’s just a little creepy.  Okay, very creepy.  It smells of old wooden house.  It’s dirty.  And there are the ever present cobwebs.  I have no desire to store anything here, but I decided Greg’s toolbox would be okay.  I’m not cleaning it.  The top cabinets have potential but they are so high I have to have a ladder just to reach them.  Were the people who built this place giants?  We finally bought a ladder so I have no excuse.  All kinds of clutter has been piling up on the shelf waiting to be put away.  Finally I braved it.  Rubber gloves on, hot soapy bucket of water and a rag in hand.  I climbed the ladder step by step and peeked inside, looking closely all around for actual LIVE spiders.  It looked safe enough.  And I started scrubbing, shelf after shelf.   Since my ladder wasn't tall enough to see the top shelf I decided to let it go, three shelves would be plenty.  I climbed down and waited for it to dry before starting to organize.  And waited.  And waited.  As I said yesterday, we’re going to need some dehumidifiers around here.  Finally it dried enough to start putting stuff away.  For now it’s just the random stuff from around the house.  I’m sure it will have to be rethought when the household goods get here, but it sure felt nice to get everything put away. 

Then I was off to vacuum with the funny little red vacuum cleaner with a smiley face that we got from the housing office.  Someone told me these things do a great job.  Clearly they have never owned a Dyson.  Then I moved upstairs and conquered the mess of clothes that have nowhere to hang in the dressing room.

Next I decided to brave the fog and take care of some stuff outside.  Cleaning up after the dogs is much harder than in our small yard in Colorado.  Thankfully though they seem to have picked favorite spots to go.  It’s like an Easter egg hunt… but much grosser.

When you step out the side door of the house you step into a small courtyard.  It’s very old stone and moss covered.  It’s gated to the front into another small courtyard.  To the back it is gated to the back yard.  I’m not sure what was intended for either of these areas, but with time I'll figure out something interesting to do with them. 

Right next to the door is a small stone box that had weeds growing out of it.  At least I think they were weeds.  At first I thought it was mint but it definitely didn't smell like mint.  It actually smelled gross.  I’m working on pulling it all out and possibly starting a small herb garden there in the spring.  With it right outside the kitchen door, I’m betting that’s what it was meant for anyway.

Across the courtyard are two doors.  One is locked and goes to the controls for the heater.  The other is an empty storage shed… except for the spiders.  Over the weekend I made a start at letting the spiders know I was coming by cleaning off old webs from the door.  Not sure if I have the courage to attempt running them out.  Not really sure I need to store anything there anyway. 

There is still a lot to do outside to clean up, but at least for now the inside looks presentable. 

Unfortunately by the time Greg and Sally got home it was starting to get dark and she could see little of the view.  Not that the fog would have allowed much view anyway.  Before it got too dark we went for a walk on the dam then gave her a quick tour of the house.  For dinner we drove over to The Sportman’s Arms.  It always surprises me as far as we are 'out' that there’s always a crowd here.

We had a very nice, but short visit with Sally.  It’s always great to have a chance to reconnect with old friends.  I’ll be happy to get our furniture and nested so we can host friends here at home.  Afterwards Greg and I drove her back into Harrogate to her hotel.  That's the first time I've rode these narrow country roads at night in a fog, it was strangely hypnotizing.   

Monday, the 22nd of October

The weather turned on us today.  We’d had a lovely string of a couple weeks of sunshine.  Today the fog settled in and didn’t move on all day.  Out my window I couldn’t see past the fence in the back yard. 

Stuck inside this would be a house cleaning day.  Getting all those things done I’ve been putting off.  Truth is, I have little to show for it.  I did mop the kitchen floor.  I know, you’re impressed, but I learned something today.  In Colorado when I mopped the kitchen floor the first area I mopped would be dry by the time I finished the last part.  Two hours after mopping the kitchen here it was still as wet as when I started.  I had to bring the area heater we have in the bedroom downstairs and set it in the middle of the kitchen to get the floor to dry.  We’re going to need some dehumidifiers around here.

Not a whole lot else got accomplished.  Greg came home and told me a friend is in town and will be coming home with him from work tomorrow for dinner.  Ah.  That’s what I need, some incentive… an actual reason to clean house.  Tomorrow.  

Another weekend

Nothing special happened Friday, some housework, weeding outside, but nothing to write about.

We did however have another great weekend.  On Saturday we left the pups at home and went to explore Pateley Bridge on our own.  I’ve been meaning to check out The Nidderdale Museum, but of course can’t do that with the pups along.  When I looked online to make a plan for the day I found that the museum doesn’t open until 1:30pm.  I wasn’t sure we could fill a morning in town waiting for the museum to open, but we decided to give it a try.

Parking in town is a trick.  There are several car parks, but all require payment.  Each time we drive in Greg goes in search of free street side parking.  This always ends up with a parking space on a steep hill.  Personally, I’d just pay, but Greg is determined to beat the system.  We ended up parked on King Street near the top of the hill. 

We walked past the cemetery at St. Cuthbert’s and noticed they were decorating for something so I decided to wait to explore the cemetery until later in the day and headed down the hill toward High Street.  We had decided to try a new (to us) Tea Shop down near the river, but since we were parked at the top of town I thought I’d check out a few shops along the way.  

The first stop was a consignment store that reminded me a lot of my friend Stella’s place, One Petticoat Lane in Annapolis, except, as with all shops along High Street, this shop was very small.  I’m disappointed that I didn’t take note of the name of the shop.  It was a great shop with some interesting and unique pieces.  There was a pair of country boots I would have snatched right up with they hadn’t been so small. 

We kept to the same side of the street walking down hill checking out a little hardware/sundries type of store, the post office, which had some note cards, stationery and Christmas cards and the pharmacy.  I thought pharmacies were called Chemists here, but the door said Pharmacy.  I’ll have to clarify that.  It was also a small shop but had a pretty good selection of basic things one might need.

We then crossed the street for a quick stop at the pet store.  I’ve been in here a couple of times picking up treats for the pups.  They do carry the same dog food we used in the US, but it’s very expensive here.  We’ll have to make a decision on whether to stick with this food or change to something else that we can buy at the commissary.  This pet shop reminds me a lot of the one in downtown Golden.  We’ll definitely want to shop here when we can to support them. 

At that point Greg’s stomach was starting to rumble so we skipped pasted the next few stores and walked down to Wildings Tea Shop.  It was an adorable restaurant and a great menu, though I’ll admit, I had no idea what some of the stuff on the menu was.  I had my heart set on a pot of tea and scone or I would have ordered something unknown just for the fun of it.  I did however, in addition to a plane scone with strawberry jam and cream, order a savory scone.  I’d never had a bacon and cheese scone, but it was very good.  We’ll need to visit this place again to explore the menu further. 

Back outside we still had time to fill before the museum opened.  We started back up the street on the opposite side.  Every time I’ve been in town I’ve walked past the first store, I think mostly because from the door all I could see was candy, but we decided to step inside this time.  On the side wall they had magazines, books and several local newspapers.  I picked up a Nidderdale paper and a Harrogate paper.  It’s been forever since I read a newspaper!  I also found a book on birds in England.  Maybe I can identify some of the birds on the reservoir.

We started to step into the next shop and realized that this is one we checked out once before.  It’s a small grocery store, though they did have some interesting produce.  Next up the street was the butcher.  This is the shop we purchased meat pies from last weekend.  This time we thought we would try the butcher on the other side of the street.  We tried their traditional pork pie, pork and chutney pie and pork and mushy peas.  All were good but I think my favorite was the pork and chutney.

One last stop before heading to the museum was at The Oldest Sweetshop in England.  We had stopped here once before and bought some candies with the intention of mailing them home to Colorado, but unfortunately they never made it to the post office.  This time I tried to think a little better about what things might ship well.  It was tough though because the shop was PACKED.  It’s a tiny shop anyway, but there was hardly room to move around with all the people.  This is one popular place!  But I made my purchase, now to get it mailed quickly. 

Up the hill and around the corner we headed back toward the car to drop our bags off before going to the museum.  As we approached St. Cuthbert’s we found out what all the decorations were for, a wedding party was just exiting the church.  What a gorgeous day and place for a wedding!

We had to discretely wind our way through the wedding guests to get to the Nidderdale Museum.  The realtor who worked with us on the house had suggested that I stop by the museum to ask about the history of the house we are renting.  That was the main reason for stopping by.  I have to say I was surprised by the size of the museum.  Walking in it looks so small, but turns out that it winds all through the building.  We didn’t have near as much time as I would have liked to explore.  Someday I’ll need to go back with more time.  I asked the lady at the entrance if she knew anything about the history of the house but she didn’t have any information for me.  She did take down my name and email in case someone else had some information.  We live in what seems to me to be a very unique house, it seems strange to me that so few people seem to know anything about it.  …or maybe they’re just not willing to share with strangers, but I wouldn’t think that would be true at a museum.  Hopefully I will hear something from them. 

From there Greg and I headed home to have our meat pies for lunch and hang out with the pups for a couple hours before our evening got started.  A couple from work were hosting an open house welcome party for us.  These parties are traditionally called ‘Hail and Farewells’, though at this one no one was being ‘Farewelled’.  It was more of a ‘Hail’ to us and one other new couple.  It was great for me to have an opportunity to put faces to all the names that Greg talks about all the time.  I was also able to glean some good information about places I’d like to visit.  And got to spend some one on one time talking with other wives about their moving experiences.  I met one other wife who attends the Bible Study on base that I’ve thought about attending.  I met one couple who are getting ready to move to Colorado.  It was great to also be able to share some of my knowledge with someone else.  All in all they are a very nice group of people.  I’m looking forward to getting settled in so that we can start hosting fun events in our new home.

Sunday morning we decided to step outside of our comfort zone and attend a church that we would not normally consider.  The area we are living in is John Wesley country.  It’s were he preached and founded many churches.  So our options for churches in Pateley Bridge are Anglican or Methodist.  Neither are what we are accustom to, but we thought we would check out the Methodist church today. 

They were an extremely friendly church.  It seemed to be made up of older people and children, though a young lady did sit next to me.  She introduced herself as Anna.  The heat was out, which they apologized for profusely.  And the service was a children’s service, which the minister also apologized to us for later.  She said that’s not normal.  After the service we joined them in the back room (where there was heat) for tea and biscuits.  We sat at a table with Anna and an elderly gentleman named Sam.  He was very interesting, though it took me a couple of minutes to understand his thick Yorkshire accent.  …or it could be that he graciously adjusted his accent to accommodate me.  =)  He told us he had moved to the area when he was 5 in 1930 and had lived in the same place since.  Anna was also great to talk with.  She gave us the scoop on some great places to visit.

Apparently the church does not always meet in this building.  The various Methodist congregations meet in different communities around the area each week.  They do have a ladies Bible Study that meets during the week.  I may call to ask more details about that.  As we were leaving we met another lady, whose name I won’t even attempt.  She was very nice and asked if I would like to meet for coffee sometime to talk about the area.  Absolutely! 

We’re not sure yet where we will end up with Church.  To attend a church service like we are used to we will most likely have to drive thirty minutes into Harrogate.  If we want to be involved in our own community we will need to adjust and attend something a little different.  We’re just waiting for God’s leading on this one. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent checking off a to do list.  Greg suffered through another trip to B&Q (Home Depot) to pick up some supplies, replacing light bulbs, hanging a rack for day packs and leashes in the closet and assembling my bicycle.  (YAY!)  Now I just need a helmet before I can legally ride my bike into the village. 

The whole weekend was just gorgeous!  I’m wondering how long this will hold out. 

Oh, btw, I’ve decided to keep up the daily (almost) logs until our one month anniversary.  I’m working on ideas of what to write after that.  

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!