Farmer's Market Saturday

Last Saturday, we decided to check out our local farmer's market.  Once we found it (I think Gavin had doubts) it turned out to be a bit small but really cute and a nice mix of stands.  It was brilliantly sunny, if only a tad windy and a very nice walk through a few of our neighborhood parks.  Our reward upon returning home was a yummy blackberry/apple pie and a tired little pup.

A few pics of the morning:

Oh yeah, we brought Chewie with us for lunch too...

Lucky doggie.

This Week

Truth is, not much happened this week that seems to be blog-worthy.  I've been mostly hanging around the house, waiting for various things: Chewie's dog food shipment, opportunities to gchat and skype with friends/family, and a contractor to come check out a few minor minor fixes that need attention. 

The contractor was to come midday yesterday. I thought maybe "midday" meant a different time here because he never showed.  Turned out he couldn't come due to the weather, which I thought was super strange.  I mean it was raining, but what did that have to do with exhaust fan needs in both the kitchen and bathroom?  Well, we rescheduled for today and when he did arrive at midday (it does means the same thing as the US) and wanted solely to check our foundation, we realized the confusion: he was a contractor for EXteriors, not INteriors.  Which means, I wasted not just one day, but two-- and our problems aren't any closer to getting fixed.  Not to mention, it's pretty boring waiting around in a house that has no real furniture.  And won't anytime soon as I found out that our shipment from the US will not arrive until at least 12 October!  Which means, I will not be able to use new contacts for another 3 weeks... I'll be destined to wear my glasses for another 3 weeks. UGH.

The high point of the week was Wednesday night when we went to a gastropub with Chewie for dinner.  The food and the garden was lovely.  And Chewie got to play with a cute mini greyhound for a bit.  Also, today, I got to wish my wonderful mom a happy birthday face-to-face, courtesy of Skype.  Love you Mom!

Around the House

In lieu of pictures of the interior of our home --- which no one will see until our things arrive from the U.S. --- I took a few shots outside.

Our "mews cottage" is really cute and I love our neighborhood. I'm exploring our area everyday and getting more and more comfortable.  Gavin picked out a great little corner of London for us.

Random Thoughts on Dogs

Just a few thoughts I think about when walking Chewie through the park:

Being a good dog owner has very different meanings here than in the U.S. First off, people do not pick up their dog's poop on the sidewalk/street/park etc. One can get in trouble for not picking it up in the park, but we still see poop everywhere we go.  Our borough's website basically says that poop on the sidewalks/streets will get cleaned up.  It's all too strange for me.  I just have to pick up after Chewie, no matter where we are. Honestly though, people look at me like I'M the weird one, picking up poops from the sidewalk. The other thing that people look at me weirdly about is Chewie being on a leash (or lead, as it's called here.) You would think that I was walking Cujo.  Must be that lead equals untrained, aggressive dog because NO ONE uses a lead in parks here-- at all.  ALL dogs are off leash.  And all dogs seem to understand the rules: walk near owner, don't go berserk for other dogs and don't take off to the other side of the park.  Most owners/dogs play with one of those tennis ball extender thrower things and the dogs seem to go nuts for it.  Maybe that's how they are rewarded for good walking behavior. 

The lesson I've learned from all of this is that I'm a crazy person for picking up Chew's poo and keeping him on a lead.  Go figure.

Oxford, part two

I forgot that I used my phone once my camera died.  I just couldn't resist posting a few more memorable ones!

The covered market in the city center

A progressive cake-maker in the covered market.. love it.

And this is commentary on the Cold War.
It was installed by an American :)

Okay, now that's it ;)

Oxford

First things first: I didn't see Radiohead. But that would have been pretty cool. Gavin had a work conference in Oxford on Tuesday and kindly invited me to join him.  We packed up the TINY smart car (Chewie also) and headed up on Monday night.  It isn't far a drive at all, actually, but can be quite windy.  Especially in a car the size of tin can. Traveling at high rates of speed. On the other side of the road. Not sure when I'll get used to that. Since our hotel was located about 10 miles west of Oxford, we kept to the hotel for the evening and enjoyed dinner there.

The next morning I was left to my own devices ;) Which means sightseeing at my leisure, museum visits and wandering in and out of cute boutiques.  And Oxford didn't disappoint.  I arrived around 11 a.m. via taxi (first attempt at taking the bus into the city: botched) and began with a trip to the top of church tower built in Saxon times.  I believe it is the oldest structure in the city.  The weather was cloudy, windy and slightly rainy (go figure) thus I didn't stay too long at the top, but took a great panorama shot of all the spires rising above the city.

I had printed out a great walking tour of the city and I preceded to walk by a number of interesting and very old universities, historical markers and lots of stone churches.  It was a beautiful city to stroll around and perhaps if I had more time, I would have entered into those universities, churches and historical structures. But I kept on until I reached the Oxford University Botanical Garden.  I had to go in!  Even though autumn has arrived it was really calm and serene and still had a few blooms to admire.  I walked through a few greenhouses. One of which was dedicated to insect-eating plants... yikes! I also walked along a path following the canal through town and saw a few "punts" or gondolas glide by.

After the botanical garden (where my camera officially ran out of batteries) I headed to the Ashmolean Museum.  It turned out to be a great museum much like the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and totally free. Their curators had made a strong connection with Pissaro's daughter and had an impressive room filled with some of his work. I really liked wandering through their many collections, which included antiquities from around the world. And staying out of the wind and rain was nice too.

By the time I left the museum, it was getting close to when I would make my second attempt at riding the bus.  So I meandered down the High Street into a few shops, past ye olde pubs and enjoyed a cup of tea before waiting for a bus that never came.  It was about 6 p.m. and I needed to get back to Chewie so I ended up taking a taxi back to the hotel.

All in all, I thought Oxford was a fantastic touring town.  I chose not to visit Oxford University, proper, as I just didn't have the time.  I only had about an afternoon to hit the main attractions in the city center, but I would happily return (with a camera full of batteries) for another visit.

Please to enjoy a few pictures from the day:

I know.. too many pics of the flowers.  I can't help myself!! But the town didn't translate well digitally because of the gray day.  Here's hoping next time I visit, it's sunny!

London Day One

Some pics from my first full day:

Our place!

Relaxing on the Thames

And at Borough Market:

Jealous

I read many other blogs.  Which is part of the reason I decided to take on this task.  The other reason being to keep my family and friends updated on our temporary life in London.  But now that I've started one, I realize how good the ones I read are.  Blogging takes commitment, time and creativity - the latter is something I've never really felt I have.  Especially when it comes to writing.  I'm seeing that to be a good blogger, you need to be engaging and witty with the written word.  Otherwise, how much fun would this be to read?  But I promise to try as hard as I can to make every day musings into interesting snapshots of my life.  There.  Now I feel better after writing this all out ;)

Been too long!

So, where did the time go?  Somewhere between packing the house, a couple trips to the State Fair, hosting a dear friend and physically moving across the Atlantic, I haven't had the time to sit and write anything for this blog.  Fortunately, I have all the time in the world now!  And I've realized that I'm not so much for writing as a form of communication.... I'd rather talk.  Again, all the time in the world to sit and write now ;) Maybe I'll get better at this as I go.

But I would like to recap my last few days since arriving in London.  Gavin and his good friend came to meet me at the airport in two cars.  Why in two cars, you ask?  Because they drive Smart Cars and I had five suitcases.  I sort of felt silly for having five pieces of luggage- but hey, I'm moving here, right??  Also, don't ever ship your beloved pet via cargo across a large body of water.  It will break your heart.

We left the airport without Chewie because he needed to stay for another 24 hours before he could be released. We drove to our home, literally dropped everything and went walking around the neighborhood for a few hours. Gavin had been awaiting my arrival to try the local pizza place (a la Punch) and he was not disappointed. It was sweet that he waited for me ;)   The pizza also helped to abide my overwhelming sadness that we couldn't see our Chewie until the next day.  The wine probably helped with too.  I stayed awake as long as I could - 7 p.m. but slept until 9 am Saturday morning.

After grabbing tea/coffee at the cutest coffee shop literally across the street, we headed to Borough Market to get the London experience. It really is amazing to wander around for a few hours.  We picked up Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce, jalapeno-stuffed olives and sugar-free, gluten-free granola. I think we can all guess which one of us will eat what. By the time we returned to our house, it was time to pick up the pup. THANK GOD. Needless to say, I'm glad we have Chewie with us, but it's been pretty traumatic for everyone involved.

Sunday morning, we endured a trip to Ikea. A total necessary evil.  The place was packed 15 minutes after it opened.  However, I see many more trips there in our near future.  We also went next door to our "backyard pub" for Sunday dinner with Gavin's good friend- it was delicious! We brought the Chew-dog over to meet our friend and sit with us in the garden for a few pints after dinner.  Highlight of the evening was Gavin popping his head out our hallway window - which looks over our backyard pub - to see if we needed anything from the house.  We joked that from time to time, I may have to yell out at Gavin to get out of the pub and come home.  That WAS a joke, right?  ;)

Monday through today, I wish I could say I've done fabulous things.  In fact, the better part of my days involve watching episodes of House, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bones, Friends, 30 Rock, figuring out the washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, waiting for a plumber, an Ikea delivery, the Internet installer, walking Chewie and generally getting acquainted with the neighborhood.  I haven't ventured out on the tube alone quite yet, but I think I may try that tomorrow. Oooh- we did see Ricky Gervais last night, which he killed.

Sorry for the unbelievably long post.  Because it's overdue, its more informative than anything. I'm hoping to get more detailed the more posts I create.  Will you still want to read when I've discussed the latest walk through the park with Chewie? I guess we'll find out!  Cheers, n