Saturday, April 23, 2011

Downe House

Last weekend, Gavin and I (upon the recommendation of a trusted family member :) drove down the tiny village of Downe to visit the the Downe House, home of Charles Darwin (like what I did there?) Although it seemed to take forever to get out of the city, the change in environment happened almost instantly. One minute: pubs, chip shops and laundromats and the next minute: fields, horses and tiny twisty roads.

The Downe House itself is totally fascinating. It's where Charles Darwin lived and worked for much of his life and they've kept the house much as it would have been in his time. It even smells like an antique home. I don't want to talk too much about it because we've decided return with our May visitors and I don't want to spoil the experience for them. We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon in the English countryside and would in turn recommend it to anyone else!

Gavin, would you like to show us around?






he's such a rule-breaker.



thanks for the tour, Capt. Gavin and co-pilot Chewie!

Doesn't he do a great job pointing things out for you?! After looking at these pics more, perhaps I should really start adjusting the white balance in the photos... hmm...

Friday, April 22, 2011

The Reason...

...that I haven't blogged in over a week: I got a job! I think, from my last wordy post, there was some sort of wish fulfillment going on ;) It all happened so fast, I just haven't had a chance to process it all.

BUT, here at the deets: It's with a company that I'm familiar with; in the human resources realm (another field I've always been interested in); part-time, and; only five tube-stops away, which makes the commute tolerable.

Like so much that I've experienced in London, it all came about quite randomly. In early March, I was surfing around the web and went to the company's site (I don't really want to say the name, just as I don't refer to Gavin's job either, however those in the US would know the brand) and saw that there was a part-time HR position open. I thought, why not? So I uploaded my CV to the site and promptly forgot all about it. Then about three weeks later, while in the middle of a Thames River cruise with the in-laws, I was called upon for a phone interview! I actually had her call me back because the boat narrator was a bit loud. Once I found the relative calmness of St. James Park, we continued the interview. I don't even remember much of what I said. But it must have been good, because once we returned from Scotland, I was asked to come interview in-person, which was last Thursday. And that must have gone well too, because on the way home from the interview, they called and offered me the job! So, on Monday, I started with two days of training and then two days of getting familiar with the job. Whirlwind, right?

Thus far, everyone seems very friendly, especially the two people I'll be working alongside. I'll be squeezed into a small office with the full-time HR person, but I think we'll get on pretty well together. My weekly schedule is somewhat flexible in that I'll work three (eight-hour) days a week with Mondays and Wednesdays being firm and another day TBD. In general, I love the brand and what the company produces and I think this will be a great job to have while in London. I love that its part-time, which I'm guessing Chewie will also love ;) It's nice to feel like a productive member of society again!

I'll try my best to keep blogging at the same pace (hmmm, that's like once per week, right?!) Perhaps this will spur me to use my days off wisely!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Aberdeen Cattle and More




meeting face to face... neither of them look too scared ;)


seals!!


springtime in Scotland means all kinds of lambs!


stags!


dolphins!! (if you look closely...)

We even met a roaming herd of cattle.. on the road.. and they didn't want to moooove (hee.)

coming around the corner...


Chewie was pretty interested...