Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Home

We moved into our permanent house finally. I love it. It was built 101 years before I was born and I think it is beautiful. However, at this point it is in chaos from moving, so I've posted some pictures of the details that give it so much character. You'll get a proper tour once I can organize the mess.









An original Victorian tiled fireplace




A view from the attic room. I sat here and listened to the church bells in town.


The last four months have been some of the most difficult, demanding, stressful of my life. Raising a toddler, having a baby, selling a house, moving abroad, being an outsider in a new place. To have a place that finally feels like our home means a lot.


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Hever Castle

Saturday was soggy and wet, but we ventured out anyway to Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. The castle was rather small, but interesting. The gardens, though, were exquisite. Absolutely lovely, even drenched in rain.

After wandering through the gardens, we trudged through mud to watch a good old fashioned joust.




The knights

The King

















The joust

The joust put Penny straight to sleep.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Weekend in Dover

Last weekend we picked up Roo from work and drove an hour and a half to Dover.  We promised ourselves once we moved here that we'd see as much as possible, whatever it takes. And we had to remind ourselves of our resolve as the girls were crying and pooping in their car seats while we sat in traffic on the way there...

Once we arrived, we dined in a tiny traditional pub in the town of St Margaret's at Cliffe, a tiny town on the cliffs above Dover. Before the girls went to bed, we drove down to the beach and had a view of the cliffs. Esmé loves the beach!



Our hotel was little and cute, very nautical and nice.
Across the street from the hotel was this church. (If you might get bored by old churches and graveyards, you may want to stop reading this blog, because I never will get tired of them. I feel compelled to explore every one I see.) Then we went back to the hotel and watched the British Bachelor. It was so awful, which naturally means it made for great entertainment.



On Saturday, we thought we'd explore the cliffs. This was a bit ambitious for us in our gigantic stroller. The path got progressively tinier and rockier and steeper, yet we pressed on. When we could lumber on no farther, we had to turn around--this meant wheeling the stroller around and practically hanging the front end of it off the cliff. We decided to avoid cliffs after that.


Having survived the cliffs, we made our way over to Dover Castle. (The above picture is from the castle website.) It was so impressive on the hill above the bay! I just love castles!


Penny loves castles too.




Our trip was short and sweet. Just long enough to see everything we wanted to.

It is true that traveling with kids is tough. You find yourself doing things like changing diapers on the floor behind the cafe kitchen and nursing the baby in tiny bathroom stalls, but if that is what it takes to see these places, then so be it! It's worth it. (Let's hope I still believe so after our upcoming adventure at the end of the month...ja?)