Wisley Glass House

Christmas in England

We had a great Christmas here, and I thought I share some of the differences that I came across. (1) There are lots of mince pies this time of year. They just appear. (Now, you can buy several brands of mince at the grocery store year round, but the pies were everywhere) I had a few, and they ranged from bitter and even sour tasting, to heavenly. So there's a wide range recipes.(2) They don't drink eggnog. I know it's very sad. It's not in the stores. I asked around, and most people hadn't even heard of it. They do drink a lot of mulled wine, though. (3) Parents put there kids in costumes.(?)Whereas, Halloween here is much smaller than in the states, and is strictly a spooky affair, all the cute costumes (fairies, bunnies, etc) hit the aisles at Christmas time. I don't know why. I asked around, no one seemed to know why either. (4) School kids exchange little Christmas cards, just like we do for Valentine's Day. (5) Also, while villages have a Christmas trees, and the "high streets", decorate their shops, most people don't decorate their houses with lights. (6) Christmas pudding is more like a moist fruitcake, (with less fruit and more cake) and you serve it hot and drizzled with cream. Yummy. (7) Of course everything is closed on Christmas Day, except the pubs. naturally, you wouldn't close those.

Surfing in December

Oh Yes, it can be done.

Bourne Carnival

This is one of the local carnivals that villages and towns have during the summer.The weather was waffling all day. The poor band would just get set up to play, and then pack it all up at the first sign of drizzle. A few minutes later they were out again, but it was great to watch and listen to them playing! I put in this first picture just because my hair looked good that day. We've seen traditional British Soldiers at quite a few events around here, I'm not entirely sure what sort of a group it is, they seem to be all ages. They show up to events, pose for photos, and walk around in formation.

The Yately Morris Men

David noticed this group in from of a Farnham pub on his way home from work. He told me there were men, with flowers in their hats dancing on the street, with a man in a horse costume running around harrassing people. So naturally, we packed up the kids and headed into town. They were playing music and dancing in front of the Nelson Arms when we found them. When they moved the festivities, inluding the silent but mischievious horse to the Hop Blossom (about two blocks away), we followed them. They are Morris Men. I'm still working on the history, but apparently it's a tradition that has been around for over 500 years. They dress differently in different areas, but generally, they wear bells on their legs, bright colors, and they dance with sticks. The Yately Morris Men have a "fool" and a "horse" in a bandet's mask. Marina and David joined the dancing first, and the last pictures shows Gwen and I joining in the festivities. I don't know what the point is, but it is a lot of fun!!!

Hampshire Honey

This is the sort of thing that we find when we go driving. I think it's charming, and the honey tastes great.

Surrey Countryside

This is one of the pretty village walks we found near our new house. We are trying to make the most of summer and beautiful days like this!

Cricket in Tilford

Well, we managed to celebrate Independence Day with Fireworks, which are available year round and are perfectly legal as long as you light them off before 11pm. We ate a traditional 4th of July meal, and then we ooohed and ahhhhed at our own backyard airshow. The kids will be out of school in the next few days, and we are all looking forward to a short but hopefully sunny summer vacation. There are miles of great trails around our village. Last Sunday, we went on a long bike ride in the afternoon. I took this picture a few weeks ago in the village of Tilford. Everyone gathers on the weekends to watch the cricket matches. You can watch from the pub or take your pint across the street to the green, either way, you won't die of thirst.

Moving to England

Here's the run down of our lives since we left Sunny and Beautiful Solana Beach. Firstly, it took a few weeks to get settled. The kids missed nearly three weeks of school, while we were house-hunting and finding the good schools, but they've certainly made up for it since the schools here are in session until the third week of July! So, the kids have had time to adjust and make new friends and plan summer get togethers. So, now we are busy with birthday parties and teas!

Gwen and Marina started taking tennis lessons about 6 weeks ago, and they are really enjoying learning the game. Which is just as well since it drizzles on half their lessons. This summer, they have promised to teach me how to play. It's a good sport for the area since there are courts almost everywhere, and most of them are free.

The weather here is every bit as bad as you've heard. It turns out that this is the worst summer in years. We have sun almost every day, unfornately it's broken up by unpredicable rain showers which also happen nearly every day. Sometimes it's really stormy, and once I even got caught in an all out hail storm! (No, I'm not making this up).

I've been spending most of my free time unpacking and downsizing our loot, so we can fit comfortably in our new place. I also found a great part time school job that starts in the fall. It's similar to what I did at Skyline, but with older kids. The beauty is that the hours match the kids' schedule, and you just can't beat that.

We live in a village on the offskirts of a town called Farnham. I took this picture just outside Farnham park, were we spent an afternoon walking through the woods and exploring the castle.