Milk Mustache

Michael had his eighth birthday!

Birthday breakfast.



Wishes and smoke.

 His birthday wish was to go to Toys R Us and choose his presents.

I was amazed by the free-for-all at We Be Toys. Children were yelling, chasing each other, and riding bicycles and scooters that were for sale all over the store. With our cart we pushed through abandoned vehicles left in aisles. Seemed so un-British, as they are often concerned with being quiet, rules, and health and safety.

The next day we took Michael, Dominic and three friends to an indoor water park called the Corral Reef. It was interesting to see the difference in water skills between our desert dwellers and the little Brits. They had a super time maneuvering through the rapids and going down water slides. Precious babies!

At the suggestion of my cousin Ellen I decided to climb a magnificent oak tree that grows along the River Blackwater near Horseshoe Lake.

I'm not strong enough to haul myself from this position onto the branch. The day after trying this for the first time I was nearly incapacitated with sore muscles.

Mike and Michael are in tree-climbing shape.

Something I can aim for.

The Golden Rules of 3S Class.

This next photo illustrates how Mike and I are feeling about getting our driver's licenses here in the UK. It's more than a little frustrating. And expensive, we estimate it will cost us at least £1000 including all license and test fees and instructor fees. I failed my first practical exam, which is a 38 minute driving test. I sobbed all the way home; my driving instructor Chris was very comforting and called me "love" a few times. I was left feeling grateful for the kindness of strangers.

Michael had a cross country meet later that same day in Marlow. It was a beautiful day, and I loved seeing 170 year 3 and 4 boys in their school colors dashing across fields and woods that line the Thames. It's good to get knocked down now and then.

Anna's kitty original, this totally cheers me up.

I've been to London recently on my own. Once to see the Treasures of Heaven exhibition at the British Museum.

Man of Sorrows.

This is a photo of my favorite. The image of Jesus is constructed from tiny mosaic tiles set in wax. The small boxes surrounding the image contain relics from 200 saints.

And the other day I was massively excited to meet my friend Carrie who was in London for business. She invited me to an over the top champagne afternoon tea fest at The Connaught Hotel in Mayfair.

She knows her way around much better than I do and I loved exploring with her.

On my way home through Paddington Station there was a band of old men playing Light Calvary.

It was rousing.

These coupons come regularly in the mail, a romantic dinner for two made personally by Domino's Pizza. In the past they have repulsed me and I cannot get them into the recycling fast enough.

 I have to admit they are looking better and better all the time, just to give you an idea of my current standards.

Other things I want to remember...

Riding bikes with Dominic today up to the Crowthorne High Street he pointed to the Crowthorne Baptist Church and asked, "Mom, is this a school for old ladies?"

Seeing ginger baby girl cow with white eye lashes at Horseshoe lake almost as big as her black mama enjoying num nums. So delicious! She had a foamy milk mustache and tiny pink udders.

Beaulieu to Bucklers Hard

Weekend before last we visited the New Forest, which is a National Park in southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire.  In 1079 William I designated the area as a royal forest.

We visited Beaulieu which is pronounced BEWley, and then rode our bike to Bucklers Hard and back.



Photo from Wikimedia


I forgot my camera in the car when we set off on bicycles. It is freeing to not have a camera to capture every moment.  This is the Palace House, which began life in the 13th century as the great gate house of Beaulieu Abbey.  The Montagu family bought it from the crown in 1538 following the dissolution of the monasteries by big fat Enrique el octavo. And it is still theirs!



Photo from Wikimedia

 This photo is Beaulieu Abbey. Ghostly monks have been reported in the abbey ruins and in the parish church Gregorian chants and ghostly footsteps are said to have been heard. The smell of incense has been reported in rooms of Palace House once used as chapels in the Middle Ages. According to legend, this manifestation signals tragedy for the people of the abbey or Beaulieu village. The abbey is also said to have a post-Reformation ghost, a grey lady who is seen in Palace House. She is said to be the shade of an 18th-century inhabitant of the house, Lady Isabella. (Wikipedia)



Ponies on the Heath, New Forest
Copyright, Jim Champion, licensed to reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

One of my favorite things about the New Forest is the ponies! They roam freely and are everywhere. There were two in the parking lot where we left our car, and there were several standing in the road on our bike ride. We came upon a fuzzy colt having num nums in the middle of a road, showing no sign of concern for traffic. 

Alder trees in the Beaulieu River
Copyright, Jim Champion, licensed to reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Beaulieu is beautiful and charming. We loved it.


Photo by jakill from blog Jean's Musings

There is a forest path that runs along the edge of the Beaulieu River connecting Beaulieu and Bucklers Hard. Just follow the hand shaped signs. Beaulieu River flows out to the Solent, which is the strait separating the mainland from the Isle of Wight.


Bucklers Hard
Photo by Charles Drake

 We had a relaxing picnic on a manicured lawn looking out on the Beaulieu River in Bucklers Hard, while the boys ran in and out of a nearby woodland.

Photo by Gillian Moy

This bath house is on the path leaving Bucklers Hard.




Photo by Angus Kirk

  View of the path.

Photo Credit

Aerial view.


On this day a miracle occurred. Mike managed to tuck our three bicyles and a trailer bike into the back of our Touran. Take that athiest family members!

We passed on paying to see any tourist sights. If you want to see the Abbey or the Palace house, it costs £48 for a family of four. And there is also a charge to visit most every place in the village Bucklers Hard. It is definitely worth it to bring a picnic lunch and soak in the views.

Something I want to remember from this day is the heat wave! We had a few days at the end of September/early October that got up to 80 degrees. Our neighbor was surprised that Mike would go out for a run in such hot weather. I also want to remember the crazy traffic because in this very crowded small country, when the weather is nice, many many many people head off in the same direction to enjoy the day. And lastly, I want to remember our very first impression of the New Forest as looking just like Crowthorne. All that driving in traffic to arrive in a place that looks just like home!

Butterfly's Wings

We have two apple trees that are good for climbing and for eating apples.

One of them makes cooking apples, and one eating apples. That is how people refer to apples here. I had never heard of straight up cooking apples before, but they taste amazing uncooked also.

Our eating apples are mostly red on the outside and very stripey red inside. They are gone now, which makes me sad thinking we won't be here for next year's crop.

After listening half bored for the last few years to my mother raving about the smoothies she makes every morning, I decided to try for myself and use up an apple or two.

They are quite tasty, I have to admit. My sister is on the same kick, and she insists that the banana is key.

Last year I wrote that this adventure was making of us a family soup (Soup), but lately I feel more smoothie. Our separate selves are being whipped and whirled together in this blender of non-stop intense togetherness.

The other day Mike said his tip for anyone thinking of having a similar adventure would be to make sure you REALLY like each other.

How much time can four people spend together?

Is it healthy to spend this much time together?

I want to remember that this closeness is precious, even while I am missing my two big pollitos so far away.

My grandmother wrote a poem about raising children and said that the journey can feel heavy, or light like a butterfly's wing, and that we decide which it will be.

Bubbe's Smoothie

1 apple

1 orange

1 banana

1 peach, pear, plum, kiwi, or any fruit of your choice

1 big handful of raw greens (spinach, kale, chard, etc)

Roughly chop all the fruit, add a few dribbles of cold water and
blend until smooth. 

Butser Ancient Farm

Reading a children's book about the Celts of the British Isles, I learned about Butser Ancient Farm.

It is an experimental archeology site featuring an iron age farm, demonstrating life in the British Isles when the Romans arrived in 43 AD.



Manx Loaghtan sheep, native to the Isle of Man.
They are characterized by a dark brown wool
and usually have four or occasionally six horns.

There was much bellyaching by the boys about our proposed day.

Runes

But they absolutely loved it, and so did Mike and I.

The pigs ate our apple core.

The farm is nestled between a few rolling hills, one of them very nearly steep, which make for charming views in every direction.

The boys crushed chalk which will be used as the flooring of a new round house.

The mallets are made from a piece of tree, amazingly hammer shaped and heavy.

They were so happy to help in this labor. It made me think about what life was life 2000 years ago and how different it was for children and how necessary their work must have been.

The site also features a recreated roman villa, I liked seeing the difference in construction between the two cultures.



View of villa.


The Romans who invaded Britannia must have been bummed by the cold and dark. However, they were tough mofos and I am sure I complain more than they did.

Roman tunics.

Thick walls, small windows that look like rock crystal.

Exposed wall construction and a roman goddess.

Kitchen.

View of hypocaust outside the house.
Fire heated air and circulated into space under one room of the villa.
Dibs on the hypocaust room!

All of the buildings at Butser Ancient Farm are based on actual excavations of archeological sites in Britain.

Inside of roundhouse.

The celtic people shared a one room roundhouse with an entire family including grandparents...can you imagine?

Cozy.  Our roundhouse would be packed to the gills.

Dominic and I attempted to spin some fresh wool, which was greasy with lanolin. Mother nature is truly glorious. A few items of clothing were hung in a roundhouse. Itchy scratchy wool kept everyone warm.

Inside largest roundhouse, relaxing on skins. Notice pounded chalk floor.

The roundhouses were constructed without chimneys; the smoke eventually permeated through the thatching, which helped to preserve foods hung from the rafters. The one roundhouse we saw with a burning fire was fairly smoky, it must have been like living in a smoker.

Dominic picked up this stack of reeds and pretended it was a machine gun,
complete with explosive sound effects.
Apparently the celts liked a good war, so he might have fit right in.



Stacked wood.



Tending a fire.

Thrilled with their fire!

Prayers for a chalk god?

Rammed earth creation in the works.

Loo.

Dried grass for bum wiping.

Chicken coop.

Display showing the passage of time in layers of artifacts.

What will you do today? 

Here are links to more information:

Butser Ancient Farm

How to build a roundhouse