Octobers Past

I love the look of Fall pictures.  Here's a little glimpse of our October in Boroughbridge last year.

1.  Late Afternoon Light in our Back Garden
2.  Ella and James after the pumpkin contest at their school
3.  Ella and James's Pumpkins
4.  Apple Harvest from our friends' back garden
5.  Leafy sidewalk on our street
6.  Autumn Sunrise
7.  Blue Sky Day at the Devil's Arrows
8.  Pretty Park Leaves

Half Term in Boroughbridge

I hated to miss writing yet another day yesterday, but this week is Half Term, and we enjoyed a day out with friends.  What is half term, you ask?  At least, my American friends will ask.  The British school calendar is fairly similar to "Year Round School" in the States.  There are three "terms," Autumn, Spring, and Summer.  Summer Term is obviously the worst.  It begins right about the time American schools are letting out, and it is the longest term of all.  Apart from the Summer Term, the schedule is pretty nice and seems to move quickly from break to break.  The kids go to school about 6 weeks then have a week off (half term), then approximately another 6 weeks and it's the two-week Christmas holidays.  Spring Term begins in January and feels super short.  Half Term falls in February, then they are off two weeks for the Easter Holidays.  It's then a hop, skip, and a jump to the half term at the end of May and then a long slog until the end of July and school finally letting out for the summer holidays.

February 2015 Half Term Fun at Beningbrough Hall

Moving to another country is like having to re-learn how to do life in every area.  Cultural nuances and differences permeate everything that humans do.  Traveling gives you a small taste of this; living day upon day, month upon month, year upon year continues to surprise me by there being continuous layers to peel up and uncover.  I spent thirty-two years gradually learning tastes, opinions, prejudices, speaking, writing, cooking, cleaning, etiquette, traditions, educational practices, spelling, hymns, driving, etc.  All of those things are different in some way and on some level here, and we're trying to learn what everyone who has lived here their entire lives learnt gradually as fast as we can.

Easter Holidays 2015 at Newby Hall

Sometimes I'm learning differences of perspective, and sometimes I'm learning simple things like: what goes on during Half Term for kids?  I was really excited to hear that the cinemas here often have cheaper tickets for children's movies.  We've really missed the free summer movies in Tuscaloosa, so we had so much fun getting to watch Finding Dory with friends this week in York at a fraction of the normal cost.

I told them to stand beside each other, but they each thought I was

talking to the other and remained 3 feet apart.

I enjoy half term because having the kids home 24/7 is a familiar rhythm of life to me since it was my experience for eight years of mothering.  It's a good time of brother-sister bonding, too.  They alternate between playing really well together and arguing.  I've been trying to let them work out their arguments without intervening more lately, partly because I think it's a good life-skill, partly because whatever they're arguing about seems of little importance.

This week has been really nice.  The first two days we stayed home.  I read a book and worked on a family photo book I needed to put together.  The kids played, watched television, and raked the leaves.  They've also both had colds and it was good to stay home coughing and blowing their noses, I think.  This last part of the week has held meeting up with friends and going out.  We enjoyed the cinema and eating at McDonalds, and yesterday we went to an American-style restaurant in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

It is such a fun taste of home.  This was our second visit, and I just love it.  My Louisiana Gumbo I had yesterday was so good.  And Ella had chocolate chip pancakes and was happy as could be. Tonight we're doing a little Trunk or Treat with friends at the American base nearby, so fun times!  

A Shoe Shop for Boroughbridge

There's only six more days of Write 31 Days...  I can do this!  I've missed three days here and there this month and didn't want to miss another, so I'm popping in to showcase a new establishment to the streets of Boroughbridge this year.

This new shoe shop opened before we went home for the summer, but I hadn't been inside.  I believe it was only children's shoes when it first opened.  Ella and I popped in Saturday afternoon on a whim and ended up having a lovely conversation with the shop owner and finding Ella some boots to keep her toes toasty warm all winter long.

The brown boots hanging there may look suede, but they are actually waterproof and super-soft and cozy on the inside.  And most importantly, Ella was really excited about them.  It was also nice to discover they were also carrying women's boots as well.  Boroughbridge hasn't had a shoe shop since we moved here; I'm sure this makes life easier for a lot of parents.  I know KJ was a bit put out that we drove 40 minutes down the road to a shopping mall looking for shoes the previous Saturday when we could have found them here all along.  Lesson learned, KJ, lesson learned.

Autumn Window Shopping

I always enjoy the window-shopping in Boroughbridge, but it can be especially satisfying in the autumn, especially for the places selling vegetables and flowers.

And maybe especially this shop, which always has beautiful offerings.

Aren't those the loveliest vegetables you've ever seen?  The still life makes so much more sense looking at these guys.  Confession:  I've never eaten a Brussel sprout.  They seem to be a regular part of Christmas dinner here.

I loved that gray pumpkin at the local florist's shop.  It was very Country Living-esque.

And last but not least, I took this picture when I was out jogging because it reminded me of The Andy Griffith Show.  Leg of lamb?  Andy's favorite dish?  

Pontem de Burgo, The Bridge Near Burgh

K.J. sometimes explains differences between Americans and the English like this:  To an American, anything over 200 years old is really old, but not so for the English.  We were once told by a lady showing us around an old church building that "This part is Victorian and of little interest."  Because granted, Victorian was pretty new compared to the Celtic carvings found in the other parts of the stone church.  But distance is the complete opposite.  It's easier to drive long distances in America (not to mention cheaper), and so Americans do and don't think anything of it, but being a country only 240 years old, makes relating to signposts like this feel kind of crazy at first.

It's no big deal, just a battle fought here against the Earls of Lancaster in 1322.

The first bridge crossing the River Ure was built to access the next village over, which many years ago was a Roman settlement.  Eventually, a town grew up around the bridge.  Wikipedia told me the first mention of the bridge was in Latin (thus the title of this post) in 1155.  

There's usually a beautiful view walking across the bridge.  Ella and I walked over and back after the rain cleared on Saturday.

We had so much rain last December that the river overflowed the bottom half of the bridge.  I'm told the floodwaters have made it all the way into town before, too.  It's a good thing we live on a hill!

A Pumpkin Spice Latte in Boroughbridge (!!!!)

This is the time of year in America, of course, when Pumpkin Spice everything appears, to the point that it gets a little ridiculous.  HOWEVER, I really do love that spicy autumn mixture of pumpkin, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  The first pumpkin pie I ever tried was at Thanksgiving my freshman year of college, and it won my heart.  I loved it so much, my mom measured out all the spices I would need into a Ziploc bag for me to take back to school and recreate it for my roommates.  I'm still figuring out the best way to make that pie here because there is no Cool Whip in the UK!

But back to pumpkin spice....  A good friend in town was so kind to let me know that one of the local cafes was advertizing a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Pumpkin served sweet is not a normal thing here at all, but this year I've seen it much more than the previous two autumns, which has been a fun taste of home.  The arrival of the Pumpkin Spice Latte in Boroughbridge seemed like an occasion worthy of a mother/daughter outing.

There was a lot of cinnamon goodness sprinkled on top.  Don't tell Starbucks, but this tasted better.

I ordered Ella a brownie, which was incredibly ginormous, but she was nonplussed when I cut off a sliver for myself.  She comes by it naturally; I don't like to share desserts either.

It was an on again-off again rainy sort of day, and it was good to spend some time with my growing-up girl.  She's a treasure.

Over the Hills

One of the major perks of living in Boroughbridge is that a 30-minute drive lands you in some of the most beautiful countryside in the...world?  Maybe.

The best days are when rain and sun are so intermingled that the hills are full of rainbows.

When the sun isn't a dependable friend, it makes the shining all the more glorious.

The Town Square and Remembering

One thing that is markedly different about being in England versus in the United States is the sense of closeness to the events of the two great wars.  Of course this makes sense because England is quite literally located much, much closer to where battles took place, and they fought longer.  The reminders of just how many young men were lost in World War I especially are graven in stone in the middle of every small town, making those events and the loss of that time period much more real to me than anything else has.

I'm not even sure I knew why we celebrated Veteran's Day on the second Monday of November until watching the Downton Abbey episode when the Armistice was signed and peace declared at 11:00 on November 11.  Ohhh....  Then I immediately understood the significance of the date we remember U.S. veterans.  I'm sure this must have been covered in history class somewhere along the way, but I never had a regular ceremony or reminder about the significance of the date to cement it in my memory.

Remembrance Day in the UK, observed on the Sunday instead of Monday, is a big deal.  The Remembrance Day service at St. James's is one of the most highly attended services.  It's followed by a ceremony in the town square that much of the town attends.  Individuals and groups lay out wreaths of poppies on the war memorial to remember those who fought in both wars.  There is a two-minute silence at the first stroke of eleven, a prayer offered, and a hymn sung.

We remember the events that had the biggest national impact.  In my experience, it most reminds me of services held in the United States around September 11.

A Morning Run Around Boroughbridge

I'm not a regular jogger by any means, but one of the things I really appreciate about living in England is that as the days get shorter, and the sun rises later, you can have the benefits of an early-morning run (such as pretty sunrise colors in the sky) without the super-early-morning-wake-up-call.

Yesterday was such an absolutely gorgeous morning.  I was stopping every few yards for a picture, not because I was out of breath or anything, you see, but just because it was so beautiful.

We've really seen some beautiful days this fall.  The kids are out of school next week so I hope we'll have a few more.  Autumn is such a mix of bright and glorious and rainy and cozy.

Truly Scrumptious

James loves the Spar, but if you ask him what his other favorite shop in town is, he would say, "The Sweet Shop."  Now, traditional English sweets aren't really a temptation for me (I'd rather have chocolate.), but my kids do like "sweet-ties."  That's my best attempt at typing out James's English pronunciation.  This afternoon we walked to the hairdresser to make an appointment for James and happened upon a new sweet shop in town, Truly Scrumptious.  Since I've been blogging my way through town, I thought I'd take my boy in for a treat.

He couldn't believe his good fortune that instead of a haircut he got to pick out 100 grams of candy. They scoop it out of the jar and weight it on the scales.  The only difficulty is deciding what to choose.

The shop owner said she just opened last week, and we hope they do well.  James was one happy customer.  Oddly enough, his favorite that he picked out was a sugar free option that he said just tasted like fruit.