It's Raining Again

Don asked me last night to write a new post. Sorry it’s been so long. We’re awfully busy and this laptop is a pain to type on. Then Don has to retype everything onto a computer at work that is connected to the Internet.

First of all, we’re in our house. We moved into a 3-bedroom house last Thursday. A driver arrived at the hotel in a minivan to pick me and the children and all our luggage up to take us to Culcheth, a little burrough to the NE of Warrington. It’s only a 5-min. drive from Don’s office and there are several guys that work with Don who live in apartments nearby and can give him rides to and from work. It took the driver 2 trips.

We, however, have no transportation, no phone, and no Internet, so communication is a little challenging. The children and I have become very proficient at riding buses. You wait in front of the BP gas station (there is a bus shelter there) for buses going West, as to Leigh, Manchester, etc. You stand on our side of the road a little further up towards town for buses going East, to Birchwood (where Don’s office is and there’s a nice shopping center, including a ASDA which is the cheaper of the grocery stores around – we have a Sainsbury’s in Culcheth, but that’s much more expensive, like the difference between Wal-Mart and Publix), Warrington, and Liverpool.

Yesterday, we schooled hard in the morning, then went into Leigh in the afternoon. They have a Mall and an indoor Market, which is my preferred way to shop for meat, fruit and vegetables. Market prices are very much cheaper than the stores, although we’ve found that everything in the grocery stores over here is marked with a end of display date (even potatoes and carrots), and once that date is reached, they mark the item down to next to nothing. We picked up a 5-lb. bag of the best potatoes I’ve ever eaten for 40 p (p is short for pence, 100 of which make up a pound.) That’s about $.80 American.

In general, prices seem to be about the same over here as at home (cheese is cheaper, though) but the dollar is making such a poor showing right now, with the exchange rate being at an all-time low, that in dollars, the price is twice what we would normally pay. We watch for bargains whenever we can – we pick up milk that is at the display date (got two 2-ltr. jugs last week for 60 p each), we found a pork loin cooked with rosemary, normally about 2 pounds per 100 grams, for 4.99 (lbs., that is) a kilogram, which is only 49 p 100 grams. We got 400 grams and had enough for wonderful sandwiches for all of us for lunch for 3 days.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Don took off and we went to Chester. Chester was originally a walled Roman city. The original walls were built of wood in 70 A.D. but were replaced by stone about 50 years later. There are ruins of Roman gardens and an amphitheater that was most-likely used for wrestling matches and gladiators, as well as for military purposes. I realize I’ve already told you a little about Chester, but I didn’t really do it justice, so I wanted to write a little more.

The children and I made it to York. Kel, we found a place called Bailey’s on what seemed to be the main road to the Minster, although it was difficult to find a “main road to the Minster” since they’re all so windy. We took pictures of Bailey’s in hopes it’s the right place and had lunch there. Very nice. York is lovely, also, with windy cobblestone streets that reak of old age and lots of life. We went to the Minster (the Cathedral), did a fair amount of shopping, and visited Clifford’s Tower, a huge overlook tower on a built-up mound that is still intact except for the wooden roof and the wooden floors that were burned down in a fire. We climbed the windy staircase to the ramparts and walked the top of the tower, viewing York from every different angle. Constantine was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in York very near the Minster, and we took pictures of a monument to him. York was also a Roman walled city and pieces of the wall remain, although they look to be much more recent than the ones in Chester and they have no railing on the inside, making them somewhat dangerous. We only walked a small section of the wall in York, whereas we walked the entire 2-mile circumference of the old city on the walls in Chester.

York was a fun day, although is was bitterly cold. We’re planning on going to Liverpool on Friday of this week. There’s a guy here that’s American who’s been working on this project for 4 years now and has spent 180 days per year here for the last 4. He knows the system pretty well and he told me that if you get advance tickets, you can get cheaper fares – the earlier, the cheaper. He says it’s just like plane tickets. So we’re trying to get advance tickets for Liverpool, hoping to save some money.

A funny story – I mentioned that we’re frequenting train and bus stations. Last night, we were sitting in the bus station in Leigh waiting for the bus home to Culcheth when an announcement came over the Intercom to keep your luggage with you at all times. Deanna turned and looked at me and said, “It sounds just like the announcements they make in the plane station.” I cracked up and reminded her that we usually call them airports, not “plane stations”. We also saw a funny sign inside a bus in Warrington. It said “Life is a journey. Positive thinking is like garlic bread.” We’re not too sure what that means, but we think it means positive thinking is “the way of the future”.

We live in a cul-de-sac and there are lots of children around. Although Friday was a little slow for the kids, on Saturday, the place livened up considerably, and our house seems to be the hubbub of activity. There’s Lucy and Sam two doors down (Lucy’s 7, Sam’s 4) and George and Lewis at the opposite end of the cul-de-sac (George is 7, Lewis is 5). Still haven’t found any girls Deanna’s age, but she enjoys playing with Lucy. The children are living outside and are delighted to have a backyard, a front yard and a huge ballfield in the center of the cul-de-sac. It’s not exactly center circle, and the children are picking up a few bad habits, but at least they have other children to play with, and what a difference that’s made. Lucy and Sam’s mother is Kim. She’s a delight and loaned us a salt and pepper shaker, brought us a big box of candy when she came for tea, and invited us to a Christmas Fair at Sam and Lucy’s school (which we attended on Friday night, thinking about the Fair Work Party and all our friends back home. By the way, no one’s written to tell us how the Fair went, except Katharina who said Andrew worked very hard at beignettes), coming and picking us up and walking with us. She’s married to Kevin, who works very near Don’s office, in Birchwood. He’s very fun and quiet and soft-spoken, like Don. But Kim and I make up for the quiet husbands.

We had Don’s work Christmas Party on Saturday night. Two older women that work with him, one who’s single and the other who’s a widow, came and babysat for us so we could go. We had a very nice time but didn’t get to bed until 1:30, so everyone went into work a little later on Sunday. Don got up early and went to 8:30 church at the Parish Church. The children and I went to the 10:30 service and met lots of wonderful people. The church is having a festival of trees, starting this Friday night. They will have 40 decorated Christmas trees, each sponsored by a different group or business, scattered around the sanctuary. The Brownies have asked if they could donate theirs to us – we gladly accepted, since we couldn’t figure out how to buy a tree and then get it home. It will be delivered a week from next Monday, at the end of the festival, but one week before Christmas, which is great timing for us. We were invited to a parishioners house on Christmas Eve after the family service at 5:00 for tea and crumpets and the children are being written into the Christmas Pageant. I was a little concerned about costumes, but they said they have plenty and I shouldn’t worry. We already feel like this is our home church and are looking forward to lots more contact with these lovely people.

Don researched a home phone yesterday and it would cost $300 American to get it installed. We’ve decided to look into a pay-as-you-go cellphone instead. For now, we can be reached via e-mail. Don downloads our e-mails to the laptop a couple of times a week so I can read everything. We do have a mailing address now, though. It’s

The Doughty’s,
15 Beech Avenue
Culcheth
Warrington, U.K.
WA3 4JF

Packages and larger items can be sent to

Washington House
c/o Don Doughty
Birchwood Park Avenue
Risley
Warrington
WA3 6GR

Would someone please call my parents and tell them I love them and miss them and that I can’t call because we’re phoneless. It would also help if someone would print this Post and get a copy to them. Details would help ease the separation a little, I’m sure.

I wrapped Christmas presents last night and got all of Deanna’s done. Tonight, I’ll finish Daelyn’s and probably all of Dane’s. Pickin’s are slim for Don this year. I don’t have any ideas for him and almost no way of buying presents, unless I run into something in the Mall. I was hoping to have Internet and be able to order some things for him on-line. Oh, well. The best laid plans …

Give my love to our Support Group and tell them we missed them at their Christmas Party. All our love to the Francis Support Group and our friends back home.

One last note – our washing machine washes, then dries the clothes, although they never REALLY get dry. It takes roughly 4 hours per load. I’m already missing my washer and drier. It’s almost impossible to keep the laundry done when you’re making it as fast as the washer can work.

I thought I’d end this VERY LONG POST – sorry! – with a small dictionary. The first column is what we say, the second is the English word or phrase.

Traffic Circle Round-about
Detour Diversion
Take-out Take-away
Knee-length sweater Long Jumper
Margarine Flora (brand name for the best)
Santa Father Christmas
French fries Chips
Chips Crisps
Bathroom Toilet
Football Soccer
Rugby Football
Sprite Lemonade
Alley Footpath
Ham Bacon
Bacon Streaky bacon

As you can see, some of these differences in terms can lead to confusion (like bacon, chips, and lemonade). But all-in-all, we’re getting along just fine and learning lots of new things.

The children are all better and Don seems more energized. They seem to have fallen into a workable routine at work and being able to come home to loved ones, a warm, cozy house, and a home-cooked meal has improved everyone’s health and outlook. Love to all. Write soon. Happy Advent.