Friday, June 23, 2017

Euro check-in

So much has happened.  Still, I'm posting here more for the sake of historical record than because I'm inspired to write.  You take what you can get I guess.

  • We've found a house (in Milton) and moved in, and are mostly settled.  We have a car (Volkswagen Golf) and have taken a few excursions in it.
  • We've already had two getaways by plane -- to Toulouse in France, and to Tenerife.  Both were lovely.
  • We've been going to international meetups -- and just out to the pubs with the dog -- and have made some tentative friends already, much quicker than we did in Australia.
  • All three of us seem to really like it here.  Hamish likes all the animals (horses, cows, sheep, rabbits, cats...  Even a hedgehog and a stoat).  Plus he can go in taxis, on buses, and into pubs.  He's even been in Oliver Cromwell's house in Ely (they said it was okay) and inside the nearby historical site Denny Abbey (rather against the rules).  We don't have to leave him at home for much at all.  However, our summer plan for long country walks with him is out, because...
  • Mark went to play soccer (football) for the first time ever in the UK -- just a meetup.com five-a-side pickup game -- and blew out his knee twenty minutes in.  Ruptured patella tendon, which required surgery.  Recovery will be long and slow.  And it might be a soccer career-ender.  Which I'm sad about, but I'm fifty, and had a pretty good run.
  • Marjorie has a job lined up but is waiting for final approval.
  • The weather has been unseasonably warm but we've been really enjoying the changing of seasons.  New kinds of blooming flowers seem to pop up every other week.
See you again in... six months?  Who knows.