Monday Night in Eton

This is the sun set from the backyard.  Gorgeous.  Doesn't that beauty just make you want to build furniture? 

 Voila!  Out of a flat box of wooden boards and screws he has created this beautiful bedside table.  Who said Bill isn't handy?  (ok, that was me - but now I take it back)

 Another shot looking at the back of the house.  It looked very warm and cozy last night when the temp outside was dropping.  I woke up this morning to a real English day - rainy, grey, chilly.  I'm probably the only one happy about it.  All I want to do is drink tea and read my book until I have to start my work day.  

Ahhhh....Ikea!

We finally made it to Ikea on Sunday and spent hours picking out cheap housewares.  Hopefully this is the end of our utilitarian shopping since I feel like between my aches and pains and our desperate need for the basic tools of living we haven't had much time to explore and enjoy England.

Of course, this is what real life is in England - its drying your clothes on a rack after a 2 hour wash cycle in a tiny little machine.  

 It's also realizing after buying much needed bed tables that we don't own the tools to put them together.  I'm most excited for these because I can't reach my book on the floor next to my bed without a lot of stretching and moaning.

 Supposedly England is also rainy but other than one 10 minute downpour yesterday it's been sunny skies.  Where is our garden gravel?  I'm hoping that Martin comes this week and the next shot I post of the garden does not include black plastic.

Ahhh....Bath

Our first road trip.   We decided to head to Bath which has always been a haven for us - full of shops, restaurants, gorgeous public parks and...people!  I realize now that we've always in been in England in the off season, usually traveling between March -May or October-December.  In July, during the Olympics, there are a lot of people here!

But that didn't hamper our enjoyment.  Here I am holding up a bit of scone for our readers.  It was particularly good, very dry and crumbly with raisins.  Behind me there are folks sitting on their houseboat playing guitars and singing.  

 We had dinner at a Greek restaurant on the water.  We sat under the Tattinger umbrella on the left and watched the hen parties stumble to their tables. Bill loves slag watching.   It is surprising how many bachelorettes are out every weekend here wearing veils or aprons or signs or masks and they are always drunk and falling off 3 inch stilettos.  Is this appropriate behavior for Jane Austen's Bath?  Perhaps the missing chapter to Pride & Prejudice is the drunken hen night out with Bingley's sisters.

Hot diggidy dog

Big Friday night in Eton.... actually, big night in the shit town of Slough.

Jennie caught me trying to smuggle bottled hot dogs in our trolley at Tesco's.

She quickly pulled them out of the carriage and back onto the shelf.

Kill joy...

The International Code of Florists

In the middle of the day a woman parked in front of our flat and asked if she should leave her car there while she delivered a bouquet.  She was a florist (a very chatty florist originally from Yorkshire where "you don't get anything unless you ask") and couldn't find any parking.  I could sympathize and had a flash back to my own flower delivery struggles.  So after a chat she went off with a bouquet (a replica of a woman's wedding bouquet for her anniversary).    When she came back she gave me these week old orchids which just happened to come from the pub Bill and I ate dinner the other night.    As she left she yelled that she is planning a party in Eton next year and she will pop by to invite us.  We'll see. 

 I'm running out of rooms to highlight in the house tour so here is the view to the outside world from our living room  and the view back from the car.  In the first shot, the room to the right is the kitchen, the big door to the left goes upstairs and the little door is Harry Potter's cupboard under the stairs.  The car is Bill's rental - still waiting on the mini cooper.  

Mascot Mess

I love the pictures of Jen mimicking statues and gargoyles and such.  Here she is posing next to the newly erected Olympic mascot.

I don't understand Olympic mascots.  It seems like a marketing firm is hired to choose the most repugnant character they can think of to showcase to the world.  I picture a group of London marketing interns coming back from getting high at lunch and pitching the shittiest ideas they have as a lark.  Only the big boss thinks they are being edgy and are capturing the hearts of our youth with this quirky little cyclops.  An Olympic version of The Producers' Springtime for Hitler follows.

These little guys below are the creepy five from the Beijing Olympics.  I know it's been four years, but when I was in Beijing there wasn't any remnant of these ugly five .... things.

The Atlanta Olympics produced this drugged up plush nightmare.

"Let's go with two different color eyelids...yeah.... and lighting bolt eyebrows!  And how about crazy red sneakers!!!"

Jackasses...

I Googled "terrible mascots" and found these guys.

Who knew Seven-Eleven had a mascot

Ohio State's "Brutus" is almost as scary as the Burger King giant head that was recently retired.

If I were in charge and was told the mascot had to be shit, I'd be literal with the directive.

This guy has a poo head.

And the Pee Poo dolls are something that I've always coveted as a Christmas gift for Jennie.

 I wonder how she would mimic these?

By Request - The Kitchen

Mummy asked to see the kitchen next so here are two views...one from the hallway door and the other from the far corner where that electric kettle is on the counter looking back at the door to the hall.  Notice the nice leaded window into the hall way and the wooden doors with the cast iron latches.    Mummy should also take note that her portrait is prominently displayed here although may be moved once we start our official picture hanging.   Consider all of these the 'before' pictures since there is plenty of shopping and decorating still to do.

First day of work from the new home office

I worked from the Eton home office today and it was good.  It will take some time to adjust to my new schedule of starting work at noon but it was nice to have a leisurely morning of reading and taking a limp around Windsor before I had to start my work day.

While I was on a 2 hour con call, Louise came by and brought us these beautiful flowers!

 And in our continuing series of house photos - here is the master bedroom complete with monkeys on the bed. We still need bedside tables so for now the mantle and the window sills are catch alls for doo dads.  There are two more closets on "my" side of the room behind where I was standing to take the picture.  As you can see, it was another beautiful day in Eton!

What a difference a day makes!

Yesterday at this time I was flat on my back, popping paracetamol with codeine, and sobbing with every position change.  I googled my symptoms and self-diagnosed piriformis syndrome.  Basically I pulled my butt muscle and it was pinching my sciatic nerve which was shooting all the way down to the top of my foot in extreme pain.  Not exactly what I envisioned when I day dreamed about being in Eton with Bill.  Friday night to Sunday morning was basically shot.  

This morning I woke up and started icing my back early, popped some more codeine and found that things were drastically improved.  At this point my foot is just numb but I'll take numb over pain any day.  Here I am - happy to be numb!!

 We even made it out to the pub for Sunday Roast - the lunch time tradition in England.  Bill had beef, I had chicken and we both had plates piled high with meat, potato, and veg.

 I know every one is interested in seeing the abode (and hopefully the commode!) so I thought we could highlight a different room each night.  Tonight I am showcasing the upstairs bathroom from inside the shower.  On the left is the glass half wall that supposedly keeps the water in the shower.  It doesn't really.  What's wrong with a good old fashioned shower curtain?  Above the  towel is a big storage area and hidden behind the towel on the glass half wall is the tiny sink.  If you plan on visiting start practicing showering without splashing water around now because it will take time to master. 

Mini - me

I had a mini-Bill created when I was in China so Jen could be with me even when she wasn't with me.  Unfortunately, mini-Bill creeps her out.  

Sausage is down... I repeat, Sausage is down

Together at last.... Jennie arrived and we jumped right back into our roles.  (She's organizing, I'm letting her organize)

We are not at our healthiest, however.  I have a flu-ish bug and Jennie is crippled with sciatica.  The pains in her back are shooting down her leg.

 This is seriously hampering her organizing efforts.

A picture of our place, into our back yard.

Jennie through the doorway.

No stronger bond than a man and his blog fan

I am very happy to be finally being with Jennie after five long weeks.  But I'm over the moon about the fact that Fletch said he missed me!

Love you, Fletch.

The Early Bird

I was about to get out the door early this morning when I heard a weird noise in the house.  It turned out to be the sound of a little bird hurling it's little bird body at the glass doors of our wood burning stove from the inside.  Hmmm...what to do.  Will it fly out the way it came?  Will it die and start to smell?  I decided to dial a neighbor and get some back up.  

Laura was over in seconds.  If you ever have a bird trapped in a major appliance, you want to be living next to Laura, the Bird Whisperer.  She was able to reach in and swaddle my little visitor in a hand towel to bring it outside.  At first it played dead which did give me time to get my camera but it was off and flying down the street before I could get a shot.   The bird is actually in this picture - - it looks like a  little smudge on the street in front of the orange house.   Bye bye Birdie!

The day Joey discovered the joys of gardening

I was out tonight with Dawn (my Booktopia VT roomie) but the picture we took of ourselves was on her phone.  So here it is, late at night, and I have no photo.  Time to dip into the archives - again!

Fortunately I came up with this pre-blog gem just begging for a snarky caption (or a cutting remark).    Anyone want to give it a go?

Last night out with Stacey and Di...in July

The girls snuck in one more night out before I go to visit Bill.  Of course, August will bring a whole new round of "good bye" nights out.  Conversation topics included babysitting by-laws, STDs running rampant in nursing homes, Facebook tips for newcomers, and bad HR advice - something for everyone!!

Bill is Back at Home

After a two week jaunt in Asia Pacific, Bill is finally back on familiar ground.  He spent the afternoon with a beer and a cigar in a cigar bar in Marylebone.  (on my "to do" list before moving to the UK - find out how to pronounce Marylebone... is Mary-le-bone or Marly-bone?)

I spent the morning packing for my own journey to the UK (just a visit).  The fact that Bill is wearing a long sleeve shirt and v-neck sweater means I probably won't be wearing those summer dresses I have laid out on Joey's bed.  

The Goodbye Tour Continues...

 Why does it take threats to move out of the country to get people together?  First stop on Saturday's Goodbye Tour agenda was tea with Patrick on Newbury Street.  We had finger sandwiches and scones and Patrick even surprised me with a bouquet of flowers.

Next stop, cocktails at a hip and trendy hotel bar while we waited for Shelly and Tres to join us.  Many drinks later we headed out for some very decadent snacks (Disco Fries are fries covered in bacon and melted gouda and brie.  Basically a heart attack on a platter.)  We tried to keep the work talk to a minimum but since Shelly, Patrick and I have all worked together for 13 years (!!) it was hard not to throw in some office gossip and reminiscing.  (An old favorite - the time I yelled at a lame duck employee who was causing havoc in the office on his last day: "I'm going to get my haircut and you'd better be gone by the time I get back!!!"  He was.  It's a shame I'm not still putting those stellar people management skills to use.)

Three!!!

Malikai turns three on Monday!!  That means it's only seven more years until my next colonoscopy.  I can taste the evacuation elixir already.

Anyway, all the boys and Trudi came over for pizza night tonight and Malikai opened his presents from Grandma Jen and Grandpa Bill.  I was flying blind in the store but scored a hit with a Buzz Lightyear phone and a Five Little Monkeys game that came with a plastic bed that pops the monkeys off.  We didn't actually play the game but we did set the moneys up on the bed and pop them off about 4000 times.  A winner!

Oldies but goodies

A slow day for the blog so I dipped into the archives for these old shots of Bill and boys. Remember when Bill was clean shaven?  Remember before Bret had braces?  Remember when Joey had a round head?   Classics.

Bill Down Under

This is Bill at work in Sydney.  I'll bet Fletcher doesn't even recognize him in a black suit and white shirt - he certainly didn't look like this at work in America.  I barely recognize him myself without something pink or paisley. This is what happens when you're the International Director of something...you wear suits and have a string dangling from your ear.  

My soul was touched here

Moonrise Kingdom at the Screening Room tonight with Laura, Cindy, Alison and Christin.  I didn't think of taking the blog shot until after the movie when Cindy and Alison had already left.  

Christin, Laura and I were lured down State Street by the sound of bagpipes playing in front of Agave.  We got there just as they finished and one woman sitting outside the restaurant was in tears overheard saying "When something touches your soul..." I'm going to try to use that as my new catch phrase.  If this were a Wes Anderson movie we would cut to various shots of me, deadpan in various oddball garb and scenarios (on a horse wearing a bishop's hat...bailing out a small isolated sailboat with a stuffed beaver...in goggles sitting neck deep in a cannibal's boiling cauldron) saying "When something touches your soul..."  

Alas, Wes is not directing my life.  

I miss Lisa already

In honor of my last dinner at Lisa's for a while (at least until August!) I thought I would post these little beauties that Bill and I made for her birthday back in February.  They really highlight the special relationships that Lisa shares with her friends....and her wine.  I can't wait to share a glass with you in Eton, Lis! xox

Newbury Street Brunch

It was the Mimosas vs the Sangrias on Newbury Street this afternoon.  (This makes me want to start snapping my fingers and singing "when you're a Sangria, you're a Sangria all the way....") It's been a long time since the ladies got together for brunch.  Somehow Sandy, our organizer,  didn't make it into a photo but she there while Whitney and Denise were with us in sprit.  

After brunch Diane and I spent some quality time in Anthropologie  - me buying new outfits for the UK ( "Windsor Wear") while Diane shopped for knobs.... for her dresser, what did you think I meant?

Another Atwood Saturday Night

Crumpet and Sausage had dinner with Laura tonight.  Very fun!  We were reminiscing about the old days when Crumpet and I were working at a software start up.  She told a story I didn't even recognize that centered around me doing something inappropriate to a life sized cardboard photo of the company president just as he walked into his surprise party.  I swear I don't remember doing this but I'm sure it added to the surprise.

Bill's down under

I can read the blog again!  The Chinese block things like Facebook, Twitter and Jen and Bill's Blog!  Now that I'm in Australia I can catch up on my own life and read what's going on.
So let's get to it.

 Look at how steep the Great Wall of China is. 

The Chinese love their Mao.

 This is C.C.  She was my guide for the day.

 Look at how crowded the Wall is.  This reminded me of the scene in Animal House when the band is led away from the parade and into an alley where they walk right into a brick wall.  This dead end on the Great Wall took a sharp reverse turn but it look like it just ends.

I was embarrassed that I was so tired walking the wall when 80 year women were taking it on.  This part is so steep that she needed to ease down a bit at a time.

I saw these street singers in Beijing.  They reminded me of the Chinese version of the Buena Vista Social Club.