Our new life

So after the hoopla of a three day moving weekend – that’s one day for packing, one day for moving and one day for unpacking – we were back to work on the Monday morning. The new commute, how would we fair? Well on Monday it went fairly routinely. Yes our muscles were a bit worse for wear after the weekend and the twenty minute walk up and over the hill that sits between our house and the train station, especially after living in the aforementioned flat Fenland. We thought, well this won’t be so bad, but then Thursday came and the first proper snowfall we have had in our entire 2.5 years in England.

There were fears of massive transport delays, see our blog If a tree falls. Yet, all in all the trains were running smoothly, if five minutes late when I reached St Albans station. Now, I went in early due to a meeting I was meant to have at 9 that morning. I was perfectly on schedule until a train completely broke down at one of the stations ahead on the line, thus stranding me in a tunnel for an hour and forty-five minutes. Great thing about being trapped in a tunnel, yeah, no mobile phone reception.

So, I arrive well after my meeting, especially since the Tube was all buggered up and I had to walk 30 minutes in the slush from Kings Cross to my office. Oh well, the joys of snow in a country that just can’t deal with exceptional weather, ironic no? Meanwhile, Cora who decided to linger a while in the snowy park, managed to take a train well after me and avoid all of this by getting off at an earlier station and arriving to work more than an hour before me. Such is the commuter’s life – but at least we were able to get some pictures out of it (see above).

We are all three of us enjoying it so far. We live in a nice two-bedroom cottage in the old section of the city. Not quite as old as the Roman settlement, but old none the less. Just a minute from the park, Guinness is quite pleased with the speed at which he is free to run around chasing bunnies who are far more brazen than their cousins were in Waterbeach - and he's already had some up close and personal encounters with a number of birds, ducks, swans you name it. He's getting pretty good at ignoring them and just watching now... (note the ducks sitting to his left)

We are spoilt for choice in terms of restaurants and pubs, two of which flank the entrance to our small Lane. It is called a lane, but really should be classed more as a Mews, which to those in the States is like a non-seedy alley. (The picture below isn't exactly our street, but it's what we see looking up to the right as you come out on our way to the park)

There is an immense cathedral in St Albans located up on the hill. We walk past it everyday to and from work and have a wonderful view of it on our walks. This was our first morning walking and the mist and frost had a beautiful effect on the scene before us which isn't quite represented here but it's close.

So that is that really. We have spent a fair amount of time over the last two weeks settling into our new digs and trying to sort out our storage and space issues. Now that we have just had our internet re-connected our ability to communicate with the outside world will vastly increase.

So watch this space for future postings on our new set of adventures around the undulating countryside of Hertfordshire, England. And in the meantime, go to our website here for some more pictures as we post them!

On the move again

So, the nomads are moving once more, as is our wont in life. Another year (kind of), another new location. After the last year plus on the edge of the Fen Country outside Cambridge, we are off to the formerly Roman city of Verulamium, now known as St Albans. It is a quick 20 minute train ride to Kings Cross station, therefore far more suited to commuting than Waterbeach was.

Now as can be expected from people who have moved every year for the past decade, we are quite used to packing. Of course we are not the only ones:

Guinness is such a pro – this will be his sixth house in five years – that he is more than willing to lend a paw. Admittedly his efforts are usually not as productive and he often wanders about the house looking plaintively at the boxes. However once settled into the new place he is quick to make things his own:

He is shown here on the mattress, which up until our most recent move used to sit on a box spring and frame, but now just sits on the floor. The reason for this is when an American box spring meets an English staircase, the English staircase often wins. I wish I could say we fought the good fight, but really it was a very one-sided fight and in the end we were forced to retire to our lonely mattress.

All in all though it was a very expedient move, for which we must thank our good friend Rob for helping with, especially his skill at manoeuvring the twelve foot truck down our rather tiny Lane.

One last Waterbeach sunrise

After nearly a year and a half in the fine Fenland village of Waterbeach we had had enough of flat expanses and long commutes and decided to return to the greater London area.

After a fairly boring winter with mornings spent on the train instead of by the river, we were lucky enough to get a crisp, frosty morning with just a hint of foggy mist hanging over the river. It was the perfect way to end our time in this quiet little corner of England.

We will certainly miss the solitude by the river, though not necessarily all the cow pats! (note that's the moon in the picture below, not the sun... the beauty of the scene didn't really transfer in the photo but you get the idea!)

Our pictures of Waterbeach have moved here