Ode to the pupsters

Most of you have probably seen most of these pictures.  They have all been on Facebook over the last couple of weeks, so our friends get an update in all things puppy regularly. Except my Mother.  My Mother who won’t be my friend on Facebook.  Mom, this is for you.  (It would be easier if you were my friend).

This house has much larger windows than our last house.

And the girls love it.

L – O – V – E. 

Love.

The back garden also gets much more sun.  And on the three days a year it doesn’t rain, they spend all day out there.

Ginger even protects the laundry from the vicious sheet stealers.

Daisy has overcome her fear of swivel chairs to climb on top of my desk so she could spy on the neighbors.

Daisy decided to see how much she could panic me about three weeks ago.  Adam & I had gone away from the weekend. When we dropped her off at the kennel, she was acting her crazy normal self. When we came to pick her up, the guy at the desk said she'd been limping a bit when she'd been out for a walk earlier. When we got to her run, she couldn't stand. She tried walk out & just collapsed. We carried her to the car and got her home. For about an hour she just looked pathetic. So we headed up to the vet's. As soon as we got there, she started walking around the office, but was still really hesitant. By the time we got to see the vet, she was back to refusing to stand again. The vet examined her and thinks it was just a muscle strain - most likely in her long back. He gave her a muscle relaxer & some pain killers. She was tentative all night, but by the next morning she was jogging around the back yard. The vet had instructed us to take her on a couple short walks during the day & let her rest. I interpreted the word ‘rest’ to mean she could lie in my lap on the sofa all day.  The vet said he’d never had his picture taken while giving pain medicine before.

Earlier this week, I had let the girls out to run around while I got ready for work.  They both decided to go upstairs to see what Adam was doing.  Except he had left early for a meeting.  When it came time for me to go, they went into hiding mode because they’d figured out that they were going back in their crates.   I wonder where they are…

A morning with Shakespeare

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”

William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

As short-term denizens of London, Amanda and I have been trying to take advantage of all the city has to offer on the weekends. We have been on half a dozen different walking tours, visited numerous museums and spent a bit of time just wondering around aimlessly. One of our more recent weekend activities took us to what is the third incantation of William Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

While Stratford upon Avon is renowned as the birthplace and home of the world’s most quoted wordsmith, London is where Shakespeare made a name for himself. As many luminaries have exclaimed before, the strength of Shakespeare’s works emanate from the transcendent themes found within the stories he tells. The construction of the original Globe completed in 1599 fittingly has a story all its own which includes a dispute between a landlord and the Lord Chamberlains Men theatre company, a clandestine dismantling and subsequent reconstruction on marshy farmland on the south bank of the river Thames.

The Globe’s story actually begins in 1576 in the London Burough of Hackney in a Parish known as Shoreditch. Shoreditch is now considered to be a district of the East End of London with a budding technology industry, yet in Shakespeare’s time it was a growing parish community on the outskirts of London. During Shakespeares time many theatres were built just outside the city due primarily to the high cost of land which made building a theatre prohibitively expensive. Ultimately, the building that eventually became known as the globe was first built by James Burbage on property he leased from Giles Allen for 21 years. Eventually ownership of the theatre passed to Burbage’s two sons Richard and Cuthbert who owned the majority stake in the theatre while four others including Williams Shakespeare owned an equal stake of the remaining shares. However, in 1598, a year after the lease had terminated; the question of theatre ownership remained unresolved with Giles Allen claiming the theatre belonged to him as soon as the original lease had expired.

Rather than relinquishing ownership of the building itself members of the Lord Chamberlains Men along with help from a few friends and a carpenter by the name of Peter Street covertly dismantled the theatre while Allen was celebrating Christmas in 1598 and transported the entire building to a warehouse on the waterfront owned by Street. I can’t help but wonder what Mr. Allen thought upon his return from Christmas holiday but I can’t imagine he would have been pleased!

Street stored the theatre in its dismantled state at his warehouse until the spring of 1599 when it was transported across the river and reconstructed on a marshy plot of land 100 yards south of the river bank in an area known as Southwark. The property did not drain properly and was subject to regular flooding, especially during high tide, but the Lord Chamberlains Men finally had their theatre back and could also boast owning the first theatre built by actors and for actors.

The theatre reopened in its new location in the autumn of 1599 as The Globe, although the exact date is disputed, and remained there until it burnt down during a performance of Henry VIII on June 29, 1613. No one was seriously injured although a pint of bitter was sacrificed to douse the flames of mans trousers which had caught fire during his escape. The Globe was rebuilt the following year and operated uneventfully until it was closed by the Puritans in 1642 and subsequently torn down in 1644. Amazingly the importance of the Globe had more or less drifted out of public consciousness for more than 300 years until American actor and director Sam Wanamaker funded Shakespeare’s Globe. The new theatre is built near the site of the original Globe and the design is based on historical documents dating from 1599 and 1614 to make it appear like it would have during Shakespearian times. The new theatre has a really good museum that describes both the history of two preceding theatres as well as what life would have been like for the actors who performed there.  You can even take in a live performance throughout the year as there’s always something on. In fact during our guided tour we were able to watch nearly an hour of rehearsal for “A Midsummer's Night Dream” which was playing later that night. What an amazing experience.

Anne of Cleves House…maybe

According to my colleagues, only the Americans are fascinated by the Tudors.  From the number of specials about Henry and his wives, mistresses, religions and politics on television over here, I would respectfully disagree.   However, to their point, I do jump at anything 16^th century royal.

We recently came across the Anne of Cleves House.  According to the reports, Henry presented the house to his queen when he divorced her in 1541.  Unlike the first divorce, this one was somewhat amicable and Anne of Cleves came away with many royal tokens (and her head, which was more than Anne Boleyn could boast).

We were told the house was a wonderful example of a late Medieval timber framed building. The earliest parts date from the late 1400’s and there was period furnishing throughout.

Once again, I think we would disagree.

None of the furnishing was original.  The gardens outside were nice, but the house looked much unloved and uncared for.  As we read the sparsely provided information on the house, we came to find out that Anne of Cleves had never actually lived there.  In fact, she’d never even visited!  She much preferred Richmond Palace which also came in her annulment settlement.

Well, chalk one weekend trip up to some fake British history.

London Marathon (aka Run, Forest, Run)

A few weeks ago we managed to be in town for the London Marathon and having heard what a spectacle it is, Amanda and I decided to brave the crowds and watch it in person from the streets of London.

We left early Sunday morning and made our way to the Tower of London where the marathon route doubles back towards the Houses of Parliament after crossing over London Bridge. Amazingly when we near the Tower we found a spot right at the barricade with excellent views right down the course.

Even the weather worked out in our favor, although the locals were complaining about the heat. It was nearly 70 degrees after all!  

There were also loads of spectators and runners showing their support for the people of Boston by wearing black ribbons, Boston T-shirts or holding signs expressing their love and support. It was a truly touching display.

Amanda’s favorite part was looking out for the costumed runners and then beating me senseless out of excitement when she found a really funny one.

We even found Waldo!

And perhaps the smallest competitor of the day

After the race was over and since it was such a beautiful day we took some time to get a few bonus photos of London.

Brighton

To be honest, the only thing I really knew about Brighton before we visited was that there was a pier there.  After visiting, I can’t tell you much more than there is a pier and a large Taj Mahal – esk building.

The pier was built in the late 19^th century (so it’s practically brand new in British standards) when Brighton became a major resort city.   Though not much more than cheesy fair games and junk food, the pier was alive on a bright, sunny day.

The beach is not exactly South Padre.  Rather than sand, it’s all rock.  Not pebbles, rocks.  And when the sun disappears, they don’t hold in the heat.  Gburr.

The Royal Pavilion was built by John Nash between 1815 and 1822 for the then Prince Regent (later King George IV).  Inspired by a recent visit to India, the style was probably a bit much for the area in the early 1800s.

The King’s Brother, William IV, and their niece, Queen Victoria also used the pavilion, though Victoria found the place vulgar and later sold it to the city of Brighton for £1 in 1850. It now serves multiple roles as a convention center, museum and occasional wedding site.  Just in case anyone is looking for somewhere to get married.

House Tour

After much demand from both sets of parents (and probably our only followers of the blog), we are taking you on a house tour of our new digs.

Julia - Adam, Amanda, video camera.  I smell trouble...

Enjoy the 5 minutes of cheesiness!

A couple of things I feel I should point out.
- Adam & I should not be tour guides
- At 1:09 in the video - 'permanent homes' does not mean that they're always in their crates.  It means their crates are going to live in my dinning room which I fought for three weeks.
- At 3:31 in the video - the 'important piece of paper' is Adam's MBA diploma.  The random white pieces of paper are where the pictures from our various graduation ceremonies are going to go once I can find somewhere that prints photos over here.

Hope you enjoyed!

The weekend we moved

So remember how I was going to be in Bristol until June?  I had projects that ran until May so that I could then transition everything to whoever was going to take my job and then I could head back to Texas with a clean slate in June.  Remember that?

Remember how God has a little laugh every time I try to make my own plans?

Yeah.  Me too.

So when we decided we were moving at the end of March instead of in June, I was a bit nervous at how to transition everything.  Nervous might be an understatement.  Anxious, worried, tense, panicky even.  So I gave away the parts that I could and set my mind to finish off about 5 weeks of work in three.  Thank goodness Adam handled all the actual moving!

The way it worked, my last day in Bristol (28^th of March – UK has a 4 day weekend for Easter) coincided with my boss’ last day with PwC.  His much longer in the planning than mine!  And as he had been in the office for going on 12 years (slightly longer than my 22 months…), the office was throwing a huge going away / end of busy season party for him.  So we decided that Adam would handle the movers on Thursday while I was at work, then Friday I would meet the carpet cleaner at the Bristol house and do all the end of tenancy cleaning once the furniture was gone and he would return on Friday to pick me up and take me to London. 

The pupsters went to stay at Auntie Sue & Auntie Kim’s house the Wednesday before the big move day.  Sue & Kim have been the girl’s favorite dog sitters during our time in Bristol.  They give much better walks than Adam & I plus they might be allowed on the sofa…maybe.  I don’t know if we’ll ever find a place as loving as their house.  With the girls safe – and us not having to keep track of how many doors are open in the house(s) at all times – we prepared for some ‘removal men’ (movers in American). 

They arrived on time Thursday morning (Adam told me later, I left for work about 6:30 and played happily unaware of what was going on at home).  Adam & the movers packed up the house, drove to London (them in their van, Adam in the Fiesta), Adam picked up the keys to the new house, and then they tried to get into the new place.  Try is the key word in that last sentence.  The new keys – the ones that the realtor had changed the locks on the house to just two days earlier – they didn’t work.  I, thankfully, was still blissfully at work as Adam started calling every number he had to the realtor’s office at 5:15 the day before a 4 day weekend.  Thankfully after call number three he was able to get one of the agents who hadn’t gotten out of the office on time.  The agent took the office set of keys and came over to help open the front door.  I should probably point out that it is still about 30*-35* in the UK.  So just hanging out in front of a house with your favorite three movers isn’t the most entertaining way to spend an evening.  Thankfully the agent’s back up set worked, so Adam and the boys unload the van. 

While that was going on, I was busy trying to sort out the chaos that was going on in the office.  Between myself & my boss leaving, and it being the final day to file many accounts in the UK, the office was manic.  So much for people to sign off, so much to finish up, not to mention I had to clean out my desk – which always takes longer than you think it will, and we all had a party to get ready for!

In the afternoon however, the other managers in the office found a way to surprise me.  I always get a bit tickled when people manage that.  It’s not easy.  I am naturally nosey and so to pull something off without me noticing (especially since I’d been in the office all week too!), is a huge fete.  In addition to some lovely words of thanks (and not too many embarrassing stories), they gave me the most beautiful picture of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.  For those who have taken the Powell City of Bristol Tour, you’ll know what an icon of the city the bridge is.

Did I mention that any time our office has a party, it’s a costume party?  When I first moved here, they told me that the Christmas Party was ‘fancy dress’.  Lovely, I thought.  I’m all for a chance to wear a beautiful ball gown.  Nope.  In your English to English dictionary, you’ll note that fancy dress means costume.  Spectacular.  This party’s theme was ‘recognizable film characters’.  I really wanted to go in jeans and a t-shirt as ‘Extra #3’, but my girlfriends in the office wouldn’t allow it.  They found habit costumes and decided we were going as Sister Act.  None of us could decide who was Whoopi. 

After the party, I stayed at our old house, on a blow up mattress that Adam left me.  I thought I was really being hard done by having to sleep on the blow up mattress, but when I called him to say goodnight, Adam said that the heater wasn’t working at the new house, so he was wrapped in three blankets.  At least I had heat – and the Grandma Theresa blanket.  I swear you could wear a swimsuit in the Arctic and keep warm as long as you’re wrapped in one of her blankets.  We both survived our evenings.  Adam had a light dusting of snow to wake up to & I got up four times during the night to re-air my bed.

We had hired a professional carpet cleaner who came Friday morning.  He worked on the carpets while I cleaned bathrooms and the kitchen.  I finished up around 2 and Adam showed up about 3:30.  We went and rescued the girls (or probably more accurately, rescued Sue & Kim from the girls), and headed east. 

Thank goodness it was a long weekend!  We were able to spend Saturday – Monday unpacking & organizing.  The cable company came Saturday morning.  We got the heat to work by Saturday evening.  All the boxed were out of the house by Monday night.  I’d say we’re getting better at moving!  It took us until the following weekend to get hot water, so maybe not…

Pictures to come!