Blog Crazy

Just a quick update to let you know that I have been posting on the Quilters Haven blog at work! You can check it out at http://quilters-haven.co.uk/blog/

Later days,
Kathleen

Our Three Day Tour Around England

Hi Everyone,

In my last blog I finished by telling you that I'd write about how our three day weekend around England went, so here it goes. After Kathleen got home from work on Friday we walked to the train station and caught the train to Ipswich and then transferred to a train to London from there. When we got to London it was getting pretty late so we booked into our hostel, went for supper, and then went to bed. The next morning we got up and got ready for the beginning of our three day adventure.

We caught the bus from the nearby Hilton London Paddington Hotel. That bus took us to Victoria Coach Station and we caught the tour bus from there. We found that our tour guide was very informative and gave the tour in both English and Japanese. Our first stop on the tour was Leeds Castle. The castle that they call "The Loveliest Castle in the World" lived up to it's name and was very beautiful. We learned that many people through time had lived there from as early as King Edward I of England in 1278 to as recent as Olive, Lady Baillie who bought the castle in 1926 and owned it until her death in 1974. After her death the castle was left to the Leeds Castle Foundation and officially opened to the public in 1976. After touring the castle Kathleen and I also tried out the castle's hedge maze and its bird aviary. When we were done there we jumped back on the bus and headed to our next destination which just happened to be the Canterbury Cathedral. When we got to the cathedral I was amazed by how big it was. It had the main sanctuary and then a whole bunch of individual chapels situated around it. It also had the crypt of past Canterbury Archbishops and other important clergy. After leaving the cathedral we toured around Canterbury for a while, had lunch, and then got back on the bus. Our final stop of the day was Dover, famous for it's white cliffs and Dover Castle. Dover wasn't to long of a stop so Kathleen and I spent much of the time taking a few pictures of the cliffs and also sitting on the beach. If you looked over the English Channel you could just barely see France on the other side. When we were done at Dover we headed back to London and had supper at a nice little Italian pasta and pizza place. We then headed back to our hostel and couldn't wait for the next days tour.

The next morning we caught the same bus from the same hotel to the same coach station. When we met our next tour guide I found that he was very good at telling stories and jokes, like one joke that I found very good was, "What's the difference between a tourist and a hitchhiker? About three minutes." Anyway, our first stop of the day was Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle has been used by many monarchs and is the longest occupied palace in Europe. The castle was amazing to see and had portraits and statues of almost every British monarch in history. After exploring the castle we took a tour of the rest of the grounds and even got our pictures taken with one of the Queen's Guard. We then had lunch at a place called "Eat." After eating we went back to the bus and were on our way to the second stop of the day. Our second stop was the city of Bath. At Bath we visited the Roman Baths which was a museum built on top of a natural hot spring and ancient Roman baths. In the museum was the actual excavations and hot springs and also different Roman statues and artifacts.  It was really cool to see a part of Roman history in England. After seeing Bath we took the bus to Stonehenge. I've seen Stonehenge in many pictures before but seeing it up close and in real life was absolutely amazing. When you get to the Stonehenge you take a tunnel beneath the highway to the actual site and then you walk in a circle around Stonehenge and are able to see it from almost every angle. After leaving Stonehenge we went back to London and spent the rest of the evening at our hostel.

The final day of our trip we went to the British Museum. I've never seen such a huge museum in my life. It had almost every part of British and World history you could think of. We saw things from all the continents of the world such as Rome and Greek statues, North American native artifacts, African art, and Egyptian sphinx and sarcophagus. When they say it takes a majority of your day up they're not kidding. We got there shortly after 10am and were there for probably 5 hours. After leaving the museum we took the Tube, which is the London Underground Railway System, to Madame Tussauds, the London wax museum. At the wax museum we got our pictures taken with quite a few celebrity wax figures from musicians like The Beatles and Elvis, to royals like The Queen and Prince Philip, movie stars like Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr., politicians like Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandella, and animated characters like Shrek and the Gingerbread Man. We finished at Madame Tussauds with a Marvel Superheroes 4-D movie. After leaving Madame Tussauds we went for supper and then on to find the famous Drury Lane, the one from the old nursery rhyme. On our way to finding it we found out why all people from London carry an umbrella with them. We did not carry an umbrella and got soaked by quite a bit of pouring rain. On the bright side we did find Drury Lane but as far as I could tell the Muffin Man didn't live there anymore. After walking down Drury Lane for a bit we found the nearest Underground Station and took the Tube to the National Railway Station. We then caught our train at 8pm last night back to Ipswich and then on to Melton and finally walked back to Bromeswell. It was an awesome weekend and I can't wait for our next big adventure!

Till next time,
Rocky

Just so you know.

Hello Everyone,

Just to let you all know I quit my job at the British Larder yesterday. I learned a valuable lesson that the restaurant business and I don't mix. I'm going to try and find a job as a labourer on a construction site or something close to that. Hope it all works out.

On another note, Kathleen and I are taking a three day weekend and we're going to tour around England. We leave for London tonight after Kathleen gets home from work. Tomorrow morning we get up bright and early and head to Leeds Castle. After leaving Leeds Castle we travel to Canterbury Cathedral and then onto Dover. On Sunday we go to Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and then end the day at Bath. As for Monday we will be going to the British Museum. I'm sure they'll be plenty of pictures taken and a lot to write about when we get back Monday night.

Until then,
Rocky

A Day In The Life

We have lead a very normal life lately.  Kind of boring actually. Which is a nice change from our life in the months before we left Canada where we always seemed to be doing something. Rocky and I are both settling into work, and life has developed a bit of normalcy. This, is how we usually spend our days:

7:20-7:40: Depending on the day, my alarm will go off sometime in this time period. I wake up, get dressed, iron pants, eat breakfast, the normal stuff. Rocky usually wakes up 20 minutes or so after me, in time to eat breakfast with me. This is quite different from our life in Canada where I always woke up after Rocky. I'm not a huge fan of being the first one up.

8:20-8:40: Again, depending on the day, this is the time that I leave the house to catch my ride to work. This normally either means that Anne picks me up on her way to work, or I take the Suffolk Links bus, which is a bus that I phone and book a time for it to come pick me up, and then it does. It is an awesome service as the normal bus only runs once an hour, and is almost 4x as as expensive. 

9:00: This is what time I officially start work, though I usually get there earlier, depending on what time I leave home. It is a less than 10 minute ride to work, so usually there early. I then start work, usually by turning on lights and computers, doing some cleaning, and then get on to normal work: helping customers or working on the website or the weekly emails.

10:00: I'm not really sure what Rocky does between the time I leave and he leaves. From what he has told me, he checks Facebook and email, plays games on the computer, and other random stuff, then has a shower, irons his clothes, has lunch, before leaving

11:45: Rocky has an insanely short walk to work, so gets to leave only 15 minutes before he starts work, and he still gets their early. He usually starts work at 12, but sometimes starts at 6. 

5:00: I'm done work, and head home. Again, this is by the Suffolk Links bus, or with Anne. Once and a while I get a ride home with Karin. If none of this works out, it means waiting until the normal bus comes at 6:20, taking that bus to Melton, and then walking the 1/2 hour home. Luckily I have not had to do this yet, and I'm hoping this continues. 

5:15-5:30: I get home. If Rocky is also home, then we eat supper, which is usually a microwave meal of some sort. They have surprisingly good microwave meals, much better than they have in Canada, so we have actually been eating very well. We also eat a lot of soup and sandwiches.  If Rocky is done work at 6, then usually I check my email and Facebook, then eat when he gets home. If Rocky works until 11, then I usually watch some TV then eat around 7. 

6:00-10:00: If Rocky is working until 11, I usually use this time to talk to people on Skype, watch TV, and I have also been doing a lot of colouring. If Rocky is home, then we usually play some crib during this time as well.

10:00-10:30: This is what time I go to bed. Zzzzzz

11:10-11:45: If Rocky works until 11, then he gets home sometime in this time period. I am usually asleep, or nearly asleep. 

And then it starts all over again! We have none of the same days off this week, so we are doing nothing exciting this weekend. We are hoping Rocky can get next Monday off, and then we are hoping to go into London for the day, and perhaps go to the British Museum. We'll let you know!

Later days, 

Kathleen 

Quilter's Haven Staff Bio

Just a quick link to the staff page of the Quilters Haven website-- they list me as a staff member!!

Proof, that I am easily excited.

http://www.quilters-haven.co.uk/about-us

Later days.

Kathleen

Day Trip to Ipswich

Hello Everyone,

Today Kathleen and I both had the day off so we got up and headed out the door to catch the 9:10am train to Ipswich. When we got to Ipswich we had breakfast at a three storey tall McDonalds and then as we walked past HMV there was a line about two or three blocks long of young teenage girls screaming and freaking out(I thought Elvis had come back from the dead or something). Apparently they were all going crazy for this new English singer named Ed Sheeran who was signing copies of his new CD (Kathleen and I had never heard of him).

After walking past the line of crazy, screaming girls we walked into H&M and I bought some new clothes for work including a couple of pairs of trousers and a couple of dress shirts. Also, Kathleen no longer needs to worry about her hair in the morning as she purchased a new straightener and a new curler. After shopping we had lunch at a two storey Subway. When we finished lunch we headed back towards the HMV where there was luckily no more line and I was able to pick up a couple of shirts to add toward my wardrobe.


When we were done at HMV we caught the train back to Melton. Just when you thought it was that easy to get home that's where you're wrong. When the train arrived at Melton we pushed the button to get off, but we must have pushed the button to late because the door wouldn't open and the next thing you know the train was moving again. So, we rode the train to the next stop, waited a half an hour for the next train going back the other way, rode the train back to Melton, and then finally got off the train in Melton. Just another exciting day in Jolly Ol' England.

Till next time,
Rocky

My First Shift at Work

I went to my first shift at the British Larder, Suffolk yesterday at 5pm and had a great time! I got to do many things throughout my shift like: bar tending, serving customers, setting out/clearing tables, shining dishes/utensils/wine glasses, and bringing out birthday cake to a customer(I got some birthday cake too!). Overall it's a very nice place to work at. My fellow employees are very friendly and helpful. I go back for my second shift at 12pm today and hopefully I'll get to work there for the rest of my days in England.

Till next time,

Rocky

I Got A Job Too!

Of course, I already had a job, so It might not be as exciting as Rocky's new job. But it does rock!

In case you haven't figured it out, I work at Quilters Haven, in Wickham Market, Suffolk. In fact, as of today you can read all about me on their "About Us" page! It was a very exciting moment.

But anyways, I totally love my job. The people I have worked with are all really awesome, the job itself rocks, and it doesn't make me cry when I wake up. So far I have been learning how to run their computer till system, process and mail their mail and internet orders, general things about how they run their store, today I was learning a bit about Bernina sewing machines as they are a Bernina dealer, and loads and loads of other stuff. It has so far, been totally amazing.

Wickham Market is also a super cool place. They don't have a lot of stuff, but so far I have been able to find everything that I need-- groceries, a hairbrush to replace the one I forgot in London, and many other essentials.

That's about all that has been happening lately... I've been working and Rocky has been looking for work, and we have both been enjoying ourselves. So yay!

Later days,
Kathleen

I Got a Job!

Hello Everyone!

Just thought I'd give you an update on the job situation. Today I had a great interview at the The British Larder, Suffolk. It's a Pub/Restaurant about a five minute walk away from the house I'm staying at. I start my first shift at 5pm on Friday as a Waiter/Bartender. I've never been a bartender or a waiter before but hopefully I'll learn quick and everything will work out alright. Wish me luck, I'll let you know how it all works out after the Friday shift.

Till next time,

Rocky

Sutton Hoo

Hi Everyone!

Today Kathleen and I walked across the local golf course to an Anglo-Saxon ship and king burial ground by the name of Sutton Hoo. Sutton Hoo is what they call a National Trust their version of one of our National Historic Sites. We saw lots of different artifacts from the Anglo-Saxon era like helmets, chain mail, weapons, and a replica of the boat that the king was buried in. We also walked around the site and

saw the burial mounds and where all the Anglo-Saxon ships and kings were buried.

After walking around the burial site we also went to the Sutton Hoo Quilt Show on site and took a few pictures of them. When we left the quilt show we had a bit to eat and headed back across the golf course to get home and got soaked in our first England rain storm. As for tomorrow Kathleen goes to her first day at Quilters Haven and I think I'll walk into Melton and Woodbridge and hand out some more CV's(their version of a resume)to potential employers. Wish me luck!

Till next time,

Rocky

Trip to the Seaside

Yesterday we went to Felixstowe, which is on the "seaside". Hilary (our landlady) was going swimming and meeting a friend there for tea, so she offered Rocky and I a ride, and we had a delightful time. Hilary dropped us off on the "thoroughfare" which is yet another name for "main street." Felixstowe is a bigger town than Woodbridge or any of the towns within walking/biking distance of Bromeswell, and so it was nice to see some actual shopping places. Best of all, we were able to buy a new cord for our computer, with a UK socket, and so we were only without our computer overnight (yeah, you didn't even know we were without a computer did you?). We then walked along the shore, and dipped our toes/heads into the ocean!

It was not a very warm day, plus, the water was crazy cold, so I'm not sure how Rocky manages to look like he has having so much fun. It makes me look like a wimp.

Felixstowe was a beautiful town! It was exactly what you would think of if you think "Stereotypic English Seaside town"

In the evening Karin's son, Alexander, took us on a tour of the Woodbridge night-life and I went to more pubs in one night than I have been to in my entire life. We met a few of his "mates" which is apparently what they call friends here. 

Today we tried to bike (or as they call it here, cycle) to Wickham Market to see how long it would take. Only we took a wrong turn in Ufford Park, and ended up back home. Oops. But I am clearly not in good enough shape to be cycling that far, so it looks like it will be me on the bus to work. Which is fine, as I am definitely used to that. 

I stubbed my toe this morning and when I took off my sock, rather than the broken toe-nail I was expecting, I had somehow managed to nearly cut off the entire end of my big toe. And, as we don't have band-aids and Hilary was away all day, we were left to improvise by wrapping my toe in kleenex, wrapping that with tape, stuffing the whole thing in a Sock and then that all in a shoe. And then cycling to... well, a giant circle leading home, but that is besides the point. Probably not my best plan.

Tomorrow we are thinking about going to Sutton Hoo which is an ancient Anglo-Saxon ship burial ground. Or maybe just sleeping all day. 

Later days!

Kathleen

Welcome to Suffolk

We are in Suffolk! The town we are living in is called Bromeswell, and it is a itty bitty village of only 300 people, and has no stores, no anything really, just really cute little houses with lots of hedges. Its adorable. While you would think that living in a village of 300 would mean that we are in the middle of no where, this is not true
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View Larger Map

 While looking at a map, Bromeswell might look far away from anything, in real life it is pretty much touching Melton which is for real touching Woodbridge, which is another adorable town this time (of about 3000) which is apparently a bit of a tourist town, and has an absolutely gorgeous "high street," which is what we would call a main street.

We bought groceries this morning, which was a bit of a new experience. Buying groceries is a bit different, especially knowing that we don't have a stove or an oven to cook with. I suspect a lot of sandwiches will be had. We will see anyways. If you have any super ideas for microwave/toaster/tea kettle meals, you should leave a comment :P

We have settled into our new accommodations as well! They are super fantastic, with some small rooms for sleeping, eating, cooking, and then a fairly large bathroom, and a TV room with two couches, a table, a TV, some cabinets, and, best of all, a window seat!!!!

This afternoon Hilary drove us into Wickham Market were we went to Quilters Haven, which is my new job! It was awesome to get to see the shop finally after so long!

Here I am!! Ha ha. Today was also the first day since we arrived in England where we could see the sun, that was quite exciting! Tomorrow we are going to Felixstowe, which is, as Hilary put it a "seaside" village. I'm quite excited. The seaside!! Ha ha! So I'm sure you will be finding out all about that soon.

Later days,

Kathleen.

Days 1-3 in Britain!

Hi Folks!

Day One

So, you are probably wondering what I have been up to since Sunday. Dad and I left Stettler Sunday morning and headed for the Calgary airport. On my way out of Stettler we stopped at Tim Hortons for my last Double Double of the year. When we got to Calgary airport we met up with Kathleen and her parents, checked in, and went to Montana's for lunch. After lunch we went through security and we were on our way!

We jumped on our flight and said goodbye to Canada for the next 365 days. The next 8 hours was the longest flight I have ever been on. By the way, I am still recovering from my jet lag. When we arrived in Manchester at 7 AM (we got there a little early) or, 12 AM Alberta time, we had a little bit of time before catching our train so Kathleen and I had breakfast and played crib. We spend our next 2 1/2 hours of the day on the train to London. When we got to London we took "the Tube" to the station closest to our hostel.

After settling into our Hostel we started to walk around London to see the sights. That afternoon we went to Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and the Tower of London. By the way, Tower Bridge is usually mistaken for London Bridge. Tower Bridge is the one with the towers. Who'd a thunk eh? By this time the day was winding to a close so we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.

Day Two

That morning we got up, had breakfast, and hea

ded out to see more of London. This time we headed the opposite direction out of our hostel and visited a few more places. We started of by walking down the river Thames and headed towards our first destination-- Big Ben and the Parliament buildings. We took a tour of the parliament building and saw the Lords chambers, the MP chambers (can you believe they have more than 800 MP's in the UK?), and the Great Hall (up in the rafters they found old tennis balls believed to be dated back as far as Richard the First).

After leaving the Parliament building we walked through the park and headed towards Buckingham Palace (the Queen's house is a pretty nice place). After Buckingham Palace we went for lunch and then bought tickets for the London Aquarium and the London Eye. We went to the aquarium first, and saw sharks, octopus, and many other sorts of sea life. After the Aquarium we walked across the street to the London Eye. The London Eye, if you don't know, is basically a giant ferris wheel. "Eye" is a very good name for it as it gives you a birds eye view of all of London.

When we got off the London Eye we headed back down the river Thames and headed back to the hostel. On the way back we stopped at a Pizza Express. I ordered the Romano Pizza, which is just like our pizza only a lot thinner and wider and no tomato sauce. When the waitress brought it out it wasn't cut into pieces and I was very unsure what to do. Don't get me wrong, it was one of the best pizza's I've ever had, but since I didn't know that it was customary to cut your own pizza with a knife and fork I had to tear it apart with my fingers, and I could just see all the Brits staring at me wondering what this crazy Canuck was doing. After supper we continued our way to the hostel, got to the hostel, and went to bed.

Day 3

Yesterday we got up, had breakfast, took the train to Bowling Green Lane and had our orientation with BUNAC. In orientation we talked about banking, finding jobs, finding accommodations (no problem for us, because we already had one), traveling on tours, phones, and National Insurance numbers. From orientation we headed to get our bank accounts opened. Kathleen and I were both lucky enough to be able to open accounts right away. After the bank we headed for the train, and departed for Suffolk. An hour and a half later we arrived in Melton. Our new landlady, Hilary, picked us up from the train station and took us to our new home. We dropped off our bags and then went for supper with Kathleen's new boss Karin and her family. Karin's parter Bean and and I talked a lot about Rome and different traveling, while her son Alexander made us supper (which was a delicious chicken breast with banana inside) and told me a lot about his local Rugby club. After supper we had tea, talked some more, and then Hilary came and picked us up and brought us back home.

Well, thats my first 3 days in the UK. So, until next time,

Rocky.