Unbelievably, I've now been here in England for about 10 months. In another 2 I'll be back in the States, sending off my brother to college and moving to Denver. It's hard not to think about this all the time. I'm both happy to go home and also a bit down about it. On the whole, I feel like I've carved out my life here. I have my friends at school and the churches, connect with the kids pretty well I'd say. It's all feeling very right. Good thing there is still plenty to do here, so there's not too much time to dwell. With the sunnier and warmer (supposedly) turn of the weather, there have been field trips galore. Also, my family came to visit for a fortnight, which was really lovely. I've also been doing some gardening, mostly herbs and a few vegetables; it's just so cool to be able to eat something you grew yourself. And I've been cooking a lot, as always. I'll just comment on the pictures then.
Here are some of my class ( the ones in the lighter blue jumpers) on a field trip to Bolling Hall, a historic house in Bradford, wearing silly helmets. They are on a joint field trip with another primary school with a linking schools project. This is the group I was in charge of; we had to make up a play at one point, and that was really a good time.
Here are my parents and brother in an oddly very empty Bradford street in the nicer old pedestrianized area down town. And the sky was actually blue for them some days! amazing.
So while my family was here, we did some traveling. We went to the Lake district, stayed in Keswick, nearby which is a stone circle. Yup, just hanging out in a field of sheep, your run of the mill neolithic monument! It is apparently very American of me to get so excited about old things, castles, stone circles, etc. Whatever, they are just so cool!
And true to form, here is a picture of a wildflower. In the background is Durent Waters, our nearest lake. Lots of good walking, and lovely cafes.
We made our way up to Edinburgh and stayed a few nights there. This is the castle. It rained on us a lot this day.
We also took some day trips. We went to York--a medieval walled city. Here is the Cathedral: the York Minster.
And here we are in the Bilton's driveway.
