Our new car

Well sort of...

it's a picture of the type of car that we just got last night (3/21/08) same color even! It's a European car, stick and steering on the "wrong" side. I found it online and called them-they wanted 300 pounds for it. Not a bad deal, it's a 1994 Rover 400 Hatchback 75,000 miles. So roughly that's about $600 in American currency.

With 270 pounds cash in hand, Bud went to look at it, just to make sure it was a good deal. He took the checkbook for the remainder amount they were asking. The guy told him it was his golf car and that he rarely drove it...obviously! He also didn't want to bother with a check so gave it to Bud for cash in hand. So we got the car for roughly $500!! Great Deal!

Last night it snowed and was pretty windy. Bud got ready to go to base to take care of things and when he went out to the car, there was a construction site fence on it! They are remodeling a house near us and some stuff fell over and knocked over the fence onto our "new" car! Go figure. A guy helped him get it off and there appeared to be no damage...thank God.

He drove it to base and gave them the information to get through with his new car. He then had to have it registered and while they are doing that they checked the MOT, which is a sort of registration. The police officer ran the plates and found the MOT had expired and took the car. They told Bud that he couldn't drive it until it was inspected. So he had to leave it there (on base at the police station) and take the base bus home!

Well it will be a great deal! When we can get it inspected, have a valid MOT and have it insured we will enjoy our new found freedom.

A bit of history and mystery

It was brought to Bud's attention recently that the park near our cottage in Harrogate has a famous hotel in it. It's the Old Swan Hotel. Click the link below to find out why...

http://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/oldswan/murder/agatha.htm

I think we will have to walk the other side of the park and investigate the hotel now.

Changes to the B & B:

Due to some technical difficulties I'm taking the calendar off the blog until I can figure it out better. So I guess random visits are okay now! If you are thinking about coming over email me or post a comment in this section for others to see.

Sorry!

The Village People...

http://www.hampsthwaite.org.uk/

This is a website dedicated to the village that we will be moving to. It seems like it will be an active little village for us to live in. Looks like the kids can get involved in several things as well. Hope they let Yankees into all the groups and clubs! :)

3/7/08 TGIF!! I think...

Well here we are, our 2nd week down and counting! The kids are getting better-in stages! Audrey is feeling better, no more vomiting (which is great for me). Logan's fever finally broke late Thursday (he had a fever for two days topping the charts at 104.5) I was a bit nervous since I wasn't sure where a hospital or surgery (clinic) was and I would have to take three kids on a bus to base if need be. So thank God that is better! Liam was doing well today and after his afternoon nap he woke up with a gunky eye! I can only imagine it to become pink eye. This happens after the base doctor's close for the weekend. As with all major medical issues with small children the get worse after office hours. I think the kids and insurance companies sign a deal in the delivery room to only get ill with things that need medical attention after office hours! I could be wrong. I'm looking into it though.

I haven't heard, but I'm sure Ivan is alive and well in Kitty Kennel....Audrey still misses him and frequently asks to go to the cat hotel to see him.

We are awaiting the hurricane like winds over the weekend. They are estimating that the winds will reach up to 80 miles per hour!! This is not the norm as far as weather in this area we are told. So I can only imagine that once again God is telling us something. :) When we first moved to Maryland it was a drought and they hadn't had a drought in several years. Once again God may have been speaking then as well.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We are about 3 weeks from getting into the house....here's hoping we all can survive that long!!

Mary Poppins Didn't Fly...

We have been here for just over a week now and I just told Bud that Mary Poppins didn't fly. He thought I was out of my mind...I told him that this country is so windy she would open her umbrella and just be lifted up in the air! Now she must have weighed under 100 pounds as well...but still Every night the wind howls through this old cottage and sounds so creepy. It's so strong that it moves the drapes and opens the front (inside door) opens a bit.

When you are on base where Bud works (Royal Airforce Base Menwith Hill Station) it is so windy it could knock you over! We took the kids to the park today because it wasn't raining, but it was chilly and windy. I let go of the stroller to help Audrey and poor Liam about flew away.

It is also Mother's Day (march 2nd) here in the UK! Yep Mums are so special that they get 2 special holidays! They celebrate Mother's Day in March and in May...sorry all you dads, you only get one day in June.

Also this is funny, we ate lunch at the Cattlemen! Yep we came all the way to England to eat BBQ. It was pretty good. When we told our waitress it was pretty good American food she smiled real big!

Happy Mother's Day!

March 1st 2008...The Visit!

Our sponsor took us to see Ivan! Oh Happy Day!!! Well at least for Audrey and Ivan. the reunion was a happy one. Audrey was so happy to see her Ivan. He looked a little upset at first to see us, like he was trying to tell us he didn't sign up for a long plane ride and then to caged for a month with 19 other cats and God knows how many loud barking dogs!!

He came around and snuggled Audrey and Bud. We didn't stay too long since if you wanted to pet him you had to be put in his cage and the door locked behind you and the visit was monitored by one of the Kennel employees. Felt like a prison visit! England doesn't have rabies here and haven't a case in over 25 years or more so they are STRICT!!

Ivan is being well cared for. They have his correct food, a heated cat bed, he is in a two story condo with toys and a cat walk. There is a window into his neighbor's room...which happens to a female feline! That cat gets all the breaks I tell ya!!

He comes out and home with us on March 31st. I think we will just wait until we are settled into the house and then get him.

We made it to England Friday, February 22, 2008!

Well we made it. The plane ride was good, the kids slept most of the time. The cutest thing in the world was seeing Liam (4 months old) with the ear piece in sitting on my lap and watching Bee Movie! He would get so mad when the ear piece came out and he couldn't hear the movie.

We are now in temporary housing in Harrogate, England. It's a pretty big city and they are really into their flowers! They have received several awards for the floral arrangements and gardens here. The flowers are coming up and it looks so nice here.

We will soon be moving into a house in Hampsthwaite. It's a pretty good sized village....it even has a Post Office and small store! We're lucky. We won't be moving into that house until April 1st, when the family in there moves out it's ours. We (the government) is renting it from the family. They will pay our rent and utilities for the time we are here. We pay for phone and cable! What a deal!!!