Moving Forward

We've become spoiled with this 'little holiday' in Great Britain. Most military assignments have us moving around on average every two years. In July, we will have been here seven glorious years. The U.K. will forever remain my home away from home. I'm heartbroken to leave it.

However, if we weren't open to new adventures, we never would have signed up for this life. Believe me, the "perks" aren't all they're cracked up to be. Free health care means long waiting times for appointments. Overseas health/dental care for dependents...  well, we're all alive.

But I digress... as usual.

We've received our next assignment and with great joy, I can tell you that beginning in August 2013, In The Gutter will be reporting from the third largest island in the 9-Island Azorean chain, Terceira.
We're going back to the the island we loved and to the local Portuguese friends we've missed these past 12 years.

It takes some of the sting out of leaving England.

Since you dropped by, let me get out my slides and bore you with some very outdated photos!

 Ok, I did mention they were poor photos, right? I don't think we had a digital camera yet (much less a DSLR). These were probably from our 8mm video camera.



The brightly coloured buildings are Holy Ghost Houses

 Our first house in Quatro Ribeiras where
we met our lovely friends, The Lopes Family.

Since the winds often get to hurricane force, the windows have metal shutters to protect the glass. We lose power several times a week which makes for great Monopoly games by candlelight.

 Villa Nova. Renowned for burgers that taste exactly like a Big Mac. May not seem like a big deal to you, but when you've gone 2-3 years with nothing that tastes like what you grew up with, they're heavenly.
We're not usually 'fast food' people, but we like a fun little family outing now and again to enjoy something so not good for us.




Twice a year, the base flies in Burger King and they open up their operation for one day in the school. People queue up around the building for a taste from home.

Oldest boy, J1 in front of a Holy Ghost house. The boy and his wife are desperate to join us and we still wait to see if he got an assignment there on this cycle...

  The island is VERY small. There's very few places you can be and not see the ocean.

The Portuguese have great respect for the ocean. We were warned never to go near it when it "is angry".

C Lopes with J2

Swimming holes are pools protected naturally by lava rock, with steps and handrails added. We swim with the fish. Sometimes we don't swim when the jellyfish take over...

 Rainbows are frequent. 

I saw my first circle rainbow from the top of the island just before we left in 2001

Our dear friends, The Lopes and baby A1. We're in N. Lopes Carpentry shop where he was custom designing our bed...

The finished product. It's African Cherry wood-gorgeous-and the movers broke it when we moved here. The repairs were expensive and shoddy, so we're looking forward to N putting it right.

N and A Lopes working on the 8-seater table our friends had made.

Wow, you're still here?

If you suffered through that, then surely you won't mind the next 7 months that I'll need to spend catching up with all of our great experiences here in England? 

Somebody pinch me. We're going back to the Azores!!

Is My Phone Broken?

Remember when that one special guy looked at you? You knew he was looking at you and you knew he knew who you were. You went home and waited for the phone to ring.

Well, I'm waiting. I'm about to chew my hands off waiting.

We knew when we fell for that house that we would be the ridicule of the village. Our friends would up and move in the dark of night just to keep us from asking them to help us move again. But I told you about it and you were so encouraging and supportive. Never did I ever imagine I could find so many kindred spirits (and really good people willing to smile at my ridiculous ideas and accept me for the flake that I really am).

So now I am waiting. Waiting for the Estate Agent to call me back and say, "She wants you in her house, she said yes, Jan. 1st is perfect!" (I'll settle for "fine", "ok", "it'll cost you"-- anything but this silence).

She said she'd call "Next week". What does "next week" mean?

Addendum: She called!! and I wasn't home. and her message said she'd call again tomorrow...

The Most Clever People Live in Blog World

Can't get much past you, can I?

Several of you caught on (rather quickly) to my thinly-veiled confession of being a one-family freak show.

Yes, we are considering moving.

I know we just moved here and you don't have to remind me, there's still tupperware that has never been unpacked.

It's just that we found another house...

These aren't my images, I pulled them from the estate agent's site (shhh, don't tell).

It's been said that a military member's best place to live is the one they've just left or the one they're heading to. We are living proof.

When we moved to England, I just wanted a British cottage-style house. We found one that charmed us. O.k., the garden charmed ME (and since no one's happy if Momma ain't happy, the Hubby quickly agreed that a home with one bathtub for 7 people would suffice if Momma liked the garden).
When we met with the Landlord, 6 people tumbled out of our car. One had a red mohawk and another was hugely pregnant. I can't even imagine the first impression we gave that poor man.


As he walked us through his cottage, he kept saying it would be too small for us.
I can take a hint.
He kept going on about another property he had, but knowing he would do the, "I'll ring you about it later"-while-he-disappeared-forever ploy, I politely nodded and tried not to show my disappointment.
However, as we tried to shoe horn our family back into the car, he explained,
"If you'll follow me, I can show it to you. It's just up the road."

So we followed
and our jaws fell open. Of course we said, "We'll take it!" without stepping inside (we did see it later after making an appointment with the current renters who were preparing a move).
Long story cut not as short as some would like, it fell through when the renter's home purchase fell through. They had to renew their lease. I was gutted.

The house hunting was left to the Hubby while his cranky, pregnant wife sweltered in the temporary living facility on base.

The house we ended up getting was gorgeous. We had great landlords and a wonderful time, but I spent the first year morning "the house" (as did the oldest son and my husband). We loved where we were living, but it was a Spanish style, sprawling place. I never could make it "home".


Then we found this place. Right smack next to the boys' school. It was about half the size of what we were living in, but we were smitten and 2 weeks after spotting it, we were in it.

I'm thinking it's a sickness. This house should've satisfied us for the next two years. I should never have gone onto Estate agents sites.
I found my current flavor of the month playing around on the internet. For giggles we went to see it (please don't lecture me about wasting someone's time, it will fall on deaf ears).
One step into the kitchen, I wanted it. Not necessarily the kitchen, but the lifestyle.
The house is from the 1840s, and the owners have decorated it farmhouse style. See the hops hanging from the beams?
We came home, ran through the "pros and cons" and then reluctantly, sadly, dejectedly rang the agent.

"We loved the house. We would be thrilled to live in it, but the timing isn't right. Even though our lease is coming up on the 6 month renewal, financially we'd need to wait until after Christmas".

Know what she said?

She didn't say, "You no-good Americans out wasting people's time! You have a serious problem, you know that? You must shop around for houses like other people shop for boots!"

Nope. She said,"Oh... well that may just work out perfect! The owner was hoping to wait until January to move out!"

So,

We haven't signed anything. We're waiting to speak again with the owner and to have another look through with our real eyes on, and then....
I may ultimately be moving to here:Still want to come over for a visit? There's plenty of room in mental institutions.

Restless Yanks Should Stay Off Estate Websites

Do you suppose the owners of this cozy little cottage are flakes?

Do you suppose they woke up one morning and said, "Hey, let's switch houses every time we replace toothbrushes!"?
Maybe they said, "You know, I'm betting there's a house only 6 minutes from where we are with a bigger kitchen (that doesn't smell like grease) and a garden suitably sized for three football-freak boys. It may even have a treehouse and a garden filled with so many lovely fruit trees and flowers that our princess could hide for hours while making fairy houses".

Yeah, I'm betting there are flakey renters like that. Somewhere. Maybe even in Norfolk England.


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Trading Spaces....

Scrolling Saturdays.... the words roll off of my tongue like a sigh.

Funny thing is, I already posted one today, but when I went back to tweak it, something seemed oddly familiar. I had scrolled it before.

It was the Photographer's Anonymous post-- appropriate since I'm clearing out my iphoto (and will be for the next five years). But this one is appropriate too. We're looking at a new house today (shhhh, the kids don't know).

Thursday, January 10, 2008

A Tour of My Home

After my last entry, I thought you may be trying to imagine this place I live in, so I thought I'd include a picture or four. This is my kitchen I hang my herbs in. I also churn butter here while my husband kills pheasants for our evening stew. With four boys, I really don't need chairs. They might muffle the farting contests held regularly in my home (to my dismay).


This is my bed. Of course my husband has his own cot in his own room. The house is big enough to do that, you know. As you can see by the cradle, he doesn't always stay in his own side of the house.

And last, I don't know what all the whining about "free time" is about. I have never had to pay for a child minder and don't have the least trouble with my children.
But really.

Here's a picture of our courtyard in a rare sun shining moment.

The other pictures are from the Iceni Village nearby, taken last year sometime.