Revisiting - The Guy They Call Sir!

I haven't had the chance to write here lately, because either one thing or another has gotten in the way. I hate when that happens. They say that's life, but I don't know if I believe that fully anymore. I think that at least in my case that it's a case of being in a bit of a whirlwind and not being able to get my bearings fully. As always, time is flying. I feel like a dog trying to catch its own tail sometimes. I've got to reclaim my time and get back to my blog and writing in general. That is where some of my peace lies.

Since I've been missing my blog, I thought that I'd go way, way back into the history of this site and pull out a post from 2008, the year that I began blogging. It sounds cliché, but it was all so simple then. (smile) Or so it seems through the lens of nostalgia. Oh well, anyway, please come along and time travel with me back to the very early days of From a Yellow House...on this very day eleven years ago. You can read the original post entitled 'The Guy They Call Sir!' here. Enjoy!

Love Signs

Yesterday, Brit Boy and I were out and about around the Wiltshire countryside and dipped over into Somerset, which is a neighboring county. On our way out of Somerset and back into Wiltshire, we passed through this village called Rode.

As we drove along through the village, I noticed this lovely church, the Church of St. Lawrence, with a heart on it.



It was cute especially since Valentine's Day just passed. I don't know why the heart was there. As we passed by I saw something written on a banner out front, but I couldn't catch what it said. It could've been for anything, but still it made me feel good to see it :-)

I figure that whenever love is around, we're all gonna be alright. As the Beatles said, "All You Need Is Love".

Snow in the Countryside

I wanted to share some photos that I took on Thursday on the way to Salisbury. Brit Boy and I were heading down there for a meeting. As I wrote about on Wednesday, we have been having some very frosty mornings. So when we headed out on Thursday morning, it was icy again. As we drove further out into the countryside towards Salisbury, we saw that it had snowed a tiny bit. We had heard on the radio that some areas got snow, but we didn’t. So it was a wonderful sight to see the dusting of snow across the fields. I just love being out where I can see the land and enjoy the beauty of nature.

All of these photos were taken from the car, so they have a cool blurry quality. I like to see how they will come out, so I just snap away as Brit Boy drives along. I love having a chance to share some of them with you all.

The first one is of a lone black bird sitting in the middle of the snowy field. I love the contrast :-)




This next one is the view across a field. On either side of the road, there’s a wonderful panoramic view.



I love this spot. You drive down the hill and off to the left there’s a drop off into a valley.




Here’s a view of Salisbury Cathedral’s spire in the distance as we drove into Salisbury. This spire is the tallest one in the United Kingdom. It is a beautiful building and is a beautiful sanctuary.



On our way back from Salisbury, I took a couple of more photos of the surroundings. By then, the thin layer of snow had melted. We came back through Avebury. Here is a line of some of the huge stones. It is reminiscent of Stonehenge, but these at Avebury are more spread out.



This last photo is of one of the larger stones that is placed very close to the road. It almost looks as if we are headed right for it, but we weren’t. It just came out weird like that. I saw the stone coming and I turned around in my seat a bit and just kind of snapped it as we passed by. I didn't know if I would get it or not.




It was a fun ride! :-)

A Trip Through Marlborough

I thought that I would share some more today about the county where I live. There are loads of tiny villages in Wiltshire that look like they have been taken out of a storybook and then there are bigger towns that have their own identities. And mixed in with all of this, you have lots of sweeping landscapes of green, dotted with sheep grazing on the hills. Even though I have been here a while now, the scenery still regularly captures my imagination. Some of the rural areas remind me of back home and my mind goes back to my childhood, when I enjoying running in the fields and playing. So I am just really enjoying exploring and learning about all that I can here. :)

Yesterday we were out and about and passed through the town of Marlborough, here in Wiltshire. Marlborough is a pretty town and the High Street is one of my favorites. The High Street there is one of the widest around and gives a great view if you stand at one end of the street and look ahead. Apparently it is so wide due to being rebuilt that way after the Great Fire of Marlborough in 1653. It is very picturesque and it’s even prettier during Christmas. There are so many interesting shops and Marlborough is historically rich.

It is situated on the Old Bath Road, which used to be the main road between London and Bath. Marlborough College, a boarding school, is one of the landmarks of the town and was founded in 1843. For any of you royal watchers, Princess Eugenie and also Kate Middleton, have attended school there.

Here are a couple of photos I took of the town as we drove through. The brown building in the foreground of the first photo is the Town Hall. The other photo is a portion of the view down the High Street.





On a personal note, Marlborough is special to Brit Boy and me because that is where he bought my engagement ring a few years ago. I wasn’t with him at the time of course, but he bought it at The Marlborough Jewellers. When we passed by, I think that I read out front that this shop was established in 1776, but don’t hold me to that. :-) Either way, the shop has been there a long time. I don’t have some huge sparkler of an engagement ring, and that kind of stuff has never mattered to me. I have a beautiful ring though and I love it because Brit Boy gave it to me. It’s also romantic to me that it came from a very traditional little shop with a long history, in a pretty little town. :-)

The Beginning of Fall

So today is the autumn equinox or the ushering in of fall. :-) There is a chill in the air this morning, but then we didn’t have such a warm summer this year here anyway. It’s a funny thing though, yesterday as we said goodbye to summer, it was one of the warmer, sunny days that we have had in a long time. Saturday was sunny too. As Brit Boy said, at least we got summer at the very end. :-) It was a beautiful weekend. And we got a bonus today too because it is sunny and beautiful outside right now.

I was doing a little research about the autumn equinox and I found that apparently on this day, at every point on Earth, there are twelve hours of darkness and twelve hours of daylight. And in the South Pole and North Pole, there will be changes. Those cute penguins in the South Pole will be celebrating the first appearance of the sun in six months. While in the North Pole, polar bears will be readying themselves for six months of darkness that is coming. So there is a lot of transition going on in nature on this day and we are all carried along for the ride.

Here in Wiltshire, down at Stonehenge, on both equinoxes and both of the solstices, the Druids and others go to the site and are allowed to go close to the stones and welcome the new season with their ceremonies. I have never witnessed it myself, but it sounds very interesting. Here’s a video that I found of part of their procession in the past. You can hear the wind in this video a lot. It has always been very windy down at Stonehenge, every time I have visited the site in the past.



On the days leading up to the ceremonies, Brit Boy and I have gone down on the way to Salisbury, past Avebury, which is another site with stones, and they are usually getting themselves ready for visitors too. So it’s always a busy time around this part of Wiltshire.

Happy Autumn, Happy Fall, Happy days to all!

Two Pennsylvanias

Brit Boy and I went out today since we finally got some sun. We went to South Gloucestershire in order to go to Dyrham Park, which is a National Trust site. It is a gorgeous mansion and grounds. Near there, there is a village that we passed through called Pennsylvania. It’s so cool when I see places here that have lent their names to places in the States. So I have now been to a Pennsylvania in two countries. It was a great day out and the weather was the best it has been in days. We ran into a bit of rain on the way back home, but we had fun.

The Guy They Call Sir !

Today I went out with Brit Boy again to see a client. He likes to have company when he goes out, so I go along. And also I just enjoy it because it gives me a chance to see further out into the countryside and see all of the other little villages around. I tell you, some of these places are just beyond belief. The best thing is to go down these narrow little roads that may or may not be paved and it leads to a tiny little village, complete with thatched cottages. And it is quite common for many of the cottages to date from the 1700s.

A lot of Wiltshire is green and lush and just gorgeous. We usually leave home early in the morning, so we are met by the sun, just starting to peek over the hills, and it sends light streaming through the trees. I am in awe as we drive along. There is nothing like coming around a narrow little lane that hugs one of the rolling hills and it leads down into a valley. More than once we have rounded the corner into a valley and straight ahead of us is a carpet of green that leads down to some lovely little village.

Today we went through the village of West Knoyle. As we approached the village, we were treated to one of those moments of sheer beauty. The little village of West Knoyle was nestled in the surrounding hills and was great to see. I will be posting a photo of the view coming into West Knoyle.

An interesting note also about this region is that West Knoyle is predictably next door to the village of East Knoyle. And East Knoyle is the birthplace of Sir Christopher Wren. He was the clever guy who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral along with over 50 other London churches. He was very influential in the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire.

So today I was a woman who was from another land, thoroughly enjoying this new land that I live in.

My Uphill and Downhill Walk

This morning I walked up to the High Street to pick up a few things at the grocery store and also to mail a card for a friend’s birthday back home. I don’t do this everyday, but from time to time I go up there to keep in touch with a bit of village life. The walk to the High Street for me is mostly uphill all the way, so I always get a workout when I take this trek. I am in pretty fair shape, but I must admit that I have broken into a sweat a few times even in winter. (laugh) It was semi-overcast when I walked up, so it wasn’t too hot or too cold. And I only got a slight “sheen” on my brow from the exertion.

I always love walking to the High Street because I get a chance to see the various cottages and houses in detail, more than I can see from the car. I get to see the gardens and little courtyards here and there between the houses that hide these magical little places where you can just imagine yourself sitting and relaxing. Most of the people that I see on the way to the High Street are usually elderly ladies or men going about their business, some pulling little carts behind them to gather groceries, and others following behind metal walkers to help guide their steps. But I always admire their spirit. They keep at it with life and don’t give up just because it is harder for them to get around. Their spirit reminds me of my own mother, although she was some years younger than most of the people I see on my walks. But I like those moments when things cause me to remember parts of her still, in my daily life.

When I arrived at the post office, I got my correct postage placed on my letter for the US and then dropped it into the big red mail box outside. After that, I walked around the corner to the grocery store. I usually dilly-dally for a bit and take a look at the magazines…today was no different. I gaze over the celeb magazines and then I look at what I call the horsey magazines. I call them horsey magazines because they talk about life for the whole horse-riding set here in the countryside. It is fun to take a look and take a peek into their lives. I guess we all like a bit of a nose around things like that. And even though there are lots of similarities of life between England and the US, there is just enough difference to keep my interest in learning about life here. So I figure that my curiosity is all in the name of understanding and that is a good thing in our world today.

Then I was off…back down that hill…starting to glisten with perspiration and thankful that it's all downhill from here. (smile)

Rural England and Ear Piercing

Yesterday was an interesting day for me on my continuing expat adventure. I had a bit of soaking up the English countryside here in Wiltshire. Wiltshire is the county in England where I live and it is fun when I am able, as an outsider of sorts, to look at the little things that are interesting about each village. The villages here have a way of reminding me of the little town that I come from back in the States.

I was out and about around Wiltshire yesterday with my husband. He had to see a client in Salisbury and I went along for the ride. I like going with him when I have the time or chance to go.

Along the way to Salisbury, we went through the village of Avebury which surrounds the World Heritage Site of stone circles there. It is a lovely quaint little place and it was one of the first places I ever visited when I first came to England. So it has a sentimental place in my heart. We passed by one of the shops and I saw in the window that they had a sign that said, “Save our Post Office”. This kind of sign is seen more and more around the villages lately.

Recently post office closings have been in the news a lot here. Many small post offices in England are on the verge of being closed. Some of the reasons that I have heard are that: people send loads of emails now and don’t send letters so much anymore; and there is competition to compete with private delivery services, etc. It seems though that a very important thing is being missed here. Small village post offices are a lifeline for people and are a quintessential part of life out here in the countryside. The post offices usually stock other merchandise and are a place for people to pick up things they need. And also post offices here are places that bring villagers together to socialize. So the post offices are a meeting place and are the biggest part of the day for the elderly who hardly see anyone else if they didn’t go to the post office daily.

As I have written before, as an expat, I am clearly aware of the differences between English life and my life back in America. Sometimes the differences are big ones and sometimes they are just slight little things. And then sometimes I find that even in the subtle differences there are grains of similarity between both places. I am often quizzed by people here about the differences that I see and it is hard to explain to them, without sounding like I am copping out, that even though it is very different sometimes, it is rather similar too. So when I think of this situation with the post offices here it makes me think of our little post office back in the small town that I came from.

I find that just like the post offices in villages here in England are often a meeting place for people, it was the same way back where I come from. I come from a tiny, rural place in America and the post office is at the center of the town there too. Many times I have gone there and saw someone either coming in or going out of the door that I haven’t seen in a long time or someone I just wanted to say hello to. And I see many people, young and old, doing the same thing. So when I hear on the news that people want so much to save the post offices in their villages in England in order to preserve the life of the places, I can relate. Also here in England, a lot of the elderly rely on the post offices to pick up things they need and to pick up their pensions. It is too far for them to venture into the bigger towns. So even though, I am sure that those in charge of things think that they are simply doing what makes business sense to them, I think they are missing the point in some cases. They are taking away much of the village way of life and as an American who didn’t grow up here and who can see so much now that I only saw in movies before, it is a shame that things are changing. But I guess change is inevitable.

Another place that we went through, called Wilton, is also a nice place. It is small and very English. On the sign going into the village, it says that it is the ancient capital of Wessex. So you know right then that the history is long. Wilton is also where the county of Wiltshire that I live in derives its name from. A lot of the time when I go through these places I am reminded of how old they are when I look at the narrowness of the roads. When we went through there yesterday, we went down this street and I remember thinking that it was only barely one lane wide. Well right ahead of us a car was passing through the narrowest bit and a man was walking down the sidewalk. The car was so close that he had to lean his body into the building in order to let the car’s mirror pass him and not smack into him. Then he just kept walking like he had done this a million times. That is what I like about going through these little villages, you get to see something tiny, but intriguing every time. It was a good day out to see rural England.

Today is a personal anniversary of mine. This is the anniversary of the day that I got my ears pierced when I was a kid. I told my husband that I remember consciously looking at the calendar on the wall and saying to myself, “I’m going to remember this day.” I think that I was just always a kid that liked to remember stuff like that in case I became a famous actress one day and penned my autobiography. :-)) Well, I grew out of the actress thing, but all those dates that I committed to memory never left me. Can you imagine the snowstorm of dates that are always whirling around in my head? Oh well, so here’s to my ear piercing all those years ago.