2 December 2010

An Unexpected Snow

I woke up on the morning of December 2nd and pulled back the curtains as I normally do and lo and behold I was looking out on a white world.  Snow was covering land and tree. I had that unforgettable feeling of excitement of when you see a white world when you did not expect it the night before.  I took great delight in running upstairs to tell the girls the exciting news.  Frances jumped out of bed the minute she heard the word snow and from that moment I knew school was going to be a difficult sell.

We went on an early morning walk and then came home to warm up and do a little school.  After a very cursory amount of studying we all went out to build a snowman.  My feet and hands soon became numb and not willing to be a martyr to the snow, I went inside.  Margaret enjoyed the snow, but liked the hot chocolate in front of the fire much more.  Charlotte and Frances stayed outside building forts until I forced them inside for lunch.  Their hands and their feet were rosy with the cold.  I made them come in for an hour to rest and then they were out again most of the afternoon. It wonderful and unexpected gift of a beautiful day.   

4 December 2010

Community

Saturday, December 4 was a full day for us. Perhaps more than any other day, we really felt like a part of this little community here in Somerton. Our girls attended a craft day at the church which lasted from 10am until 4pm. The church has done this each year as an outreach to the community and to allow mums to drop of children and do Christmas shopping. The children learned songs, read Bible stories, and made some wonderful crafts... wooden signs, wreaths, and fruit cakes. The fruit cakes were actually good (I ate Margaret's). Rachel helped the ladies in the church for most of the day and we really felt like we were serving the community with the church body here.

After the craft day, the lighting of the town lights was that evening at 4:30pm (yes, the days are short here in the winter and it is dark enough at 4:30pm). It was a very small but quaint affair with mince pies, a roasted pig, mulled wine and visits from Father Christmas and the Christmas Fairy. There was a nativity in which you could dress up. The highlight for the girls was when a photographer for the Western Gazette (the largest paper in South West England) asked if she could interview the girls and take some photographs. The three girls felt like celebrities. We are hoping their story makes it in the paper.

As the activities died down, we decided on the local Fish and Chips place for dinner. It was something you have to do once... the girls and I loved it and Rachel, of course, found something else to eat. It was probably the English equivalent of going to the Varsity (absolutely wonderful and totally awful).

12 December 2010

A Winter Walk & A Welcome Guest

We put on our wellies, filled a thermos of tea and cream, and went on a little hike in our town. It was a cold day, but we dressed in so many layers most of us got warm by the time we reached the top of a little hillside on a nearby farm. Our dear friend Molly is visiting us for about 10 days so she joined us as well.

Our hike carried us through a field with sheep and Frances was able to get close enough to pet one. At one point, after our tea I looked up and saw Frances' silhouette on the hill and immediately one thought came to mind... "William Wallace... Braveheart!"

We have thoroughly enjoyed Molly's visit with us... she has made some day trips on her own to Wells and Glastonbury but she has also become quite a welcome member of our family as well by joining us in our little routines such as embroidery while listening to Lord of the Rings, cream tea, movie night, and visits to charity shops with Rachel.

13 December 2010

Our Tree

I don't know how she does it, but Rachel has managed to transform a rental house into a home with a few bargains from thrift stores and some hand-made items purchased at fund-raisers for some local ministries here. Our Christmas tree is simply lovely despite it's mere 4 foot height.  It is a Norwegian Spruce with very dark green short needles and long spare branches.

Paper chains are a common seasonal tradition in England so we decided to make our own. The ladies at the stationary shop said, "Oh, you can buy these strips pre-made..." not understanding that most of the joy is in the making. It is interesting that even in this small, quaint, rural town it is far more common to buy mince pies and paper chains rather than make them yourself.

14 December 2010

A Trip to Sherborne

Our guest Molly joined our family for a delightful trip to Sherborne. Sherborne is a quaint town about 40 minutes from us with a beautiful Abbey and some very nice shops. Sherborne is also home to "Old Sherborne Castle" build in the 12th century as well as a newer Castle that was built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594. We were unable to visit either castle in the winter, but we will certainly make a return visit in the early spring.

Sherborne Abbey, founded in 705 by St Aldhelm, was remarkably beautiful and quietly reverent. Upon entering, I saw a gentleman who appeared to be praying and I whispered to the girls.... "now please be quite in here" as the image of "those loud Americans" stirred in my mind. It turns out he was simply reading and as soon as he saw us he gave us a warm welcome and said, "Do please look around and let the children have fun. It is, after all, the house of the Lord and should be filled with joy." 

The Abbey is now a parish church that is very active. Margaret quickly discovered the church nursery complete with plastic dishes. The contrast was striking as our 6 year old prepared a tea-party on colorful plastic plates in a room that has witnessed hundreds of years of events. The old baptismal font in the foreground of the picture is medieval.

Rachel and Molly enjoyed strolling though the town looking at various shops. The caption for the photo of the girls looking in the shop window could read, "Is that an entire tea service for just 10 pounds?" After some time in Sherborne we went to the cinema in Yeovil to watch "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." I walked into the cinema with a one shopping bag containing the following items: one lamp, 2 Christmas ornaments, linen napkins, and 10 pound tea service carefully wrapped in newspaper. 

18 December 2010

More Snow

The snow we had on December 2 was nice. We made a snowman, enjoyed a warm fire, and by the next day our snowman had been reduced to one soggy carrot and some pebbles upon the grass. There were traces of snow in shady patches, but buses were on schedule and cafes were open for business.

This week, however, was quite different. We awoke Friday morning to a very heavy snow. The snow continued throughout Saturday and all the locals began telling us they had not seen snow like this for over 20 years. 

On Saturday, Molly had offered to watch the girls so Rachel and I were could spend a day out together for our anniversary. Despite the heavy snow, we were optimistic and walked out toward the bus stop at 9:30am. One of our neighbors asked where we were headed and we said "Sherborne." She said, "There are no buses today" and then, when her husband walked up she said, "Oh John! These little dears think they are going to ride the bus today." We were disappointed.

Frances was determined to play in the snow, so I looked out the window thinking, "if I were a good dad, I would go out there and play with her." However, it was cold and I had already served my time the week before so I remained in front of the fire with a book. My comfort changed when Frances stepped inside, looked at me with a big smile, and said, "Dad, will you come out?" I could not say "no." We make a snow sculpture intended to be a dragon that looked more like an alligator and was labeled by one local gentleman as "Loch Ness." Although we could not find a sledge (sled) in town, the vicar's wife had her son bring one over to us. We were immediately off to a large hill and had a great time.

Upon our return, Rachel and Molly served us all a delightful cream tea. Molly's first attempt at making scones was a true success. We played card games at night and retired wondering if Molly will be able to make it to London on Monday.

25 December 2010

Christmas Morning

Advent is a very beautiful season in England. Many traditions are not only celebrated, but preciously enjoyed. We certainly savored all the quaint beauty of the season by lighting our advent wreath at dinner and attending more lessons and carols services than you would care to know (when speaking of "Once in Royal David's City" Charlotte told our vicar that she was "tired of that song").

Frances was able to sing the solo part at the beginning of our own church's Nine Lessons and Carols service on December 22nd. Rachel and I were very proud of her willingness to sing before a full church and we were also proud of how very well she did... everyone told her it was "marvelous, brilliant... just brilliant."

The bells were rung on Christmas Eve and it was a little surreal to hear them just outside our own window. Christmas morning was simple as it always is... we read from Luke, eat a light breakfast, and open presents. The girls are starting to get old enough now that they enjoy watching others open their presents almost as much as they enjoy opening their own (almost, but not quite).

We spent Christmas afternoon at the house of Bruce and Anne with their two sons, Ben and Josh (Bruce is the curate at our church). We played trivial pursuit and the questions were all UK-based (of course) so sports consisted of cricket and soccer (football). Needless to say, Rachel and I did pretty poorly.

The day after Christmas is known as Boxing day and we were invited to a splendid lunch with our landlords. Their 3 daughters (2 of whom are married) were in town so it was fun to meet all of them.