Mind the Gap

An e-journal of our time here in England.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Our Home

The back of the house. View from the street. Looking in at the front of the house from the opening in the shrubery "fence". Looking into the front yard from the front door (see the shrubery "fence"?) A trip into the woods. Pictures could never do it justice.

Bury St. Edmund

These are some thatched homes on the way to Bury St. Edmund. This first picture is great because it shows a lot of different things. The first thing is the red door; many homes in England have red doors, the second favorite colour for doors is blue. The second thing that is very common is two homes stuck together. In the states we call them townhomes, here they are called semi-detattached homes. They are two seperate homes, one family will own one side and the other family owns the other side. Another common element is the rock and brick construction. That is common around here (I don't think I've seen a home made of all wood construction). The rock they use is flint because it is plentiful around here. Most important of all is the thatchers mark. If you look towards the top of the roof of any thatched home you will see a design. The design is unique to the thatcher and is his "business card", the sign of his trade. You can see it well in this picture. A thatched roof lasts about 35 years. Although you can't see it in any of these pictures, each roof is covered with chicken wire. There are endless amounts of birds in England who would love to make their nests out of these roofs. Bury St. Edmund The cathedral in Bury. Ruins of the Abbey from the 11th century. The market (that's me in the pink shirt and Tarah in the white).

Before We Left...

Almost got everbody in. August 20, 2005 The four graduates of the Advanced Education of General Dentistry...(L to R) Dr. Sam Wise, Dr. Denise Lyons, Dr. Alan Pratt, and Rhett. A camping trip to Mt. Charleston right before we left Las Vegas. A hike in the morning followed by a shower! It started to pour on Rhett and the kids! They had to dismantle camp in about five minutes. Everyone was soaked. This picture was taken after about ten minutes of driving off the mountain. If you look at the upper left corner of the picture you can see the mountain still engulfed in the storm!

Sunday, November 20, 2005

On Our Way Out

This is all that was left in our possession of all our worldly goods! 10 suitcases, five backpacks, 4 kids, 2 parents, and a partridge in a pear tree! On our way to Baltimore. Stuck in Baltimore. On an airport shuttle. Waiting for the hotel shuttle after we had been rejected. Our flight to England, with an Azores layover, was canceled...AGAIN.