Springtime in Ipswich

While Jacob was attending a meeting in Ipswich Saturday, I bravely ventured out on my own to do a bit of exploring. We had never been to Ipswich before, and I was eager to show myself around. After a few adventures in driving and parking I ended up at the magnificent Christchurch Park, a beautiful 70-acre park in the heart of Ipswich. It was the first really nice day of weather we've had--warm sunshine all day and no wind--so the park was full of people just enjoying the weather. It was absolutely idyllic.

One fascinating feature of the park was the trees. Some of them had interesting shapes and features, and I took a few photos of individual trees because of their uniqueness.

The central feature of the park is Christchurch Mansion, a stately home built in 1548-1550. Some rooms in the mansion have been preserved as past inhabitants might have known them; other rooms have become museums and galleries with paintings, pottery and other works of art. I was particularly impressed to see many works from John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough, the famous 18th-century Naturalist landscape painters who are both from Suffolk County.

The mansion and park were gorgeous, but the best part was the beautiful springtime weather!

St. George's Day at Wrest Park

We had an incredible time Saturday at the nation's largest St. George's Day celebration at the amazing Wrest Park! St. George is the patron saint of England, but the historical person St. George had absolutely no connection to England. Nevertheless, his day (April 23) is celebrated here.

First we'll talk about the house and grounds, then the St. George festivities. The property was the home of the De Grey family from the 1200s to 1917, and they added many features to the gardens throughout the centuries. The house wasn't completely open, but we did get to go into the Ante Library and the entry hall--both beautiful. The photos we took of the actual house aren't that great because there was scaffolding around most of the house, so if you're interested to see photos of the house itself, follow this link to Wrest Park (it really is impressive). We walked around the extensive grounds and enjoyed many hidden features of the property. The foremost is the many statues, each incredible on its own. We counted over 25 statues just in the immediate garden. Jacob described them as "magnificent," and you can tell he really feels that way. Here he is admiring the intricate details.

The Orangery was beautiful. I don't think an orangery has to be orange in color, but this building really is impressive.

We also really enjoyed the pavillion, built in 1709. Here's a photo of the exterior; the interior was extraordinary, but the video we took was a bit too dark to post.

In the next two photos is the Bowling Green House, built in 1735. You can see part of the bowling green itself just in front of the House. We particularly enjoyed the beautiful green interior with white trim.

There are many more, but we'll just share 2 more features of the grounds. The Chinese Pavillion seemed a bit out of place, but interesting. We also came across a pet cemetary. Apparently very wealthy people can afford really nice gravestones and statues for their pets when they pass away.

The St. George's Day festivities included many interesting tents and displays. As we entered the gate to the festivities, a guy in a crazy hat asked our names and where we're from. We told him our names and that we live in Suffolk County. He trumpeted very loudly, then yelled: "JACOB, A POOR MAN OF SURREY; AND RACHEL, HIS EVEN POORER MISTRESS." He didn't get the county right, but we loved being announced to the crowd! We enjoyed looking at the various displays of armor and weapons, especially the swords. We are also enjoying the fudge we purchased from a very nice man (who said my accent is lovely). They had living history encampments, and an exciting Victorian gymkhana, among other activities.

The falconry display was amazing! The presenters stressed the fact that falconry wasn't so much a sport as it was a means of putting food on the table. This photo shows a young child, plucked from the audience, enticing the falcon to his gloved arm. It was amazing to see these birds, especially the beautiful African spotted eagle owl and the peregrine, which can swoop up to 200 mph! I couldn't help thinking about my dear Mom who has a legendary fear of birds--Mom, the birds were swooping near our heads; you would have hated it.

This photo depicts the battle between St. George and the dragon. No surprises here; St. George won.

More Signs

England is full of entertaining signs, so we wanted to share some of our favorites. The figures on the signs are sometimes very expressive, despite being little more than stick figures. We hope you enjoy!

We saw this sign at Dover Castle. I wouldn't say the figure in the picture is climbing at all.

If you've always wanted to drive a cartoon car, come to England! (Just don't pull a trailer behind your cartoon car.)

The following photo is a little dark, but it's clear enough. The humor in this sign is that it never fails to be true. We've seen it frequently, and we pass it on the way to church every Sunday. There are ALWAYS vehicles driving in the middle of the road (to avoid cars parked on the already narrow roads).

This sign is one of my favorites; it's on EVERY power line post (and other places), but it leaves more questions than answers. (What should one avoid doing to escape death?) The ambiguity is certainly not about the nature of the consequences!

This is my absolute favorite sign so far; it's posted all over around the base. The guy is obviously walking in an 'unauthorised' place, but something about his body language tells me he might be walking out of the closet. He reminds Jacob of Disco Stu from The Simpsons.

I was in a store called Home Base (sort of like a Home Depot), and this sign refers to a department. The other departments in the store were perfectly normal: bathroom, kitchen, plumbing, furniture, garden, etc. Anyone who knows what ironmongery is, please leave a comment on the blog.

Home, Sweet Home

The purpose of this entry is to give you a virtual tour of our new home. We are fortunate to have such an amazing and large house. The photos and videos might seem a bit bare because we haven't received our furniture shipment yet. Hopefully it comes soon! The house has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms, so we hope everyone who reads this blog plans to visit us in the next few years while we live here. It would be a shame to waste all the extra space! (Plus we'd love to see you all!) Since the house is large, this blog entry is too!

The following video takes you through our front door. The 3 doors to the left are the living room (French doors), dining room and half bath. I also made sure the video shows the cute space underneath the stairs (Harry Potter fans will think it could be our 6th bedroom). To the right of the stairs are the kitchen (notice its distance from the dining room-?) and the study (/Rachel's office).

The Bathrooms

There are no electrical outlets and no storage spaces in ANY of the 4 bathrooms. It was also a bit distressing to discover that neither of the 2 bathroom color schemes we're bringing from Albuquerque (chocolate brown and red/black) will work in ANY of the 4 bathrooms. Color possibilities are dictated by wall colors, tile colors and other fixture colors. So we've already begun to purchase ALL NEW bathroom rugs and towels for the bathrooms.

The Master bathroom doesn't have a shower, so we're using the hall bathroom extensively. It's the largest bathroom in the house and the only one with both a bath and a shower. Jacob feels that this photo of the hall bathroom shows an area where we have to exercise a bit of "English Patience." Can anyone spot the issue?

There are a few items in the house that the owners don't want changed. For example, we have to live with the curtains in all the rooms, whether we like them or not. Here's a video (dedicated to Nancy) of the guest suite, where you'll stay when you visit us. It begins at the top of the stairs and shows you a great, unusual feature for a British house--built-in closets! The guest bathroom has perhaps the most objectionable feature in the entire house: the dolphin toilet seat. Just something to look forward to when you visit! (:

The Kitchen

We love almost everything about the kitchen, and thankfully we'll still be able to continue our yellow/green color scheme there. However, there's a strange, built-in table jutting out into the otherwise roomy space. The trouble with the table is that regular chairs are too short and bar stools are too tall. Wish us luck finding something suitable!

After watching that video, you might be wondering where the fridge and dishwasher are. They're actually hiding behind what looks like more cupboard space! (The freezer is on the far left, the fridge on the right and the dishwasher in between.)

The Garden
In Britain a yard or lawn is referred to as a garden, even if it's just grass. At the front of the property there is a charming "elderly brick boundary wall" (according to the property description); we'll let you know if we find out how elderly it is. So here's a video of part of our garden. We especially enjoy the deck area where we can barbeque!

Miscellany
This video of the dining room is great because it shows the lovely French doors that lead out onto the deck. Also, out the other window you can see our double garage (pronounced with greater emphasis on the first syllable). Any garage at all is a rarity in England, and we'll barely be able to do it, but we intend to park both cars in it.

Here's a photo of the back of the house. As we mentioned before, we'd love for you to visit (just not all at once), and you're welcome to stay in our house!