Nature Blog

One of the great things to do in England (especially in the countryside) is go walking. When James was over in California he missed this because, well, we don't really have designated walking areas. We have hiking/jogging/biking trails, but nowhere designated to just have a simple walk about in the wilderness.

But in England these walks are EVERYWHERE. They are literally as common as stop signs. You hit a point in the road and you look out to the left or the right and somewhere, every couple of lengths, is a sign:

These footpaths, like I said, are everywhere and most of them give you the legal opportunity to trespass. I mean that jokingly, but seriously, these walks go through feilds, people's property, and as long as you don't scare the livestock and keep you dog on a lead(/leash) it's perfectly find and considered normal to go walking through other people's property. Weird, huh? But it's one of those little gems in England that I do love having at my disposal. James has shown me a few of his favorite walks around his house, there's even a 'short cut' public footpath that goes basically from the top of the hill where The Dam Barn is, down to where the bus comes to take people in that area in to town (which is only a 10-15min drive).

Yesterday we went to one walk that I've been DYING to go to. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows(Part 1), there is a montage of places that Harry and Hermione go, and one shot is of hermione walking through a feild, to the edge of a river, and bends down to get some water or something. It's only about a 3-5 second shot in the whole montage, but that River is the river Wye, in a place called Symonds Yat which is about 10-15 minutes outside the city Ross on Wye. This shot was taken just outside where James and I live, so needless to say...we had to check it out.

And we found it. :)

It wasn't too difficult to find, but we had to pass a load of livestock to get to it. Cows and sheep mostly, but there were a few Swans.

And Tilly enjoyed herself. We took her along with us and first sign of water, she had to jump in and get her feet wet.

I thought I’d take this time to talk about things I’ve learned from being out here, in case any of you sods decide to visit me (mum and dad especially).

1.This is a thistle:

It is one of the main plants that you want to look out for and make sure you don’t touch because they grow EVERYWHERE and they hurt and make you itch if you touch them.

2.These are the infamous Nettles:

Here you can see a few different pictures, sometimes they have these fuzzy things on them, and sometimes not. The way to look out for nettles is by their jagged leaf edges. These you DEFINATLY don’t want to get stung by. This quite possible is worse than poison ivy.

3. In case you DO get stung by nettles you want to get a Dot Leaf:

If you rub this on your nettles sting, it most often than not gets rid of the sting, but they are very hard to come by.

4. Beware of the weather, it will trick you.

You see that it’s all gloomy in the morning, and it may very well be gloomy in the afternoon, but it doesn’t mean that it will stay that way. We do get bits of sun here and there, and we do get bits of cloudiness, often periodically throughout the day. So, keep a LIGHT jacket with you when you’re hiking/walking Because some moments it’ll be hot, and 2 minutes later you might get a gust of cool wind and cloud coverage.....then back to sun 2 minutes later.

5. Make sure you know your routes.

There are many different types of fences you can go through, these are just a few, but most often than not they’ll always have a sign on them or by them that says ‘public footpath’ so you don’t get confused. Some are gates that you can open (and make sure you shut!):

Some are fences that you have to hop over with the help of these stepping beams:

There are other types, but know that you may need to wear comfortable clothing so you can swing your leg over a fence at any given moment.

Those are my tips for now. Tune in next week for The Vidler Saga.
-JV

Lots doin'

This Blog comes go you in two parts: The serious religious epiphany blog(Part 1) and the not so serious Picture/'fun time' story blog (Part 2).

PART 1

Upon walking down the street the other day, I realized that behind James and I were a pair of Mormon missionaries. My mother and father had raised me Mormon, but I fell out with the church and stopped going by the time I was 18.

My mother and father have always wanted me to go back to church, but wouldn't force it upon me (except for the occasional guilt trip invitation from my mother inviting me to one Mormon function or another).

Before I left for England my parents advised me to keep my options open and to not disregard the church entirely. As my mother put it: If I don't keep the church in mind and need it one day, I'm basically out of luck. That didn't change my mind one bit. However, it was my father's advise that led me to do what I did(which I'll explain in a minute). My father has always told me, 'the gospel of the church is true, the people that practice it may not always be true', or something to that effect. Before I left, before I even got married actually, my father and I had a chat and he reiterated that statement. We talked about how I stopped going to church because the people in our congregation seemed like they cared more about being someone's friend just to get them to come to church, rather than actually caring about the person as a friend. With that in mind we had a deep conversation about how it would be good idea for me to keep the Mormon church in mind, in case I needed somone to lean on. I'm in a new country, starting a new life, and who knows what could happen. So, if i go to church, I might make a few friends, the church and it's members might be different than in Cali, and i may have someone to reach out to--a new set of friends with sort of the same core values--in case I'm in need of help.

So, because of my father's advise, I stopped those set of missionaries on the street and talked to them. Really, all I wanted was to find out where the nearest Mormon church to Ross-on-Wye was, in case I wanted to go....but those missionaries keep TALKING and TALKING. James was getting nervous and uncomfortable with them, so I tried to wrap up the conversation but those missionaries tried to do what they do best--ask loads of questions and try to get us to come to church. In the end, they found out we're a new married couple, he lives here, I moved from California, I'm looking for work, i used to go to church but now I don't, we live with his mum, and we're waiting quite a while to have kids. What we got out of that little chat is the address of the nearest church, the time church/sacrement is, the elders' number, an invitation to a ward BBQ(which we couldn't attend anyway cause we truely did have plans), an invitation for the missionaries to come round(which we declined because religion + James' mum = CONFRONTATION), successfully evading giving the elders our number(because it's not our house....and any information we needed we could just stop by the church or ask them), and we learned that the sister elders in their ward are Californian. We spent way to long talking to them, but I got what I needed--the option, if ever I need it. Hope you're proud of me pops cause it was alot of effort, and possible more trouble that what it was worth--upsetting my husband.

PART 2:

Not alot of news, and since I took up so much of this blog with the Serious religious epiphany part, I'll keep it short.

I found some new and interesting stores that remind me of American stores....


Labels.....the UK version of Target.

B & Q....the UK 'Home Depot'.

Life on the Dam Barn is a little different this time around. A little more sun and alot more green.

The same goes for the rest of Herefordshire. It makes me happy knowing this is where I'll be living the rest of my life.

James and I had some friends up on Tuesday: Chris, Ben, Louise, and Emily.

I bought a low-fat recipe book for a few quid while James and I were shopping for stuff for our flat. I tried out one of the recipes--a roasted pear and spinich leaf salad--which was pretty good. I look foreward to trying out more new recipes.

The guienea pigs are annoying, but alright. And now the rabbit, Snowy, has a new little friend. James and I went and picked up little Cleo(after Cleopatra, because of the black around her eyes....looks like eyeliner) on Wednesday.

One last thing before I go. I finally got my National Insurance Number(but no card yet), and picked up paperwork to get signed up for 'surgery'(aka the doctor's office).

That's all for now!

-JV

Happy Little English Housewife

As I've told James in the last few days.....I don't mind being the English Housewife. In fact, I love it and if I didn't have to work to procure our second income just to get by, I'd probably stay home and just do housewifey things.

James has been at work for part or most of the day, for the past 6 days I've been here, and while he's away I've been....sleeping, revising my CV, applying for National Insurance Card, and applying for work. HOWEVER, I've also been....washing clothes, hanging laundry, folding laundry, (I stopped to paint my nails that sort of devilish red color to make me look like a 50s housewife and slapped on an apron), cooking, helping Alice wash the dishes, feeding/playing with the animals (2 guinea pigs, 1 bunny, and 2 dogs), vaccuming, tidying/cleaning our room, and getting rid on an old manky chair that James has always had in that room(thanks to Harry who had this room before James), that kept smelling up the place! That chair smelled almost as bad as a certain relative's house of mine....mom, you know which one.

And in all this hustle and bustle, I'm always first to the door when I hear his car screech into the drive. However busy I get, I always have time to miss my dear husband throughout the day.


A few updates and then I'll be on my way:
My national insurance card has yet to come in the post, but this weekend has been a bank holiday weekend so....there is no post. Hoping that It'll come sometime this week so i can start working by the time we move into our flat.

Bank Holiday. Happens 3-4 times a year and it usually goes like this: Post office--closed. bank--closed. other shops--close SUPER early(like early afternoon). Restaruants and hotels--OPEN! James--super tired and overworked.

I've applied for work! The listing doesn't close until Sept 4th, so I'll have a bit more time to hope my National Insurance Card gets here. And even if it doesn't get here before I start work James says they can still put me on the payroll seeing as how kids Sam's age(16) are employeed and they don't actually get their NIC until after they're 18. Apparently they just mail it out to you if you're a kid growing up in the UK and have been working. So it's not a matter of IF I'll get my NIC, just a matter of when. Anyway, the position I've applied for is a receptionist/office assistant for the Marine Conservationist Society--they're an organization located in Ross that helps promote environmental stuff like beach clean-ups, 'save the dolphins!' and all that jazz. Not a bad company to work for I'd think. And work is work. :)

The other fun thing that happened, happened yesterday. James wanted to chill out and go for a pint after work last night so we (James, myself, Tony and Alice) went down to this pub that looks like a castle--apparently used to be not a very nice pub, but it's under new ownership and it's gotten alot better...so we decided to check it out. While we were there Alice was talking to another mum who recognize her and Tony from tony's Primary school (the other mum, her son used to go to the same primary school before they moved to another district). Anyway.....the mum recommended another pub down the road that they were going to next, so we decided to follow them there. I'll tell ya, this place was a GEM. Called The Cross Keys, it's this cute pub/restaruant--lovely food, lots of space the way pubs go, a function room at the back with a pool table, skittles(wooden bowling) alley, and a jute box, a greenroom padio you can eat on as an extrention of the restarunt, and then a HUGE outdoor garden area including a swingset for kids to play on. This place was definately a family friendly style pub if i ever saw one. And it's quickly become James and my new favorite place. If we go there again this week, I'll take picture because it really is quaint and beautiful.

Ta,
Jenny Vidler

Vidlers, meet the Vidlers--They're a moden English family

Jenny Vidler has arrived! I got married, got my visa, and moved...and now I am currently residing next to my adorable husband in the quaint country home known to us as The Dam Barn.

The Dam Darn is still just how I remember it....just with less snow around. Last time I was here in January it was cold and snowy and going for walks down by the Dam were exciting, well summer is going and autumn is arriving and walking down to the Dam is just as lovely as it was in winter.

____________________

Plane ride was horrible(to be expected); screaming children, full flight, no extra seats next to me so I can lay out on the 10 hour flight and sleep--I can't sleep sitting up, so needless to say I got no sleep on this plane and I was sooooooooo tired--and on top of it all, I think the combination of vegan curry, baileys and the fact that it smelled rank because there were foriegners who don't know what a shower is made me chunder(throw up), so...not the best flight.

But the end result was the best...getting off the horrific plane ride of hell and seeing my darling James searching the crowd for me like an angel of mercy waiting to scoop me up and make me forget about it all.

Drive from London wasn't so bad, and by the time we got to our home(for the time being--The Dam Barn) I was about to collapse and fall asleep. But I stayed up for a fair few hours later keeping myself busy: We ate(fish n chips), played Legos with Tony, took a walk to the Dam, Watched the Man U vs. Spurs game, and popped down to the shop for some sweets and crisps. Then finally at about 10pm(2pm Cali time) I finally went to bed. From 10am Sunday morning, until 2pm Monday afternoon on California time....I was up, with barely closing my eyes for a few minutes of rest on the plane, but no matter.....I slept like a baby and now I'm ready to take on this adventure in England called.....

A Day in the Life of Jenny Mac(Vid). :)

Last day in England...for a while

Basically today James and i tried to spend all the time we could with each other before i have to leave. Tomorrow is dooms day; i have to leave my sweet James in England behind me, and look forward to seeing my friends and family and spending 5 months working to save up for the future.

I will miss James and England dearly, but it will be good to be home. ......see you all later one.

Almost back home :-/

Today...got up, I made myself and the boys a full English, hung out with Russell for a bit, then James and I went down to the river for a walk. We walked along side the river and through part of the forest next to the River. The cool part about the walk is that we saw a pack of deer (like 10-20 of them) running through the forest as we were going through it. Unfortunately, my camera battery died at that point so I wasn't able to get any good pictures, but it was a nice site.

After coming back to the house, after our walk, James and I chilled out for a few hours before going out to dinner. Since it was my 2nd to last night here, and the hotel wouldn't be busy(cause it's a weeknight in winter, not much business) we decided to have one last family dinner, before I had to go, at the hotel. It was a nice dinner and i even tried out one of the hotel's new cocktails. PLus it's always nice to talk to James Sr. He always has an interesting perspective on things and he's a smart individual.

After dinner James and I went home and watch the new UK Skins. It's alright so far. I can't wait to get to know all these new characters. :) Only thing is...I can't watch future episodes on telly since i'll be back in america. :(

Only another day and a bit to go till i'm home....I'm excited to see friends and family, but I'm sad about leaving James and putting my life in England on hold. :(

Hereford for the last time...for a while

Last night was rough....because of the tour we ent on yesterday and me being spooked to go to sleep.....I couldn't get to sleep until about 4:30-5am...and then I woke up multiple times and could barely get back to sleep. It was only when I turned on the light and started playing music on my laptop lightly that I was able to attempt to get back to sleep. It was not a pleasant experience. Plus James was WAY too tired and almost immediately went to sleep so I didn't even have him to keep me company. yeaaaaaa....

Anyway, this morning/afternoon James and went to Hereford to meet up with Russell for lunch or a drink or something. We ended up wandering around Hereford and going to 2 pubs, then went to Whetherspoons for lunch. Then after that Russ came back to The Dam Barn, we got a snack, then went out to another pub before retiring back to the house to play Snooker, play on the PS3, and watch Scott Pilgrim.

Good times...good times....