A Quiet Corner of a Busy World
It rained today and is still a bit overcast here. Time to get a cup of tea and enjoy a bit of England! Last year, on my dream trip to England, I had initially tried to get to the Lake District. After calculating the travel time, I realized it made more sense to stay in [...]
The location of the conference/retreat we were helping with was an old country manor house in Hertfordshire which had been expanded to become a large Christian conference center. I enjoyed some morning walks in the countryside before responsibilities began each day! We had unusually hot weather for the area, in the 80s mid-day. The mornings [...]
I was telling people that this had been my busiest summer in seven years, but then I realized that seven years ago, I was still in a teaching job (not working during the summer). Since I now work full time year-round, this summer has probably been the busiest summer I've ever had! I'm back from [...]
They say to "write what you know." Very good advice, though it's always tempting not to follow it because what you know the best often feels mundane and uninteresting. One of the major reasons I've wanted to go to England for so long is to see the places my favorite authors and role models in [...]
This is a brief list of some of the observations I made about English culture and lifestyle while on my trip (plus some bonus pictures of the farmhouse where I stayed on a retreat for 7 out of the 11 days I was in country). The baked goods are amazing! I was stunned. Desserts from [...]
I only spent a half day in London before my flight out of Heathrow, but I enjoyed what I got to see. I woke up early to take an hour-long train ride from Alton to London Waterloo. It was early enough that it was a commuter train, full of businessmen and women. I felt a [...]
My last full day in England was spent in Alton and Chawton, two small towns a short walk from each other. I had an Air B&B for two nights in Alton (with a very friendly cat). In the morning, I walked around Alton (I just happened to be there on a Tuesday when they had [...]
Toward the end of my vacation, I took a day trip to Salisbury. I went to see Stonehenge. It was almost comically underwhelming. In fairness, it probably would have been very awe inspiring and intriguing if I was able to see it with just a few others around. Instead, I took a tour bus out [...]
One of the best surprises of the trip was how wonderful and accessible footpaths were. They were decidedly un-American. Public footpaths made it very easy to get to places, not only on paved sidewalks, but along routes that were more direct or more private than roads. Public footpaths cut across private land, even private land [...]
One surprise that hadn't been on the original itinerary for the retreat was the opportunity to go to Kelmscott Manor, William Morris' house. Most of you have probably seen William Morris' work, even if you don't recognize his name. He was a pre-Raphaelite artist, at the head of the Arts and Crafts movement in the [...]
Welcome To The Carriage House 