UNITED KINGDOM TRAVELS, JULY AND AUGUST 2002

ABBEYMEAD NEIGHBORS

Kate and Simon showed up sooner than we expected, as they had been lurking around the countryside all afternoon, trying to guess which road we would be coming in to town on.  After a brief chat they took some shots, and we all headed on to Abbeymead.  The bike ride into city streets was ok, not too traumatic.  We pulled up to Abbeymead, and our house on Grayling Close, in very short order.  Kate and Simon filmed us as we stopped at a neighbor’s house to say a quick hello and get the key.  They followed us, recording our first impressions for posterity, as we went into the house for the first time.

Our exchange house is very nice, with a living room, dining room and kitchen and half bath on the ground floor, and 4 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.  We have all of the luxuries, including a washer and dryer. After filming us touring the house and recording our comments and first impressions, Kate and Simon politely took their leave so we could get down to business:  Showers and Laundry.

When we were more presentable, Kate and Simon returned and extended an invitation for tea from Jane and Andrew, parents of Alex, who is at our house with the Bywaters.  We strolled up the street, every step recorded for history, and re-met these nice people, feeling much more sociable now that we were clean.  In addition to Jane and Andrew, we met Jane’s sister, her parents and her son.  We all sat down to a nice tea party with scones, cream and jam. 

What a charming and interesting family.  We had a great time visiting with them and they were such good sports to have us crash in on their afternoon.  As soon as our film crew left they admitted that they had just been getting out the wine when our Maverick people knocked on the door and asked them to invite us for tea.  We happily agreed that while tea and scones were very nice, wine would hit the spot, and they gleefully pulled the wine bottle from under a bush somewhere and we all had a nice glassful while we continued our visit.

As the afternoon turned to dusk we said our goodbyes and went back to our new home for a bit of dinner and bed.