Book Review: Finally, a book by an American expat living in the Cotswolds! I love reading memoirs by expats writing about their new country, but I find many books about Italy, France and Spain, and few about England. Perhaps expats in England don’t see life here as different enough from life in the US to write a book about it. But, they are wrong, and Jennifer Richardson in her book Americashire: A Field Guide to … Continue reading
Our September trip to France with Chris is becoming a regular event. This year we decided to spend our week in Burgundy, south-east of Paris. This area was new to us all. We had to choose between the western part near Semur-en-Auxois and Montbard and the Côte d’Or wine region that runs from Dijon south to Santenay. We chose the latter because Beaune, in the center of this wine area, looked like a great town … Continue reading
On April 1 it began raining and it continued raining until September. There were some good weeks throughout the spring and summer. The Jubilee Weekend in June was a washout, but anyone who watched the London Olympics knows that we had warm, sunny weather for most of those two weeks. By September it was declared that this was the wettest summer on record in England for over 100 years (or longer – it depends how … Continue reading
Bunting everywhere. Long lines of traffic in and out of Stroud. Empty shelves at the Waitrose. Endless TV specials about the Royal Family. It must be the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend (celebrating the Queen’s 60 years as Monarch). I wish I could get more excited about this, but after living here for two years I have decided that I am not one of the 70% who want to keep the Monarchy. I really don’t see … Continue reading
At the start of April, the MET Office announced that most of the south of England was officially in drought. Watering restrictions (hose pipe bans) were implemented in the south east counties. It turns out that England has been in a drought since we arrived. Friends in the US ask me how can I stand the weather in England, picturing a constant downpour of rain. It does not rain as much here as it does … Continue reading
Lately I have been thinking about the differences between small town USA, where we used to live, and a village in the Cotswolds, where we live now. I have been comparing my daily life here and to my life in the US. The differences are not big, but there are differences and I think they are caused by the way the towns and villages are situated here. The physical layout of this place affects how … Continue reading
When we lived in the US I listened to NPR a lot, and even though I still catch some of my favorite programs via Podcast, I have turned into a total BBC Radio 4 junkie. I have a radio in the kitchen and if I am in there, Radio 4 is on. I even time my cooking to listen to The Archers at 7:03 every night (except Saturday). In the US I listened to NPR … Continue reading
One of the many things that I like about living in England is the television. The BBC produces great dramas, comedies and news shows. Every household pays a TV license (£145.50 per year) which pays for the BBC, so you have public ownership of the part of the media.There are four BBC channels, creatively named One, Two, Three and Four. People tell me that each has a different “flavor” of show, but I have not … Continue reading
We spent much of this year looking at houses for rent. We had not intended to stay longer than a year in the first cottage we rented, but we ended up staying a year and a half because we could not find something that we liked better. I came to England with a North American sensibility towards housing. It did not matter that I had stayed in many vacation rentals on many vacations. I did … Continue reading
In mid-September we spent a week in Gascony with our friend Chris at a farmhouse in the countryside near Condom. We all arrived Thursday afternoon. Chris was jetlagged having flown from California and we were exhausted from our one hour time change so we made a simple dinner at “home”. But the next morning we were ready to go and got several “must dos” accomplished the first day: coffee and croissant in a cafe, lunch sitting … Continue reading