A Garden Tea Party

This afternoon I attended a proper English Tea/Garden Party with a group of expat ladies for a fundraiser for a local charity. It was great fun and reminded me of some of the great perks of being an expat wife. Hats or fascinators were required since it was a proper tea and it also coincided with Ladies Day at Ascot today, which is another place where hats are part of the attire for women. I opted for a fairly small fascinator by English standards but still felt a bit like a fish out of water since I am not used to having such large things in my hair!

An attempted self portrait to capture a picture of my fascinator before leaving for the tea.

The tea was full of sweets, cakes and tea sandwiches to enjoy.

I had volunteered to bake a cake for the tea. I baked this strawberry cake (not a proper English tea time cake, but yummy all the same!).

With Anne & Michele in our hats and fascinators at the tea.

There was traditional victoria sponge cake (one of my favorite British cakes).

And plenty of delicious finger sandwiches! Salmon, cucumber, egg salad, and ham & cheese.

And of course scones with real clotted cream and jam. Talk about leaving on a sugar high!

When I returned home, I arrived to find my little Crosby fast asleep after being a good little baby for the sitter. It was a lovely afternoon for a good cause!

Edinburgh

I am a bit behind in posting these photos so I will briefly recap our weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, that we took at the end of October. We traveled with our friends BJ & Beth who reside in London. None of us had been to Edinburgh before (Scott being the exception - he had a pass through of the Edinburgh airport this summer...but not a proper stay there) so we decided that we would all meet in Edinburgh for a weekend of exploring the city.

The city is very much one of many townhouses. It is a surprisingly low city with not many buildings much higher than a few stories in height. Our hotel was also a series of townhouses that had been renovated and turned into a hotel (as many are).

The view of the many row houses from our hotel entrance.

The height in the city comes in the old part of town where the castles and the high street are all set on top of some steep hills and lovely old cobblestone streets. Our legs got a work out over the weekend!

On the bridge leading to Old Town - I think this is the North Bridge in Ediburgh.

A scene on the Royal Mile (Edinburgh's main high street leading to the Castle).

The buildings in Edinburgh. All very gray but quite picturesque.

The boys found their way to a whiskey merchant as soon as possible....

Traditional scottish bag pipes being played on the street.

The decor at the bar where the boys spent their afternoon....

Scott & BJ sampling a wide variety of scottish whiskies while Beth & I spent some time shopping...

We celebrated BJ's birthday on Saturday night while we were there. I baked red velvet cupcakes and brought them up for the weekend.

On Sunday we did explore Edinburgh Castle.

Beth & BJ inside the castle walls - a very high vantage point to see the city.

The baby bump at Edinburgh Castle.

The history marker for the castle.

State rooms inside Edinburgh Castle.

After some touring, whiskey drinking and castle sight-seeing, we had seen nearly all the main sights of Edinburgh. It was a nice weekend away without having to go too far!

Amy Visits England

My dear friend Amy who lives in Chicago came to visit us the other week for a break from her daily life. We had a great time exploring our area of England, drinking lots of tea, and also spent a few days in London to catch a play and eat (quite a bit) of food!

Amy at Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick. Although called a "hospital" the buildings were used as retirement homes for soldiers who were injured whilst fighting for Queen Elizabeth I or had simply become aged. The master behind the plan was Lord Leycester, the Earl of Leicester, Lord Dudley.

We went for afternoon tea and sandwiches at a lovely little tea room in Warwick.

The sights in Warwick, so picturesque.

On Friday, we traveled into London for a bit and our first stop was lunch! The location - La Fromagerie.

Of course we indulged in the meat platter and cheese platters of the day. I am not sure if the baby was really allowed to have all of that cheese but luckily it seems that the baby may just enjoy it just as much as I do!

Amy at LaFromagerie.

Saturday morning's first stop was some shopping on Portobello Road.

Strolling the colorful (and busy) streets of Notting Hill.....

Window shopping, antique shopping, and more.....

Scoping out all of the famous sellers along the way at the Portobello Market.

After all of our Portobello Road shopping, it was time for some food shopping at The Borough Market. Amy loved it just as much as I do!

We had some raclette from the food stall with the very long queue....

And a giant Brat with sauerkraut and all!

While at the Borough Market, we also visited the famous Neal's Yard Dairy Cheese shop there. The cheese selection was beautiful and the cheese sellers were super helpful and very friendly.

Back up north in the middle of England, we continued Amy's visit with a day trip to the towns in the Cotswolds.

When we arrived in Burton-on-the-Water, there was a lady riding her horse through the water in the town.

Scott came along for the Cotswolds adventure too!

Amy & me in Burton-on-the-Water.

Pretty houses in the Cotswolds....

And a stop for afternoon tea and scones at a new location of Huffkins in Stow-on-the-Wold.

On Amy's last full day in England, we decided to venture down to Windsor Castle. Unfortunately we did not get to see the Queen while we were there, but we did enjoy touring the massive castle and seeing the nice town of Windsor.

Approaching Windsor Castle's grounds.

Inside the castle walls.

Amy at Windsor Castle.

And in keeping with the theme of Amy's visit, we stopped for the full afternoon tea service in Windsor. The cakes and (crust-free!) sandwiches were delicious.

What a royal and elegant way to spend the afternoon! Come back soon Amy!

Saying Goodbye (for now)

One down side of this expat life includes making friends and then watching them move away before you do. Such is the case with our friends Jason & Lauri and their two adorable daughters who have become very dear friends to us during our time abroad. Jason & Scott work together and we all moved to England one day apart of one another over 19 months ago. Today, their English adventures ended, and they moved back to the US. 

I am sad to see their family leave England, as it has been so nice to have friends who understand all of the challenges that come with an international move and it has been comforting to experience all of these challenges at the same time. Beyond the challenges, we have also been lucky enough to experience many of the excitements of life in a new country with Jason & Lauri and their girls - including the arrival of their youngest daughter while we've lived here! Plus, it's just been great to have a friendly face close by for when our husbands have been traveling or increasingly busy with work. When we first moved here, I spent one afternoon wheeling all of my wet laundry in a rolling suitcase over to Lauri's house so I could use her tumble dry to dry our towels since I was oh-so-tired of our crusty clothes!! Thank goodness for such friends who understand these foreign challenges. 

It is a sad day to see them leave England, but we are happy to think that someday we will all be back in the US together so we will look forward to new memories then. 

Miss Emma greeting me at their house one last time. 

The adorable Emma & Maddy with me on their last night in England. 

Bon Voyage to the entire family...We will miss you here in the UK!!!