Rainy Friday, October 3rd

It is my Dad's birthday today - happy 76th, Poppy!
Today it has been raining hard all day, the first full day of rain we have had since our journey began on September 8th. We have been so lucky with the weather. We are in our great 4 story townhouse in Norwich, so even on a rainy day we have a fabulous view. We're situated on the river Wensum, and it is incredibly picturesque. Each morning, we open our bedroom curtains (our bedroom is on the 3rd floor) and we see the river and the ducks floating along. And almost every day so far, the ducks have been joined by 3 white, elegant swans. They are enormous birds and are so regal as they glide. Steve and Sophia and I were lucky the other day to be walking back home along the river and saw these 3 swans flying toward us. It is hard to describe how awesome it was. We just stood there as they flew toward us and then sped past us, their wings gently flapping.
Our days have taken on a nice rythm here. Sophia always likes to snuggle a little when she wakes up, which makes for a wonderful way to start the day. Steve leaves for the university (they call it the "uni" here) in the morning after we've all had breakfast together. Of course we have tea and crumpets and jam, and often granola or porridge and scones. We have an electric teapot here and we've grown to love it. You fill it with water and in less than a minute it boils and makes for fabulous tea.
At first Steve took the bus, but he's been lent a bike from a friend of ours and now he cycles in and gets great exercise and arrives much faster than he would traveling on the bus. Plus, he's making a smaller 'carbon foot print'. We've noticed here in Britain that they show great concern for recycling and there is much talk of how to care for the environment and use fewer resources. For those of you who know me well, I feel like I have been contributing to this effort my entire life by buying almost everything I own at yard sales! It is my own way of effectively using recycled goods :)
After Steve leaves, Sophia and I bundle up (it's already gotten chilly here) and head out. We walk to the market, or to a park, or do other errands, but we always go out (not today, I'm afraid, it really has been raining so hard and it's cold). There is a marketplace here in Norwich that has been in the same location for the last 900 years. It is a colorful place with dozens of small stands that sell everything from produce to shoes to ready-made food. On our first trip to the market, I tried a 'bacon bap' and Steve had 'mushy peas'. My 'bap' was a buttered bun filled with bacon that was almost like a slice of ham. Quite tasty. Steve's 'mushy peas' were just that - ahot bowl of mushy pea soup. He loved it and added a lot of some mysterious sauce that was on the counter. Sophia and I didn't try it because we don't like peas. I have since learned from a British friend that it is very common to have mushy peas poured over your chips! (Chips are what we call 'steak fries'). I won't be trying that any day soon.
Sophia and I often go to the regular supermarket, too. It seems that food comes in smaller packages here, so you run out more quickly and have to go to the store more often. I rather like that - we're eating a little less and walking a lot more. Norwich is a town made for walking. We can get to anything we need within a 30 minute walk, and most things are within a 15 minute walk. I know I'll really miss being able to walk everywhere when we go back home. We've made a friend at the supermarket. Ray, the manager, noticed how lost we looked our first time there and was very helpful. When we spoke to him last, Steve said we may be trying a short trip to Scotland, and since Ray is from Scotland, he had lots of advice, including we be sure to try 'haggis and 'nips'. Haggis is "a Scottish dish made from sheep's offal (internal organs) mixed with suet, oats, onions, and seasonings, which is packed into a round sausage skin and usually boiled. Haggis is traditionally cooked in a cleaned sheep's stomach" and nips are boiled turnips. Okay - do I have to tell you which of us will try this and which of us won't?
So if Sophia and I don't need to go to the market, we go to the library or a park. The library is small but Sophia loves it and they have a story time for kids 0-3 on thursday morning that she loves. I'll tell you more about that later.
After all of this great fun and walking, we return home and have a light lunch and then Sophia takes a nap. I clean up, do the dishes, laundry, start dinner, etc. , sometimes read about Norwich or other places we've been, and generally get us all settled in. Now that I've got all of that under control, I should be able to write more often.
I'm off to get Sophia up from her nap, so "ta ra" for now!