Random Monday Musings

1. Our soon-to-be housemates Cullen and Pamela came from Atlanta on Thursday, and it's been great to get to know them and help them get acquainted with Durham. 


2. I've still been running. I didn't go yesterday, so I went twice today. This morning I went with Kristine, and this afternoon I went with Ashley. I am proud to say that I went the whole way without stopping both times! I think it was about four miles total. Woop! Woop!


3. On Saturday, Nathan and I gave our first tour of Durham. I know that I haven't mentioned this before, so I'll dedicate a post to it. I'll be working on it tonight.


4. I miss Nathan. He's still at the library. It's after 6:00 p.m., so think I'll give him a call and ask him to come home to hang out with me.

Image from my Pinterest "Reasons I Work Out" board.

The Celebration Continues

Yay! The Graduate Wife featured my story in its new series on celebrations. 

I love that blog. And I love those girls for starting it. If you're a wife of a graduate student - and even if you're a graduate student yourself - it's a must-read.

Getting Caught in the Rain

So, I've been trying to exercise six days a week to prepare for my first race ever, a 10K on September 11th. My friends Kristine and Ashley have been the key factors in making this happen. I've so needed these friends to hold me accountable to actually get out the door and to chat with on the trail.

The other day, Kristine and I left for a run in the sunshine, but then we got absolutely dumped on with rain. Soaked. Dripping. Wet. FUN! I didn't think it would be, but I actually enjoyed being out there and fancied myself to be a proper runner. Real runners run no matter what the weather. 

I knew those 1,000,000,000 sandwich bags from Uncle Bob and Aunt Deanie would come in handy. I used one to cover up my pump when it was wet out. Huzzah!

This picture does no justice to how wet we were. You'll just have to believe me. :)

Belsay Castle and Gardens

Yesterday Nathan and I used our English Heritage membership cards and headed to Belsay Castle and Gardens. We were blessed with beautiful weather, and we thoroughly enjoyed our "date day." After a few hours exploring the grounds, we finished with a picnic lunch.

The day wouldn't start off right without a little planking.

This hall was built in the 1800s.

It was modeled after the Greek style.

I'm winking. I promise.

This is the inside of the hall. There were 34 rooms.

This is the dining room, looking out over the gardens.

Nathan's favorite room, the library

The view of the staircase from the second floor

Nathan was joking about the "sheer drop" of about four feet.

I liked the Japanese maple to my right.

This was the croquet pitch. I've never seen bigger cyprus trees.

There were quarry gardens, which were just amazing.

It kind of felt like being in Jurassic Park...

...or at least like waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.

This is the castle on the property.

The front window

The kitchen - this is Nathan "fake cooking."

The inside of the castle

We heard bat/rat noises up above. Yikes!

Outside the castle

A tree that looked like it didn't belong

Beautiful sky and sun

Cool pathway

A door to...?

HUGE leaves of something :)

If you're ever in the Newcastle area, we recommend going to Belsay Castle and Gardens. It's about 10 miles west of the airport. It was really family friendly and worth the trip! 

Quite Like, Rather Dislike: Round 9

Quite Like: Tesco's bake at home bread rolls, a.k.a. petit pains. So, so, so good.

Rather Dislike: No screens on windows or doors = bugs in the house. I just smashed one on my computer screen. Yuk.

Source

Nathan and I had a great day out at Belsay Castle and Gardens. Pictures will come tomorrow!

Sunday Afternoon Tea

One of the benefits of having rubbish weather like today is that not many people visit Crook Hall (bad for business), leaving lots of extra food lying around (great for us). Our neighbor and owner of Crook Hall, Maggie came to the door just now to ask us if we wanted "an afternoon tea" as the food would just be wasted if it wasn't eaten. 


We said, "Sure!" but, to be honest, we didn't even know what it meant. We looked it up on Wikipedia and browsed the afternoon tea menu at the Ritz in London getting more excited by the second, and after a few minutes, she came back with beautiful tiered glass trays laden with gorgeous finger foods. 

I mean, really! What a lovely surprise!

Coffee cake

Ginger cake

Vanilla cake with cream and jam filling

Scones and clotted cream and strawberry jam

Prawn and mayonnaise sandwiches

Cheese and tomato sandwiches

Ham and cheese and mustard sandwiches

Smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches

Y'all should go to Crook Hall and Gardens immediately, but save some tasty food for the neighbors! :)


Thanks so much, Maggie and Keith!

All Proppa Like

Hiya pet, ya ahreet? Ah ye shoowah? Proppa knackuhed, me. It'd be dead good if yahs would give these vidyoes a loook heeyah like fo' uss. Wicked.


That was my Geordie accent. Did you hear it? :) Here's my translation:


Hi friend. Are you well? Are you sure? I'm officially tired. It would be really good if you would watch these videos for me. Cool. 



This is a funny poem about Newcastle spoken in the local dialect. He says a bad word or two, but you probably won't even recognize it when you hear it. I'm proud to say that I can understand about 90% of this. Woohoo!



This girl... These are the kind of girls I met doing supply teaching. The look, the accent, the lilt in the voice, everything. The way her voice changes pitch about five times in two seconds (0:06-0:08) is so, so Geordie. The video is just of her saying common words, like sure (shoowah). It's interesting.



Lastly, I nicked this off of Luke Graham's Facebook page. Two English guys explore Wal-Mart for the first time. Amazing!


Enjoy the videos. Happy Friday. Love from the Northeast!