Wednesday, August 25th

Hello Everyone!

It's Wednesday morning, and I thought I'd let you all know what we've been up to.  While we've not done anything too wild, we've kept ourselves busy and had a few little adventures...

On Monday evening, we decided to go out for a drink.  We walked down to a pub near the house, which was a totally traditional British pub--well-stocked with beer and whiskey, very casual, with unusual decor such as ceramic boots lining the walls and small chandeliers hanging from the cielings.  Kyle enjoyed his first beer in England (a glass of Stella), while my first drink was less successful.  I ordered a vodka martini, and the bartender didn't know how to make it!  I had to tell him it was vodka and vermouth, then I had to ask for a few olives.  I was totally surprised (hello, James Bond, shaken not stirred?!), but now I know to ask for wine or whiskey next time!  While the bartender was super nice, there weren't many people there and we decided to split.  We are planning to go there next when they have a quiz night in a few weeks, just to confirm how little British trivia we know.

After that, we wandered to another pub nearby, which my uncle frequents when he's in Sheffield when a football (soccer, of course) match is on.  We really liked this place!  Kyle tried some darker British beer (with a strange name like Black Lamb, Hair of the Lamb, or something like that) and was reminded that a lot of the beer here will not be served as cold as we're used to in the US.  Instead of a martini, I ordered the safer vodka/tonic*(see note below) and was impressed by the generous portion of vodka.  Good thing we were walking!  We stayed in time to watch the beginning of the evening's football match (it was Monday Night Football, so the place was pretty hoppin'), then ambled home for dinner.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was a pretty quiet day.  We wandered around town a bit more and did some work on the house.  The excitement for the day was Kyle driving the car that we have in Sheffield.  When we arrived to the house on Saturday, we found the car had a flat tire (tyre in England!).  Kyle reinflated it and made an appointment at the local tire place to get it repaired.  He drove us down there, they fixed it, and he drove us back.  Kyle did a great job!  It's a very weird feeling to drive on the other side of the car and on the other side of the street, and I was totally impressed (although not surprised) that he did such a fantastic job.  He said afterwards that it was pretty nerve-wracking and quickly took a nap after getting home.  He earned it.  In the evening, we found a walking route that we really liked, and our goal is to find more.  This neighborhood, and Sheffield in general, is so nice that we want to make sure to take advantage as much as we can. 

*As a quick note to anyone who cares, I was not partaking in the sampling of beers because I have to maintain a gluten-free diet due to a thyroid condition I have.  Essentially, anything tasty and good such as beer and pizza has gluten (wheat) in it.  This restriction will certainly make eating and drinking in England and Europe interesting!

OK, enough babble for now, and onto some pictures. These are of things that few of you will care about, so I promise to get better at taking pictures of things that are actually interesting. 

Kyle making himself breakfast on Tuesday.  Many of you were actually interested in what we're eating (you weirdos), so Kyle made himself some eggs and bacon.  I made myself a soft boiled egg (the eggs in England are far superior to those in the US!) and...

...green drink!  It had banana, raspberries from the garden, an orange, spinach, British sweetheart cabbage, British spring greens, spinach, flax seed powder, and Xango juice (a fruit juice). 

Kyle is excited to be at #45!  (That's the house number)

Us on our way into town.  You'd be able to see town behind us, but our big fat faces are in the way.  You can tell it's sunny out; we're not normally squinty.

View of town on our route

Us waiting patiently at the tyre place.  I think Kyle is relieved he drove so well!