Busy Month

It doesn't seem like it, but it's been over a month since I last posted. The funny thing is, the more fun things you do, the less time you have to write about it. I have been pretty busy the last month. Kate and I got our English Heritage membership cards, so we have been going to a few sites each weekend. I think we are already about halfway through getting our money's worth and we are only a month into membership. We have also half-heartedly (on my part) started to paint the walls in the bedroom and I took a trip to Germany, which, as you can see from the picture of Jens and Anne above, was a really good time.

We haven't had to travel very far to see the sights. Fountain's Abbey, Rievaulx Abbey, castles, parks, and more are all near by. Some pictures of the highlights:

Fountain's Abbey. It was one of the largest and most powerful during its time (1200's were its prime), but it was already in steep decline by the 15th century. To put that in perspective, Columbus hadn't sailed the ocean blue yet.

Rievaulx Abbey was another important site, but this one died a slow death over a couple hundred years. By the time Henry VIII declared himself the leader of the Church of England and tore the place apart, they only had 20 monks. You can't really tell by the pictures, but it is set in a valley surrounded by steep hills. It had been described by some of the monks as one of the most peaceful places on earth.


Helmsley Castle. This was near Rievaulx Abbey; in fact, the giant, black haired fellow who defeated the Scots and established the castle, Walter Espec, gave the monks the land for their abbey. The castle itself was only attacked once and didn't fare so well. Many of the defenses were over 500 years old and were always only for show (the gate, for example, could be defeated by simply walking around it). It did, however, have some pretty cool (but expensive) costume ideas on the gift shop.

I also had the chance to visit Jens and Anne in Germany. I have been trying to get over to see them since I arrived in the UK. The timings never quite worked out. Last fall Jens had suggested that I try to make it there the weekend of 15 February in order to celebrate Carneval. I was able to the be part of the excitement in Cologne and Xanten for costume wearing, drinking, parades, and blood sausage.

I had a great time and everyone was very kind to let me tag along on their outings. The least funny part of the trip was when I drank too much, fell asleep in a bar, and had my pocket picked. The funniest part of the trip was during the parade in Xanten. Their big thing is that they throw out Blutwurst (blood sausage) from the last float in the parade. By the end of the parade, everyone was pretty drunk, and there were a lot of empty bottles and glasses on the tables lining the sidewalk. As the blood sausage came flying in, it knocked around and shattered the glass, people were getting pelted with bags of meat, and it was bit of a mad dash for the food. Maybe you had to be there. Trust me, it was comedy gold.

Other happenings from the last month:
Surprise birthday party for Little Phil.

Free deck furniture acquired. This will be nice in the "summer" (even though it's still cold outside), especially when I fire up the oil lanterns I took off the Madeline & Nine.

I broke my wrist in two places. I wish I could tell you it was from battling bears holding sharks, but in actuality, it was from playing basketball. I thought it was a sprain, but after two weeks of being injured with little improvement, I went to a doctor (the first being one of Jens' friends we were drinking with in Germany). Sure enough: broken. I will be in a cast for about 3 months, assuming that I don't need surgery to put a pin in the bone.

Already, after only 3 days, the cast smells bad. This could be a long few months. Especially for Kate.