5 Essential Items for England

After living in the UK for over 2 years now, I have come up with a short list of items that are required to make your life (or visit) to England more enjoyable. These are required items in my opinion:

- Sat Nav - this is the only way to find your way around non-grid England with ease. A must if you want to drive here.

- Torch/Flashlight - street lights are far and few so roads are DARK DARK. That includes finding drives and homes after sunset. Always important to have a little flashlight on you if you plan on being outside after dark in a non-town lit area.

- Sweater/Jumper - this piece of clothing will see you through most of the year whether cold winters or cool summer nights. Best version is the one you can wear on top of a light shirt so you can take off in the warmer months.

-Raincoat/Windbreaker/Waterproof - yes, there is a lot of rain and this item combined with the sweater can see you through all but the coldest months no matter how much it rains.

- Walking Shoes - a good pair of walking shoes are essential. There are so many places to walk all over the country. You must have some good shoes to enjoy.

And that's it. Nothing too exciting. Just the top items I think are required.

:)

My First Ramble

Earlier this month I decided to join The Ramblers. This is a national group that, well, walks. Great countryside walks normally from 5-10 miles.

This mornings walk was in Shere, Surrey. What a nice little town. It has those classic beamed houses that are a bit wonky looking, and a stream with ducks, and one of the best allotments around (so I'm told).




We started off at the car park and just over 2 hours later got back there. We walked through the countryside around Shere and Albury. Nice areas. I'm going to like these walks.

What a Dunce!

On Friday last week, I decided to go and get a nearby geocache that I have been putting off forever. So, about 2pmish, Penny Dachshund and I set off.

First mistake, parked in the wrong car park. I was up pretty far from where the box actually was located. But it was a nice day so not a big problem.

I was using my Garmin GPS and got to the area where it showed on the geocaching site map and on my GPS. Nothing there. I roamed around and tried to make heads or tails of the GPS which seemed confused as much as me. Finally, I pulled out my iPhone, checked the cache, and found I was 1/4 mile off. What?? Off we went.

I got to the right place but couldn't find the cache. Roamed and rooted around but nothing. Finally, I thought I should check what size cache I was looking for - duh. But as I got into the cache details, I quickly checked the last logs. Missing!! A few of the last people had reported it missing and I, like a total dunce, didn't check the past logs before I left. I mean, what a waste. A very rookie mistake. I really need to get back in gear with geocaching.

Penny and I went back to the car and went home for a nap. :p


Today, I placed another Hedgehog letterbox. Yippee. Little by little I will get these all out there.


























Penny is the worst walking dog. She was so tired out after about 20 mins, I had to carry her up a hill. Otherwise, it was like walking with a toddler - step, pause, step, pause - and 10 minutes later you've gone 30 feet. When she gets tired, she just drops and lays down on the path. Meanwhile, I'm coaxing her along. Thankfully no one came by - I mean, what dog doesn't love to walk?!

Here she is catching her breath. or is she just stopping to enjoy the sun and scenery??

My Kind of Book

The Letterboxers Literary Society has had some good picks for our books so far. I've just gotten started on the October Moderators Selection 'Three Men in A Boat' and I'm loving it. This book is so my type of humor and with all of the English place references, I can really relate to just where they are most of the time while going down the Thames. I had never heard of this book and was surprised that it is listed in the Classics section. What a great find! Don't you just love when you stumble upon something unexpected. . .!

New Boxes Out

It's been a long time since I have said that!

Finally got 2 of the letterboxes I have had out today. One of the Hedgehogs of Surrey series, and one of a new series, Penny's Friends. (If you have been reading this blog for any time, you should recall that Penny is Penny Dachshund - our 4 legged sidekick.)

I had to be somewhere by lunch so I had to hurry up and rush these out. Penny was dragging along a bit - she's not the best walking dog - therefore I ended up placing both boxes near each other. It can be a walk to get to them depending on how you go, or it could be 15 mins as I go. It just seemed a good idea to plant them both out there. We don't get many letterboxers around here. There aren't enough boxes to justify anyone going out of their way - unless they are coming to London and just want to wander around the countryside. These boxes are placed around the Devils Punchbowl in Surrey. Its a lovely area - especially on a nice day. (iPhone takes horrid photos - don't know why this picture looks so dark - it wasn't at all!)

There are a handful more of boxes I have here to plant. They will all be in this region unless I wander down to Sussex for the day. My goal is to get these all out by the end of the year at the latest. Some of them have been a box for 2 years now. It's time for them to come out the play. :)

The Weather on the Moors

Have you checked out the temperature differences on the right sidebar? I mean, we are talking about a 10 degree difference for two places about 4 hours apart and roughly on the same general latitude. 10 degrees cooler over there at Dartmoor! Even in the middle of summer, you have to bundle up. Bring your fleece, waterproof, waterproof gloves, waterproof pants with a thermal underneath, hat, something for your face, and good waterproof boots maybe even with gaiters. Yep. Sounds like you are going into a hurricane. Nearly. The weather here changes amazingly fast, and what you wake up to may or may not be what it is by even noon. Really.

So, if Dartmoor is on your agenda, bring ALL your gear. Everything. It will rain. It will blow. The temps will drop. Then, when you are miserable and had enough, the sun comes out and warms you up and puts a smile back on your face. Then you can sit down and count your stamps amoungst the sheep and horses.

Badger Cam

I saw my first live badger this year. He was crossing the road.

Then about 3-4 mths later, I saw my second one - in our driveway!!

They are the only 2 live badgers I've seen in the 2 years we have been in the UK. So, I think this webcam is too cool. . .Badger Cam