The kids are a bit difficult.

To say the least. And for those who have heard the details, that is, indeed, saying the very least. I'm happy to be here and I like the town and I'm settled and I like my bedroom and the little routines I've got going for myself and my walks to the library. I like it here, but the children are challenging. So... after a rather long day with the little rascals I decided I needed a walk.

I walked into town and made a beeline for the river. I'm not sure why exactly. I think I had originally thought I would like to sit on a bench and just chill out. Turns out I wasn't in a sit and chill out mood. I was in a walk-very-fast-and-enjoy-the-nice-weather mood. So I walked. I found the Spalding Court building,

and then I made me way down to the river where I could see this tallish point of a structure on the other side of the river and a few streets a way. It has caught my eye on a few other occasions as well but this time I decided to cross the river (woohoo! first time I've done that!) and go find out what exactly it was attached to.

I found it. The Church of St. Mary's. It was a very interesting building, as are most buildings here, and the gate was open so I walked onto the grounds.

It was pretty much deserted at the time but I think they had had a service there earlier in the evening.

I tried to read some of the head stones in the church yard but most of them are too worn down to tell what they say. It's crazy how old the buildings are here. We don't really have anything like this at home.

I'm always curious to know what the history is surrounding these places. I think I might have to start spending some money and go on tours and into museums to really take advantage of my time here. I like living among the structures and just walking by them and experiencing them in that slightly less "tourist" sort of way but to really hear all of the interest bits, you either have to do the tourist thing... or do a lot of reading, which, I could do, I suppose. I could go find interesting things and then come back to the house and sit here and google them, that just seems so inefficient and not nearly as much fun.

This pub is called "Ye Olde White Horse" and is one of the few buildings I've seen to have a thatched roof.

At the conclusion of my walk, I strolled over to Sainsbury's, the largest of the grocery stores in the area to buy some cereal. Yes, I needed cereal. My first thought was Ben and Jerry's (I doubt I could find it anyway) but as soon as the idea of cereal popped into my head, I knew it was what I wanted. It made my day SO much better. I spent 4 pounds (um, yes, that's about $7) on two boxes of cereal and walked home feeling far better than I had when I had escaped the house an hour earlier.

Here it is! My box of honey-bunches-wanna-be cereal. It was quite good but just not as good as the real thing.

It looks like I'm heading to London for the weekend sometime tomorrow evening. I am definitely looking forward to that. It will be a nice break from being in the house and, well, it's London! I'm just excited to be there.

Missing you! Loads and loads!

Love,

Steph