Home in Lancaster

The day after arriving in England I headed from the west coast to the east to the city of Newcastle for a week of Fulbright meetings and a bit of touring while Sue went right to work.  She now has the shortest commute on the planet, roughly 18 inches from the end of the bed to her desk, where, remarkably, all of her technology has connected successfully and she is already online and on the phone with her colleagues.

That is kombucha fermenting on her desk.

Newcastle was fascinating, if a tad mind-numbing, sitting in lectures (definitely not worth photographing) from 8:30 AM until late into the evening.  Among the highlights were:

Baltic Art Museum

Bridges on the River Tyne

Some penguins at Alnwick Gardens

One afternoon they bused us to Alnwick Gardens, where almost nothing was growing because it is the dead of winter (it will be spectacular when it blooms and even seeing the bones of the place was fascinating.) The neighboring castle was closed to the public because the Duchess of Northumberland was home, probably in her PJs.  The young graduate students on Fulbright Scholarships went on and on about how the castle was a great location for playing quidditch, studying magic potions, and battling dementors.  

I rolled my eyes at how young people see the world through what they know from TV and movies until I was corrected.  It is the castle where they filmed Harry Potter.  I bet my gaffe did not help my application to be the next Duchess.

As for our real home in Lancaster we live on a block one over from this one where the sun was shining one day when I was thinking to take a picture.

At the end of our block there is the longest canal (41 miles) without locks in the country.

Note the houseboat on the left bank.

Here is the view from the kitchen table into the back alleyway and the Fish and Chips shop 40 yards from home where I plan to move if I don't get my job as Duchess.

Our wonderful hosts include Nicki and John.

The serious ones, Dexter and Bruno (in the highchair)

Our bedroom is on the second floor (Dexter and Bruno have their own rooms on the third), John and Nicki are down the hall from us.  Our bedroom has its own bathroom and I don't think those are Sue's hairy knees.