England Adventures

Things are going really well here in Merry Olde England. The new house is wonderful and Charlie is proving to be an excellent new roommate. We have ended up staying up late almost every night chatting, but still haven’t run out of things to say. I predict great things.

Anyway, I promised to tell about my adventures of late. First of all, when I returned to England, my good friend Laura was here waiting for me. She had spent a couple of days in London and was ready to explore the fabulous English countryside. We rented a car and the adventure began. We spent one day driving through the splendid Cotswold Hills. We visited Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of Winston Churchill’s family. It was beautiful and the gardens were stunning. Then we just wandered around in the car, taking little one-lane country roads to perfectly quaint little villages. The Cotswold villages fit pretty much every stereotype for an English village. The roofs are usually thatched, the houses built of stone, the stone churches surrounded by crumbling gravestones. Yep, pretty much perfect. Combine that with rolling hills covered with grazing sheep and a patchwork of colors and you have some of the most picturesque places I’ve ever been.

This is Blenheim Palace. I chose this picture because I look pretty.

Like I said, spectacular scenery.

After our Cotswold adventure, Laura and I were sure nothing could beat it for beauty. We were, however, wrong. There are worse things to be wrong about I think. The next day we left early in the morning to drive to Devon and Cornwall. These two counties are renowned throughout England for their beauty and it is easy to understand why. We wandered around again and stopped at a couple of towns to walk around and stroll along the promenade at the sea (not the ocean). We eventually ended up in Dartmouth where we decided to spend the night. We found a delicious little B&B and then went for a pub meal. After dinner, we decided to take a walk and were rewarded for our efforts with some of the most romantic moments I’ve ever shared with anyone. Too bad it was once again with a girl, and a Giddens girl at that. (Laura’s sister is Amanda, my old roommate with whom I’ve walked many a moonlit beach, strolled through magnificently winding European streets, and shared an uncomfortably small bed on multiple occasions.) Dartmouth sits on a beautiful little harbor and there are sailboats anchored all around. Laura and I happened to be there during the full moon and it looked magical reflecting on the water. The next day we took a little ferry to the village of Dittisham where we wandered around for a couple of hours. Then we went back to Dartmouth and got the car. We decided to drive down the Cornish coast to Fowey where Daphne du Maurier spent much of her life. The drive there couldn’t have been more beautiful. We again found ourselves on single-track roads, which seemed impossibly narrow, yet somehow didn’t get hit by any of the oncoming cars we passed. It was absolutely stunning. The banks along the road were covered with wildflowers and it seemed as if the top of every hill offered vistas even more beautiful than the last. I was in heaven. We eventually reached Fowey and meandered through the little village by the sea. Fromthere,we drove home, just skirting the famous moors spoken of in Jamaica Inn. I loved the entire journey. I have decided that further exploration of Devon and Cornwall is absolutely necessary. Any takers?

This path reminded me of the azalea and rhododendron path in Rebecca.

I can’t remember the name of this place, but it was somewhere in Devon.

This was on our way to Dartmouth just outside of wherever the last picture was.

This is lovely Dartmouth harbor.

This is the view from the hillside in Dittisham.

Here is the beautiful harbor of Fowey.

I liked this shot because it looks like a painting.

Lately

Well, my goodness. Life has gotten busy. I am not sure how it’s already July. Anyway, things here are lovely. Just by way of catch-up, I’ll give a brief overview of some of the recent happenings. I went home to Salt Lake at the end of April to do some research for my thesis, but also to visit family and friends and eat lots of delicious food that I can’t get here. Mission accomplished on all fronts. I had a wonderful time hanging out at home with the parents, was able to attend graduations galore, had Mexican food on several occasions (which has helped to tide me over, although sometimes I splurge and buy Doritos and salsa, just because I can’t stand it any longer,) and got to feel Baby Girl Pruett kicking around inside my little sister. So overall, a pretty good visit.

While my visit was a nice chance to see everyone, my real purpose was to complete the research necessary for my thesis. I had an absolutely fantastic time doing my research. My thesis is a comparison between LDS and non-LDS English immigrants to the US during the last part of the 1800s, so naturally I needed access to the Church’s archival materials. That meant that I spent all day everyday at the Church History Library in downtown Salt Lake City. Who knew they were open for 12 hours on Thursdays and on Saturdays? Lucky me! Needless to say, I got to know the missionary couples who serve there quite well, as well as the Church employees. I loved it. The research was interesting and I had some amazing experiences with some of the sources. I was also granted unprecedented access to some of the files. I felt like a proper historian. It was a stressful time, as I felt the drive to look at as much as I possible could, knowing that it was likely my only chance to see it. I read so much microfilm that I began to see it when I closed my eyes at night. It was quite an experience, though, to be reading the personal thoughts and feelings of people who lived over a hundred years ago. I felt as though I had come to know some of them. I also had a few history nerd moments when handling the originals of some of the documents and imagining the people who created them. It might not make sense to everyone, but I enjoyed it immensely.

Now the real fun begins. I am currently in the process of actually writing the thesis, which is proving more difficult and far less enjoyable than the research. I have just over 3,000 words of the 20,000 that I need, so there is clearly much work to be done. I have set the goal to write some every day, but it’s not going too well. I have great plans for this week, though. It’s sort of intimidating to realize that the statements I make and the conclusions I draw could someday be quoted by another person. (It is also a bit fun to think of being an authority on a subject.)

In other news, I have moved house. The contract is for one year, which means that barring deportation, I will be staying in England until next summer. I’m pleased, though not sure exactly how everything will work out financially, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. At any rate, my old housemate Kim is getting married in September so we have replaced her. We also added one to our number and needed a bigger house. As soon as things are sorted out and the house looks nice, I will take pictures and post them. We’re not far from where we were before, but this house is quite a bit nicer. The owners replaced the bathroom and redid the walls and carpeting, so it looks pretty posh. It also has an extra room and a living room, which our other house was lacking. There’s also space in the back for a small vegetable patch, which I have great plans for. It’s one downfall is the absence of a clothes dryer, which will be greatly missed this winter when I have to lay my clothes out on the radiators to dry. Bleh. I hate crunchy underclothes. Oh well, I’m told that I’ll survive. We’ll see.

Other than that, life is good. I’m healthy and happy and loving the English summer. The loveliness of the summer almost makes the dreariness of the winter worth it. It stays light until well after 10 pm, which means that people stay out and about. I love it. It also, unfortunately, means that the sun comes up around 4 in the morning, which I don’t love. I’m currently in the process of securing some blackout drapes for my east-facing bedroom. I’ve had a few summer adventures, which I will write about presently, but I feel this post has reached its boredom-inducing threshold. Thank you for persevering through to the end. I hope to be better at posting in the coming weeks. It will give me a good distraction from writing my thesis. J