Blog Entry: Whew!
We're home at last, after a trip that stretched longer than planned as we desperately, desperately tried to find some house, ANY house to rent before we left...and, knock on wood, we may have finally found one. Of course, it's not in the same neighborhood we were planning...or the same city...or even the same country...but still! ;)
We were planning to rent in southwest England; now we're probably going to rent in Wales, just over the border, for at least 6 months, while we keep on househunting in England. (Houses in the city that we want come up for rent only VERY rarely, and they tend to be snapped up within 24-48 hours. That makes househunting difficult in general but absolutely *impossible* while living up north.) We'll be living in a little Welsh town loomed over by huge hills, and our house will be in walking distance of two coffeeshops for me and Patrick, a playground for MrD, a park for Maya, and best of all, a castle for me. Woooooot!!!! I love castles so much. Ever since I moved to England, I've been hoping to live in a town with a castle one day, and this one, while tiny, is very cute. Plus, it's in easy driving distance of one of my favorite castles anywhere, Raglan Castle, which is GORGEOUS. So all in all, although this wasn't the housing solution we were expecting, it's one that looks really promising. :)
Now MrD and I have just gotten back from a day out, having had lunch with Shana and her partner at a nice Italian restaurant in Leeds and then a wonderful hour-and-a-half-long play session in the baby section of Borders. One of those things I would never have known if I hadn't become a parent - the baby section at Borders is a major social hub! MrD had a great time playing with other babies his age there, and I had a great time with their parents, none of whom I'd ever met before, but all of whom were commiserating/trading tips on all the same issues we've been going through. Then, when we left, the Borders employee at the till generously gave me a 20% discount on all the books I bought even though I'd accidentally left my discount voucher at home. International chain or no, I'm feeling an awful lot of customer loyalty to Borders right at this minute!
But the one book I'm most excited about right now is only being stocked in American shops: Freda Warrington's Elfland. Seriously, if you're a fan of adult fantasy novels, you should run out to buy this book! It's a contemporary fantasy set in England, full of love and magic and betrayal and redemption. It's lushly written, deeply intelligent and full of complex, difficult and true human relationships, as well as beautifully atmospheric magic. I was lucky enough to read an early version of this novel, and I loved it SO much even in that early draft. I can't wait for my copy to arrive from Amazon.co.uk! Freda wrote one of my very favorite historical fantasy novels, The Court of the Midnight King (about Richard III), and I'm so glad her books are finally being published in the US. Yay, Freda!
And now, since for the first time all day, I'm alone with no babycare or dogwalking to do, I'm going to actually do some (gasp!) fiction writing. Wish me luck...