Friday 29 July 2011

The American Suburbanite has returned to Rural England

(c) ASRE  My favorite oak tree in the village

Wow it has been a long time coming for this post.  In all I guess it could have been worse but I was gutted when I said good bye to my husband at the airport when he left America in May and my new visa application had not yet been submitted.  Not because we were not finished, but because it had taken another few weeks for the lawyer to complete his portion of the application... Two weeks exactly after my application was delivered to the British Consulate in New York, we received my approved spousal visa.  Although it is good for 27 months, I couldn't return to England for another month based on my travel itinerary submitted with the application.

Enough about my visa application, I am with my husband in jolly ol' England again and very happy to be home (although I did cry when I left my parents and nephew behind at the airport, I have a theme going!)  We have had a great time in the week I have been home.  My husband was able to take three extra days off work when I first arrived back in the UK, it was great to have some time with him after 9 weeks apart. 



We went to Scarborough and visited his parents.  While there, I traded the Doc Ford novels I had read for two that I have not yet read!  We did a 7.5 mile walk around the North and South bays and back to the house.  And even explored a little of the seashore during the low tide.  The water was much colder than when I was in FL so no swimming for me although there were a few guys out there surfing!

(c) ASRE surfers in Scarborough


Friday after going to the gym and swimming in the morning, we went to the races at York Race Course for the evening portion of the Music Showcase weekend.  Our friend Ms. V came along as well and we all had picked at least one winner.  A night at the races is always better if you win at least one and Ms. V won a few!  After the races, Blondie performed for about 90 minutes and it was great!  We were not that close to the stage, but we could see the stage as well as a few big screens they had positioned around the course. Being further back gave us plenty of room to dance!  She sounds great for 66 years old, and still putting out new music.

(c) ASRE Blondie


(c)ASRE A gorgeous sunset for all at the Blondie Concert


We took it easy on Saturday and slept in after our big night out.  We stayed with Ms. V and family and just relaxed until the early afternoon before heading back home.  After showers and a quick nap for me (5 minutes, a true cat nap!)we headed out to do some car shopping.  Now that I am able to start looking for work, I need to make sure I have a vehicle to get me to and fro.  We are looking at the Vauxhall Corsa, although it appears an American driving license, though legal for a year, is not an easy one to get insured. 



On Sunday we made up for our laziness and walked another 7.5 miles for our lunch.  We walked the back side of the village along the footpaths through the fields to a neighboring village and stopped at the pub for a pint and a sandwich before walking back.  It was interesting to see all the different crops.  We noted two types of grain, guessing one is wheat and the other might be barley, sweet beet root, and maybe even asparagus plants.  We had another lovely sunny day, nothing like the summer sun in PA or FL lately but it was nice enough for me to wear sandals and a t shirt!

(c) ASRE Sporting my Chaco's with a little hitchiker! Ladybird beetles (lady bugs) were everywhere!




Monday my husband had to go back to work and I started some of the mundane chores like unpacking, laundry, and weeding.  Our front cobbles had dandelions bigger than me and the cobblestone was nowhere in sight.  With a putty knife and some nimble fingers I have excavated a large portion and now only want to do a length about one foot wide in front of our flower barrels before I call it done.  three days of work into it so far and probably one more to go.  It may have to wait until the weekend though as tomorrow I have scheduled myself a busy morning.  Pilates at 10 am and then a driving lesson at noon for 2 hours.  We figured if they won't inure me on an American license, they will have to when I get a full UK license!



(c) ASRE 9 weeks of no weeding
(c)  ASRE part of the finished product

2 comments:

  1. I just joined your blog and I am eager to compare/share our mutual experiences as an American suburbanite in England. I just received my first settlement visa after an excruciating month back in the States waiting for my visa to be approved and processed. I am now planning my wedding and dreading the next visa application!

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  2. Our engagement application was not so bad, took about 6 weeks and I had to adjust my scheduled flight by about 2 weeks I think. The 2 year spousal visa was a different story, our mistake the first time. So although I proofread the application about a gazillion times and my husbnd did as well... we missed answering a section of questions. Fair enough, they said to complete the missed page and resubmit. We then got caught up in beurocracy and by April and the third time I 'resubmitted' the application I was refused stay in the UK. We hired a lawyer right away (a bit of an impulsive move but gave us a bit of piece of mind) and over the next 2 months or so collected supporting documents to our visa app and waited for the lawyer to write a 1 page letter stating why I should be granted a spousal visa after being refused one. Honestly the hardest part of the last application was waiting for the lawyer. Everything else moved rather smoothly.

    Where in England do you live? Are you getting married here or in the states, or another location entirely? Is your husband to be English? I wish you the best of luck with everything.

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