The weather was very indecisive. We sat on a safari truck in the sunshine. Mick was near the window and seemed a bit bewildered because he was getting wet and he couldn't figure out why. As it turns out, folks, it can rain even when it's sunny. As we stopped for lunch and looked at meerkats, it really started to feel stormy. There was a charge in the air as black clouds came rolling in and we could hear thunder and see lightning. After a few minutes of this the rain came, so we went and checked out the reptile and insect house. Then it cleared up for a bit and we got back on a safari bus to head up to look at the carnivores. The rain started coming down really hard so we all had to rush for cover, but thankfully, it only held up for a few minutes so we could move on. BUT THEN! The sun came out and it warmed up and was disgustingly humid. I can deal with heat- I hate it, but I lived in it for 14 years, I deal. But when it comes to humidity I am a giant baby. Giant.
Either way, it was a fun day and I enjoyed being out with everybody very much. There was a strange moment when I ordered lunch for Mick and myself. The girl noticed my accent and said "are you here on holiday?" Mick piped up and answered "she is, I'm from here." I turned and looked at him and said "no, actually. I moved here. Remember, Mick?" You know, to like, marry you? Men. It is weird though, because, as I've said, it just feels like I'm here on vacation.
The animals at this zoo were really funny. They seemed very British to me in that they didn't give a crap.
 |
| We saw giraffes that didn't care if we wanted out the gate, they did too, so they were going to wait. The safari truck driver said that they tend to do this in hopes of escaping. |
 | ||
| There was a Black Rhino drinking happily from his trough. He, too, didn't care if the truck wanted to get by. He wanted his water and took his sweet time in moving to the field to the left. But that's okay, it provided a great photo opportunity. |
 | ||||||
| Mick was very into the snakes and lizards in the Reptile House. I refused to stop and look at the spiders. |
 |
| See the hills between the trees? |
 | ||||||
| A bit dreary, but still beautiful, don't you think? |
After the zoo we went back to the house and got ready to go out to dinner with Mick's dad and his girlfriend to finish up Laura's birthday celebration. We went to a really chic pub in Eynesford, Kent where they actually have a ford. A ford is where a river or stream is shallow enough to wade or drive across (remember Fording the River in Oregon Trail with your oxen in front of your conestoga wagon? Yes.) Anyways, it's a gorgeous little village. Here's a shot of the ford
 | |
| (image from geograph.org.uk) This is the ford. You can either drive through it or use the bridge. |
Mick and I both had lamb and tomato soup and Eton Mess in The Plough. Eton Mess! I haven't told you about Eton Mess! More history lessons! It's a really good dessert made up of cream, meringue bits and strawberries. The story goes that there was some big to-do at Eton, which is a very prestigious boy's college (ages 13-18) and the person who was carrying the dessert (which probably looked something like this):
 | |||||
| image from bbcgoodfood.com |
 |
| image also from bbcgoodfood.com |
Right, so. Back to the story....
Mick's dad dropped us back at the house. We had been directed by Mick's mom to be very quiet when we entered because both she and Mick's step-dad would be sleeping. It was about 11:00. We got in, flipped on a light switch and blew a fuse. We had no flashlight, so we used the light from the screen of my phone to search for the fuse box. Mick seemed fairly sure that it was in the cupboard under the stairs (yes! It's so Harry Potter!) and sure enough there was a metal box. We both tried to pry it open but realized you needed a screwdriver to open it. I thought that was kind of stupid, and I should have listened to myself when I thought "that really makes no sense. If you blow a fuse, and you're in the dark, you shouldn't have to search for a screwdriver..." So I unscrewed the panel and as soon as I did an annoying ring came from the house alarm. Mick looked in the box and began to curse. We'd opened the alarm control box which was just filled with wires. When we went back into the hallway and saw the alarm display, it said "tamper" and continued to let out one, long, never-ending beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. We decided we'd have to go out into the garage and search for the fuse box there. So, armed only with determination and the illumination from my phone, we found it and Mick flipped the switch and all was well. And thankfully closing the bedroom door drowned out the sound of said beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep because we didn't know how to stop it and didn't want to wake his mum or step-dad to do it for us. When we woke up this morning it was taken care of by his step-dad. And we didn't wake anyone up. Phew.
This morning we came back to Bognor with Mick's mum before she went to work. Early. We left the house at 6am and got here at about 8am. I took a nap and watched some television, then we went down to Tesco to get some stuff for dinner and lunch. We came back and ate and I worked on unpacking one of my suitcases, but I can't really finish until Mick clears some space for my underwear and jeans and stuff for me in his room (GIANT HINT, BABE!). I've got wardrobe space in the guestroom to hang stuff but no drawer space.
Anyway, it's nice to be back in Bognor. It's a boring town, but the weather is much nicer since it's on the sea.
Just to let you know, I'm doing more research for the second volume of Out of the Mouths of Brits. Hope to have that up for you in a couple days. Take care, everyone :)
No comments:
Post a Comment