Stroud

Hi Guys!

Today was a big driving day. Well not exactly for me, because not only am I hopeless with this whole opposite side of the road thing, I also never learned how to drive a manual car. Trust me, it's the first thing I'm going to learn how to do when I get home...well maybe not first, since I've got a pesky little thing called law school, but definitely second! 

We took a taxi to meet Jes, which took about an hour and a half. Then hopped into a car for another 4 hours to get to Stroud, Jes' hometown. All I can say was my butt was so sore from sitting that long! I was nice and let mom sit in the front like the good daughter I am. But I can't complain too much because we had some epic car-eoke where even mom sang along! I know!!!

We made it to Stroud and the first thing we did was meet Mumma Bailey (Jes' mom) at the local ice cream shop. Here they have a field called the Common, where it's literally nationally owned land and you can let your cattle and horses graze freely. Usually we learn in school that the problem of the commons is a bad thing, because then nobody takes care of it or that it get's used up too fast because people get greedy. Apparently that's not really a thing here. Small town life? Also, a little bit weird to eat ice cream next to cows. But trust me when I say that was the freshest ice cream I have ever had. I fear that I'm doomed and will never eat ice cream again when I get home! (Weeeelllll maybe not never, since I said the same thing when I went to Italy and yet my fridge was fully stocked with dairy deliciousness both law school semesters.)

After our ice cream we walked around Stroud on a quintessentially English path. Mom was obsessing over the flowers and the English gardens that everyone had, while I couldn't get over the thatched roofs. I mean it's a roof made of straw! How odd. But Mumma Bailey said that they only have to get replaced every 20 years, which already beats the tiles that mom had to replace on our roof back in LA. 

This is Jes always being half a mile ahead of us on the walk. She doesn't know about leisurely strolls, despite my best efforts to teach her.

We are making faces because the moms keep stopping our walk to talk about plants. I think they've already totally bonded only two hours into this road trip. This could prove to be a very dangerous combo, since moms always have the most ammunition against their daughters...

Obviously as you see in this photograph, none of our national secrets were spilled. Got about a week left for that to happen. Wish me luck, and mom if you're reading this, please keep the embarrassing stories to a minimum yeah? Well, actually there's probably not that many since I'm the perfect child ;)

I don't think there will ever be a time when I'm not totally excited by farm animals, and there are lots of farm animals here. Sheep, cows, HORSES. It may not smell the best, but let me tell you, it's just so exciting! I'm like a little child and run up to the gate and call out the them. So far, only the cows took the bait with my mooing...gotta work on by bhaaas and neighs.

We walked all the way to Frampton canal. From our viewpoint you could see Wales off to the left but it was too far to get a good shot on camera. The water didn't look too bad, as there were people paddle boarding and leisurely laying on their houseboats.

We ended our walk at the pub where we went for dinner. The food was AMAZING. I'm not exaggerating, mom got minted lamb on top of mash. I'm not crazy about lamb, but I almost stole her dish it was that good and so fresh. Here they make mashed potatoes and mix it with cabbages, which sounds odd but is really typical British food and way tastier than expected. However the best part of her dish was the gravy, it was this rich Sherry lamb broth sauce that was "rounded and had depth." (So says Mumma Bailey). Honestly, it was good and I stole more bites from my mom than I'll probably admit to. Not that my meal wasn't equally good, I had chicken and brie sandwich with homemade jam. So, yummy. If I thought the food in London was fresh, the food here absolutely blew me away. 

However, the very best part of the day was realizing that I'm staying with PONIES. Oh my god guys, I'm in 7th heaven. We are living on a side house in a farm and the hosts were so kind to let me meet their ponies. My whole day was made! Literally I never wanted to leave. The kids were telling me all about their competitions. They actually have a British version of western games (which I totally would have done had I had that option back at home!). Gymkhana is what it's called over here. The kids also get to take their horses out and on the rolling hills and race them home across the commons. 

I wonder if these kids know how fabulous their lives are. I'm trying not to be too jealous, but I am definitely pretending that I live here and that these are my ponies that I get to ride and take care of and that's my ranch backyard. Maybe after a few years at a firm I can get a little horse property with a ring. Life goals am I right? 

Getting ready for lots of silly adventures. 

Love you all,

Carolyn