Our Home in Cambridge: The First Floor

In just about everywhere but the States, the first floor is not the floor you walk in on: it's the one at the top of the first flight of stairs. At our home here in Cambridge, we have a ground floor, which consists of our "living areas," and a first floor--two bedrooms.

The way up consists of an incredibly steep staircase, with a turn at the bottom. Don't worry--I've already tripped up it twice and missed the last stair at the bottom once.

At the top, if you take a quick right, you find yourself in Henry's room. His cot (or crib, as we Americans say), was lent to us by the Relief Society. The other bed was there already, and we were pleased that the duvet cover was blue!

Henry's hat, made by Nana, even has it's own hook!

Henry has a very "English" view: lots of rooftops!!

Next to Henry's room, is the master bedroom. 

We have a lovely window that gets lots of morning light. 

Closet 1

Closet 2

My jewelry tray--found at a Charity shop. It's partner holds our napkins on the table. :)

I love the doorknobs and locks on our doors. 

Little Brute lounging on the bed. :)

Mornings at the Bruton House

Around 8 o'clock I hear the voice of my baby from the next room. I've never known anyone to be so happy when they wake up in the morning: he oos and ahs, kicks his legs in excitement, examine his blanket (as if it's brand new, every day!) and will usually do that off and on for about 20 minutes. Sometime around the 20 minute mark, Derek or I go in and greet our Little Brute with a "Hello! Good morning!" and "How are ya?" This is usually met with legs kicking in excitement, wide blue eyes, and a big two-toothed grin. 

Little Brute is then brought in to our room for another 10-15 minutes. We have a couple of toys we pull on to the bed with us, and he sits and plays between us while we doze/laugh at his joy (mostly doze). Around 8:30, he gets bored of that and starts to realize he hasn't had breakfast. 

Now that he has a high chair, breakfast is a lot more fun. Derek and I sit and eat our granola, alternating between our bites and spooning pureed fruit into Little Brute's mouth. He bangs his tray in approval and generally asks (demands) a bite or two of our breakfast. Watching him discover different textures is rather hilarious--granola usually means a confused face with lots of "mmm, mmm, mmm" as he figures it out. 

After breakfast and clean up, Little Brute and one or both parents sit on the floor and play. Blocks, his musical elephant from Nana, and stack-able cups are the current favorite, though about a week ago it was the small fabric bag the laundry hampers came in. Everything goes in his mouth at this point, and he usually gives us a low down on what it tastes like as he munches away at it. 

Around 10:00, yawns, eye rubs, and fussiness begin to make their appearance. Sometimes, a bottle is the ticket to get him nice and cozy and he goes straight to sleep; other times, the bottle is still greeted with eagerness, but a the customary two songs are needed as well. 

Little Brute is learning how to go to sleep on his own, however. After two songs, he gets put in bed, whether he is asleep or not. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well he has taken this--the first day, he was shocked that he wasn't rocked all the way to sleep and told us about it for about 15 minutes. The next day, he was indignant that we didn't get the message and yelled for around 10. After that, he understood what was going on and 2-3 minutes or nothing are all he needs to remind us that he's there and he's going to sleep. 

Nap time for Little Brute means shower time for Mama. Luckily, Brute usually sleeps at least half an hour (sometimes more), so that's the perfect amount of time for me to get myself together, my hair combed and teeth brushed, and sometimes I can work for a while before he wakes up. 

Mornings here are, as you can see, quite chill. It's more about enjoying each other's company than it is hurrying to get ready. Of course we have those "hurry and get ready" days (like Sundays before church), but I'm grateful Little Brute is such a morning person--his giggles and kicks make it a lot easier for me to get myself out of bed and greet the day. 

Our Home in Cambridge: The Ground Floor

Now that we've decorated a bit, this place really feels like home. We even got a scented candle (Cinnamin Sticks!) which has helped considerably, too.

So, here's our Living Room:

I was hoping for a fireplace... but I LOVE the bookshelves!

We found our rug at the British Heart Foundation Charity shop. 

In Britain, they have on/off switches on their outlets. 

This couch converts into a bed! The arm rests go down, it's pretty sweet. This wall needs something...we're hoping to find a nice painting of Cambridge we can bring home. 

Our mail slot!

Our new "cushion." In England, throw pillows are "cushions"

The doorknob on the door into the kitchen. LOVE it!

Our nice big window! It had hideous curtains on it, but we found some nice ones at Primark.

Just next to the door into the kitchen is the cupboard under the stairs, affectionately known as "Harry's Room."

Then, we have the kitchen/dining area:

Our oven and "the hob," or stove. :)

our washer/dryer--all in one!

Our doorbell--sounds just like the one in 101 Dalmatians!

Our fridge--1/2 the size of most American refrigerators. 

Both vase and napkin tray courtesy of a charity shop. 

Our Walmart whiteboards--where we keep track of each other's schedules

Of course we have our narrow little hallway with the backdoor:

:)

And then the fanciest of rooms, the bathroom. :) Also: note that the bathroom sink and tub have two faucets: one for hot water, one for cold. So if you want cool or warm water, you have to make your hands go back and forth really fast. :)

I'm happy to say we have continuous water heaters: one for the shower and one for the kitchen/bathroom sinks. AWESOME.

One of the first things Derek noticed was our towel heater. 

Cupboard, which as obviously once a fireplace. Too bad it isn't still...

We have a nice LONG tub--I can stretch my legs all the way out! It's narrow, but it's nice. :)

So that's the ground floor of our little home! We do really love it here. I'm so grateful to Pembroke College for letting us stay here; it's usually let out to professors. We know that the Lord has His hand in getting us this place.

Blabber Mouth

Little Brute has recently decided that he wants to bla-ber bla-ber bla-ber...all the time.

He's also discovered the joy of Fanta and of sitting up with Mum and Dad in his high chair. He LOVES to be up at our height while we are eating. As you can see. :) (p.s. forgive the long videos, I thought his Grandparents would enjoy watching this kid tell us what's what.)

Raspberries

I guess Mum decided that she couldn't be outdone by Daddy when it comes to yummy things (all right by me!) because last night, I got raspberries for dinner! We bought them at the Green Market behing Great Saint Mary's Church, along with some lettuce and a few orange things Mum called pumpkins but the lady called squash (I think I'm going to believe Mum, she's never wrong). The lettuce got put in the fridge, the pumpkins on the shelves because they look pretty, and the raspberries in my tummy!

We had a few when we visited Dr. Martland on Sunday, but I was only allowed to have them if Mum fed them to me. At home, I got to eat them all by myself!!

So...I was a little messy. Daddy found me a high chair at Salvation Army for just £5, so I got to sit up high with Mum and Daddy at the table. Mum and Daddy had French Toast in big pieces, and I had some in little pieces with my raspberries. 

By the end of dinner, I had raspberries everywhere!! Thanks, Mum!

Check out the floor--raspberries everywhere!!

Fruit and Veg

A lot of people have their groceries delivered to their homes in England. Going to the grocery store usually means a walk (sometimes a long one) and then hauling your groceries home. If you don't go every week or every couple of days, that means hauling a lot of bags!

When a flyer advertising fruit and veg boxes was popped through our mail slot, I thought we should give it a try. It's a decent price, comes from local farmers, and is delivered once a week. So we get 5 different kinds of veg (not veggies, as in the states) and 3 kinds of fruits brought to us from Abel & Cole every 7 days.

This morning, Derek came downstairs and found our receipt on the floor below our mail slot. By our back door, was this a lovely little box, tied with a string!

I was pretty excited when I came downstairs. Derek had already had an apple, which he called delicious, and was pleased with what had arrived. We also were given a free veg and fruit recipe book for signing up, and then they stuck a free clove of garlic each box this week. Sweet!

I must admit, I'm a bit baffled by the red cabbage that was included--any suggestions?