Remember how it feels to try something the first time?

When I was house hunting, I stumbled upon a lady on her way to the market. We started a conversation and ended up talking for at least half an hour, maybe more, it was great conversation. She taught me about the area and I pointed at the house we were hoping to rent. In good British fashion, we shared our names at the end of the conversation and she very kindly offered to have us over when we move in. 

We were outbid on that house and part of the reason it was unfortunate was that I wouldn't get to see those neighbors as much. Fast forward a few months, to Friday night, my family and I decided to walk over to her house just to say hi. 

She and her husband were grilling in the garden and when I said their names, she immediately jumped up, said my name, and opened their little gate for us. They welcomed us into their garden, whilst their grill was cooking, brought us wine and toys for the kids. Then they brought us into their house where we again engaged in great conversation. It turns out that the husband dabbles in photography like I do, and the wife works at a competitor in the defence industry. We chatted about everything from Calvin and Hobbes to collecting sand from global travel. It was such a warm feeling and our entire family had such a nice taste of kind, British family time.

On Saturday morning I woke up and realised that the sounds and smells of the UK are as beautiful as the manicured gardens. The birds were chirping, the garden tools were buzzing, and the smell of happy progress was in the air. 

Saturday afternoon was a special day for the area called Pirbright. They were celebrating their 800th "Scarecrow Festival". Or 800th anniversary of something anyway, sorry, I didn't read the signs very thoroughly :) It's a tiny little town with a fun field surrounding a circular duck pond. Hundreds, if not a thousand people, wondered around the fields which were filled with colorful tents. The tents had everything from fruits, to kids games to horse/pony rides, to smoked burgers and hot dogs. The playground and the quant city hall building were popular areas. I think I saw one scarecrow, so I guess I should have asked around to gain a deeper understanding of the history. We enjoyed ourselves for several hours and then jumped in the car to walk around a town called Woking.

Woking has a classic European outdoor shopping area. It also has an indoor mall connected to that area. We did some walking, shopping and exploring before heading back home. The girls are into buying books, toys and ice cream right now, so all three of those were easy to find.

For dinner we stopped at a Japanese chain called Wagamama. They're known for their Brutish curry. After dinner, we did my favorite thing which is the conversational walk home. There was a river walk right next to the restaurant, so we strolled that way and reflected upon our time here in London.