the laundry theory

The BBC reported recently that...

Record number of people leave UK... More people left the UK last year than in any year since current records began in 1991, statistics show... Dean Morgan, of the website workpermit.com, said the bad summer weather had led to a large number of inquiries about emigration. "Normally in July and August time its quite quiet but this year we've been inundated," he told BBC News. "Perception of crime is another of the main reasons for people wanting to leave," he said. "Also, people are worried about their children and they worry about their jobs and their future here and possibly the economy as well."

Sure, weather, danger, family, and job security are all fine reasons to leave a country. However, I think they overlooked a big one... laundry.

Consider this:
Exhibit A
The size of our combination high-efficiency washer/dryer (Seems like a standard size from what we saw while flat-hunting. It's approximately 1/2-1/4 of our washer at home)


Exhibit B
Washing time for one load: 2hrs. 15min.

Exhibit C
Drying time in the same machine for first 1/2: 1hr. 20min.
Note: The "dryer" function of this machine is steam heat. To function properly, you can only put in 1/2 a load at a time. It is rare, or takes an extremely long time, for your clothes to come out dry. They almost always feel damp, so...
Drying time on drying racks: 1-2 hrs. (varies a lot)
Iron time: 15-30min. (This machine creates some of the wrinkliest clothes I've ever seen. The clothes in this picture are still wet and aren't a good example of this)


Exhibit D
Drying time in the same machine for second 1/2: 1hr. 20min.
Drying time on drying racks: 1-2 hrs. (varies a lot)
Iron time: None for this one. I don't iron underwear.


Exhibit E
Total time per load: approximately 7-10hrs.
Number of loads per week: approximately 4 (this is alternating washing sheets or washing the towels every other week)

Now keep in mind that this is for two adults who don't regularly roll around in the grass, are trying to avoid washing their clothes as long as possible, and aren't hot enough to sweat.

After all of that, you would hope the results would be good. They're not. While the clothes are clean and smell good, they are rough and scratchy even with fabric conditioner (aka softener). And, as I mentioned before, they are the wrinkliest things I've ever seen and don't look good even after ironing. Not to mention that more of the clothes needs to be ironed than I have ever done at home. Now, I'm sure that I have some tricks to learn since I'm new at this, but I'm certainly not looking forward to the bulkier, tougher-to-dry clothes of winter :)

Pat has noticed that people have a different attitude about clothes in his work environment. In the states, it's the unwritten rule that you don't wear the same thing twice in the same week. Here, people wear the same outfit several days in the same week. Makes sense once you've done laundry.

In conclusion, who in their right mind would want to do this when they can see how much and how fast clothes can be washed in the US. Instead of taking all week, it barely takes a day. AND, after it's all said and done, which method is really more energy efficient??

I'll let you ponder that one over Labor Day weekend!

Have a good one!!

The Lake District

Well you've already heard about our driving saga. My recommendation is to get away from the cities. The landscape and driving feels a bit like being in the Colorado Rockies except that it's greener. Now don't get me wrong, it's not as high, but it's dramatic. Instead of brush, you have ferns everywhere. And in some places extremely soft, cushy grass.

These pictures are from the area around Derwentwater near Keswick:




Honister Pass


From the Slate Mine at Honister Pass
You can take tours and eat if you want.


Buttermere




Castlerigg Stone Circle
It's actually free to park and see (that's rare)


In some of these photos you might see a hint of purple on the hills--it's not quite the same intensity in this area as it was when we drove over the moors. Turns out it's heather, not lavender as I incorrectly stated in a previous blog. Maybe the good news for us is that heather seems to have a longer bloom season.

Sutton Bank Overlook & Middleham Castle

On the way to the castle, we stumbled upon a very dramatic overlook. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it would have been worth spending some time there had we not wanted to see the castle before it closed. There was a "gliding" club nearby because of the wind coming off of the steep cliff. The planes looked like big, graceful birds peacefully riding the currents above the overlook.



Middleham Castle is said to be the childhood and favorite home of Richard III. It dates back to the 12th century and reached its heydey in the later Middle Ages.

The cool thing about it is that it feels like a "real" castle. Everything you would expect out of a fortress complete with drawbridge, moat, tower that you can still climb, etc. The middle of the castle is the 3 story "keep" where they had the Great Hall for meals, parties, and legislating. The family lived in quarters upstairs and the ground floor was kitchen and servant facilities. The perimeter held rooms for visitors, visitor servants, sophisticated lavatory blocks, and areas for defense. The great thing about these ruins is that very little is blocked off. You can wander all over the place, touch everything and sit on whatever you like. You wouldn't get that in the US.

The funny thing about this castle is that it doesn't occupy the highest ground. I guess there wasn't enough space up there for this huge thing.

This is a photo from the back side:


The Great Hall (minus its floors):


The main staircase/tower:


The moat:

Rievaulx Abbey

Rievaulx Abbey was founded in 1132 by the Cistercian monks from France. Lord Helmsley of nearby castle fame, gave them the land to get himself closer to heaven--good luck with that. It was inhabited for 400 years and, at it's peak, housed 500 men.

Now it's a very photogenic ruin because of the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1500s. Henry the VIII was responsible (not Henry VII) as I incorrectly noted earlier. He was just that desperate to get a divorce. Oh yeah, and take all religious wealth for his own.

Besides the ruins of the abbey itself, there are also ruins of the monk's living and working quarters.

abbey, castle, and lakes oh my!

This weekend was a three-day weekend here with a national bank holiday. We took advantage of the extra time to drive, drive, drive.

On Saturday, we went to Rievaulx Abbey ruins which was about an hour or so away and then we moved on to Middleham Castle ruins (about another hour on the road) after a brief stop at the Sutton Bank overlook (breath-taking). And after some excellent fish and chips in Middleham, we headed home (around an hour and a half or so). Another beautiful drive through the moors and an absolutely beautiful day to take it all in. A big two thumbs up for all sites visited. It was a good day. More posts and pics to come during the week.

We became members of the English Heritage group that owns/runs many of the ruins. Now we can get in free as many times as we want for a year--all of those entrances add up and we think it'll be beneficial.

On Sunday, we drove out to the Lake District. We took the scenic drive which only added on a little more time (around 2 1/2 hrs). We stopped for lunch at Country Harvest along the way--the British version of Cracker Barrel. It was really good food and they had an outdoor terrace where you could eat while you watch the sheep and cows graze next door.

Our first stop in the lakes was Windermere on the south edge. With the caveat that we probably came at the busiest possible time (kids on break, adults on a holiday weekend, relatively sunny, relatively warm), it was a nightmare. Traffic was horrid, the place was packed, and we spent all of our time waiting in line for the car park and/or trying to find a space in the car park without success. At that point, we called it quits and reprogrammed TomTom to get us the hell out of there.

We drove on to Keswick (another hour or more), driving through Ambleside, Grasmere and others. Ambleside looked picturesque and more peaceful. The buildings are all made out of slate (there's mining nearby) and are quite impressive.

Keswick was packed too, but wasn't as bad and looked like a nice place to stop. But, once again, after milling about several car parks trying to find people to follow to their cars, we couldn't find a spot and were growing increasingly frustrated. So, again, we found a road to get the hell out of there and squeezed into a turnout spot along a highway so we could get out of the car. We ended up climbing a hill on a public footpath so we could get above the trees to see the lake and then we crossed the highway to climb down to the lake shore. We don't have our hiking shoes yet so we didn't do real hiking yet, but there are tons of possibilities.

From there, we decided to get back on the road to go home and make a quick stop at Castlerigg Stone Circle (prehistoric standing stone circle). Well that required going back through Keswick. After sitting in a non-moving line of traffic for a while and hearing a passerby say that it would be faster to go around the lake since it would take us at least 2 hrs. to get to Keswick, we agreed and pulled a U-turn. With TomTom protesting almost the whole way, we drove around Derwentwater over the Honister Pass to Buttermere and back to the Keswick area.

Our rather long detour turned out to be our favorite "must see" area in the lakes. Amazing scenery, free-roaming mountain sheep, steep slopes, babbling creeks, slate, quiet, and not a tree in sight. The road you're on is a little nerve-wracking since it's a one lane road masquerading as a two lane road with very tight turns you can't see around and jagged rocks a couple of inches from your mirror. The British don't believe in guard rails either.

We had a good hamburger in one of the two restaurants in Buttermere and watched the sun start to set over the hills/mountain. The restaurants were full of hikers and, after seeing the scenery, we definitely plan to go back for hiking when we have our shoes. And then, on the road again.

Although exhaustion was setting in, we made a quick stop at Castlerigg just as the sun was setting. Then home. Poor Pat's hands were almost in a permanently wheel-clenching position, but 12 hours later we were back.

Oh, but wait, there's more. Today, we walked into York for a walking tour. There are some you can pay for on different topics, but this one is given by the tourist information office and is done by volunteers. Therefore, free. Can't beat that. It was a very good 2 1/4 hr. walk/talk giving an overview of the city and it's history. As the guide said, he thought that after we were done that we had seen maybe a 1/3rd of what York has to offer. Yes, there's a lot. We give the tour two thumbs up, not only because it's free, but it's very informative. Most importantly, they do these walks every day of the year, rain or shine.

So that's it. Another whirlwind weekend :) As soon as I can dig my way out of the pictures, I'll create more specific posts.

The little guy wins!!

These are pictures of an eminent domain case where the little guy won. When they built the motorway through the moor, he argued that there was no reason to tear down his farmhouse since there was plenty of room around it. He got what he asked for and now lives in the middle of the highway. These aren't the greatest pictures, but you can see the old farmhouse, the old stones walls, and if you look closely (click the image to zoom in), you can see the sheep grazing in the median.

How does he get to his house you ask? Why, he has an access tunnel underneath the highway of course.

air shipment arrived!

We received the air shipment Wed.--the first installment of our "stuff." It's really great to have spatulas, more than one skillet & pot, sharp knives, and actual microwavable plates. The plastic silverware and plates were getting old fast. Trying to cut open a bagel with a plastic knife is no picnic, but surprisingly, cutting mushrooms was a sinch.

We even have an ironing board! That's a good thing since Pat was going to have to either break down and iron with a towel since I haven't quite figured out how to get the wrinkles out of trousers (aka pants) with this new high-efficiency washing system... it's pretty bad, more to come on that in a later installment.

Pat now has his computer and we have the printer. We still don't have real internet access which is frustrating and a long story. Apparently, no one is in a hurry to get our money. You have to sign up for a year contract minimum so we'll be eating at least 2 months worth of internet payments at this rate. I guess that's why they're not worried about it. It's a joke.

Anyway, the sun came out the day after we got our stuff and today is also beautiful--not a cloud in the sky. Highly unusual. We'll see how the weather holds out for the weekend. Monday is a bank holiday so businesses all have the day off.