12/22/10: The Frozen Tsunami

I must admit, dealing with the British weather is quite tough! I bought a very warm coat; Dubarry boots; an eskimo hat; and a pair of waterproof socks (literally the demonstrator stood in a bucket of water to prove that they work) at Olympia on Sunday, and my hands and feet are still in a constant ice cube state! I never want to get out of the shower because I always dread feeling the cold bathroom air. As Jessie said today, "the weather spoils everything... It's like a frozen tsunami!" I couldn't agree more. The school is too frozen to ride in again today, so we are hanging around the house and may do some Christmas shopping later. Luckily, on days like this when we have very little to do, we never run out of things to chat about! It turns out horse show drama is certainly not exclusive to the American show circuit.

On an exciting note, the Drea's 14th century house is being restored at the moment, and the bathroom outside my bedroom door is nearly finished! Luke informed me that he caught the nice, but somewhat creepy, builder named Kimberly (yes, a man named Kimberly...) peeking through the crack in my door this morning, so I will be very happy when the bathroom is finished and he evacuates the premises.

Just so you know for future reference, 14th century country houses are beautiful, but the central heating; electronic outlet; and toilet flushing situations can be problematic. I spent the first few days wearing five layers to bed until I found superb heater hiding in my closet. I absolutely love it, but the fact that my room has access to only one electronic outlet means I can't run my heater and charge my Blackberry at the same time. Wow, I sound like a stuck-up American princess! However, it is amazing how much one takes these simple pleasures for granted. Flushing the toilets has also proved to be challenging. The trick to flushing an old British toilet is a very short and quick press down on the handle. If one cannot master this technique, he or she might as well just give up on going to the "loo" at all.

Oh, the British! They call themselves English by the way... British is apparently just a term used by Americans. So confusing!