Newcastle 365 Weeks 40, 41 & 42 - Jest Kept Secret

Newcastle 365 Weeks 40, 41 & 42

Written by Jess Friedman
• July 6, 2015

Remember when I used to be good about posting weekly updates?

Yeah, me too.

Look! Pictures!

Week 40

Dissertation work this week included a weed assessment of the rye and spelt plots. This wasn’t taken in any of the plots (thank goodness), but it’s one of the plants we saw. It’s called Cleavers, and it sticks to everything!

The bus stop at Nafferton is a two lane divided highway. It sure makes flagging down the bus really exciting.

*sniff* One last look at the Wall of Joy before the landlords make me move.

The view from our new flat is decidedly less attractive, so Mo and I were grateful for one last sunset over the moor.

The street I walk down to get to church is full of houses that look like something straight out of an old 50’s family show like Leave it to Beaver. Add in the birds on the rooftop, and it turns into a Hitchcock set. That’s a multi-talented street right there.

I called this my “Wall of Joy,” so tearing it down was rather sad. But it’s okay—I put it right back up as soon as I was in my new place!

I got off the bus a few stops early to do a bit of exploring on my way home. I’m glad I did—I found this lovely cemetery with the ruins of an old church and graves from the World Wars.

Week 41

We got rained on while collecting data. I live in England. I’m not surprised.

I found time to do some mending, which meant that I finally replaced the zipper on my backpack, which broke 8 months ago. Gone are the days when complete strangers will frantically call after me on the street, saying, “Miss! MISS! Your bag is open!” Thank you. Yes. I know.

It’s funny how perspectives change when you get older. When I was a child, I would have thought a fair like the Hoppings was a magical place full of joy and joyness. But as an adult, I found it noisy, crowded, expensive, and tainted by badly airbrushed pornography and rampant copyright infringement. Translation: I’m over fairs—aside from the fact that they provide some fun photo ops. You know, like this exceptionally grumpy carnie.

It’s too bad these guys are considered pests because I think they’re really really cool.

The kitchen in our new flat is 100,000,000,000,000.5% better than the kitchen in our old flat. Look! Couches! And look! Nice countertops! And look! Space! I’m not embarrassed to invite people over anymore. Sounds like it’s time to host a dinner party.

Yes, that’s a router. And yes, that means this is a lame picture. But this particular router did cause a rather large headache, and I did just read an article about how to photograph mundane objects, so here you go. A photograph of a mundane object.

Week 42

I did a little painting, but you won’t be seeing any finished projects. They were all miserable failures. Oh well…

Remember when I said I don’t like posting pictures of food? Yeah. Well, this soup was just too delicious and too pretty to pass up the opportunity. Also, it was the 4th of July. I saw exactly zero fireworks.

Remember when I said I don’t like posting pictures of food? Yeah. Well, then some friends invited me over for dinner, and this was dessert. Do you see what is on my plate? Do you SEE that? Yeah. Put something like that in front of me, and I’m definitely going to take a picture of it.

Mo and I went out to try to see the big convergence of Jupiter and Venus, but it was hidden behind the ONE cloud in the sky. Figures. We did catch a few glimpses, but the star of the night (hehe) was definitely the moon. Or maybe it was Neal, the very polite yellow lab who wanted so desperately to come say hello. I saw him watching me, and asked his owners if I could say hello. Without waiting for them to respond, he shouted, “YES YOU CAN!!” and came running over for some love. He was even really good about sitting and not knocking over my tripod with his tail. What a good dog.

I made a new friend this week. His name is Tadashi. We are going to go on lots of adventures and make lots of sweet travel videos. *fist pump*

The storms from the night before continued into the next day, which meant that I was trapped at home for the day. Trixi and Pojo and I all came down with a bad case of cabin fever.

The clouds above us at Nafferton that day did their very best impressions of the clouds at Philmont. I gave them 10 points—but apparently, they weren’t satisfied, because they came back that afternoon with thunder and lightning. Okay, sky, you win. I officially miss Philmont.

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Jess Friedman

Jess is a Canadian-American who’s always ready for the next adventure. She loves all things living, always has a million creative projects in progress, and polishes her nerd badge daily. She is passionate about helping families make and preserve treasured memories that strengthen bonds across generations. You can read more posts by Jess here.

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Tagged with Food, Nafferton, Newcastle, Newcastle 365, Trixy and Pojo

3 Responses

Mom says:

July 6, 2015 at 7:54 PM

We commonly refer to Cleavers here as Catchweed. I do believe that it trapped Aunt Beth’s dog Kelly in the woods for maybe even a few days.

Reply
1. Aunt Beth says:
  
  July 10, 2015 at 10:20 PM
  
  I call it dog strangling weed. It was this time of year, I was on staff at the Hill Cumorah Pageant and got home after midnite to find, well to NOT find Kelly, I went out with a flashlight to search for him and as I called he answered. He was tangled in the weeds about 75 feet out behind the house. We never had it here until the power company came thru and cleared a path where the lines passed thru our property. It grew in and spread right across the acreage behind the house! Nasty stuff. I have no idea if we are talking about the same thing.
  Jess, got a postcard from Greece today! Thanks. I love grapes but you can leave all the olives there as far as I am concerned. Cousin Karen Davis is on her way to England, but I am not sure where she will be going and I was not on the ball enough to get a message to her about you being in Newcastle. Not sure if she knows you are there or not…not sure of much these days…
  Love you and love your posts and pics!
  
  Reply
  1. Jess says:
    
    July 13, 2015 at 11:55 AM
    
    That is crazy! It was definitely a pain to work with, but I had no idea it was strong enough to trap a dog. Poor Kelly. I’m glad you found him and rescued him!
    
    The olives in Greece were surprisingly tasty. I’m not a fan of olives, but my friends convinced me to try some while we were there and they were completely different. My parents and I learned that the American process of preserving olives involves lye, while the Greek process doesn’t. Maybe that’s what makes the difference?
    
    I don’t have any contact information for Karen, but if she is headed up north at all, I’d love to see her and give her a tour of Newcastle. 🙂
    
    Reply

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