Hartley's ice cream

Hartley's is the Giffords of Cumbria.  If you don't know Giffords, well I have to say you haven't had real ice cream.

Ben & Jerry's is good, but Giffords is the best I've ever had.  Of course it doesn't hurt that it's also located where some of my close family resides and when we visit a trip a day is called for.  But that's another topic…

But Hartley's has something I've never had at Gifford's: Gingerbread Ice Cream.  This is made with real gingerbread from Cumbria, which is considered by some to be the best in the world.  I have to agree that it's the best I've had short of Suzanne's home made gingerbread.

Admittedly, I'm not a great fan of Gingerbread ice cream, being one to traditionally have vanilla, strawberry or something similar.  But, I do enjoy it.

Obviously not something I can bring back home, but if I'm ever in Cumbria, it'll be a trip I have to make, over to Egremont to have a scoop or three.

Until next time…

Driving License - Finale

Armed with my passing test results I went online and scheduled my practical test.  That's the one we all did at 16 where an instructor sits next to you and scares the day lights out of you…okay it's not that bad but every time they tick something on their sheet your young eyes see it out of the corner and you get more nervous and make more mistakes…anyway, I had to do that again.

Only this time it was with customs and rules that are just a bit foreign to me, and I had to do it on the opposite side of the road.

No pressure!

One cannot schedule a practical test until they have the passing certification number from their Theory Test.  So no hope in getting a 1-2 punch and taking the test same day or even the same week.

After passing the Theory Test, I immediately went to the cottage and scheduled my practical.  It turns out I could take it next week, but that meant no training (very highly recommended and strongly encouraged that your instructor attend with you at the test).

So I call Phil Wilson, a local instructor (lots of licensing requirements for them to be an instructor, while a bit of a distraction, it looked like getting a private flying license would be easier).  He's available the following week and the week after.  Hmm, I'm not due to work conflicts, but he convinces me that since I do drive a stick here I should do okay.  So I schedule training for 2 hours with him and also schedule the test with him included.

Did I mention to Phil that the test was the next day?  No I didn't…

In the meantime I find out the 10 day waiting period between practical tests (if you fail) is working days   not calendar days.  Yikes!  That means that if I fail the first time, it'll be 3 days into my "no driving" period before I can take it again.  I HAVE to pass it the first time.  There is not an opening for failure now.







Practice day comes and Phil drives me around the test route.  I will have to do 1 of 3 maneuvers (parallel part, 3 point turn around, or back into a side street).  I will have to do some independent driving (follow signs to Whitehaven or wherever).

I am allowed 15 minor infractions, and zero safety infractions.  If a safety infraction happens the test is over and I lose my fee.







I tend to slip the clutch too much.  I like to coast into a turn, shift to lower gear and then ease out the clutch as I come out of the turn, accelerating out.  No…UK rules are to quickly shift into the lower gear as you near the turn and then slow down and drive through the turn in gear, then accelerate out.  That'll be 40 years of driving to undo…

I tend to drive with only one hand on the wheel, the other on the stick shift.

I use my peripheral vision too much, and my mirrors, and my situational awareness (I know what's going on around me).  For the test, I have to put my head on a swivel even if I know there is nothing there.  And do it often.  Rule of thumb: mirrors, signal, maneuver.

Oh, and don't signal unless other cars are present, that's a no-no.







After 2 hours Phil says I'm probably ready but a couple of more hours of practice would be good.  "When's my test?" he asks…tomorrow morning at 820am.  What?!

Okay, we'll meet at 7am and run through it all one more time.






Did I mention the weather has been very windy (gale force since October with very few breaks) and lots of rain?  Very abnormal, but I'm expected to take the test in all that anyway, less visibility, etc.






Test day!  Kevin, my tester, is a very large and burly gentleman.  He squeezes into the car and off we go.  He is a very gentle speaker, no excitement in his voice at all.  I end up doing the backing maneuver, which is actually harder than it sounds.  Lots of round-a-bouts and driving at speed (not too fast of course and not too slow) and we finally get back to the finish.

Infraction 1: I checked my blind spot after moving away from the curb.

Infraction 2: I used only one hand on the wheel to maneuver through the very last round-a-bout and as a result jogged a bit when I had to transition from the inside lane to the outside lane so that I could exit.

Other than that, I passed!

Okay, it was almost a let down.  Admittedly I was cocky as I approached that last round-a-bout, I knew it was only a few hundred feet to the finish!  That first one I don't remember…



So now I have my license, I'm good to drive in the UK for 5 more years.









I don't plan to stay here that long!

Until next time…

Driving license - Introduction

Britain has a simple rule with it comes to Expats getting a driving license: if you've been here a year, you have to get one.  Even if you only drive for a few more days after that first year, you still must get one.  Until then a valid US driving license is considered sufficient…to drive freely on the opposite side of the road and with little or no training in the signs, rules, habits, and customs.

Not that it matters much as I'll be here for a bit longer, but I certainly had to go through their process.

The first bit is passing their written test.  Also called the Theory Test.

There are DVDs, books and pamphlets as well as multiple web sites dedicated to aiding the prospective driver to be successful.  It doesn't always work of course in that only 43% of drivers pass their test on the first try.  Most apparently take the test 3 times before passing…

So with that in mind I bought a book, about an inch plus thick.  I did of course buy it early, back in June, and after getting thoroughly bored on the 3rd page, I put it on the coffee table and ignored it until November.

So in November I get a nice note from the human resources folks reminding me that if I didn't get my license on time I'd be banned from driving and would need to find my own means to get to work and travel down to Manchester.  Hmm, I better crack that book open again…

Man that is one boring topic.  3 more pages and back on the table it goes.

So in late November I get another note from human resources.  This time they remind me it takes a 6 weeks and only 43% pass on the first attempt.  What?!

Let's see…3 weeks until I go home for the holidays…then I've effectively got 6 weeks to get it before my 1 year point.  Okay, time to really knuckle down.

I decide to go on line and register…oh no!  They want my Passport sent in so I can get my learner's permit!  With passport photos!  Where can I get that and when can I get my Passport back as I'll need that to go home for Christmas.  And it's too late to cancel holiday plans as I've purchased the tickets and gee whiz it's been a few weeks since I last say Suzanne!

A few phone calls later and I find out I can get the photos at the supermarket (really?) and by using overnight mail and including a return addressed and overnight envelope (pre-paid of course) I should get my Passport back the week prior to going home.

Well that's cutting it close!

A few more phone calls and it's clear that I can take my theory test after the holidays…but that means I must pass first time to make the practical test on time.  No pressure!

Meanwhile, I'm force reading the most boring stuff in the world a chapter a day…there are over 25 chapters.  Yikes this is tough!

Off the Passport goes with my application, and my heart is pounding as I hand the envelope to the post man.

I get the envelope back a mere week later with my Passport!  Oh the joys.  Now I can schedule my Theory Test.





No openings until January.





Third week of January.




If I fail the test, I have to wait 3 working days to take it again.  If I fail the theory test once, I have zero room for error on my practical test.





Scheduled.  Study.  Study.  Boring.  Anxiety.  Study.

"What makes up the Theory Test" you ask?  Well, basically 100 questions for which you have 1 hour.  All multiple choice and you have to score a 75 to pass "part 1".  Then you take "part 2" which is a series of videos where you click on the safety concerns as you see them.  15 of these videos and you are allowed to miss 15 points out of 75.  That means if you click too late you get a low score and if you miss them you get a zero.  If you click too soon you don't get a score either, and if you just randomly click you get a warning that you're guessing…and no points!

Good news, you can practice the Theory Test online prior to the real test.  Whew!  That's a relief.  At least I can see what it's like.





More study, more boring.  But I plow through it like eating broccoli.





Test time.  The day prior I take the practice tests on line, twice.  Hmm, only the multiple choice, not the safety videos.  Well, I ace both of the multiple choice sample tests, so I feel good about that.

But what will those videos be like?




I take the first part of the test.  Whiz through it and only miss 2 of the questions.  Piece of cake!

Time for the videos…wait, I didn't see any concerns…okay a pedestrian is crossing the side street…ah that's an "item".  I get it now…

Or so I thought.





Okay, I passed, but just barely.  It turns out I missed quite a few of the items in the videos, but interestingly I was clicking often early and got lots of 5 scores (of 5 max) and then as the videos progressed I tended to not click at all.  Which meant that the first 5 videos I scored well, the middle 5 I did okay but the last 5 I basically failed.  It all evened out and I had a few points in the bank, so now I can schedule my practical test.

Anxiety is up, but the first half is done.

Until next time…

The Snow Drops are confused

2 February 2014

During a break in the clouds / rain I went for a short walk.  I noticed along the walk that Snow Drops are out everywhere.  They are a about 6 weeks early here...so I think the Groundhog in the US is wrong.

Not quite visible are some Crocus that are coming up.  I suspect that by next week they'll start to bloom.

As I headed back towards the village the some came out.  Just below the sun are the clouds for the next storm, due the during the night.  That view is otherwise out across the Irish Sea to the west.  A mist was rising from the valley.  Cold, but not freezing.  Only frost on the car one day so far.

Until next time...

Extending the local walk

19 January 2014

I decided to continue last week's walk by retracing to where I'd left the trail, and then continue on to the next road and come back to the cottage.  My impression is that it would be another 4 mile walk…I got that wrong but had a good time anyway.

It was a gray day, and rain threatened.  According to the weather guessers the rain would hold off until sunset.  They guessed wrong, but at least the first half of the walk was dry.

Buck Barrow is so prominent, and because it was my first real hike on my own that it just captivates me.  It's hard to believe it's about 3 miles walking from where I took this picture.

At the end of the gravel road there is a farm, and the GPS was telling me to walk straight through the farmhouse!  So obviously I asked the farmer and he simply pointed towards a paddock full of sheep.  No worry, just have to walk past them up the fell and along the fence.

Some bush was there, it looks dead but I suppose it's just dormant for the winter.  On it was some fungi that was really stark in it's yellow.

A nice selfie with Buck Barrow behind me.  Just as the camera took this photo it fell off the fence, no damage of course, but it gave me a start.  The trail went over the fence here, I continued up the fell and the trail ended at the farmhouse where my main blog page photo was taken.  From there I continued up towards Setallon (to the left of Buck Barrow and not in these photos) Then made a hard left on a logging road.  As I was walking along the logging road it started to rain…and continued to rain until I got back to the cottage, which is why I didn't take more photos.

The yellow part of the trail is the previous route…at Wellington I veered right and rejoined the trail.  That jog at the top that just sort of stops is the full trail, but due to the heavy rainfall the ford across the River Bleng was not passable.  So I backtracked and headed back down the fell.

A longer walk than I'd planned, and because it was wet, very tiring.  8 miles, 4 hours, total ascent 258 meters.

Until next time…

Back to Walking

11 January 2014

I got back to Cumbria and of course the first thing I wanted to do was walk off the holiday calories.  I did some searching about and found a trail on the UK ordnance survey map website.  The trail is over 11 miles total, but I decided, since it crosses a couple of key roads near the cottage, that instead of spending the day out walking, I'd keep it to about 3-4 miles.

It was a sunny day, and it starts on a route I'm familiar with.  Generally walking down to what Suzanne and I call the "River Walk" which runs along the River Bleng.  It's a great walk and I like doing it when I only have an hour.  There is actually a shorter version for when I only have 30 minutes.

These two above are nice views towards the East.  That's Buck Barrow and beyond in the clouds is Scafell.  This walk has some great views.

I had to stop and take this shot of the moss growing on a stone fence.  It's days like these that remind me I'm in England and it's a very beautiful country.

A great walk.  4.0 miles, 2 hours 45 minutes, 141 meter ascent.

Until next time…