Fidella's Journal of England

Spring 1998 Dan & Johanna are taking me to England for a year. Maybe I'll get to meet a real hedgehog.

Summer 1998 We went for a trip around the United States. We saw rocks made from trees and faces made from rock. JC wrote a longer description of the trip.

July, 1998 Dan and Johanna put all my friends in a drawer. D&J say they are going into hibernation for two years but my friends said they're going to have a party. I want to go to the party but I don't want to get left behind.

Sunday, 19 July, 1998 There was a party in the backyard. I watched from the window. Dan and Johanna had friends over for a last hurrah.

Monday, 20 July, 1998 Today we went to the airport. We are flying all the way to England. JC has never flown to Europe before but I have. I flew with Dan when he went to Italy.

Tuesday, 21 July, 1998 We arrived! JC's mom, Gayle was there at the airport to meet us. She took us home to her flat in Brentford, London. We took a nice nap and then went for a short walk.

Wednesday - Saturday, 22-25 July, 1998 We drove down to Brighton and Lewes to have a look at a few flats. D&J weren't very satisfied with what Brighton had to offer but were delighted with Lewes. Johanna especially liked the tiles on the Anne of Cleaves house. Gayle liked the floor in the Old Needle makers. We opened a british bank account on Friday.

Sunday, 26 July, 1998 We spent the day at the CLA Game fair west of London. There were dog agility events, falconry displays, crafts, ferrets and lots lots more. And most importantly, real live Hedgehogs!

Monday - Friday, 27-31 July, 1998 We drove down to Lewes several more times to look at flats but still no luck. One place looks promising but the agent isn't very helpful.

Saturday, 1 August, 1998 Today we went to the Cabaret Mechanical Theater in Covent Garden. No hedgehogs but we did find a penguin.

Monday, 3 August, 1998 Dan's first official day of work. J&D finally found us a new home. It's in Ovingdean. Ovingdean is a cute little village south of Falmer and Lewes. We drove through it once but didn't think we would find anything available. Here's a map slide show.

Tuesday, 4 August, 1998 Johanna was busy today helping Gayle finish covering her couch and chairs, and sewing pillow covers.

Thursday, 6 August, 1998 We have a new Red car. It's a Ford Escort XR3I. Don't let the name 'Escort' fool you. D&J thought they were getting a nice car but the English insurance companies seem to think it is a sports car. 'High Performance vehicle'

Saturday, 8 August, 1998 D&J have insurance for the new car but they say I can't drive it. JC says maybe she will make a little Fidella sized car.

Monday, 10 August, 1998 I have a new friend. And he's a hedgehog like me. Gayle made him. His name is Caxton and he was born today. He doesn't talk much yet because he is still new. I introduced him to cheese. but he's English and liked the scone G gave him better than the cheese!! Can you believe it?

Tuesday, 11 August, 1998 Played hide and seek with Caxton today. D&J tried out a Thai restaurant with Gayle and Bruce.

Wednesday, 12 August, 1998 Dan ordered an internet account just for me. I even get my own email address.

Friday, 14 August, 1998 Today I went to work with Dan. That train ride is fun but looonngg.

Saturday, 15 August, 1998 Today we went to Wimbledon Common and looked for Wombles. JC took a lot of pictures. We Wombled up litter from the south of the commons to the Windmill. JC even made a little 'tidy bag' just for me to carry.

D&J picked up our new red car today and D drove it. He says 'It's like learning to drive all over again.' I wouldn't know since they won't let me drive.

Sunday, 16 August, 1998 Today we went to the Victoria & Albert Museum. JC spent hours in the dress exhibit. D's favorite item was a huge 3 string bass. An Italian virtuoso had it custom built. It's enormous! My favorite display was the fleas dressed for a wedding and tropical ants dressed in Elizabethan clothing.

Monday, 17 August, 1998 We moved into our new home today. Here's a slide show tour. Dan drove all the way down from London. JC started unpacking right away. We also made a short foray into Brighton to the super market after DC returned from work.

Tuesday, 18 August, 1998 Dan went in to work today and JC and I stayed home to continue unpacking and arrange stuff. We spent a lot of time reading various manuals on how to operate various appliances. The most confusing appliance is the washer/dryer. Washers here are quite a bit different from the ones at home. And this unit is a washer and dryer combined as one so it looks really alien. I think JC has it figured out now though. We get our milk delivered!

Wednesday, 19 August, 1998 After dinner today the three of us went for a walk through Ovingdean and nearby Rottingdean. (Rott rhymes with Boat.) We discovered a beautiful public garden with the most wonderful smelling roses, and got to see all the shops in the Rottingdean Village. We also walked along the seaside on the under cliffs trail to work our way back home.

Thursday, 20 August, 1998 JC got a driving lesson today around Ovingdean and Falmer, so now I'm the only one who hasn't driven the car around. JC still says she'll make me a car. I hope it's as red as theirs.

Friday, 21 August, 1998 This evening we took the train back up to Brentford to stay with mom (Gayle) for a bit.

Saturday, 22 August, 1998 We went window shopping in the Mayfair district. We even went inside Cartiers to look about. At Bentley's we saw the most beautiful lizard brooch covered in opals, with a stripe of diamonds down its back, and with ruby eyes. We think it was only £6,000. We had tea at Fortnum and Mason. We still haven't made it to Harrod's yet.

Sunday, 23 August, 1998 Today we went to Oxford with Gayle and Bruce and walked around. The University is broken into many colleges. We saw Saint Catherine's where, JC's dad, Neal went. Dan and I are staying the week in Oxford for a Physics conference. JC went back with G&B to London.

Monday, 24 August, 1998 I had fun last night running around Dan's bed waking him up, but I got tired after awhile and got some sleep. Today I went to a big room and heard about power spectrums and galaxies and supernovae and stuff like that. It's sunny and pretty out so I think I'll go take Dan for a walk.

Tuesday, 25 August, 1998 Today Dan gave a seminar on something. I was busy staring out the window, but the people in the room seemed interested. In the evening we went to a play called Copenhagen. It was about physicists during WWII. We had a good time and even got ice cream during intermission and snacks afterward when we went to a reception to meet the author and the actors.

Wednesday - Friday, 26-28 August, 1998 In one of the lectures they actually mentioned hedgehogs, although I don't know if it was really about the animal kind. Dan says he's a bit tired of the food during the day, but we had fun going to the Oxford pubs in the evenings. On Friday, Johanna and her mom met us in Oxford. J said she had fun shopping all week with her mom. She even made sheets for the bed in my room and bought plants for me to hide in! And we have a Great Uncle Bulgaria, stuffed Womble now.

Saturday, 29 August, 1998 We're back in London with Johanna, and we got to go to the ZOO. We saw penguins and rhinos and llamas and even savanna monitor lizards.

Sunday, 30 August, 1998 Today we returned home to Ovingdean. We had a very nice tea in Rottingdean with G&B.

Monday, 31 August, 1998 We went to a car boot sale! (It's like a flea market.) We found lots of Georgette Heyer novels and a couple Beauty and the Beast toys and even a book for me about animals that live in hedgerows but no Womble items.

Tuesday, 1 September, 1998 Today Dan went to work and Johanna and I stayed home and played house again. We did some sewing and hung pictures. In the evening Johanna drove us to the supermarket and we had Yorkshire puddings with Broccoli and Cheese sauce for dinner.

Saturday, 5 September, 1998 Today we went for a walk in the fields and down to the beach. It was low tide. Beneath the rocks there is limestone carved in swirling shapes covered with long shaggy green algae and black seaweed. Dan found a barnacle like shellfish and then a crab almost as big as me. We had fun watching the crab We also found an interesting rock It looks as like an ancient Roman statuette of an amazon, which has been in the sea for a very long time.

Sunday, 6 September, 1998 Gayle and Bruce brought Caxton to visit us today. We went to the marina and walked around the shops and then along the promanade wall. It was a fun walk. Later we drove along the coast to Eastbourne and back through Lewes. We had Chinese take out for dinner.

Tuesday, 8 September, 1998 Today Dan came home and took us for a drive through Brighton as far west as Worthing. It wasn't as pretty as the drive on Sunday but we still enjoyed it.

Saturday, 12 September, 1998 We went shopping in Brighton today. We found a 'schnitzelator' (meat-tenderizer) for Bruce and a large tea ball for our teapot and Johanna ordered a Womble book, 'Wombles Annual'. She also learned more information about some of the epiodes in the 'New Series'.

Saturday, 19 September, 1998 This day's adventure was in Lewes. We spent the afternoon poking about in Antique Shops and book stores. We found an unusual set of tea cups and saucers that have a sort of opalescent look. Each cup is a different shade. They make comfey chairs for me.

Sunday, 20 September, 1998 We had a nice walk over to Rottingdean to look for the Library. Of course it was closed, being Sunday, but we saw the ducks and fish in the Rottingdean pond, watched the dragonflys mate and lay their eggs and had a look round the Rottingdean Preservation Society Museum.

Tuesday, 22 September, 1998 Dan finally got to talk to tech support in Europe for our computer. The CD-Rom died last week. They're going to pick the computer up tomorrow and they estimate it will take them two weeks. Guess I'll have to keep my journal on paper until the computer returns.

Wednesday, 23 September, 1998 Johanna got the Wombles Annual today! It's full of stories and activities.

Thursday, 24 September, 1998 Johanna spent the day putting the last finishing touches on the book of textures she's been making for her Grandmother. Dan's been very excited this week about his work. Dan played football (That's soccer to y'all Americans.) today and had a lot of fun. I spent most of the day sleeping.

Friday, 25 September, 1998 Beatriz, the woman who lives in the upstairs flat, is moving away this weekend. She gave us three very large plants. I had fun climbing the Ficus. Mrs Hunter loaned us a book on National Trust Sites and recommended some Sussex castles we should visit. Tonight we are going out for drinks and supper. Tomorrow we are going to the Tower of London with Gayle and Bruce.

Saturday, 26 September, 1998 Today I saw a diamond almost as large as me! It was part of the royal scepter at the Tower of London. I got to see the rest of the Crown Jewels too, but Dan wouldn't let me take any of the crowns to use as a nest. I got to see the tower ravens, but I didn't get too close in case they were hungry. They have their own graveyard in the old moat. We saw both Yoemen and Guards. Dan and Johanna were too scared to put their heads on the chopping block, but I wasn't!

Sunday, 27 September, 1998 This was a quiet pleasant day. We walked along the sheep trail to Rottingdean, passing St Dunstan's (say Sin-Dun-stin) and the windmill. St Dunstan's is a home/hospital for the blind, in particular WWII veterans. We've had a really nice weekend.

Wednesday, 30 September, 1998 Today our new upstairs neighbors came down for breakfast. Johanna made Yorkshire Puddings. She was in a creative mood and experimented by adding Brambley apple. We have lots of apples in the backyard. The Brambleys are especially tart. The puddings turned out very well. The new neighbors are Kevin and Matt. They are both Computer Science students at the University of Sussex. They have two VCRs and generously offered to loan us one as well as some tapes to watch. They introduced us to a wonderful claymation series called 'The Trap Door'. Now we can borrow Womble tapes and see the Wombles TV show. There was one episode with Orinoco on one of the tapes Matt loaned us and he's going to get some other episodes from another friend.

Thursday, 1 October, 1998 Today Johanna started working on Kate's xmas present. I can't tell you too much except it has to do with dragons.

Friday, 2 October, 1998 Hooray! Our computer came back today and it's fixed.

Sunday, 4 October, 1998 Last night we went out to hear Carnival Collective. That's the drum band Mark Hindmarsh plays for. Mark is one of the Physicists Dan is working with. As you might guess from the band name they play Brazilian rhythms. The band is great and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Monday, 5 October, 1998 Today Johanna finnaly managed to print out the change of address letter for all those silly people who don't have email. I just hope she doesn't make me lick all the stamps!

Thursday, 8 October, 1998 Today Johanna and I gathered apples from the backyard. Johanna washed, peeled, and pared them while I chased and chomped all the bugs. Johanna didn't seem to be as excited as me about the bugs. Now we have lots of Bramley apple in the freezer. There's still lots more apples though.

Saturday, 10 October, 1998 We spent the day at Bodium Castle (the locals say Baw-djum but most English say Bo-dee-um) and passed through the town of Rye (about 10 miles east) before heading back home. Bodium was built during the reign of Richard II (late 14th century). At that time it protected the rivers from French invasion. The town of Rye at that time was very close to the sea and the rivers to Bodium were navigable. Now Rye is no longer a coastal town but well inland. Rye is now a river town. The castle exterior is intact as well as some of the stairways and turrets inside so we had a lot of running around exploring to do. Those stairs are steep. Silly Johanna didn't get a picture of the stairs. There were lots of fireplaces and 28 garderobes (toilets). The view from the top of the towers was beautiful. Sheep are cute. We also joined the National Trust today so we will be visiting many more of their properties.

Saturday, 17 October, 1998 We went to the library in Rottingdean today to get library tickets (that's what the librarian called our library cards). Dan checked out a book on English Fungi and another on Birds, and Johanna borrowed two big needlework books. Afterwards we walked down to the seafront and had fish and chips! We walked home again along the undercliff walk right along the ocean. It was really windy and it was funny watching the gulls try to fly.

Sunday, 18 October, 1998 Today we drove up to Igtham Mote, a 14th century Manor house with a moat. I especially liked the octogonal chimneys. After touring the house, we drove along tiny country roads and even saw pheasants! Next we went to Knole, a 15th century Mansion in a huge deer park. (We must have seen at least a hundred deer!) Once a home to Henry VIII as well as the childhood home of Vita Sackville-West, the mansion is full of fine paintings. There were two of women that were particularly striking, one of Catarina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus (1454-1510), and the other, a famous van Dyck painting of Frances Cranfield from about 1637.

Wednesday, 21 October, 1998 Today Johanna began making my car. I'm going to be a race car driver for Halloween. She carved up a cereal-box for the body and has the body shape all cut out and folded. Tonight Dan brought home some transparancies for J to cut up to make the windows. J says she still needs a couple straws for the axles before she can begin gluing it together.

Saturday, 24 October, 1998 I went to Standen, a house built by Philip Webb and decorated in the Arts and Crafts style with many William Morris textiles and wallpapers. It was really raining today, but we still walked through the gardens. On the way home, we decided to take a new route, but had to turn back when we found one of the intersections flooded. We might have been able to make it through, but decided to play it safe and return the way we came. Even then, we ran into a big puddle in the road with a couple of cars stalled out nearby. It was an adventurous and fun day!

Sunday, 25 October, 1998 Well after yesterday we were going to just stay home today but it turned out to be such a beautiful day that we just couldn't stay home. We drove west to Petworth House. This was another of the places Mrs Hunter has strongly recommended we visit. Petworth is a grand 17th century house surrounded a garden/park landscaped by 'Capability' Brown. The house has a Grand Staircase with magnificent tromp l'oeil painting. There are many paintings and sculptures including works by Turner and Van Dyck. There was a room who's walls were decorated with incredible wood carvings. A separate buding houses the servants quarters where we saw the kitchens and the stillery where they jarred fruits and prepared tea. We walked around the grounds and down to the lake. We found four different varieties of mushrooms. One looked like apple slices. Another was three times bigger than me! We also came across a group of bucks. As we watched them they came one by one trotting across the meadow until there were about seven of them.

Tuesday, 27 October, 1998 Today Johanna and I spent the day scanning and adding more pictures to illustrate my journal. My readers may want to go back through and look at the pictures again.

Friday, 30 October, 1998 Today Johanna and I went for a walk in Rottingdean looking for paint so JC can paint my car. We looked all over but didn't find a single place with paint. In our search though we found a street with the most extraordinary houses. They had wonderfully carved eaves with tudor roses. We will have to go back with a camera and to show them to Dan. We also found a new Womble book.

Sunday, 31 October, 1998 We went into Brighton today. There is an exhibit going on related to British Children's TV puppets and animation. The exhibit included two Womble puppets, Orinoco and Great Uncle Bulgaria. They were much smaller then we expected, only about 5 or 6 inches tall JC was very excited to see them We took some pictures but are not yet sure if they will come out.

Sunday, 1 November, 1998 We drove up to Polesden Lacey near Dorking It was a long but pleasant drive. We didn't get started 'till late in the afternoon. Inside the house were beautiful rooms, furniture and paintings. Our favorite room was the drawing room, magnificently decorated in gold, red, and white. Outside the house was a large garden including a pet cemetary for the last owners dogs, rose garden, and lavender garden We liked the gardens very much.

Thursday, 06 November, 1998 Today is Guy Fawks day We considered going to Lewes to see fireworks but Dan has an important talk tomorrow so we stayed home I still saw a lot of fireworks though They were being fired off from neighbors yards It's like the fourth of July in the U.S..

Sunday, 08 November, 1998 We went to the Anne of Cleaves house in Lewes. There was a pretty black and white cat named Buster wandering through the house. It was a chilly day so it was very nice to be able to sit by the fire in the wedding room and sip tea at the end of the tour.

Saturday, 14 November, 1998 Dan and Johanna went into Brighton. They came back with lots of toys; A new Pratchet book 'Jingo', basecoat paint for my car, and a book for me 'Cuddly Duddley'. 'Cuddly Duddley' is all about a penguin who is so cuddly he can't get any time alone. Oh yeah, and Johanna also got some new Beauty and the Beast things from McDonalds.

Sunday, 15 November, 1998 We went for a walk on the beach today. It was low tide. Dan found the cuttlebone of a cuttle fish.

Saturday, 21 November, 1998 Yesterday Johanna finnaly finished my car. So I drove the three of us up to London today. I got to spend the day with Caxton while J and her mom did some work.

Thursday, 26 November, 1998 We had a small but still fairly traditional Thanksgiving. Roast turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, brocolli and cheese sauce. Gayle and Bruce couldn't make it so we are going to have another Thanksgiving dinner sometime next week.

Sunday, 29 November, 1998 Most of the National Trust houses are closed for the winter. However, they still have several gardens and hiking trails open. The sun was out today so we decided we should take advantage of it. We went to nearby Sheffield Park Garden. It's something of an arboretum. We enjoyed walking all around the lakes and over the waterfalls. There were ducks and swans looking for handouts. Although there wasn't a lot of color, (No spring or summer blooms and no autumn leaves.) the park was still very beautiful. This is another property landscaped by 'Capability Brown' among others. We think we would like to return in different seasons.

Friday, 4 December, 1998 Today we drove up to Brentford to stay with G&B. J&D's friend, Ken Rideout, arrived from France in the evening. We had Indian Take-away for dinner.

Saturday, 5 December, 1998 We went to the V&A. We took a scenic walk on the way there, past Nelson's column in Trafalger Square, an especialy sculptural building (which we didn't figure out for sure what it is, govermental of some sort), Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. J met her friend Kathleen Wendell (also visiting and from Pittsburgh), at the costume exhibit and I went with Ken and D through the Henry Cole wing. After the museum we went to a pub and then had dinner at an Italian restaurant. We tried to go to another pub on the way home, but it was 11:00 pm and all the pubs had just closed.

Sunday, 6 December, 1998 We had breakfast and then began on our Kinder advent calendar which Bruce brought back from Germany. During the day, we went to the Tate art museum. After getting takeout Chinese back in Brentford, we drove home to Ovingdean.

Monday, 7 December, 1998 D went to work. Ken went for a walk past the Windmill to the Ocean and back home. J did some work in the morning. Ken and J went to the Marina. J made us Toad in the Hole for dinner.

Tuesday, 8 December, 1998 We got to go to Stonehenge today! On the way we went to a cool pub for lunch. Stonehenge was rainy and cold, but we had a good time. We got to listen to a recorded tour on strange handheld walkie-talkie thingies. We went for a steak dinner when we got back.

Wednesday, 9 December, 1998 Ken and J and I went to the Brighton Pavillion. The dining room has a beautiful Dragon chandelier which Kate would probably love. Later we picked up D and went to the mall to buy a book on Paris and a map of France. Afterwards we took Ken to the train station so he could go up to Brentford and catch the London-Paris train in the morning.

Thursday - Saturday, 10-12 December, 1998 D and J got colds.

Sunday, 13 December, 1998 Bruce and Gayle were nice enough to drive down and take us back to London last night. In the morning they dropped us off at the Waterloo train station. We took the Eurostar to Paris. We saw lots of sheep. Then we went into a long dark tunnel. D says we are underwater but I don't see any bubbles. We got cash at the train station in Paris and then took the metro to our hotel on the Left Bank.

Monday, 14 December, 1998 Today the three of us took the metro to the Palais de Louvre and had egg rolls for lunch. We walked all around the outside of the palace but couldn't go in because the museum staff are on strike. We walked through the Tuileries Gardens and saw ducks. We got our first view of the Eiffel Tower and saw Monet's murals at the Musée de l'Orangerie. We saw the Obelisk at the Place de la Concord and walked along the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile. From there we walked to Trocadero where we got a great view of the Eiffel Tower. We walked beneath the tower and then caught the metro back to the middle of Champs Élysées for Dan's conference welcoming party and enjoyed free run of the Palais de la Décuvert (Science Museum).
Oh yeah, and J got some BatB (Beauty and the Beast) books in french at the Disney Store on the Champs Élysées.

Tuesday, 15 December, 1998 D attended his conference while J and I went to the Musée de le Mode et de la Costume (Museum of Fashion and Costume.) They had a special exhibit on cashmere shawls. They had those funny walkie-talkie guided tour things again which was very nice because they had one in English and we learned much more than we would have just from reading the french exhibit plaques. Sadly we were not allowed to take any pictures. J really liked the exhibit. After that we went around the block to the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris. (Modern art museum.)

Wednesday, 16 December, 1998 We took the Metro and train to Disneyland. We spent the whole day. My favorite attraction was Alice's Curious Labyrinth. All three of us had lots of fun though J had hoped to see more stuff related to BatB. D's favorite attraction was Phantom Manor. It was so different from the Haunted Mansions in Anaheim and Orlando that it was like seeing it for the first time. J's favorite attraction was LePays des Contes de Fées (Storybook Land). Of course she especially liked seeing Belle in the village as well as Beast's castle.

Thursday, 17 December, 1998 Today we saw lots and lots of bones. D attended some lectures in the morning. In the afternnon we went down below the city into the catacombs. The passages gave J & D lots of ideas for D&D roleplaying, and a better perception of what it is like to be in ancient tunnels. The tunnels we were in weren't really all that old though. Most were built or reinforced between the mid 18th and mid 19th centuries. In the evening we went to the Ile de Cite, the island on the Seine. We saw the cathedral of Notre Dame. Afterwards we went to the St. Michel area for supper and ate crepes.

Friday, 18 December, 1998 D spent the day with his conference but J and I spent the day at the Louvre. (The strike was ended though a little understaffed and so some sections closed as we approached and the bookstore was closed.) We spent most of our time looking at paintings. My favorite was the still life with bugs! J fell in love with the portrait of 'La Comtesse Shavronskaia' by Elizabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun. The museum is so large it was quite a sensory overload wandering aimlessly around the place. So much to see and so little time.

Saturday, 19 December, 1998 Today we left Paris and returned to London but not before getting to spend an hour or two with Audrey Keszek.

Sunday, 20 December, 1998 We spent the day just hanging about in Brentford and then returned to Ovingdean in the evening.

Tuesday, 22 December, 1998 We drove back up to Brentford to see B&G before they leave on holiday.

Wednesday, 23 December, 1998 We had a wonderful party with G&B.

Thursday, 24 December, 1998 We drove B&G to the airport to catch their flight to LA then drove back to Ovingdean. We spent J's Birthday doing some last minute Christmas shopping. (Mostly so J could get a few things for D.)

Friday, 25 December, 1998 Merry Christmas! We had a fun morning opening presents. I got a really neat book all about how to care for hedgehogs. J got lots of womble dolls. Actually they've been in my room for a couple months but officialy they were her Christmas presents.

Saturday, 26 December, 1998 Boxing Day.

Sunday, 27 December, 1998 Today we went to the grocery store and bought some Christmas Crackers. No they're not for eatting. You yank them apart and they make a cracking sound and out falls a paper crown, small toy and riddles.

Monday, 28 December, 1998 Boxing Day observed.

Tuesday, 29 December, 1998 Today we went to the post office to finally mail a few presents. Now you can see the dragon mobile J made for Kate.

Thursday, 31 December, 1998 We celebrated the end of 1998 and the begining of 1999 at home and watched not the 'dropping of the Big Apple' but the ringing in of the new year by Big Ben on tv.

Friday, 1 January, 1999 We had a nice lazy day. We walked down to the beach and collected some very pretty rocks. Then we walked along the undercliff walk to Rottingdean. We stopped and looked at the ducks on the pond and then walked through the Kipling gardens on our way home.

Monday, 4 January, 1999 Hi! Today I flew on a plane with D all the way from London to Los Angeles. J drove us to the airport and is returning home to Ovingdean. It was fun on the plane since we had our own screen and we could watch whatever we wanted and even play video games! D even said the food was good and let me have some of his cheese! In L.A. we had fun going through customs. They even made D open up all his bags so they could make sure I didn't smuggle any bugs along as snacks. Once we got out of the Airport we drove to see Margie and Vorpalyn. I really love Margie but Vorpalyn is scary!

Tuesday, 5 January, 1999 We woke up early in the morning (although it felt like it was mid afternoon) and drove up to Santa Barbara for D's workshop. The weather here is warm and sunny -- just like spring but not as wet and without the flowers. We found a campground on the bluff just above the beach and slept under the stars.

Wednesday - Friday, 6-8 January, 1999 This morning we went for a walk along the deserted beach. It was beautiful and I got to see sand pipers running along the surfline and eating bugs. I wanted to try it too, but D was a poor-sport and was worried about me getting wet. D spent the day again doing physics stuff.

The next two days were pretty much the same; beautiful skies and long days playing and waiting while D plays physicist. On Friday we drove back to Pasadena.

Saturday, 9 January, 1999 Saturday was fun! D and Margie and I drove to San Diego to see Patrick. We went with him to the beach and saw seals and pelicans and a humming bird! It was great! Pat is a lot of fun and I understand why D & J miss him so much. That night Margie introduced me to Squishy her penguin. It was nice to have a friend to play with since I miss Caxton and the rest of my friends are still hibernating (having a party without me) in Pittsburgh.

Sunday, 10 January, 1999 Today we went shopping with Margie, but D says I'm not allowed to say what we got for the person we got it for, so be sure not to tell J what it is!

Monday, 11 January, 1999 We're back in SB today and D's back working. We're going to stay at a different campground tonight, and this one's even closer to the beach!

Tuesday, 12 January, 1999 Um, today we went out and bought a tent since it is getting a little colder and foggy in the morning. I think it's neat. I got to play with a neat bird on the beach today. When I got close, it pretended to have a broken wing and clumsily jumped around the rocks on the beach. I had D take a picture of it for me so we can put it on my web site.

Wednesday, 13 January, 1999 We went walking by the beach again today. We actually saw an Egret! It was just beautiful. And even better... D got it on film. Awesome. I'm starting to get really tired. I could do with an afternoon nap. D is getting his talk down to it's final version.

Sunday, 17 January, 1999 We left from LAX...

Monday, 18 January, 1999 ...but didn't arrive in England until the next day. J picked us up at the airport and we drove home.

Wednesday, 20 January, 1999 Off to Germany today so me and D can visit Dortmund!

Thursday, 21 January, 1999 D went to the University and met his colleages that he'll be working with next year. He gave a talk and hung out all day.

Friday, 22 January, 1999 D spent the day again at the University. He really enjoyed talking with the people there. We had dinner at the guest house. It was great! Pork with cheese, egg, pineapple, peach, and a cream sauce. It sounds strange, but it tasted fantastic.

Saturday, 23 January, 1999 We went shopping today in Dortmund. It was fun walking around seeing everything. We bought some German books and a copy of Trivial Pursuit in German!

Sunday, 24 January, 1999 Yea! We got to fly home today. J was waiting for us at the airport. I hope she likes her new books!

Thursday, 28 January, 1999 Me and D flew to Chicago today. D was really tired by the time we made it to the hotel, but I think he'll feel better after a good night's sleep. We talked to J on the phone. I miss her already.

Friday, 29 January, 1999 D felt a lot better today. He went to his Symposium during the day and rented a car to go out and see Mark. Stephen Hawking gave a public talk in the evening and there were 5,000 people in the audience.

Saturday, 30 January, 1999 D skipped the Symposium to go play volleyball with Mark and his friends at Fermilab. In the evening we went to the Alder Planetarium and saw a cool Star Rider show.

Sunday, 31 January, 1999 We woke up early today to drive in for the Symposium. We were done a little after noon so we went back to visit Mark. We watched a movie and part of the Superbowl. D did some work on his talk while I ran around Mark's apartment.

Monday, 1 February, 1999 D gave his talk today. He had only about 15 minutes, but he says it went well even if it was quite controversial. We went back to the hotel to relax and got to watch Edward Scissorhands on TV!

Thursday, 4 February, 1999 We flew back England. J picked us up at the airport again. I'm glad we are home now and staying home for a while.

Friday, 5 February, 1999 We spent the morning sleeping and relaxing. In the evening we went to IKEA and got J a new blankie for the living room. J thinks the colors, orange and red, are scary but I like them.

Saturday, 6 February, 1999 We drove into Brighton and went to a craft fair where J got some dye to change the colors of the new afghan. In the evening we went to see a movie, 'Shakespeare in Love'. It was a fun movie.

Tuesday, 9 February, 1999 Today it snowed. I got to play in the snow. I like snow. It is pretty. I like watching the sheep in the snow.
Snow. Snow. Snow. Snow

Saturday, 13 February, 1999 We went to the Brighton Aquarium and watched the Rays eating. While walking around Brighton we found a used bookstore where we found some more Heyer books.

Sunday, 14 February, 1999 Happy Valentine's Day. We had sushi for dinner. J helped chop stuff but D made it.

Saturday, 20 February, 1999 Gayle and Bruce came down from London for the weekend. We chatted, went for a walk to the windmill, and had chinese food for dinner.

Sunday, 21 February, 1999 D made us bacon and eggs for breakfast, after washing dishes. J and G spent the day putting beeswax on egg shells.

Saturday, 27 February, 1999 We went to Nyman's Garden today to see the early spring flowers in bloom. I liked seeing the pretty white pigeons and the old looking ruins which J says were built in the 1920's. It is feeling more and more like spring and we're actually getting a little sunshine when it isn't raining.

Tuesday, 2 March, 1999 We made it up to London last night and stayed here today. D went into town to meet with physics people at Imperial College, while J and I are having fun in Brentford playing with Caxton and Gayle. We got pizza with lots of cheese for supper. J and D say that dad is coming to visit on Friday. That's going to be fun!

Friday, 5 March, 1999 Today we drove up to London. J's Dad Neal flew into Heathrow Airport in the morning. We went to see the Monet exhibit at the Royal Academy with Gayle and Bruce. We had dinner at the restaraunt in the museum. We took 'Dad' back to Ovingdean.

Saturday, 6 March, 1999 This morning we walked with Neal through Rottingdean and along the undercliff walk. On our drive up to Cambridge we stopped in Saffron Walden. There were lots of 16th century buildings with textured plastering. In Cambridge we had dinner with the Luisis (Ben, Sandra, Erica, and Francesca)

Monday-Tuesday, 8-9 March, 1999 We drove up to London in the evening and all went for Indian dinner. We took Neal to Heathrow airport on our way back to Ovingdean.

Saturday, 13 March, 1999 Today was D's birthday. It was a beautiful sunny day. We went into Brighton for Dim Sum. D & J especially liked the curried squid dish. We were going to go ice skating but the rink turned out to be very small and overcrowded. We walked around the shops and found a pair of Bavarian beer glasses, a shallow glass bowl and some floating candles for D.

Saturday, 20 March, 1999 We went to Winkworth Arboretum. Bruce and Gayle met us there. Some of the Camelias there were in bloom, but the best of all was the Magnolias. They've just begun blooming and some of them had a wonderfully sweet fragrance. We saw this neat spikey tree, and watched ducks and geese on the two lakes.

Thursday, 25 March, 1999 In the afternoon we drove up to London. Russ Halstead is visiting London this week. Everyone sat around chatting and having yummy tea before going out for Chinese dinner.

Saturday, 3 April, 1999 This week J and I made some serious updates to this page. We finaly got four rolls of our film developed. One of the rolls includes pictures from as long ago as D&J's farewell party in Pittsburgh. J also helped me finish up the slide shoue house tour.

Wednesday, 14 April, 1999 Last night we drove up to London and met Gayle's friend Amber. Today Gayle, Amber, D&J, and I went on a London walking tour. We started out at Waterloo station where we met the guide, Richard. We took the train to Richmond where our guide pointed out neat buildings from the 1700's. D&J say thats a long time ago, way before I was born. We walked along the river Thames and then went for a boat ride on the river up to Hampton Court Palace. The palace was built for Cardinal Wolsey but was given to and lived in by King Henry VIII. In the late 1600s part of the palace was torn down and rebuilt by Christopher Wren for the King and Queen, William III and Mary II. There was lots to see and beautiful gardens but the best bit was the hedge maze. I beat everyone to the middle. D&J caught up a short bit latter. But Amber and Gayle got lost! We could see them through the hedge passing on the same path. They finaly made it to the center and we all had a happy time finding our way back out again.

Saturday, 19 April, 1999 It was sunny this morning so we decided to go visit a garden, but we hadn't even made it as far as Falmer road when it started hailing. We decided it was an omen and went grocery shopping instead.

Saturday, 24 April, 1999 Today we went for a drive to Eastbourne and stopped at Beachy Head on the way. We were at the top of some cliffs and could see the lighthouse down below. There was an information center/museum with some fun displays.

Monday, 26 April, 1999 G has come to spend today and tomorrow with us. J and G spent the day talking and taking pictures of a few of the missing items for my journal.

Sunday, 2 May, 1999 Last night we drove up to London. Corrine Aalseth is visiting Gayle. This morning we all woke up early and took a taxi to Waterloo station to catch the Eurostar to Paris. We spent the day walking all over the city. We went into Notre Dame Cathedral and admired the stained glass. We saw the Eifel Tower during the daytime this visit. We saw the fountains flowing at the Trocadero; Walked around the Arc de Triumph and then had mussels for dinner near the Place des Vosges. After dinner we had to hurry to catch the Eurostar back to London. The adventure continued in London because when we arrived we had missed the last train for Brentford and there was a huge line of about 30 parties waiting for taxis. We caught the last metro to Boston Manor road but missed the last bus from there by just a few minutes, so we had to walk the rest of the way back home. Now we are all very tired and going to go to sleep. We had a very fun action packed day.

Sunday, 9 May, 1999 Corine and Gayle came to visit today. We went with Corine through Rottingdean and walked along the sea. We found some pretty rocks and watched the waves crashing.

Monday, 10 May, 1999 D and J bought a badminton set today. I'm hiding so they don't get the idea to use me as a birdie.

Saturday, 15 May, 1999 Off to the Brighton Festival today. We walked along the Brighton Seafront and had lunch. We saw a swingband playing with a couple dancing and we saw a couple of people cleaning off a dragon that had grown out of the sand. And we even saw some big whales! They were just the inflatable kind, though.

Saturday, 29 May, 1999 We drove to London and picked up our pet cat at the airport. His name is James and he's one of our very favorite friends. We took the tube into town and had to drag J away from the theatre where the Beauty and the Beast musical is showing. We had fish and chips for lunch and then went to the British Museum. We spent most of our time in the Roman Britain section, but managed to quickly run through the Egypt exhibit as well. Afterwards we went to a huge bookstore called Foyles. It's a whole block and has many stories (of both types). We saw the ground floor and a tiny bit of the 1st before they closed shop.

Sunday, 30 May, 1999 After sleeping in awhile, we went off to Madame Tussaud's. They had lots of famous people there holding very, very still. Even when you jumped on their heads they didn't move. My favorites were an ermine that Queen Elizabeth I was holding and a cool rat from the middle ages which was in the Spirit of London ride we got to go on at the end. Sorry we didn't get any pictures of the rat. Trust me, it was really cute. By the way, today was D and J's anniversary. They're 7 today. That's older than I am!

Monday, 31 May, 1999 Another friend came to London today. Her name is Pluk and she's from Ankh-Morpork on the Discworld! She seems to have a split personality, though, since J and D sometimes call her Anz and say she lives in the Netherlands. And then sometimes they say she's from Holland. And I've heard her called Imme and Emma as well. I'm confused. In any case, she's a lot of fun and the five of us really enjoyed running around London today. We saw all the major sites and even got to run around in Westminster Abbey. We saw a cool death statue there and even a hedgehog! It was fun. In Trafalger Square I climbed into the mouth of a Lion. The way home wasn't quite so great since D's car overheated. But it did mean that we found a nice Thai restaurant in Chiswick.

Tuesday, 1 June, 1999 I decided to be nice today and stay home with D while he tries to get the car repaired and does some work. At least it means I've got a chance to update my journal. J went with Anz and James to go to museums and stuff. They're meeting some more people from Discworld at a pub this evening. D says that if things go well we might be able to join them. I hope so. And I really hope that Quoth (the Raven) or the Death of Rats are there... well, we never made it to the pub, but at least we managed to get the car back and so far it seems to be working fine. J says that neither Quoth or Death of Rats managed to make it there, so it's okay even if it sounded like a lot of fun.

Wednesday, 2 June, 1999 We went to the tower of London. I got my picture taken with Trajan a Roman Emperor. When we first came in there was a 64 gun salute from four canons. We saw the crown jewels, walked through 'The Bloody Tower' where Sir Walter Raleigh was held, and went through the armour exhibits in the White Tower. Of course, I stopped to say hello to the ravens again.

Thursday, 3 June, 1999 J, Anz, James and I went to the British Museum again. (Well, Anz hadn't been with us on Saturday.) This time we looked at the Egyption sculptures and saw the Rosetta Stone. There were lots of cats and Anz even found a really cute hedgehog!. At the end of the day Anz gave me statue of one of my great ancestors. We also saw the Elgen marbles from the Parthenon in Greece, other greek and roman sculptures, and then went back to see the egyptian mummies. We took pictures of Caxton's Brentford house all empty. They are moving to West Wycombe.

Friday, 4 June, 1999 I woke up in my own bed this morning. D had to go to work. He took us all out for lunch at a pub this afternoon. He went back to work and the rest of us went for a walk. We walked through Rottingdean. We went through the Kippling Gardens, walked around the pond, and stopped for a browse through the local museum. We walked along the undercliff walk back to Ovingdean. The tide was in and waves were crashing up against the wall. J found some realy pretty seaweeds.

Saturday, 5 June, 1999 We went to Stonehenge today. It was rainy so we left the camera in the car but while we were walking around the stones the sun came out and it was very pretty. We also had fun watching the sheep and their lambs. We spent the night at Caxton's new place in West Wycombe.

Sunday, 6 June, 1999 This morning we took Anz to the airport. Then we drove to Bath. We saw the Roman Baths from which this town gets its name. Bath Abbey was beautiful. We also saw a costume museum which very much impressed J.

Monday, 7 June, 1999 We are home again today. Mostly we are just hanging about doing laundry and planning for a trip northward to Hadrian's Wall.

Tuesday, 8 June, 1999 Today we went to Bodium Castle again. We had a nice picnic in front of the castle. A coot came to investigate. There were fish in the moat. There were still lots of sheep and this time they had some lambs. Inside the castle we remembered this time to take pictures of the stairs. Dan and I fit inside the fireplace; James and Dan inside an even bigger fireplace. We found a trap door and tricked D to stand on it while James pulled the secret lever!
Next we went to Battle. Battle is the sight of the battle of Hastings where William the Conqueror won against the Saxon King Harold in 1066. Later William built Battle Abbey on the crest of the hill where Harold died. While walking on the battlefield we came across rabbits, geese, and bugs.

Wednesday, 9 June, 1999 Today we drove up to the Lake District. The Lake District is amazing! It was so incredibly beautiful and different from anything else we've seen in England. You are completely surrounded by these wonderfully shaped mountains. J says she thinks this must be where Terry Pratchett got his inspiration for Lancre. We stopped at lake Windermere and had a look around. The Lake District is quilted with dry stone walls. They are made so very tidily and without any mortar. Many of the walls have been being maintained since the middle ages. We went to Castlerigg Stone Circle. Unlike Stone Henge we were able to walk within the circle and I even got to sit on one of the stones. Dan and I ran around some. We found a very pleasant and comfortable B&B in Keswick called Fell House.

Thursday, 10 June, 1999 Today we spent the whole day following Hadrian's Wall. We began in Carlisle at the Tullie House Museum. There were exhibits on Hadrian's Wall, roman artifacts, a wildlife dome, local history, and interactive displays. We put Dan in the stocks.
Next we actualy saw part of the wall. We stopped at the Banks East Turret & Pike Hill Signal Tower.
We drove on to another nice bit of wall near Birdoswald.
And then on to the Poltross Burn Milecastle, Gilsand.
We went to another museum, The Roman Army Museum, where we saw films about the roman army and the building of the wall.
At Cawfields we got out and climbed up the mountainside amongst lots of sheep. D's asthma started to act up and J walked back to the car with him. They passed a really neat shaped bush. James kept hiking for while though. He took the camera with him and got a beautiful picture of one of the lakes from the wall. He also got a good view of another milecastle.
Our last stop was Housesteads, although we did drive farther along the wall to Chollerford before turning around and returning to Keswick. Housteads had more sheep, a roman fort and a pretty farm house.

Friday, 11 June, 1999 As if we havn't seen enough sheep on this trip, D&J made us go to the Lakeland Sheep & Wool Center. It was a lot of fun. Although we've seen many sheep in the fields, D&J won't let me hug them, ride them, or even pet them. They say it 'worries' the sheep and that we are not allowed to worry the sheep. At the sheep center we were shown 19 different breeds of sheep. We got to watch a sheep being sheared; Got to feel the shorn wool, which has a greasy waxy feel; and afterwards got to go up and pet each of the sheep and feel how different the wools feel on the different breeds. Dan's favorite sheep was the Jacob because it has four mythic looking horns. Johanna's favorite was the Shetland because it was fairly small and had the very softest wool. We drove back to Caxton's house in West Wycombe to spend the night.

Saturday, 12 June, 1999 Today we took James to the airport and drove back home to rest and recuperate.

Sunday, 20 June, 1999 Amy Howell and her friend Dennis are touring London and Paris this week. They both caught the train down from London and spent today with us. We went to the Royal Pavillion and then for tea in Rottingdean. We took them back to the train station in the evening and then headed off to a pub to meet Greg. Greg is a physicist Dan knows from Maryland. We also stopped at Artu and Hannah's house, and invited them to join us at the pub. (They live right by the train station.) Artu is also a physicist at Sussex. We went for chinese dinner with Greg after the pub. Greg is spending the night at our house and he's giving a talk at Sussex University tomorrow.

Sunday, 26 June, 1999 It was a warm sunny day, so we went for a walk on the beach. Even the breeze on the water was warm. We played by the water's edge and Dan got his feet wet. We decided to walk all the way to the Marina where we had lunch and then went to see a movie, The Mummy. The Mummy is an action film remake of the 1930's Boris Karloff horror film. It was a lot of fun. We took the bus home. It was so sunny and bright that J even got a little sunburned but she still says it was a great day. I think so too.

Thursday, 1 July, 1999 We took the train up to London to see the Kandinsky Exhibit at the Royal Academy. It was a wonderful show and D bought the hardbound catalog of the exhibit. Kandinsky is D's favorite painter. This was D's and my favorite painting. When we finished there we decided to head over to the Natural History Museum. We arrived at 3:30 and discovered that if we waited until 4:30 we could get in free, so we sat on a bench and admired the building. Inside we got to see lots of big dinosaurs. We had pizza for dinner and then caught the train back home.

Sunday, 4 July, 1999 We celebrated the 4th of July today by going to our local dairy and seeing the pretty cows that produce the milk delivered to our door. They had lots and lots of cows and a bunch of cute calfs as well. And we saw big horses. Afterwards we drove to Seaford and climbed from the beach up to the top of the chalk cliffs where we had an amazing 360 degree view of the downs, the coastline, and the sea. On the way back we drove through the small village of Alfriston before stopping at the Badger's Watch pub for dinner. It was a great day.

Saturday, 10 July, 1999 In the morning, we went into Kemp Town to see a Parade. Mark Hindmarsh was leading Carnival Collective, the percussion band with which he plays. In the evening, D&J had some friends, (Mark, Jesus, Tiago, Sandra, and Jackie) from the University over for Enchiladas. Afterwards we went for a long walk around Ovingdean and were heading toward the 11th century church when we heard grooving jazz coming from the village hall. It turns out it was Herbie Flowers, a fantastic jazz bassist who happens to live in Brighton. We all spent the rest of the evening enjoying ourselves there.

Wednesday, 14 July, 1999 Arttu and Hannah came over for dinner tonight since they're leaving soon for vacation in Finland and won't be back until after we leave. J made us some really yummy tandoori chicken.

Sunday, 18 July, 1999 We went to Wakehurst Gardens. We saw a bat house cut into a dead tree. This is probably the largest garden we've been to. As we were walking along one of the paths we came upon a male pheasant sleepinging in the sun. We stopped to watch him and while we were being very still we heard a rustling behind us. We slowly turned to look and saw his mate coming out from under the shrubbery.

Monday, 19 July, 1999 Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released in the US about two months ago. It was not released in England until the 15th of this month. Today, at last, we went to the theater to see it. It was awesome! I don't remember when the other Star Wars films came out since I am only four but D&J were really excited and told me lots of stories about them. J couldn't stop talking about how much she liked Queen Amidala's costumes.

Sunday, 25 July, 1999 We packed lots more stuff today (and in some of the previous days this week). Actually, J did most the work. In the afternoon, Gayle and Bruce came by to pick up a bunch of our stuff that will be shipped to either the U.S.A. eventually or to Dortmund when we get there in October. By the time they left, they were surrounded by boxes and plants were creeping everywhere in the car.

Friday, 30 July, 1999 It's almost time for us to go off to Germany so we invited all of D and J's friends from Sussex to go out to dinner with us. We started the evening meeting James, Neil, Nelson, Rachel, Tom, Tiago, Sandra, and Jackie at the Chequer's Inn pub. After a few drinks, we all headed to the Regency on the seafront to meet with Ed, David, and Angela for a seafood dinner. We had a very good time and will miss our (still) new Sussex friends a lot.

Saturday, 31 July, 1999 Today was our last day in our Ovingdean home with its beautiful views of the Channel and the downs. We worked to finish packing in the morning and then worked even harder to clean the house and give the car a bath. We finished around 3:00 and said goodbye to Mrs. Hunter. As a parting gift, she gave us a beautiful English teapot to remember her and England by. At 3:30 we left home for Caxton's place in West Wycombe near London.

Sunday, 1 August, 1999 This morning me, J, D, and Bruce's dad Edward got invited to go along with Gayle and Bruce to watch them ring the Bells at St. Laurence Church in West Wycombe. G & B just began learning a couple of months ago how to pull the bells. This church has eight different bells with a different person controlling each one and they all have to work very closely together to make the bells sound so pretty. It looks very hard and I was impressed at how well G&B did.
Afterwards, we drove to Waddesdon Manor, a 19th century mansion built in the style of a 17th century French Chateau. The estate used to be owned by members of the Rothschild family before they gave it to the National Trust in the 1980's. The wood panelling inside was taken from real 17th century French mansions that were being demolished at the time. My favorite thing was a big clockwork elephant. It's amazing and I wish I got to see it moving. After seeing the house we saw the aviary with a bunch of pretty birds.

Monday, 2 August, 1999 This morning we left England and borded a plane heading for Germany. Goodbye England, we'll miss you.

-- Note -- As many of you know we are moving to Germany after the end of July. We will be in Göttingen for two months learning to speak German before we settle down in Dortmund for a year. We will be sending out change of address information in October. In the meantime, I will be losing my u-net email address and u-net web address so you may want to copy down J&D's email addresses.
johanna@designwest.com
cormier@cmuhep2.phys.cmu.edu
J has created a new place for my web pages at www.designwest.com/fidella