ibuyeco

I know I promised a blog about blackberries and a various sundry of other topics but presently I can't get to that. Instead I'm going to briefly put down my thoughts about "settling into" another country. There is not only obvious tasks such as, purchasing kitchen goods, furniture, storage containers etc... there is also "difficult" buys like curtains (are they the right size, color etc...) lightbulbs which come in 328 varieties, scotch tape - can't find it, Crisco or something like it, knowing the right freezer to buy when your's dies (you guessed it, we didn't lose our food, Rebecca and Anne were able to wheel it to safety) and car insurance.
The last one really is interesting, there is none of this going to an agent and discussing what is best, instead you simply scour the internet at such sites as moneysupermarket, confused and elephant .coms. I found this a tad unnerving, I had to drop a pretty penny on insurance that I basically made up, not understanding all of the questions, and then hundreds (literally) of companies from financial to department stores to gas stations all send their quotes. We found one (ibuyeco) that seemed to be a good price, and after a bit of box ticking we were off in our 45 Rover fully insured, I assume. How much can you trust the screen to back you in an accident, I hope to don't have to find out! This was just a small taste of setting up home, really I wanted a break from cleaning, but now I must get back to it. till another time
er

Now I feel I can blog

Why is that you ask? On Tuesday a number of large packages from Argos arrived at our doorstep, this was great except for some of what we purchased (dresser and desk) had the label "some assembly required." I knew I was in trouble when the dresser had a picture of two stick people, so being the diy wimp I am, I decided to deal with the desk first. This actually went quite well, my confidence soared as it all came together and even as I write the desk is placed in the corner of the office/2nd bedroom. Alas the bigger rectangular box stared me in the face, almost daring me to conquer it. for someone who is skilled at assembly this dresser would be a piece of cake, for someone who shy's away from that type of activity this dresser wouldn't be a piece of cake, more like a truckload of it. Anywhoo (spelling of a made up word, doesn't really matter does it?) I boldly took the pieces out of the large box on Friday with aspirations to tackle the project, unfortunately or fortunately I didn't get to it:), maybe this was my uninterest or simply the way the week worked out. Friday night we had Richard and Heather over, and when we toured them around the place the numerous panels, drawers, screws, bolts, etc... were all laid out neatly, just waiting to be manipulated. The angel known as Richard asked if I would like some help. This wasn't a rhetorical question he was offering his expertise to combine with my unexpertise (word?) and that seemed like a fabulous formula for success. Fast forward to this afternoon when Richard turned up at 4:00 and we went upstairs straightaway to dig into putting together the dresser.
As I am writing now you are probably assuming that we are finished, and we are. Part way through the arduous assembly he looked at the instructions which stated this was a 1 hour deal, ya right, if you designed it and put them together for a living I can see that, but we were still proud after the almost 3 hours of toil, mind you we chatted and listened to some great tunes. We are now the proud owners of a beautiful, new, white 5 drawer dressing table, that fits nicely into our smallish bedroom, and he even hung a mirror above it so that's tko. So to explain the title, now that it's sorted I kinda feel like I can let my proverbial hair down and blog again, so be on the lookout for such interesting topics as... blackberries, horticulture, duck races, and maybe something on the color brown, later yall
earl "not the tool man" robinson

Team Robinson

This is the Mrs. part of the team writing this time. I do like to write, I am just not the literary expert like my other half! :) Anyway, one thing has become very apparent since we have moved to England, the village of Overton to be exact. Earl and I are definitely in this together. I figured it out that last week we spent a whopping 4 hours not in each other's presence. Now some may see this as a good thing and others not but I must say we are simply loving every minute of it. We were always teased back in Indiana because we carpooled, one of the few couples to only have one car for awhile and because we made our haircuts together. Have we squabbled in this intense time, well of course, we are human! I must say though the great discussions and learning to work together on just about everything has been wonderful. We feel so embraced as a team in this church, most just know us as Earl and Rebecca, didn't even know our surname for awhile. We do have more room in our new cottage, one of us can be upstairs while the other down which is a huge change from our small apartment in Indiana so that gives us space when we need it. I guess I just want to say I am so very thankful for this time because I do consider it a privilege!

a past reflection

While in Indiana at some point I lost my Morocco/Ending KBC Well Journal. This was horrifying as it had the Morocco trip chronicled day by day and my numerous thoughts from the last month of our time in Oxford. I was highly frustrated, then when we prepared to move I found it!!! Anyway today i pulled the little plain brown notebook and read through it, my were there many stories and interesting thoughts, beginnings to songs, one-liners etc... One of the consistent questions I've heard people ask lately is how big is God, or how can I see him bigger. That is probably the question that I grappled with the most whilst in KBC, and I wrote down my thoughts soon before we left Oxford. HUGE apologies to earlinoxford.blogspot.com readers as you will have already read this before, but maybe something new will strike you this time. Do enjoy and reflect, put in your own descriptors or adjectives, read on...
What is God Like
A mystery that can partially be solved, a father who generously pours out his love and wrath on his children, a king who chooses us peasants as heirs in his kingdom, a being who is somehow everywhere all at the same time, a judge who does not show partiality who exhibits righteous justice, a potter who models us his clay into his image, an artist who paints the horizon daily and has since the foundation of the world.
The word indescribable comes to mind, adjectives don't do the trick, neither do adverbs. To attempt to explain eternity, omniscience, love, justice, omnipresence, in words is a tas too difficult for mere humans. This can only be expressed in awe and wonder. The kind you sense when standing next to Niagara Falls, watching a fire burn, listening to waves crash over the rocks, counting seconds between the claps of thunder and crashes of lightning, gazing into the deep night sky, the aroma of freshly baked bread, attempting to imagine what forever really is... indescribable, full of mystery, robes of glory and bringing me to my knees.
e.d.r.

Moving Day Pictures!

runner beans

As you do I've promised a couple of people an entry about runner beans. The plant itself "runs" up along a circular wire contraption, and the plant grows in accordance to where the wire is. Sort of like when other vegetables are grown that need a brace or assistance to grow. Small pinkish flowers bud along the plant and when you see this it means there are beans on the way. These beans are more like Jack and the Beanstalk beans, they're huge, not your momma's little string or wax beans. These things resemble small green snakes that dangle from above and are just begging to be plucked off the vine. They are best when they're broad (don't mean a lima bean) let's say wide rather than skinny but letting them grow can be difficult because of their pick, cook and eatability (word?) . They are very convenient to have, but we've decided to wait a couple of days before our next harvest this way they have some time to grow. Rest assured I do check them daily and revel at the many small pinkish flowers that are budding now, knowing that a delectable bowl of beans is just around the corner.
earl and the beanstalk

blue

The hue conjures up many vivid pictures and ideas. i think of the blue man group, boy in blue by Van Gogh, jeans, berries, oyster cult, Vida, Chelsea or St. Louis and a beautiful sunny day where you notice the blue not the sun. Today is blue, time for a walk, hang out the wash, revel in the vivd sky, think about the brightness of life. It is a colour that awakens a sour mood through word or song but to me it is the antithesis of sour it is rather sweet, especially a day like today
e. d.

Green and Blacks

Moving into a different house on a different continent is not all that straight forward. It seems like everywhere I turn there is something else that needs to be set up. Trying to imagine life without the net would be difficult, we wouldn't have phone, direct debit, a Rover 45, car insurance, a NI number appointment, etc... Mind you it did take a total of 4 hours or so to get everything correct with phone and internet, but wow was it worth talking to Amir in Calcutta for over an hour last week. (he is a nice guy and knew his stuff) I need to ring the council later this afternoon, I'm not sure what for but I was told you have to access the council or they'll find you, I assume they'll hunt me down for a tax or something, or maybe just a neigbourly cup of tea. It's probably like going to the Post Office in early October to pay a tax on the car, not sure why the post office cares about my car, but the Royal Mail does do a bang up job, even though it freaks us out everytime something gets pushed through the letter box. I think I've wrapped my mind around putting the black wheelie (official name) by the curb on Fridays and the green and black wheelies every other Friday, I suppose I can remember that by buying a green and blacks every other Friday (for those of you who don't know they are killer chocolate bars and even better milkshake flavours in Oxford) This is some the set up we've had to do, the list I have still includes setting up online banking, paying my broadband cause we can't afford to lose that, once again looking through the Argos catalog, you'd think I'd memorized some pages already and deciding which garden shed to get at Homebase. I like you never thought we'd be buying a garden shed but there you have it. Our upstairs bedrooms still look as though we moved in yesterday not last Tuesday, but downstairs is coming along quite nicely thank-you, and by this Friday provided we can find parking in Basingstoke we will have outfitted most of our house. All is contingent on finding Wilkinson's, Sainsbury's etc... without the help of a SatNav (I'm not one quite yet:) or having a local riding along with us. Watch out on the roads around 11 if you're from around here, the Robinson's will out and about, not exactly knowing where we are going or how to get there.

boring entry

Tomorrow will be a much more entertaining and hopefully exciting entry, but for today just one small blog change to make you aware of. We have changed the setting of who can leave a comment to anyone, not just people already on blogger. We didn't realize there was a difference until Karisa pointed that out, a big handclap to her for that astute realization. so now if you want to comment please do, we totally enjoy reading what our friends are thinking about what we are writing.
e and r

Our Day on the Boat in Pictures!

47

We have officially moved into 47 Winchester St. Overton, and what a whirlwind it has been. I'm not going to chronicle the days since Tuesday, suffice it to say that we have hardly stopped working, shopping, running here and there until the evenings, then once the front curtain is drawn we relax a bit, make a schedule for the next day (I know some of you think that's crazy), possibly have a hot drink and head off to bed. I promise once our place is in working order we'll put up some pics, it is looking much like a home now as opposed to a small beige box with uneven corners. We can't say thanks enough to the many who made this happen (i'm writing like I just won an Oscar) anyone who gave us furniture, welcome cards, money on Sunday, a ride to here or there (Richard and Susan yesterday to Sainsbury's) those who helped clean, the guys who lugged the heavy stuff, without each one we wouldn't be where we are today which is sitting in an almost furnished mid 18th century cottage on the 2nd busiest street in Overton.
Before I forget, one incredibly minute and mostly unimportant thing is how breathtaking our kettle is. Last night I boiled water simply to watch it change color from blue, to fuchsia, to purple and finally once ready to red. Then after it is done the kettle changes from red-orange-yellow-green- blue-pink-purple etc... it reminds me of shopping malls in the 1980's that had fountains with lights behind them that changed every 10 seconds or so, or if you've been to Niagara Falls and seen the lights on the falls, although our kettle is a much more subtle and unimpressive show it kept me spellbound for around 3 minutes. later ya'll
duke

aye, aye cap'n

I've been called many things in life, a nautical expert has not been one very often muttered. Today that didn't change but I did drive a boat for the first time, in addition to opening and closing locks on a canal. This adventure is not one I had on my "must do" list in life, but I must say it was quite fun, and challenging at the same time. i wouldn't consider myself a mariner yet, although I wasn't totally uncomfortable behind the wheel of the Dolphin 20 either. Opening, closing, filling and emptying locks was at times hard work, but really the water does the work for you once you tell it where to go (something I have had experience in muttering:) Anyway I thought I'd wax poetic to wrap up our day on the Kennet and Avon Canal running from Newbury to Kintbury, here goes

What a beautiful day to sail up the narrow canal
Aboard the Caramazza with Richard, Heather and my favorite gal
Quick hurdle out, raise the paddle and open the lock
We need to go on, the pub's in Kintbury it's there we will dock

Cap'n Earl take the wheel and navigate a direct course
No worries if not straight, we could be pulled along by a horse
The water has retreated back down, let's open up the gate
Must traverse to Newbury and moor the Dolphin before it gets too late
admiral earl

Our 12th Anniversary & Welcome to West Basingstoke!

We feel very blessed! Today was our first day at our new church, West Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. It was also our 12th anniversary. As you can see from the pictures below the church of West certainly knows how to make people feel welcome! We were greeted with signs, cake and gifts. Oh, and party poppers being set off as we entered the building! :) We are both very excited for all God has in store for us in this new place. To celebrate our big day we spent this past Friday in a city called Winchester which is just 13 miles from where we will be living. It is an amazing city that we plan to take any of our visitors. We saw castle ruins from I believe the 13th century, an amazing cathedral, King Alfred history, as well as many cool shops. It was a great day out! Hope you enjoy the pictures! Rebec (my new nickname from Pastor Dave)

Love is in the Air!

What a privilege we have had these last couple of weeks! Two weeks in a row we witnessed weddings of dear friends. Sure, there were differences: one in Indiana, the other in north England, one group of people that we have known for years, another a group we spent an intense year knowing, one where Earl was a groomsmen, the other where he was the speaker, one where I did the guestbook, the other where I read scripture, one on the verge of saying goodbye to the states, the other saying hello to a whole new adventure, etc. The commonness though is that at both we were surrounded by people we love and care about. We were able to watch dear friends of ours enter into something as cool as marriage. We feel blessed that God worked it out for us to attend both of these events. Tomorrow will be our 12 year anniversary of tying the knot so we know that marriage can be an amazing thing! More on our day out in Winchester to celebrate later...ttyl, bex