A4 Update - December 2015

While the London expat adventure is officially over, it does not mean the adventure stops.  The theme of December was Leaving London.

Holly sold many household electronic items that could not come back to America.  Happy to know that someone in London is enjoying our alarm clock & blender.    

Both kid had Christmas shows at school, which are always interesting.

We attended several going away events with our much loved friends.  

The week of December 14 we had the pleasure of spending time with movers, a professional cleaning team, and the landlord checkout clerk.  Happy to report that the checkout clerk was pleased with the condition of The Manor.  

Our final flight out of Heathrow was after lunch on Friday 18 December amid many tears from the whole family.  

The tears dried up as the strong sunshine of Aruba hit our pasty skin for four days in the sun.

Christmas was spent among our family & friends.

That's a wrap on 2015!

What's New With You?

      We bought a house.         

In America.

The expat adventure is almost over, folks.  Our two-year contract went by fast, but we jammed a lot into it.  Our official leave window is mid-December, so there's just over one month to finish off the must see in London list. 

Just to keep things interesting, we decided not to move back to Chicago.  The multiple years of Polar Vortex (Polar Vortices?) ensured that we could find more suitable climate.  Matt's job put no geographical requirements upon his return to America, so we had 50 states from which to choose.

We decided our next city should have:
        * no (or virtually no) snow
        * East Coast timezone to keep work calls back to Europe not too inconvenient
        * low cost of living (almost anywhere is lower than London)
        * easy access to other major cities
        * did I mention no snow?

When we looked at the map, and by that I mean Youngest Kiddo's Ravensburger puzzle, we quickly came to a decision: North Carolina.  More specifically, Raleigh.  From our research, Raleigh seemed to tick all the boxes for our family.  Even more, just a short distance from Raleigh is the Atlantic Ocean in one direction and the Appalachian Mountains in the opposite.  You better believe I'm all over Instagram scouting for places to eat and visit.  I'm always open to your suggestions for what to see & do in our new hometown.  Leave your favorites in the comments below!

How are we all feeling about the move?  That's for another time, but for now we have a list of things to accomplish and see before we go.  Our expat adventure will soon morph into a repatriation adventure, and I sure hope you will follow along with all the fun!

A4 Update - August 2015

It's almost back to school time!!!

Two of our very best college friends visited us for a week!  We showed them just about all there is to see in London.  

Holly and the kids took a day trip to Brussels with another mom and her kids.  We did not do a ton, per se, but we saw the highlights and ate frites, waffles, and chocolate.  

Matt spent a few days in America, but not too many. 

Holly and the kids went to a production of Bugsy Malone.  My kids loved that children made up much of the cast.

Several sites from the must see list were seen: Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, Primrose Hill's view of the city, the houseboats of Regent's Canal, and the Magnum Ice Cream Pop Up shop in Covent Garden.  I'll let you guess which spot the kids loved the most.

We had a great picnic in Hyde Park with quality people watching.

Summer is just about over, but thankfully the weather has been great to be outside!  The month ended with a day trip to Cambridge.  

Whirlwind Week in London - Touring Tuesday

The Manor was host to two of our very good college friends for a week.  They'd never been across the ocean before, so they were up for anything!

We did not spend hours in any one place.  I tried to take them in for the highlights so they could get a flavor for all that London has to offer.  I had to keep track of time to return to our borough to retrieve Youngest Kiddo, so you could actually spend more time at the venues if you so choose.  I think our itinerary proves that you can just about see it all in one week (I listed the day's starting tube station in case you want to try our itinerary).

Sunday - arrival day Tube: Westminster

Pick up at Heathrow
Lunch at home
Westminster sights (Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, London Eye, River Thames)
Walk Whitehall to Trafalgar
Walk Trafalgar to Covent Garden & Seven Dials
Pub in Covent Garden 

We created a loose plan for the day since we had no idea how much (or little) sleep they had on the flight.  Luckily they had a few hours and were game to get out into the city.  I think the Westminster area is a great first stop because you see so many iconic structures in one spot.  A few drinks in the pub was a nice way to end their first day.    

Monday - Tube: Knightsbridge

Harrods

Victoria & Albert Museum

Natural History Museum

Walk to Kensington Gardens (see Royal Albert Hall & Albert Memorial)

Tour Kensington Palace

We chose to spend some time in Knightsbridge & South Kensington for their first full day of touring.  I thought it would be best to start at Harrods right at opening to walk the food halls, see the Egyptian staircase, and handbag department before the other tourists even finished their coffee.  The architecture in many of the museums is part of the charm.  The main lobby of the Natural History Museum is beyond gorgeous.  We had to queue outside the museum for about 20 minutes, but that gave us the chance to see all of the different tiles, gargoyles, and motifs on the building.  

Tuesday - Tube: Green Park

Changing of the Guard

Take away Pret sandwiches in Trafalgar Square

Tour Buckingham Palace

As much as I love the royals, the Changing of the Guard is not actually something you need to do.  Prior viewings had a well choreographed entrance of the fresh guard and an amusing concert with everyone's favorite God Save the Queen (also known as My Country Tis of Thee for the Americans out there).  Sometimes they throw in a contemporary tune or even the James Bond theme.  This particular day was uncharacteristically abysmal.  The band played sporadically, and it was just a big let down.  So we chose to waste no more time on that.  However, we did get a great view of the outgoing guard as they followed us down The Mall toward Trafalgar Square.  The highlight of the day was the summer opening of the Buckingham Palace State Rooms.  This year's theme had the ballroom set up for a state banquet; I'd sure like to be invited to one of those!

Wednesday - Tube: Kings Cross

Walk through Kings Cross & St. Pancras Stations to see the architecture & Platform 9 3/4
Camden Market (big thumbs down)

Walk to Primrose Hill and pass by Regent's Canal (big thumbs up!)

Piccadilly Circus to see favorite shops (Liberty, Fortnum & Mason, etc)
Self-guided pub crawl thanks to Yelp recommendations

I never get up to North London during the week because it's not the easiest to get there and back in time to pick the kiddos up from school.  So I was happy that the guests wanted to see that part of town.  Primrose Hill's view of the city is worth the gluteus maximus work out to get to the top.  Skip Camden Market and go for the fun shops off Piccadilly & Regent Streets.

Thursday - Tube: Monument
View The Monument (climb the 311 steps if you feel adventurous)

Tour Sky Garden (prebook your FREE tickets)

Leadenhall Market (Diagon Alley scenes from Harry Potter movies)
Borough Market 
British Museum

The Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street is one of my favorite spots in the city (tickets are FREE, but you must prebook your time slot).  I highly recommend this over the London Eye due to cost and ambiance.  Then we walked to nearby Borough Market to see its lovely, historic food market with many diverse food options.  Be sure you bring cash if you go as not many stalls take cards.  We ended our day at the British Museum for my favorite must see items: Elgin Marbles (George Clooney's wife is trying to help get these returned to Greece), Egyptian Mummies, and the Room of Enlightenment.     

Friday- Tube: Tower Hill

Tower of London
Tower Bridge
Walk across Tower Bridge to St. Paul's
Pub in Richmond for dinner without the kids

We sent our guests to tour the Tower of London and met them for lunch at Wagamama Tower Hill.  Our walk from the Tower Bridge down to the Tate Modern gave a great view of the city.  Please admire the great view of St. Paul's before you cross the Millennium Bridge.  Since we spent so much time in the city during the week, we picked a pub out in Richmond for dinner so they could see another facet of Greater London.  

Saturday - Tube: Hammersmith

Fish & Chips @ Kerbisher & Malt

Bishop's Park for playtime and see and hear the Fulham stadium crowd

home for Pimms and dinner

Our guests' final day in London was certainly less eventful than the previous days.  We went for lunch at our favorite chippy (British for fish & chip shop), and ended the day with a stop at a park on the river.  Everyone took a turn playing on the equipment (although the adults realized that spinning rides aren't for us anymore) amidst the sounds of the nearby crowd as Fulham played Brighton and Hove Albion.  We spent the rest of the evening at home, eating, drinking Pimms, and laughing with our friends one last time. 

Then the week was over.  Their cab arrived at 5:30 Sunday morning to usher them back to Chicago.  It was a memorable week that I know none of us will forget.
  
What didn't we do?  I know it seems impossible that we missed anything.  Here's what I'd add with a few more days:
*West End show - There are always great shows in London, but I just never get around to booking tickets.
*National Gallery - Ran out of time
*River Thames boat ride - Ran out of time
*Afternoon Tea - I could have made it work, but I still can't stomach the £35+ per person at a proper spot for tiny sandwiches and a few bites of cake.  Yes there are cheaper options, but I feel you have to do this right or not at all.  
*A picnic in the park - The sun really never came out to make this a worthwhile event.  Sunny picnics in the park have the best people watching.  
*London Eye - Skipped this on purpose because the Sky Garden is free and they have snacks!

A4 Update - June 2015

Yeah, yeah, I'm a little behind.

Oldest Kiddo went on a three day school trip.  She was completely wiped out from canoeing, climbing, abseiling (rappelling down a rockface), mountain biking, and a whole lot of friend time.  

Holly happily finished working on the school summer fair; it was a full time job for a while.  The school community had fun, and there was plenty of Pimms all around.  

The kids had a day off from school, and we left the city limits to pick strawberries.  

Matt's sister and her husband visited The Manor for a week, and it was brilliant to have them here.  Oldest Kiddo was sick for some of their visit which hindered our ability to tour with them.

London experienced summer with a heatwave of above 85 degrees.  When you don't have air conditioning, it's awful.  Thankfully it only lasted a few days and then we went back to the low 70s.  

Let's see what July brings!

A4 Update - April 2015

April was filled with fun.

Both of our kids celebrated their birthdays. The small distance between their dates makes for a busy month. Thankfully they are easy to please; Oldest Kiddo was thrilled with books & clothes and Youngest Kiddo Legos, Legos, Legos.

Holly's sister & nephew visited for ten days around Easter. They got the full tour of London.  

After the family returned to 'Merica, we spent the last few days of the kids' Easter break in Berlin.

Matt was only gone one day this month, such a difference from last month's 15 days.  

The month rounded out with another set of visitors to the Manor from 'Merica.

Youngest Kiddo lost his two front teeth, but only one was available for the Tooth Fairy.  He swallowed the first one with his breakfast!

Morning Routine Hell

Recently I shared what a typical day is like for me in London.  Today you will learn about the intricate dance that is getting the kids to school.  It only lasts about 90 minutes, but many days it can be the most exhausting part of my day. 

Back at The 407 we set our own pace for the morning.  I liked to leave by 7:45 so that I could drop the kids off at before school care and still have time to get my classroom ready for the day.  If we did not leave on time, it was an internal fail, and we could only blame ourselves.      

In London, the bus rules our morning routine.

Once I’m ready shortly after 7AM, I wake the kids and cajole them down to breakfast.  They are pretty easy to please for their morning meal so it usually goes quickly.  After they eat, the kids are to get dressed and brush their teeth.  This is one time when the whole morning can derail.  Youngest Kiddo can decide that he is not interested in donning his uniform and commence playing cars whilst in his undergarments.  Oldest Kiddo might decide that an impromptu concert is needed in front of the bathroom mirror instead of brushing her hair.  

By far what causes the most drama is when I check the bus status using the City MapperApp.  Our morning lives or dies by these times.  The bus typically runs every 6-8 minutes, at least that's what Transport for London hopes.  However, the bus is subject to traffic delays and diversions due to construction which impacts the frequency of the busses.  

Just before the kids make their way downstairs for shoes and coats I check the time to the next bus.  I bite my lip and squint my eyes when I type in our destination, and I prefer to see these options...

Not our real location

I like that we can zip to the stop and get a bus in 3 minutes or if we are moving slow we have 10.  Unfortunately, it's usually this....

4 minutes then 27!?!?  What the heck!?  If school starts at 9, and the time on the clock is 8:25, we aren't going to make it if we wait.  Cue the panicky, "Come on kiddos, we've got to go!"  It can either go swimmingly or Youngest Kiddo can decide that he's not interested in hustling up the street for the 4 minute bus.  

So, that means we have to walk.  Cue a pouty fit from Youngest Kiddo.  He's not opposed to walking in London, but he's pretty particular about taking the bus to school.  Additionally, he is not a rapid walker so when we only have 30 minutes to get to school, our walk is more of a speed walking event.  Let me tell you that it's no fun to walk in public while dragging a complaining and pouting child behind you.  Sometimes that pouty child even stops in the middle of the sidewalk to declare that he refuses to walk to school.  

The days when the bus isn't for 27 minutes is when I curse us for living so far away from the kids' school.  But at the end of the morning, we always make it.  The kids have only been tardy once this year and once last year so we are doing something right.  No curses necessary.  The bonus?  There is always a coffee shop on the way home.  

What's In The Diary For 2015?

Our little family has some big plans for this year.  

Oldest Kiddo gets to go on a two night school trip.  She has the chance to go canoeing, climbing, mountain biking, and zip lining.  It's a right of passage for the Year 6 classes, and she's pretty pumped.  

I'd like to get my UK drivers license.  We may only have a year left in England, but our US drivers licenses are no longer valid since we've been residents for over a year.  If we'd like to rent a car for a UK trip one of us needs a license.  

Travel (of course) - Matt and I plan to sit down and map out the year.  Italy, Ireland, Croatia, Poland, and Greece are on the top of our list.  If we need a tropical getaway the Canary Islands are up there, too. 

Welcome new guests to The Manor.  The spring is turing out to be a busy time for guests.  I'm excited to show our friends and family the amazing city in which we live.  

Check in through the year to see how we are doing! 

A4 Update - September 2014

We said goodbye to summer this month.

• The Kiddos returned to school at the beginning of September.  Oldest Kiddo gets to wear a tie with her uniform.
• Holly visited Buckingham Palace during the summer opening, and it was more spectacular than you could imagine.
• There was a spider invasion in London.  All windows were sprayed several times to discourage their entry into The Manor.  One got in, and I nearly had a heart attack.  
• The Duchess is going to have another baby!!!
• Nana visited for a few weeks.  We saw The Book of Mormon, visited many palaces (we visited all but Kew), went to Paris (!), and revisited the big tourist locations.

A Little Bit of Telly

We do not watch much television at The Manor.  I'm not implying that we watched a lot at The 407, but it was often on for noise whilst in the kitchen or even down the hallway bedrooms.  The layout of The Manor is a big reason that the telly is not turned on very often.  Our television is in the reception room, which is an actual room, with a door, so the sound does not travel far.  

Happy New Year 2014!

What's different about the telly in the UK?

The shows on the BBC do not have commercials.  Our annual TV license covers what would typically be paid by advertisers.  This is good and bad.  Great because you can immerse yourself into a documentary about WWI (which there are many) or salivate over the Great British Bake Off.  The bad is no built in commercial toilet breaks.  Yes, we can pause live TV, but that kind of kills the momentum of the show (yes, this is a first world problem).    

When we watch American shows on non-BBC channels (How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory) they only show half of the commercials. Which leads to my next fact.

BBC coverage of the Polar Vortex in the USA

TV shows do not always end on the hour or half hour.  It is not unusual for a show to start at quarter past or quarter to the hour. 

The Wii does not get much of a workout

The number of documentaries on at any given time is astounding.  The Brits love WWI and love to make documentaries about it.  

The Brits also like the Bake-off and Sew-off type shows.  The Great British Bake-off with Paul Hollywood & Mary Berry (baking celebrity) starts tomorrow.  This was copied in the US with Jeff Foxworthy.  I am quite excited to watch the series.  

This documentary had some action shots

We have several American Channels available to us including: TLC, Discovery, E!, Travel Channel, and Animal Planet.  The Travel Channel is only on from 6pm-10pm, not sure why.  Unfortunately the shows on these channels are not a good representative of what you can watch in the USA.  It makes me sad to think that Brits see the worst of American TV, such as the no talent siblings and their brainless escapades in LA & Miami.

Some of the American shows are dubbed with British voice overs.  I don't know why they do this, but it always makes us laugh.  Do you know the deep voice of the narrator on Myth Busters?  Well he's been replaced with a Brit.

What's the best thing about British telly?

Downton Abbey starts months before the US.  The next season is set to launch in the fall, but no date has been released.  No more waiting until January!

Grand Designs shows how one can spend a few million on their home in mostly classy style.  

Top Floor - London Manor

It's been a while since I've shared a London Manor post with you.  The main reason for the delay is the final spots in the house are not as ready for prime time as I'd like.  Pictures have not found their final destination in a few rooms or the organization is just not quite right.  

Finally the top floor of the Manor is as done as it's going to be - the master bedroom.  I shared the master bathroom a while ago, and now you can see the rest of the room.  It's what Londoners know as a loft conversion.  Our landlord converted the attic into usable living space by bumping the back wall out and up to a 90-degree angle instead of the peaked roof it was originally.  

It's a long way to the top.......of our house.  We climb two sets of stairs, with the final set up to our room being narrow with a curve for the last three steps.  I've slipped on the curve many times.  That should not surprise many that I'm a klutz.  

Our room is huge.  I think it's the size of our bedroom and Youngest Kiddo's bedroom back at The 407.  More space is great, but it is also a pain in the arse since it's easy for things to pile up and them not be in the way.  For you, dear readers, I cleaned the place up.

We do not have any pictures on the wall because we can't decide what to hang up there.  We will call it the clean lines look.  

Our view out the front is from two Velux windows; these appear to be the standard window people put in their loft conversions.  The back view is from two double hung like windows.  All of the windows in the whole open and have no screens.  I have a hard time with no screens on the windows as birds tend to hang out in our neighborhood, and I'm paranoid that they will get in.  Matt says I'm crazy, but he can be the one to clean up the mess when one gets in.  Gives me the creeps.  

The lighting is provided by recessed halogen can lights and our two side-table lamps.  The wardrobes are courtesy of our IKEA purchase and constructed by Matt.  

There are two sneaky spots in the room.  The first is this little alcove that really has no purpose other than to store things.  Right now it houses our still wrapped bedroom mirror that matches our dresser currently in Youngest Kiddo's room.  Also in there is unhung art work and our shoe stash.  

The second sneaky spot is the leftover attic space.  There's not much square footage, but it can store our luggage and holiday decorations.  I usually have something sitting in front of the little door because it does not always stay shut.  It often creaks open when I'm upstairs by myself.  Creeps me out.  

There you have it - the top of London Manor.  There are two remaining spots of The Manor to show you, but they still need some tweaking before their debut.  

The Heart of the House - London Manor

The continuing tour of London Manor takes us to the heart of our home - the kitchen.  

Our kitchen is one of the nicest that we looked at over many, many house tours.  Some of the other houses had more modern appliances or brighter spaces, but this room fits our family's needs perfectly.  Do you remember all the boxes we had on move in day and the comment, "You must have had a massive kitchen in the states," from the mover?  Well I'm still working on finding a permanent home for several items.  Some super infrequently used items are repacked into boxes and stored in Oldest Kiddo's closet. 

Ours is an open style kitchen/dining room.  At The 407 the dining table was in the living room, and there was not good space for anyone to hang out while I cooked.  Now we are all together and the kids often play Legos or make a craft while I'm cooking.  It's a good slice of togetherness during the day.  I have to use all surfaces and nooks to their maximum because it is lacking in built in storage space.  Those baskets on top of cabinets might look nice, but they also hold a myriad of kitchen tools.  I actually can't tell you what I put in there, so I bet they will go unused until they are packed up when we move back.  

We reused a shelf from The 407 to give us additional storage space.  It houses the microwave and other big items that I had no space to give in the kitchen area.  The big basket on the third shelf holds all of my large baking tools.  I read many blogs that love open shelving in the kitchen, but I'm not sold on the concept.  For now, it prudently uses what we brought with us and serves a purpose.

There is one spot in the kitchen that I was thrilled to create.  See that ugly curtain to the right of the shelf in the above photo?  Behind it is my broom closet.  The quantity of fabric in the panel allows me to store my hoover (British for vacuum), broom, and mop with nary a thought that anything was behind it.

We purchased a new dining table when we moved in.  Our old one at The 407 was from our college years.  When the kids first started using utensils for their meals, the poor table received many a fork tine scrape or spoon whack.  There are even a few remnants etched in the wood from some raucous Pictionary drawings.  The new one is solid American Walnut, and it is bigger than we initially thought about buying.  However, the larger floor model was significantly cheaper than the smaller size.  The room can handle it & it's beautiful.  We must keep its size in mind when we house hunt the next time.  We will never get rid of this table.  

Our fridge/freezer is small, but with creative organization it works for us.  It is persnickety about temperature.  Food items in the back of it often come out partially frozen.  It also quickly goes from full to empty.  Two days of school lunches and dinners depletes the inventory down to condiments and yogurt.  Yes, I grocery shop two to three times per week.  The freezer is a series of drawers that is the perfect size for us.  I keep a few packages of ground beef (they call it mince here), chicken, and bagels on hand at all times.

Our landlord recently replaced the stovetop because the original one had a faulty burner.  When one cooks with gas, a faulty burner is not a good thing.  The replacement is not much better as it has persnickety temperature settings.  I've found adjusting individual burners to be an exercise in patience.  A millimeter turn of the knob makes big changes.  They are very powerful burners, and even the low-output burner can quickly burn things.  When I need to use more than one burner, the stovetop is quickly cramped quarters.  

It took me a few almost burned meals to realize I have a convection/fan style oven.  I have to adjust the temperature down by about twenty degrees for everything I make.  This is because the fan constantly circulates the heat around the food to make it cook quicker.  At least that's how I understand it.  An 8x10 dish barely fits in the oven.  The handles of the glass dish fit in between the rails of the oven rack frame.

I decided to use the stove hood for travel magnets.  We certainly plan to increase the quantity of the magnets in the next two years.  Now we have to buy a Chicago one when we visit home :)

That's the heart of our manor.  There's just a few spots left to share!

Hardest Part of an International Move

An international move is extremely stressful.  For the most part, we had to close everything in the USA before leaving for the UK.

Prior to leaving the USA

• cancel utilities, bank accounts, and set up mail forwarding
• sell/donate unneeded furniture, clothing, and home goods
• pack up items to store with family until our return
• sell the house
• pack the remaining household items
• get medical records for all family members
• leave family, friends, and jobs

After arrival in the UK

• tour with a relocation person for a house
• live in limbo in a corporate apartment while the homeowner has a mid-life crisis
• tour again with a relocation person for a house when the first place falls through
• apply for schools in the area
• secure furniture to replace what was sold or would not fit
• unpack the boxes from the US, and figure out we brought way too much
• find doctors and secure private health insurance
• get utilities set up*

In it's most basic form, that's what we had to do.  You'll notice the asterisk on the last bullet point.  Our relocation consultant set up our electric, water, and gas service.  She was unable to set up our telephone and internet. The telecom company is persnickety about having the resident calling.  No problem, it can't be that hard can it?

<insert foreboding background music here>

I'll try to make this as simple as I can, but it's messy....

• Matt called the big telecom company the day our tenancy agreement (lease) was signed in mid-December.  The first possible date for them to install was January 2, 2014.  No problem as they gave us proper access to the city-wide internet access.  We had to be near the window, but it was better than nothing.  They sent the hardware to the house in anticipation of the technician's arrival. 
• Technician arrived on January 2, 2014 only to tell us that we had no live line to the house.  He had to put in a repair ticket back at the ranch.  It will take "a while" to get sorted out.
• Still not a problem since we had the cloud wi-fi to use.
• Telecom Co rescheduled us for Monday January, 20 to resume the install
• On Friday, January 17 our cloud wi-fi stopped working
• Telecom Co emailed to say our order was cancelled, several calls cannot uncover the reason for the cancellation
• Since Matt works all day, I was given the job of trying to get the service reinstated
• Was told that the original order could not be reinstated because the service was terminated and have to start all over with a brand new order.

<insert yoga breathing and choice words for Telecom Co here>

• The first possible date for install was Monday, February 3.  She'd make a note on our account so they did not resend all of the hardware.
• A new set of hardware arrived at the house on January 30.
• On February 3, the Telecom Co technician arrived and installed the internet router, and we were online!
• Later on February 3 another set of Telecom Co technicians visited not knowing that their compadre had left an hour prior.  One guy checked the former technician's work while the other guy made small talk.  
• We relish in the wi-fi and the corresponding DVR for the television that needed the wi-fi signal

Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would take 8 1/2 weeks to get internet installed.  Gracious. 

A Peek Inside Domestic Bliss - London Manor

A peek inside our London Manor continues.  This week we will take a little tour with a couple of the mechanicals that keep the manor humming.  Laundry is the job that never ends.  However, we are lucky that our house came with a washer and separate dryer.  Yes, we are lucky.  

The washer is a standard issue front-loading washer.  It does not fit much in the way of my top loader at The 407, but it does a fine job cleaning.  The pièce de résistance is the tumble dryer.  On our home searches very few had dryers, and I did a happy dance when we realized we picked a place that had one.  I can give up a lot of things, but a proper dryer is not one of them.  It is a difficult idea to wrap your brain around if not having a dryer is an extremely foreign concept.  I know, for a fact, that many households do not have dryers at all.  How do they do laundry, you ask?   Those without a dryer have two alternatives: 

• A washer and foldable drying rack - Everything gets hung to air dry.  I like to hang a lot of my clothes to dry, but there are some things that deserve a warm dry.  I certainly think socks and undies deserve a warm tumble as air dried laundry items have a certain crunchy element to them.

Laundry from back in the apartment - never a good spot to put this

• A washer/dryer in the same unit - When the wash cycle ends, it switches into heat mode for the dryer.  We had one of these in our corporate apartment; it was not ideal, but better than nothing.  If you've ever tried drying laundry with a hair dryer you have an idea of the quality.  I ran clothes through a dry cycle then hung them on the foldable rack so I could do more than one load of laundry per day.  

The dryer at our house is not without it's own idiosyncrasy.  This bad boy is known as a condensing dryer.  The vapors do not vent to the outside, they magically condense back into a water tank that has to be emptied every three to four loads.  The condensing reservoir is a little heavy and unwieldily to empty.  I always get the back door open before I remove it so I don't spill all over the floor.  

The reservoir is full

I think it weighs 5kg (about 10 pounds) when full 

I'll use the water for the flowers when we get some

All in all, it's a creature comfort I'm glad is at my house.  Stay tuned for next time; we can explore the kitchen!  Try to not lose sleep whilst you wait.