Post-Visitors

John and Gretchen (Erik's parents) have come and gone, having spent 9 days here. I think they had a good time--lots of trips into London and time hanging out in hip and happening Esher. We had really bad weather (you may have heard about the storms on the news) so we were limited as far as taking day trips in the car. But they were troopers--John went into London every single day but the first and last day. He wants to see EVERYTHING when he travels and I think he made a pretty good dent in the list. Gretchen stayed behind a couple of days, one day with Jake while I went into London with John. It was really great to go do something outside of my routine during the week.

We are discovering something about Jake, which we already knew but are now seeing in full force: He is a kid who needs routine and stability, and who needs his MOM. This move hasn't been as easy on him as on Emma, who can simply fly wherever the winds of change take her without batting an eyelash. Routine is fine and dandy, but he did not take kindly to our life being interrupted by visitors. (Laura can attest to being treated in a standoff-ish manner for the first couple of weeks she was here...by the third week, I think Jake had finally incorporated her into the "family.") Even though he remembered John and Gretchen and remembering staying with them in Salem, he was not too thrilled to see them out of context. We did leave for our overnight trip, with him crying and clinging to my legs, begging me not to leave him. Unfortunately, I was under-whelmed with sympathy and happily took off for the coast. Of course, once I was out of the picture, Jake was perfectly fine with them for the rest of the weekend.

Trip to Dorset

Erik and I drove down to Dorset County on the south coast. It rained a lot, but we managed to mosey around the countryside toughing it out because we're Oregonians (turns out, the weather was the precursor to the massive storms and flooding England had a couple of days later...) We visited Corfe Castle, which, I have to say, is a pretty amazing set of ruins (and we've seens LOTS of ruins.) Here's a brief version of its history (I'm not a history buff but even I thought it was really interesting):

• In 978, before the present Castle was built, legend has it that King Edward the Martyr was murdered at Corfe by his stepmother who wanted to put her own son, Ethelred ‘the Unready’, on the throne. While stag hunting in the Purbeck forest, Edward paid a visit to Corfe, where Elfryda is said to have offered him a goblet of wine, then treacherously had him stabbed in the back while he drank it.
• Corfe Castle was begun by William the Conqueror soon after his arrival in Britain in 1066. It was served by the surrounding community in return for the use of homes and land, as well as shelter in the Castle in times of trouble. Much of the Isle of Purbeck was a Royal Forest so the hunting of game without royal permission was punishable by death.
• Corfe was one of King John’s favourite castles. Between 1199 and 1216 he added a great many defences. During his troubled reign the castle was often used as a prison, where many prisoners met their deaths. King John also turned Corfe Castle into a comfortable royal residence. There would have been a garden and a kitchen to grow and prepare food for the king’s table.
• From the 14th to the 16th centuries, Corfe Castle was less important as a royal stronghold and often fell into disrepair. In 1572 Queen Elizabeth I sold it to her Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton, who converted it into a prestigious home, complete with fine furniture, tapestries and silk cushions. In 1635 Corfe Castle was bought by Sir John Bankes.
• Following the death of her husband during the Civil War, Lady Mary Bankes successfully defended the castle during a seige in 1643. During a second seige in 1646 an act of betrayal by a member of her garrison led to capture by the parlimentarians. They deliberately demolished the castle resulting in the dramatic ruin you see today.Much of the missing stone can be found in the houses of Corfe Castle Village.

We stood on top of the hill in the middle of the ruins, a fine mist absolutely blanketing the land around us, the rain doming down sideways, and the wind cutting across the top of the hill. Picture a scene from a movie set some 1000 years ago, set on the moors of Scotland in winter, and that's what it reminded me of. It was really very cool.

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So now I look forward to having Erik around for three whole weeks during his spring break. My life here has been in large part making sure everyone around me is settled and has what they need to go about their daily life, while not doing much for myself, personally. Erik works a huge number of hours and I have had a bit of a taste of what it would be like to be a single mom. It's fine and I know it won't last forever, but that being said, while he is off, I will take advantage of the freedom and visit London or take a day trip to some of the places on my list. My cousin Kristin will be here next week so we'll be able to do some fun stuff. And with our trip to Spain in another couple of weeks, I really can't complain about my rather uninspiring daily life between holidays. :-)