Where I Live

Right now, I'm living in a small village outside of Brighton called Portslade. It's very pretty here, carved into the hillsides, in between the city, the downs, and the sea.

Life is here is a complete 180 from that in Charlotte, NC. For one, people are reliant on public transportation... taking the buses, trains, cabs, etc to and from most of their destinations. If you do drive, you are prepared to spend outrageous sums of money (all tax) on gasoline. The cost of gas here is nearly a 1£ a litre, there are 4 litres in one gallon... and 1£ = nearly 2$. So when you complain about your $2.89 at the gas pump per gallon, just remember over here people are paying nearly 8$ a GALLON to drive little cars that look like you could stick a penny in the back of them and they would do wheelies.

This is the house I live in. It's my inlaws house, and to be honest I have no idea what year it was built but it has been here a long long time. But even if it were new construction, it would be built to look 'old'. Everything here looks the same, quaint and mossy, except the town centre in Brighton which I think looks completely out of place. But I digress. And yes.... that is the front yard. More than most houses have around here.. most 'front yards' are paved!!! Oh, and this is what they call a 'semi detached' house, as most houses are row houses, and I would say 85% or more are attached to another residence in some way, shape, or form.

This is the back yard. Now I will tell you this... the English are very proud of their 'gardens'. They take painstaking time in getting each blade of grass to be perfectly even.... and freak out when the tiny flowers in the clover start to grow. They are full of intricate planting areas, and cater to the birds. (except the nasty gulls and pigeons). We often joke that we want to hire Robert and Gloria, my inlaws, to come over and be our permanent yard people. We'd be the envy of the neighborhood. Of course, with three kids here they have completely over taken the garden. I am sure that Robert stays awake at night, weeping.

And a shot of the really pretty area on the side. I'm not entirely sure about the garden statue, but I'll leave that at that....


I have some photos I took on the inside, but not many of them came out. Because there is no such thing as airconditioning, the windows are always open and bright light always streaming thru them, in order to keep the sea breeze moving the air.

So this is where I am making home currently. It's nice enough. A bit cramped with 7 people occupying maybe 1100sf on a GOOD day, but it will do. I will say I'm looking forward to getting 'our place'. I think it will make like abroad even nicer.