Some kind of normal!!

Life as we now know it, officially started this week! For the first time in almost 5 months we are able to settle into some kind of routine again ... and to be honest it's a very welcome change for us! Mark had a good first week in the hangar ... his hours are 7.30am-4pm and the week began learning about all the different machines and tools he'll be using and finished starting some mini projects to practice some new found skills ... including lots of riveting! Alongside the practical bits there will be a lot of studying involved too ... check out the pile of textbooks he'll be wading his way through over the next year or two!!

While Mark was settling in to working in the hangar Jenny and Abigail were busy having fun together at home!! They walked into town together quite often as the weather has been gorgeous (clear blue skies and gorgeous reds and golds in the trees!) and the top end of town is only a 10 minute walk away! They have started attending a 'babytime lapsit' session at the library ... songs, rhymes and stories for 0-2 year olds! They've been getting all the day-to-day things sorted as well ... but it's not too strenuous ... as there's a drive through option for most things including banking!! While we're looking for a second car, Mark has been getting a lift into the hangar and Jenny and Abigail have been collecting him ... hopefully we'll be able to find and cheap and cheerful banger for Mark to use soon! Below a couple of Autumn photos up at the airfield ... the colours are past their best ... but you still get the effect!

There have been a few other highlight this week ... on Thursday evening we had the opportunity to join some friends as they went and had dinner with an Amish family. John and Fanny Yoder were extremely warm and welcoming to us and it seems they open their home on a regular basis to people who are interested in the Amish way of life. The food was delicious (especially the peanut butter!!) and it was a real eye opener to see how they live a much simpler way of life including the solar lamp that we rolled from room to room once it got dark! We also went to the apple butter stirring festival in Roscoe Village last weekend and spent some time there watching the actual apple-butter stirring and other entertainment they put on ... as well as looking at all the tents with different crafts and local businesses! It was quite a cold day that day ... below are a few photos, including Abigail all wrapped up snug!!

We thought we'd leave you with a few more random differences between life in the UK and life out here in Coshocton!

• There is no A4 paper - the equivalent paper size is slightly shorter & wider
• Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine both have American accents ... shocking!!
• There is never a need to know the exact dimensions of your car ... the roads are so wide and the parking spaces are so generous that the margin for error is huge!
• Quite a lot of foods have a cinnamon or peanut butter flavour option!
• Johnsons Baby Powder smells different!