Life In Epsom

The lovely clock tower in Epsom's High Street

The Assembly Rooms, dating back to the 17th century and now operating as a pub

Well, my period of freedom from the rat-race is coming to an end - I start my new job on Monday. So in these last couple of days I have been indulging by taking walks in the unseasonably warm and sunny Autumn weather, and enjoying a True Blood marathon. I've been saving up the final season (which aired in June/July) to enjoy, uninterrupted. Some of you will know of my fascination with all things vampire, and I have really enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse novels and all seven seasons of this TV series.... right up to the last episode which was utter CRAP!!!!!! True Blood fans across the world have voiced their dissatisfaction with the ending, and I have to agree. Disappointing.

Anyways....

We are now feeling quite settled into the flat, and into life in Epsom. Although it's not the country life we'd prefer, we're very happy with our choice of location, particularly from a convenience perspective for Kevin. Our neighbours are nice, quiet people. We are surrounded by trees and Epsom Common is just a couple of minutes' walk away - where there are miles and miles of woodland trails.

Next to the common is Christ Church on The Wells, a lovely anglican church dating from 1876, with a flint and stone exterior in the Early English/Decorated Gothic Revival style.

Christ Church on The Wells, Epsom Common

Epsom town centre has everything we want - high quality stores and some lovely buildings, plus a cinema - hooray! I've been trying to make up for lost time, cinema-wise, and there's a good selection of films showing at the moment. I've seen five films in the past two weeks.  I have to say I was disappointed with the latest Woody Allen offering, Magic In the Moonlight. I am a big fan, and I've liked a lot of his previous films that others have not. Now, you'd think Woody Allen combined with Colin Firth would be a winning combination for me ;-)  Not so! Something just wasn't right. Colin was his usual magnificent self. Haughty at times, humble at others. I also really like Emma Stone. But the film seemed to lose its way half-way through and I wonder if Woody was focusing so hard on doing something completely different from Blue Jasmine he swung the pendulum too far the other way. Even Eileen Atkins' considerable talents and fabulous locations in the south of France couldn't save it. 

We've already found a great Indian restaurant and a pub that's become our 'local'.

Kevin checking the quality of the local ale at The Shy Horse

Wednesday is Pie Day!

I have to say I'm loving being back in a country where retailers work hard to win your business. Each of the supermarket chains have rewards programs that really, REALLY give you great perks. Points actually translate into genuine benefits quickly. Just about every store gives you a voucher for a discount or bonus points on your next shop. Waitrose doesn't offer points but you can get a free espresso coffee every day, free newspapers if you spend over a certain amount, and specially discounted prices on lots of items for members. The online grocery service I've just started using (Ocado - linked to Waitrose) gives me a free gift nearly every time I use them - a tea towel here, an oven glove there... on my fifth order I'm getting a bottle of prosecco :-)  Delivery is seven days a week and you can book a one-hour slot, from 6.00am up to 11.30pm at night. The drivers send you a text to confirm delivery on the day, telling you their name, and which colour van they'll be in! Then bring the groceries all the way inside to your kitchen, and they take away the bags from last time, for recycling. It's a fantastic service.

Having sold two-thirds of our furniture before we left Australia, we've steadily been buying up pieces to supplement what we kept. We're still on the look-out for an antique dresser for the kitchen, but otherwise we are pretty well set. The guest room is ready and awaiting visitors!

Our flat is south-facing so we get lots of light all day long

We're looking forward to the ambience of our gas faux fireplace when the weather turns colder

Our bedroom

The grounds around our building are very nice. We moved in just in time for the crabapple trees to provide me with several kilos of fruit and I made my first-ever batch of crabapple jelly. It's not perfect; I over-cooked it slightly so it's not as soft as I'd like (easy to do as it sets really fast, with all the natural pectin), but it still looks and tastes great. Next year I hope to do better.

I'm happy to report we do have squirrels to provide us with entertainment, though they aren't as numerous as when we lived in Frensham. The local neighbourhood has several friendly cats, and Kevin has even spotted deer right behind our building a few times. Over our weekday breakfast we know exactly whether we are running to schedule - we have a neighbour who clearly needs to get a bit more organised! Every morning she passes by our dining room windows, running hell-for-leather for the bus that leaves from the next street. We could set our watches by her.

Winchester House - our home

We're loving all the very affordable and abundant varieties of French and Italian wine

All in all, we're content with our location. Dorking is an easy drive away when we want to get back into deep Surrey countryside, and London's an easy 40-minute train ride. I predict we'll be taking advantage of our proximity to both locations in the coming months. There's so much to see and do.

Selfie on a morning walk on Epsom Common

A couple of you have mentioned that there haven't been many photos of myself so I've included a couple in this post.

Until next time,

- Maree  xo