England - Our First Boxing Day and Meeting the Robes

Our lunch destination for Boxing Day

It was Boxing Day!  This didn't mean much to us Americans but it was still fun to wish each other a Happy Boxing Day.

Our plan for this day was to hike to The Three Horseshoes Pub and meet my friends Emily, Pete and Haydn Robe.  I was looking forward to another hike and seeing more sheep.  Yes, sheep.  I'm fascinated with them.  I took more pictures of sheep on this trip than anything else.  I was really interested (and saddened) to see how fearful they were as we hiked through their pastures.  The sheep at Farm Sanctuary are friendly and come to greet you.  This could be because they know we mean them no harm.  

Glorious sheep!

Just look at them!!

Of course, none of them compare to Farm Sanctuary's
Ryan with his luscious lamb-y lips!

So enough sheep, let's get back to Emily Robe. Emily and I had been friends for years but had never met. Fourteen years ago when I was first pregnant with Melanie, I subscribed to a Yahoogroup called May2000Moms.  This group consisted of women from all over the world who were expecting a baby in May of 2000.  I got to know these wonderful women very well.  We shared fears, joys, hopes and plans during our pregnancies and ultimately, shared our birth stories.  Many of us stayed in touch throughout the years and with the advent of Facebook, were able to continue to be a part of each others' daily lives.

One of the moms I got to know was Emily Robe.  She and her husband, Pete live in Derby, England so when I found out we would be spending Christmas in Derby I knew I had to finally meet Em.

Before our trip, Melanie and Haydn, Em's May 2000 "baby" got to know each other on Facebook and it was fun to watch this friendship form.  Emily and I had arranged to meet at The Three Horseshoes.  They had seated us in the back so I talked to the waiter to let him know to look for them.

"Do they have the same funny accent you have?" he asked me, smiling.

"No.  They have the same funny accent you have," I replied and smiled back.

I sneaked a picture of our waiter because I
thought he was a dead ringer for Inigo Montoya.

Waiting for Emily and finally having my Guinness!

Mell had a proper British tea.

We all were so excited to meet one another.  I recognized Em and Pete right away and there were hugs all around.  I introduced them to the rest of our table and Em and I talked non-stop.  Pete is a great guy and Steve was very interested to learn about Britain's educational system from him.  Melanie and Haydn hit it off immediately.

Our May2000 babies!

Haydn teaching Mell about English money.

If you ever wondered what happiness looks like.
This is it.  Right here.

Me and Em right after she knocked the
picture off the wall exposing the dartboard.
Oops!

It was hard saying goodbye to the Robes knowing we may not see each other again for a long time if ever.  But what a great experience it was to meet this lovely, funny woman I'd considered a friend for such a long time.

It was time to hike back to the cottage and again we chose a more paved path home.  That doesn't mean we didn't go through muddy pastures though!  The fog had settled in and it was chilly.  

The long walk home

Tonight was Mexican Night at Sunshine Cottage and Dana, Mike and I set to work when we got home chopping vegetables for a Mexican buffet!  After dinner, we used up the rest of the Christmas crackers and packed up our things as it would be an early morning for us with a taxi arriving at 10:00 am to take us to the train station.  

It was so hard saying goodbye to our sweet little cottage and all the memories we made there but London was waiting for us and we were all excited about that part of our journey!