On To Brooke Weston

Next morning we again had a great breakfast, then got ready to leave. We took a hackney carriage taxi piled with all our stuff up here to Brooke Weston. We unloaded and Bill went to find someone to let us in the bungalow. We then spent the day basically unpacking and settling in and determining what we needed. Bill took a walk with Joseph and Abby up to Morrison’s (about ½ mile walk) to get some basic groceries.

The bungalow is very small (compact) with 3 bedrooms, one bathroom, and a separate toilet room. I guess having a separate room for a toilet is pretty common over here. It was obvious to us that someone had shopped for basics for the house. Right away, I recognized the George brand common to Walmart - towels, etc. This was very thoughtful and much appreciated. It also seems very utilitarian, as the walls are all cream, and the carpet is all beige and there are no decorations. Of course I will have nothing until our stuff is shipped, so utilitarian it will stay. We also will only be in here for a few months, so there is no reason to really do anything about that. The one thing killing me right now is that there is no internet here in the bungalow, a serious cramp in my life.

Next day we decided to brave the elements and went out to see what catching the Corby bus would be like. We were told about an ASDA Walmart on the north side of Corby and decided to go up there, use the internet at McDonalds, then pick up some basics for the house. The Corby bus was very easy to catch up by Morrison’s, and all-day passes for our family cost 3.80 pounds. We stayed on the bus, and sure enough, it stopped right there at ASDA. After using the internet
for a brief time, we did our shopping at ASDA. Instead of blue (US Walmarts), everything is bright green. This was the equivalent of a supercenter and had a pretty extensive food section. I finally got my blowdryer, a 2200W ionic BaByliss for 16 pounds. Our bus back stopped at Town Centre, where I noticed a TK Maxx - no kidding, tons of other shops, a huge Costa Coffee shop, and the department store T J Hughes in a large shopping complex called Willow Place. We will go up to Town Centre sometime in the next few days to look at all that stuff. The Corby Swimming Pool is also there and we’ll take a look at that too. We then switched buses to get line 6 coming back to Great Oakley and snagged a timetable, which looks incredibly helpful.