23 Trinity Street

I thought today I would share a little bit about this place we’re starting to call home: 23 Trinity Street in Oxford. Some of you may have seen the Ofoto album that Kent put together – it showed the major details of our little two story, 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 kitchen/laundry, and 1 living room/office/yoga room.

Before I start, let me share one thing I have recently learned about British real estate. The Brits don’t necessarily measure their houses. They don’t know if their house is 90 square meters or 900 square meters. (Not that it would help me, I would need the calculator to find square footage.) They measure houses by the number of beds and baths (and if those bathrooms are ‘ensuite’. So you could have a house that is a “semi-detached, 2 bed, 1 bath.” This is our house...I’m guessing about 900 square feet) and it may be described for sale or 'To Let' just the same as a 2000 sq ft house. Not good for people like my sister (I love you Jen) whose 2^nd job is to look at houses for sale online. But anyhoo, a little more about out cute little semi-detached house... here are some lovely pics of a few details that I found quirky, or taking some getting used to.

First, the keys. When Kent presented me with these, I thought he was joking! Talk about skeleton key. How would this fit in my pocket when I go for a run? I’ve gotten used to carrying them, but still not used to how much longer it takes to open the door with these, whilst holding 2 bags of heavy groceries.

Next we have the kitchen. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining - because this house is just perfect for the two of us - but the kitchen is a little sparse. Hard to cook a gourmet meal in this baby. The fridge and freezer fit below the counter, so we’re hitting the market about every 4 days. You can see here the pic of our dishwasher (i.e. our hands) and the clothes washing machine is there as well. That’s a whole other story – I’m still not sure we know exactly how to use the washing machine. Oh, and you never really notice how much you use the garbage disposal. I challenge you to go a week without turning it on.

The next thing that’s taken some getting used to is the heating and cooling. You can see both in this pic here – a radiator for heating and the window for cooling. :-) It’s so nice to actually be able to open the windows, unlike in Austin, where you might suffocate in the heat of July if you opened the windows. Kent has almost perfected the timing on when the radiators come on in the morning and evening....we’ll see when full blown winter rolls around.

And lastly, we have a nice gated garden in back, which we’re excited to clean up and watch bloom in the spring. The garden includes a producing apple tree! The apples are small, but they’re quite good. We have at least one a day (keeps the doctor away, you know) and if one with a bruise or worm hole falls to the ground, we take it to feed the horses that we’ve befriended on the running trail. Who knows what else will pop up in our garden in the spring! In a few months, we'll need to find pots and planters for herbs, tomatoes and probably jalapeños.

One of my favorite things about 23 Trinity Street: location. We can walk everywhere we need to go. 10 min to the business school (Kent) or bus station (me) or a good pub (both of us) and 5 min to the grocery store/farmer's market/clothing stores. Plus, we just step out the door and we're on an awesome running path (a story for a future post!). My least favorite thing - a small bathroom. The hot and cold water come out separate - what's up with that? It's tough to wash my face with steaming hot or freezing cold water. :-)

So....I’ll leave you with the invitation to come and check out our house. We have plenty of space for our air mattress, and I’ll have mastered the quirky stove top by then! Hope to see you soon.

Karen

My Google Map of Oxford, and some of the places we've discovered so far:


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