Thursday, 26 February 2009
Enjoying America
We have had a wonderful time so far. I have tons of pictures to share, but I haven't uploaded from my camera, yet. But, my wonderful friend, Sara, took some great shots yesterday that she has already gotten up and posted. So I thought I'd share a few of these until I can put up a full-fledged post on our time here.
Friday, 6 February 2009
Seven Things About England
Recent observations ....
1. Have I touched on this one before? Or was is Caitlin who talked about this in her blog? I don't remember. "Hiya." I hear it over and over again. And it is not pronounced how you see it there. It's definitely a vocal illustration, and I'm terribly sorry I cannot do that within a blog post. I've decided that most of the English accent is all in the inflection.
2. We are getting milk delivered now. From a farm. YeahUH. We have a milkman. And he delivers the milk in glass bottles. Saves on the environment. And the milk is really, really good.
3. Any time a work man comes to our house he calls me 'luv.' Have I shared this before? I can't remember. But I luv it. 'Would you like a cup of tea?'
'Coffee, please, whenever you're making it, luv.'
I will make you coffee.
Just because you called me luv.
4. I get my groceries delivered now. America, you could learn something from this. It is a common occurrence in this country. They have refrigerated trucks, and you can keep track of your weekly orders on the website. It costs 3-5 pounds per delivery, depending on the time you choose, and the delivery people do NOT accept tips. They are not allowed to. I think I actually save money by having my groceries delivered. I am not schlepping there with three children, I am not spending money on gas, I am not impulse buying. What a deal. I hope America has this by the time we get home. It saves money and time.
5. Every house that has a fireplace ... has an open, coal-based fireplace. And I don't mean real coal, I mean fake coal. This is kind of hard to explain. These are gas fireplaces, but there are no fake gas logs. There are fake coal bits. And if the bits of coal are not placed properly, the fire will not work properly. The bits of coal are placed strategically to make the fire go up the flu. I hate this kind of fire place. It is not set IN a fire place hole. It sits out - at the perfect level for small hands and eyes who think, 'Those look like FUN rocks to play with!' Needless to say, we have bits of fake black coal strewn about our living room carpet. Or should I say our lounge carpet. Or should I say our sitting room carpet. In any respect, we have a dangerous, fake coal fireplace.
6. Here is my doozy. I've kind of been saving this one. Because I don't know exactly how to say it without being offensive. But I'm putting it out there. Here goes.
Since we've moved to England, I've met, perhaps .... two ..... maybe four handsome Englishmen. And maybe not even met them. Perhaps I just saw them. When you think, handsome Englishman, what comes to your mind? Hugh Grant? Hmmm. When I think of Hugh Grant all I can picture is the scene in the 2nd Bridget Jones' Diary when he and Colin Firth are 'fighting.' Embarrassingly fighting. They sort of kick at each other like girls. It's just embarrassing. And then yes, there's Colin Firth. He is a handsome man. But again, he was the other fellow in that embarrassing fight scene with Hugh. And I guess then there's Christian Bale. But he's Welsh, I think. And a huge big fat jerk, to boot.
So that's my opening to what I'm about to share with you.
Two weeks ago we went on a home school trip with our group that we meet up with in ***sham. (I am not naming the proper town name as I don't want to embarrass or bring unwanted attention to this fire brigade). This event was special as it was going to teach our children about fire safety. The ***sham Fire Brigade was going to come and teach our children.
I didn't really think much about this event - I have done firehouse field trips sooooo many times (yes, thank you so much Sykesville Fire Station). I just knew it was a good outing event for my children and a chance for me to socialize with some of my home schooling mummy chums.
So, we arrived, the children played for a while. There was a bit of concern that the fire brigade was not going to show - they had been held up before and not shown due to an emergency.
However, right on time, they showed up in their big red and yellow rig. And here is where I realize that there are good looking Englishmen in this country. And they all work for the ***sham Fire Brigade.
I tried not to stare. I am a married woman, and my husband is the most handsome, studly person I know.
But there they were. Handsome Englishmen in all their glory. I was a bit gobsmacked. Heh, heh, heh. I tried not to be the giggly, silly mum of three that I so obviously was. How embarrassing. They seemed not to notice. They probably get that at every function at which they show.
I've tried to find a link to share with you, so you can see for yourself. However, I do believe they are so humble about their good-lookingness, that every link I find regarding their service does not show any of our delightful, good-looking firemen. They should have a calendar. Something. To prove to you that there ARE good-looking Englishmen. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.
Did I say seven observations about England? I'm pretty sure I had seven when I started this post, but for the life of me I cannot think of my last point ... maybe in my next post ...
1. Have I touched on this one before? Or was is Caitlin who talked about this in her blog? I don't remember. "Hiya." I hear it over and over again. And it is not pronounced how you see it there. It's definitely a vocal illustration, and I'm terribly sorry I cannot do that within a blog post. I've decided that most of the English accent is all in the inflection.
2. We are getting milk delivered now. From a farm. YeahUH. We have a milkman. And he delivers the milk in glass bottles. Saves on the environment. And the milk is really, really good.
3. Any time a work man comes to our house he calls me 'luv.' Have I shared this before? I can't remember. But I luv it. 'Would you like a cup of tea?'
'Coffee, please, whenever you're making it, luv.'
I will make you coffee.
Just because you called me luv.
4. I get my groceries delivered now. America, you could learn something from this. It is a common occurrence in this country. They have refrigerated trucks, and you can keep track of your weekly orders on the website. It costs 3-5 pounds per delivery, depending on the time you choose, and the delivery people do NOT accept tips. They are not allowed to. I think I actually save money by having my groceries delivered. I am not schlepping there with three children, I am not spending money on gas, I am not impulse buying. What a deal. I hope America has this by the time we get home. It saves money and time.
5. Every house that has a fireplace ... has an open, coal-based fireplace. And I don't mean real coal, I mean fake coal. This is kind of hard to explain. These are gas fireplaces, but there are no fake gas logs. There are fake coal bits. And if the bits of coal are not placed properly, the fire will not work properly. The bits of coal are placed strategically to make the fire go up the flu. I hate this kind of fire place. It is not set IN a fire place hole. It sits out - at the perfect level for small hands and eyes who think, 'Those look like FUN rocks to play with!' Needless to say, we have bits of fake black coal strewn about our living room carpet. Or should I say our lounge carpet. Or should I say our sitting room carpet. In any respect, we have a dangerous, fake coal fireplace.
6. Here is my doozy. I've kind of been saving this one. Because I don't know exactly how to say it without being offensive. But I'm putting it out there. Here goes.
Since we've moved to England, I've met, perhaps .... two ..... maybe four handsome Englishmen. And maybe not even met them. Perhaps I just saw them. When you think, handsome Englishman, what comes to your mind? Hugh Grant? Hmmm. When I think of Hugh Grant all I can picture is the scene in the 2nd Bridget Jones' Diary when he and Colin Firth are 'fighting.' Embarrassingly fighting. They sort of kick at each other like girls. It's just embarrassing. And then yes, there's Colin Firth. He is a handsome man. But again, he was the other fellow in that embarrassing fight scene with Hugh. And I guess then there's Christian Bale. But he's Welsh, I think. And a huge big fat jerk, to boot.
So that's my opening to what I'm about to share with you.
Two weeks ago we went on a home school trip with our group that we meet up with in ***sham. (I am not naming the proper town name as I don't want to embarrass or bring unwanted attention to this fire brigade). This event was special as it was going to teach our children about fire safety. The ***sham Fire Brigade was going to come and teach our children.
I didn't really think much about this event - I have done firehouse field trips sooooo many times (yes, thank you so much Sykesville Fire Station). I just knew it was a good outing event for my children and a chance for me to socialize with some of my home schooling mummy chums.
So, we arrived, the children played for a while. There was a bit of concern that the fire brigade was not going to show - they had been held up before and not shown due to an emergency.
However, right on time, they showed up in their big red and yellow rig. And here is where I realize that there are good looking Englishmen in this country. And they all work for the ***sham Fire Brigade.
I tried not to stare. I am a married woman, and my husband is the most handsome, studly person I know.
But there they were. Handsome Englishmen in all their glory. I was a bit gobsmacked. Heh, heh, heh. I tried not to be the giggly, silly mum of three that I so obviously was. How embarrassing. They seemed not to notice. They probably get that at every function at which they show.
I've tried to find a link to share with you, so you can see for yourself. However, I do believe they are so humble about their good-lookingness, that every link I find regarding their service does not show any of our delightful, good-looking firemen. They should have a calendar. Something. To prove to you that there ARE good-looking Englishmen. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.
Did I say seven observations about England? I'm pretty sure I had seven when I started this post, but for the life of me I cannot think of my last point ... maybe in my next post ...
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Snow in England
Now that we're home schoolers, my kids have built in snow days! It's a great motivator for them to finish up their morning school work. This small snowfall wreaked havoc on the English the other day ... pretty wimpy, I have to say. Although, to give them credit, they are not really used to this kind of weather. But you would have thought the world had come to a stop. Photos of the kids enjoying themselves. It snowed all day long, but didn't amount to too much. It snowed again last night - just a tad - and they are calling for heavy snowfall for the rest of the week! We shall see ...
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Oh Jinx, He IS Persistent ...
I caught the neighbor's cat waiting patiently for Daisy to come out and play. We have a special cat door that keeps Jinx from coming in for visits anymore. Now he has to wait outside. Daisy must be a special cat ...
If you look closely you can see Daisy sitting in the window looking down scoffingly at Jinx.
If you look closely you can see Daisy sitting in the window looking down scoffingly at Jinx.
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