A warm sun with a cool breeze kissing your skin
The flapping of a bird's wings overhead
A fresh smell of flowers intermingled with the sharp odor of manure
The sting of nettles brushing your legs
The laughter of children in a garden paddling pool
A cricket match on The Lawn
Two Horses canter lazily up the road
Tractors cutting the fields
Watching roof thatchers perform their art
Coffee mornings in the garden
Riding our bikes down to the pub on a Friday evening
Midnight twilight
First light and morning birdsong at 3:30 am
Afterschool picnics in the park
Stopping at the shop for an ice cream
Jun 27, 2006
Jun 23, 2006
Headline News
The British newspapers have a tendency to play on words for the headlines. And sometimes just the news itself and what makes the local evening paper evokes a chuckle. Here are some of my favorites (all taken from the "Cambridge Evening News" at various dates):
"Drier takes a tumble," tumble drier was dropped by thieves...
"Garage burglars net fishing gear and bike"
"Lean meat claims are a load of mince"
"Make whoopee and flatten world record," an aim to enter the Guinness Book of World Records by recording the largest simultaneous deflation of whoopee cushions.
"It;s the grate drain robbery," Thieves steal 165 manhole covers in a year.
"Pub gets shirty,"A 2 year old boy was ordered to remove his England football shirt in a pub bc the manager feared it could spark trouble.
"The cheek of it! Naked punter shows skills with pole." "Punting on the Cam is normally regarded as a dignified summer activity-but one cheeky punter had other ideas. The views of the Backs are famed for leaving tourists breathless and scrambling for their cameras, but this punter obviously wanted to spice the tour up when he presented sightseers with a view of his own backside." The Backs are the backsides of the colleges.
"Farm plan fowl, agree councilors," A giant chicken farm plan was denied
"Driving us all parking mad!" Cambridge drivers paid 1.2 million (pounds) last year in parking fines.
"Drier takes a tumble," tumble drier was dropped by thieves...
"Garage burglars net fishing gear and bike"
"Lean meat claims are a load of mince"
"Make whoopee and flatten world record," an aim to enter the Guinness Book of World Records by recording the largest simultaneous deflation of whoopee cushions.
"It;s the grate drain robbery," Thieves steal 165 manhole covers in a year.
"Pub gets shirty,"A 2 year old boy was ordered to remove his England football shirt in a pub bc the manager feared it could spark trouble.
"The cheek of it! Naked punter shows skills with pole." "Punting on the Cam is normally regarded as a dignified summer activity-but one cheeky punter had other ideas. The views of the Backs are famed for leaving tourists breathless and scrambling for their cameras, but this punter obviously wanted to spice the tour up when he presented sightseers with a view of his own backside." The Backs are the backsides of the colleges.
"Farm plan fowl, agree councilors," A giant chicken farm plan was denied
"Driving us all parking mad!" Cambridge drivers paid 1.2 million (pounds) last year in parking fines.
Jun 15, 2006
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly"
--Thomas Paine
Things I esteemed too lightly in America, things which were also relatively cheap, I missing terribly today.
Jason is still gone, I've lost count of how long he has been gone-its been over 15 days really since he's spent any time with us. The kids are missing him and acting up (just what I need) He returns tomorrow, but the relief is short lived as he will be off to Spain next week. I had to turn down the kids' requests to have a friend over after school today-the thought of more kids in the house, creating huge messes and noise was just more than I could handle today.
At this point I am done washing dishes and making dinner-however, the UK isn't quite as convenient as the US in relieving a tired parent. Paper plates, if you can find them, are meant for birthday parties only, therefore the cost is enough to prevent purchase. I've already used up the last I had from Griffen's birthday. So for dinner-I think it will be cereal tonight. If we were back home, I can think of a many number of take-aways to give me a break. Not so here. In our village we only have the pub. The next closest villages-same thing, pubs. There is a McDonalds next to the petrol station-but it makes us all sick to even think of it. I could go for a CPK, Pick Up Sticks, Chili's, Baja Fresh, Sharky's, Habit, Rubios, Amecci, or even BJ's right about now. Even Trader Joes would be a relief (of course a freezer in which to store prepared foods would be nice too).
I can get some prepared food here-but the only grocery store that carries decent food is about a 20 minute drive from here and my choice is Indian (National Cuisine) or Pizza. I do have a nice bottle of wine and some cheese, but I have to take Kaitlyn to Brown Owl's in an hour, so that will have to wait.
So--the next time you buy a stack of 200 paper plates for $2, or choose from the endless supply of eateries when you don't feel like cooking, think of Thomas Paine.
Things I esteemed too lightly in America, things which were also relatively cheap, I missing terribly today.
Jason is still gone, I've lost count of how long he has been gone-its been over 15 days really since he's spent any time with us. The kids are missing him and acting up (just what I need) He returns tomorrow, but the relief is short lived as he will be off to Spain next week. I had to turn down the kids' requests to have a friend over after school today-the thought of more kids in the house, creating huge messes and noise was just more than I could handle today.
At this point I am done washing dishes and making dinner-however, the UK isn't quite as convenient as the US in relieving a tired parent. Paper plates, if you can find them, are meant for birthday parties only, therefore the cost is enough to prevent purchase. I've already used up the last I had from Griffen's birthday. So for dinner-I think it will be cereal tonight. If we were back home, I can think of a many number of take-aways to give me a break. Not so here. In our village we only have the pub. The next closest villages-same thing, pubs. There is a McDonalds next to the petrol station-but it makes us all sick to even think of it. I could go for a CPK, Pick Up Sticks, Chili's, Baja Fresh, Sharky's, Habit, Rubios, Amecci, or even BJ's right about now. Even Trader Joes would be a relief (of course a freezer in which to store prepared foods would be nice too).
I can get some prepared food here-but the only grocery store that carries decent food is about a 20 minute drive from here and my choice is Indian (National Cuisine) or Pizza. I do have a nice bottle of wine and some cheese, but I have to take Kaitlyn to Brown Owl's in an hour, so that will have to wait.
So--the next time you buy a stack of 200 paper plates for $2, or choose from the endless supply of eateries when you don't feel like cooking, think of Thomas Paine.
Jun 10, 2006
Footie Fever
Well it is finally here...THE WORLD CUP (and summer). Footie mania has been building up for a few weeks now and we have another good month to go. I have been seeing white flags with red crosses (the England Team's Flag) everywhere. More so than Laker flags---on cars, houses, store fronts, toy stores, grocery stores, you name it. Griffen's class performed assembly on Friday-what each child would put in a magic box...one child put in the England Flag and has his face painted.
I think the craze is even bigger than the Superbowl. Examples:
The local paper is having a contest to see who is the biggest "Football Widow."
I guess hooligans are a problem too-bringing violence to the matches. The government has gone as far as banning certain people from attending games-they have a list. All airports have this list and have special police forces out to prevent them from going to Germany. Crazy. I read today even suspected troublemakers are detained and prevented departure.
I noticed on I-Tunes there is a CD out full of England Anthems meant to instill English Pride, a World Cup Sing-a-long CD, a official World Cup Anthem (new one each year), a World Cup Classics CD by the World Cup Willies (slang for penis) plus several spoofs..."Is This the Way to the World Cup (Amarillo), and so on.
The first game was today-I felt like I should watch it, but didn't. Instead I took the kids on a bike ride and then came back and attempted to blow up the pool without our shopvac. We used the sprinkler instead. It was a warm and windy 80+ today. May not sound like much to you-but to us it was. I miss having AC. Its not hot enough long enough here to warrant anyone having central air-so here we are sitting in a brick house with no insulation and its hot. At least my laundry is dry.
I think the craze is even bigger than the Superbowl. Examples:
The local paper is having a contest to see who is the biggest "Football Widow."
I guess hooligans are a problem too-bringing violence to the matches. The government has gone as far as banning certain people from attending games-they have a list. All airports have this list and have special police forces out to prevent them from going to Germany. Crazy. I read today even suspected troublemakers are detained and prevented departure.
I noticed on I-Tunes there is a CD out full of England Anthems meant to instill English Pride, a World Cup Sing-a-long CD, a official World Cup Anthem (new one each year), a World Cup Classics CD by the World Cup Willies (slang for penis) plus several spoofs..."Is This the Way to the World Cup (Amarillo), and so on.
The first game was today-I felt like I should watch it, but didn't. Instead I took the kids on a bike ride and then came back and attempted to blow up the pool without our shopvac. We used the sprinkler instead. It was a warm and windy 80+ today. May not sound like much to you-but to us it was. I miss having AC. Its not hot enough long enough here to warrant anyone having central air-so here we are sitting in a brick house with no insulation and its hot. At least my laundry is dry.
Jun 1, 2006
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