Happy Christmas!

Here in England, everyone says Happy Christmas instead of Merry Christmas, but I still say it the way we do back home. Tim and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas Party Time

Here we are acting silly last night at the Stansted Manor Hotel Christmas Party which we were invited to attend for free by our friend Bianca (who is in our small group). She is the events coordinator there and decided to invite us all out for a fun night of food, fun and dancing. Tim danced to his usual 1.5 songs during the night, and I danced pretty much the whole time with and without any alcohol persuasion. Apparently I was the least inhibited one there among our English friends! Should I be surprised? Well, we had a fun time, and a very nice meal. Our friends all hung out and chatted and danced and had a couple of drinks. The funny thing was that since the other guests at the party were from different businesses, they seemed to all want to dance to disco music and 60's rock. So, needless to say there was quite a bit of Abba! I did request a couple of hip hop tunes like Black Eyed Peas, and we young people tore up the dance floor while all the older folks took a break until their disco came back on. It was fun to just hang out and have an excuse for a dance party as far as I'm concerned!

Swan Lake

We went to visit a wetland reserve for ducks and swans where they all come to live in the winter time. Some of the birds normally live in the area during the summer when there are all fields for them to nest in, while others of them like the Hooper swans come from as far as Iceland to winter here in the flooded fields. The picture is of a field that has been allowed to be flooded during the winter to prevent the nearby river water from flooding the surrounding towns. The birds take advantage of that, and they also get fed by the nature reserve volunteers daily. We watched the feeding from inside a bird blind overlooking the water. It was very popular with ducks and swans, and right after this picture was taken, loads of swans came flying in to spend the night on the water. The Icelandic swans make the long trip over all water without stopping which takes them about 13 hours flying at 55 miles per hour! They certainly deserve to be fed everyday and enjoy resting on the water!

Boot Scrapers

Here I am demonstrating the use of these old fashioned boot scraper which can be found outside very old stone houses and stores and pubs in older sections of every town and village around here. These 2 different styled boot scrapers are located in Ely which we visited yesterday. They were used to obviously scrape your boots before going inside. I think that it would have had something to do with the damp and wet weather which probably causes a lot of mud! Now that we have paved roads, it is not as bad, but still muddy in grassy areas when it has rained, but I am guessing that in the olden days when the roads were all dirt, there was probably a considerable amount of mud!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Thanks to my mom and my creative ideas, we have decorated the conservatory with the cutest Christmas decorations! My mom, just sent me some snowflake window decals, some garland and some lights, and I have been making paper snowflakes and paper chains to add to the decorations. As you can see, it is daytime in this picture, and it is tough to see what it all looks like, but I will do some more pictures of the nighttime look. My decoration style was inspired by Elf with lots of cutesy things hanging from the ceiling. It works very well in the conservatory. It looks like a Winter Wonderland or like a store around Christmas time when they go overboard with decorations. I love it! I am in the process of adding some more paper chains as well as doing up the bedroom with lights and paper snowflakes and chains to make it look nice and festive! Merry posed for this picture because he likes to sit by the tree. It has a lovely scent of pine, but more importantly, it is a great spot for him to watch the birds!

London at Night

On Sunday night, we went to London for Christmas Praise 2008. It was a very wet day, so we didn't get there early and walk around too much. We just got there in time to walk around Covent Garden a little bit and get something to eat before the concert. (Covent Garden was nice and seemed like a great place to go shopping!) The concert was a short walk from the tube station. We sat pretty high up in the balcony of the very nice old Westminster Hall which is located right next to Westminster Abbey. The concert was nice and very Christmasy. There were some Christmas carols sung by a classical soloist, and we sang along on some parts, and then there were some worship songs led by Stuart Townend. The choir was all dressed in red and black and white who came out after the intermission all covered in sparkly garland and funny Christmas hats. On our way to and from the concert we passed the famous Big Ben Tower and the Houses of Parliament where we took this picture. It was a typical moody, misty and wet night in London.

Drinks With Friends

Thursday night, Tim and I met up with friends from our church small group. We went to the bar just opposite the church for some drinks. We basically had the place to ourselves which was nice. Pictured here from left to right are George, Me, Ruth, and Jo. We were there with our other halves and all just hung out and chatted while we drank. There is a big difference between drinking here and drinking back at home. People from church who we hang out with are all around our age and would think nothing of meeting up with other Christian friends to drink, but this seems like something that normally wouldn't happen back at home. For one thing, there isn't a culture of meeting up for drinks in general. I think back at home we tend to meet up for dinner or coffee. But here, it's similar to how it is in Europe where everyone meets up for drinks and chats and stuff. The other thing is that, there is nothing else open in the evenings if you do want to meet up with friends. It's basically a choice of pubs and that's it. Coffee places shut around here by 7pm, so that's out. It is definitely something I am not used to. I don't even really drink anything normally, but I have had a few drinks every once in a while when we do go out. But, I bet some Christians back at home would think this whole culture is completely wrong. Oh well, when in Rome.......

Need a Little Christmas?

Speaking of Cold and Winter and Frost, I have been feeling like I need a little Christmas!

Cambridge at Night

On Tuesday I went to Cambridge with my friends from our Thursday night church group. We went for a walk around and had a nice dinner at a restaurant chain there. It was so cold and windy! Brrrrrrr! Cambridge is one of those typical college towns with an old fashioned ivy league feel to the whole place. In the summer, you can go punting on the canals which is nice, and they have a great outdoor market that is there every day and all year- round which has great stuff and cheap deals on everything from veggies to books to Christmas trees (at the moment). This is one of the very quaint and festive alley ways leading off of market square. How sweet!

Frost

So we don't necessarily get lots of snow, but we do get lots of frost! In fact, everyone here either uses hot water or De-Icer to defrost the windshield because it takes a very long time to scrape I guess since it is a such a light filmy ice that is stuck on there. This is a picture I took the other morning of the frost on the leaves in our back garden. Frost is very common here on a daily basis in the winter because all of the moisture from the very damp air gets frozen on any surface it sits on. Very often there is frost not only in the mornings with the dew etc. but also in the evening. Last night we had to defrost the car when we went out around 7:00 just from the moisture freezing on the car within the last couple of hours. It does look pretty, but it is very slippery on the pavement. You have to watch out because it is just like black ice only so thin that you can really barely see it. Merry also likes to lick the frost on the leaves if he is allowed outside. We let him out yesterday and he went around crunching the frosty leaves and trying to eat the blades of grass that were covered with frost. I am enjoying the frosty mornings!

My New Job

So, I officially started my job at The Body Shop in town. I will be doing 22 hours for the next few weeks leading up to Christmas. I am hoping to continue after that, but we don't know about that yet. Basically after I finished my training yesterday, I was very excited about The Body Shop as a company who is socially conscious and very eco-freindly. Also, I feel like I am going to want to spend all my wages on Body Shop products because they are so good! Well I need to plan my purchases carefully, but to make matters worse, as a staff member, I enjoy a 50% staff discount on any purchase I make. So this makes my predicament worse/better depending on how you look at it. I need to take advantage of this discount as much as I can before I stop working here, and since I can't be entirely sure that I will be there after Christmas, I will be doing some very aggressive shopping starting next week, when I get my first pay check! I also got free make-up products to wear when I am working which is great. I love the eye shadow and the lipstick I got! Oh yes, and in this picture is Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop. She was super cool and Thy Body Shop was first in its campaign against animal testing. (Does anyone remember the movie Ferngully?) Check it out; its a cute movie about the environment. Working at The Body Shop makes you want to pamper yourself and enjoy being a woman which is something I find hard doing in this country so far due to hard water and stuff, but hopefully it will help me by working at such a beautiful and nice smelling place. Our theme is: Nature's Way to Beautiful!

Healthy Food

As some of you may already know, I am a sort of a health nut when it comes to my daily life (with the exception of a few dessert indulgences), but I have to say that in this country, healthy food has not caught on the way it has in the states. I know what you're thinking. "What? Healthy food in the states, the home of McDonalds and family size portions of pasta for one person and desserts that are always much bigger than they should be?" Well, you have to remember, when you go to a restaurant these days in the states, there is always always a healthy option which mostly includes a salad or a low carb option and you can usually substitute things for steamed veggies or a side salad etc. Well, that is not what things are like here. Here, when you order a "grilled chicken salad", it may in fact be fried chicken! Yes, that did actually happen to me and it is no joke. The salads are typically not great at all, although there may be better salads at more fancy restaurants, but we haven't been to those quite yet. So, in order to get over eating WAY too many potatoes (it's an obsession over here), I have done my best to shop for my yummy fresh ingredients like veggies, fruit and whole grain items. This is a bit tricky. It is not like you can just go to Whole Foods and choose from the "garden of eden" produce section that they have there. The only Whole Foods that I know of is in London (a 40 minute train ride). So we do what we have to do. But it still is a struggle to find these yummy healthy things since I have to go to a few different stores and get a ride to most of them or take the train into town. I made myself this yummy salad of spinach, fennel, cucumber, bean sprouts, tahini sauce, and oil and vinegar. Yum! On the side is my gluten free bread from the market with egg free mayo. It was a delicious lunch!

The Second Thanksgiving

Here is a picture of the Second Thanksgiving which occurred yesterday, Sunday November 30th. This was with the members of Tim's extended family (not all pictured here) which we cooked and served at our house. We had all the traditional food including another of my pumpkin pies (which unfortunately no one boldly tried).

We used the special fall candles my mom sent me recently to help decorate the table, and I told the Thanksgiving story a bit more briefly to the family. We even had place cards with everyone's real name as well as their pilgrim name which were present at the original first Thanksgiving in 1621. Everyone wrote things they were thankful for on a sticky note which we stuck to the glass door in the conservatory. everyone seemed to enjoy the evening, and we played chronology and Yahtzee to pass the time when we were stuck for conversation. In this picture, from left to right: David Webb, Phil Webb, Me, Margaret Webb, Andrew McDonald, Alex Webb.

The First Thanksgiving

Here is a picture from the First Thanksgiving which actually occurred on November 27th around about the same time as the meal would be going on back at home at my family's celebration. That was cool I thought. I got a chance to talk to some of them before they ate dinner which was great, and then we all ate over at our friends, Ruth and Neil's house where our small group from church meets. We had the usual dishes and two brave people tried new recipes for cornbread and sweet potatoes which were both delicious! We had a very yummy meal, and then I gave a talk on the real First Thanksgiving and the history of it. Then everyone wrote a list of things they were thankful for and we took turns sharing them while we were eating our dessert which was pumpkin and apple pie and fruit. The pumpkin pie that I made from scratch was a hit! I used my mom's recipe for the filling and my mother-in-law's recipe for the crust. Tim picked up the whipped cream on the way. So it was a team effort. Everyone said they enjoyed the evening, and it did help take my mind off of the fact that I was really missing home and family a lot. We were so happy our friends Julia and Simon brought their two little ones because it added that element of children noise that I am so used to which was wonderful. Overall a great evening of fun and many new friends to be very thankful for! In this picture from left to right: George (Georgina), Amy, Sally, Bianca (hidden) behind John, Julia.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is a copy of the very first Thanksgiving Proclaimation made by George Washington. And here is what it says in old fashioned English. I hope you are all digging in to your Thanksgiving dinner as well as remembering the reason we celebrate this holiday. I am missing it over here, but I hope you Americans will do me proud.

Thanksgiving Proclamation
By the President of the United States of America
WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble Gobble....

Some Snowy Scenes

Cromer church and pier

The Lighthouse in Cromer

The church in Gresham

A frozen pond on our walk

Tim and I enjoying the snow!

Snowed In!

Yes, well they say it never snows in England, if anything just a dusting and that is that. How depressing for an American who has lived her life always dreaming of a White Christmas! Well, I have to confess, it really wasn't that much snow (compared to some storms that I have been through), but we got a good 3 inches which caused the weather people to issue a Severe Weather Warning to north Norfolk (where Tim and I were staying for the weekend) and warned people of the dangerous road conditions and the icy Arctic winds! We, had planned to go up to Gresham, where Tim's parents own some cottages. It was going to be a nice weekend away all by ourselves. When, I woke up with snow coming down in the morning, I couldn't have been happier! I love waking up to snow, and here we were, tucked away in a cozy cottage all alone! It wasn't cozy when we got there, of course, with no heat on, but we had it very cozy by morning when I woke up to the snow. We had gotten there the night before, so the snow really came in the night and we enjoyed a nice walk around the countryside to take a few pictures, and then drove to town (Cromer) which is on the sea and walked around a bit more, had some lunch and then headed back to our cozy cottage. Where we were staying was supposed to be the worst of the weather. HA! This was not enough snow to stop school or work from going on as usual, but I can see why it stops people here. The roads are way too narrow and curvy, and no one has ever plowed anything before! They barely salted the major highways the night before this storm was to hit. Although the snow story was big enough to take up space in the newspaper (3 inches can you believe that?) So of course, you can really drive on narrow, winding roads, which barely fit 2 cars passing each other on a normal day. It all makes sense to me! Well, anyway, this was just perfect for our weekend. And everyone laughed and said it would be too cold! We had a lovely time.

Anything Goes (with the in-laws!)

Last night, we all went the Harlow Playhouse to watch Anything Goes. Tim, me and the in-laws all sitting in the second row with a great view of the stage. I have actually performed in this show before so I knew all the lines and scenes and was comparing everything in my head. This production was very well done and much more professional than the one I did, but nonetheless I thought I could have probably played my old part better then the actress who did it this time. That is just a load of overconfidence I am sure though. Ah actors! We always think we can do something better or we are determined to try to beat the next person in something theatrical. It is not unlike healthy sports competition I don't think. Well, we had a nice time, and I am hoping to join the group that performed it which meets in Bishop's Stortford so it is very convenient. The best thing is that next year's production at the Harlow Playhouse is My Fair Lady! Is that not a perfect part for me or what? I hope I get it! But I better join first so they get to know me because I am sure there are a lot of politics involved as always. One thing is for sure, I will definitely have plenty of help in practicing the correct authentic cockney accent! I can certainly help them all with their American ones after what I saw last night. They weren't bad, but could definitely use some dialect coaching form an expert in more ways than one!

My Favorite Cookie

As some of you will remember, I was following a strict diet due to my food intolerances of wheat, dairy, sugar, eggs, corn and peanuts. That is, until I got healed! Well, I have noticed that since my healing, I have still felt that I gravitated towards the things that I had used to replace these foods in my diet. I think it is possible that I may have created a healthy pattern, and that although I am ok to probably eat these things when I feel like it, I don't need to eat wheat every day just because I can. So I have started to incorporate these yummy ingredients when I am eating out or at friends' houses or when I am just craving a slice of cheese etc. I also noticed that my skin has not improved since I have been healed of my food intolerances. I am not sure why that is, but I do know that the food could have had an impact on that. I probably need to wait a bit longer to see lots of improvement, but until then I am going to eat all these goodies in moderation! Besides, it isn't just me who has had problems with sugar. Too much sugar is bad for anyone's diet. In fact, sugar is what fungus feeds on, and fungus in your body can cause acne, so I think that is one I am staying away from anyway since I always get a headache from too much of it. I have replaced refined sugar with honey if I put it in coffee or cakes etc. I am loving the honey. The best honey is the raw local honey which still contains the pollen and enzymes from the little bees. These have a great health benefit for us in fighting off infections from the local germs. Ok, now to the cookie story, well these Nana's cookies I originally purchased at Whole Foods in Montclair, NJ. They were my solution to going out for coffee and wanting to have a cookie with it, or if I didn't bake my own cookies, I would eat them at home with a glass of soy milk. Well, i thought I had to give them up forever until a thought crossed my mind yesterday as I was heading to my first coffee date and was passing by the one of 2 health food stores in town (Bishop's Stortford). So I went in to look for a granola bar or something when, "Eureka!" There on the bottom shelf were a pile of Nana's cookies. now I don't know which flavors they normally stock or if they alternate, but my favorites are the chocolate chip and the oatmeal raisin. So I bought the chocolate chip one to enjoy with my soy latte. Yummy! I never thought I would find them here, and I did which was very exciting.

Coffee with a Friend

Yesterday I had the pleasure of having coffee with two of my new friends. So today I thought I would start introducing some of my new friends so they are no longer faceless and nameless. This is Margaret and Reuben who live down the road from us. Reuben here has just gotten his first tooth which is why he is so happy! They are home during the day just like me, so we usually hang out together at some point during the week. I often go to Margaret's house and we play with Reuben while baking, or we go out for a walk or into town for a coffee. Yesterday we went to the deli/cafe down at the bottom of the hill in our little village. Technically I am told, that Stansted (where we live) is a village and Bishop's Stortford is a town. We go there for things like shops, banks, and church etc. It is about a 5 minute drive and a 3 minute train journey. I often get the train in for a wander around town to the charity shops and have a cup of coffee and read my book. Today I am not going into town, but I might need to pop to the shops in the village for something to cook for dinner.

Pippin, a Window Puss?

Well, for those of you who follow my blog regularly, you will remember that Pippin is the closet puss who spend most of his time during the day in the closet...up until now! Pippin has started to come out of his shell a bit an mingle a bit more with us and enjoy the rest of the day like we do (not sleeping). He has been seen recently during the day enjoying a window view, chasing his brother, and looking for affection from the family. We are all happy to see that Pippin has begun to grow up a bit. I think this may be due to the fact that both cats have started sleeping a bit more at night and therefore being a little more awake at times during the day. Both sweet boys are still taking their catnaps and playing around with each other, but it is a bit more spread out now over the 24 hours instead of mostly sleeping during the day and mostly playing at night. They must have realized by now that we are not nocturnal and decided to conform! Here is a picture of Pippin posing pensively on the window sill. I don't know what we expect, they are such sweet boys!

Barn Dance

So what do the English really do on a Saturday night? Why of course, they go to a Barn Dance. At least, some of them do. Tim and I got talked into going to a Barn Dance (note: not actually in a barn, sadly) on Saturday night with the Bishop's Stortford Baptist church but actually located at the Methodist Church hall. Well, actually I got talked into it by my mum-in-law and Tim basically got dragged along. He was a good sport although vowing beforehand to not partake in ANY dances. Tim and I ended up taking a little walk outside during the evening, and when we got back, Tim was ready to leave. So as we got up to go (much to the chagrin of his mum) the guy on the mike shouted, "Hey Tim, you can't leave yet! I've got a special song just for you!" So, basically Tim got forced onto the dance floor through sheer embarrassment (and with me holding his hand). The thing with a Barn Dance not actually in a barn is that you have a band that plays country folk style music while someone calls out the steps from the stage and everyone follows along. It is sort of like a square dancing kind of thing in that it involves changing partners and a bit of spinning and docey-doeing. So Tim joined in with me and the lot for the last 2 dances which was fun. At the end of the night we were all a bit sweaty but everyone was still smiling. Tim actually said that he enjoyed his 2 dances and I think particularly because to get me back for making him come, he got to spin me around super fast and almost get me to fall down. All in all it was good fun and a great silly night out! By the way, in the picture is my father-in-law sporting his plaid shirt for the occasion and dancing with one of the little girls.

Freecycle

I have joined the Bishop's Stortford Freecycle group which has been pretty good. So far I have only received things, but probably I will end up giving things away if I don't have time to drop them off at a charity shop instead. Anyway, this is one of the great finds I have acquired. Although you usually don't get to see pictures of stuff before you get it on freecycle, this person actually posted one which was an added bonus. It is a cat design trivet which now sits on the kitchen table and we use it every night to put hot food on when we eat dinner. It is very handy and kind of cute too. Among the other things I have gotten are a black bag which holds a lot of stuff, an old lady style coat (which I am hoping to turn into a bag since it is hound's tooth and might look nice), plastic bags for crocheting from a very nice girl who is also crafty and that is it I think. Well, the good thing here is that freecycle doesn't go so fast around here. Back at home, I used to ask for stuff that was offered and it was usually already spoken for. Mind you, it was great to get rid of stuff because when I posted it, I was bound to get a few bites within the first few minutes. Everything there was just a faster pace. Here, since it is a bit more relaxed, I can really have a shot at getting some of the good stuff. Long may it continue!

Something Familiar?

Hey, does anyone from Liquid recognize this photo? It happens to be advertising Hertfordshire Libraries, but it was used for Life Groups at Liquid if anyone remembers. I have also seen another similar picture that was used by Liquid on a website somewhere. I wonder where they get their pictures from. Anyway, I am a member of the library, but I have to confess that I haven't gotten many books there since they have a pretty small selection and nothing like what we used to do to order books in Bloomfield which was free. Here you have to pay 50 pence to order a book and I would have to pretty much order everything. So instead I have bought a few books at Charity shops and also found some friends who happen to have books I would like to read and am hoping to borrow from them. In the meantime I will keep my eyes peeled for other familiar photographs around.

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes

We are in various stages of organization around here. Although I have nothing else to do but organize and make Christmas presents, I have actually been busy with all of that as well as helping Tim with his papers etc. so that the organization is still not entirely complete. At the moment, this is the state of the kitchen. I have actually (after Tim and I worked hard to bring them all in, mostly Tim) gone through each one and labeled what is outside to help us better prepare them for re-wrapping (if needed) especially for the books and the pictures in frames etc. We don't want all the damp of England to seep into our cherished memories both figuratively and literally! So I have found pretty much everything I need so far including the long lost lonely shoe separated from its mate for the entire journey as it seems they slept in separate boxes. I have located most of my craft things which is handy and also the books (although I have yet to actually lay eyes on all the books to see which ones are urgently needed or too dearly loved to leave in the garage). I fear that I will want to have everything with me all the time, but that is not necessarily good or even at all possible so it will be a sad and difficulty process to determine what goes back in the garage and what stays with us. The only little teeny problem is that I have not yet found my address book which contains (as you can imagine) all the important addresses that I need to send out Christmas cards etc. So the hunt is still on for that! If you have no faith in me, and really want a Christmas card, feel free to send me your address to be sure you get one!

Gifts from Home

Well, I have been enjoying a little bit of mom from far away recently. She sent me some candles and some fall coasters so I put them out on the conservatory table and light them for some ambiance with my hubby when no one else is around. I have enjoyed doing that. I also recently received some pictures from my grandparents from the party we had before we left and a little of the cousins and everyone in CT. It was nice but also bittersweet knowing I won't be seeing them this Christmas. I hope I will not be too sad away from home this year. The last 2 times I have spent Christmas in England I have been technically taking up my permanent residence in NJ, so this time I can tell it will feel different. I am looking forward to enjoying my first Christmas as a UK resident though, so it should be fun to see the differences in how they build up to the holiday and all of that. So far I have started to collect and make some Christmas presents just because I know it will take a while if I have to actually make things for people. I am hoping it will all work out right, and that I may actually get to start work at The Body Shop sometime before Christmas to maybe help me top off the gift pile I am making. But as always, it will not be the Christmas season until after Thanksgiving for me! Though the Brits don't have that Black Friday to start them off, and the stores are already starting the festive decorations. We shall see if Christmas in England is as I imagine it like A Christmas Carol or not!

Robinsons "Squash"

This is a drink called Squash, which is pretty much just some kind of concentrated fruit juice with barley in it apparently. I have no idea why it is called Squash! To drink it, you put a little bit of it in a glass and then fill the rest with water to make it taste good but not too strong. You can do it as strong or weak as you like, but I like it a bit stronger for flavor I guess. It says no sugar added, but it is basically fruit juice from concentrate so not that fresh, but it does have some nice flavors. The picture I took here is not really how it looks. I happened to notice that the one bottle behind the other made it look as though the drink was two- toned, but anyway I think it is pink grapefruit and orange there. I thought it looked cool, but it did come out kind of blurry. Well I better go try to get my clothes dry (which involves moving them around from drying rack to radiator etc. until they all end up dried). It is a bit of a kerfuffle!

The Body Shop Job

Hello there, I am a recently hired and then postponed employee of The Body Shop! Yes, I applied, got offered the job and then, there was a freeze on hiring Body Shop Christmas staff before I could start work. So now, I am forced to wait until they call me back to find out when I can actually start working. The main problem is that the Christmas trade is not picking up at all yet, and many retail businesses are not hiring Christmas staff yet due to the slow sales. So keep praying that business will pick up soon so I can work a little before Christmas. I was hoping I could get some part-time work in while I waited for my certification to come in so I can do my real job, but it still may be some time before that happens. It would be great to get this job started soon! I would like to get started buying some of my favorite things there and maybe a few Christmas presents too!

Remembrance Day

Here in Britain, it seems like everyone actually participates in Remembrance Day which is like our Veterans Day except in the US, nobody does anything for it. Here, in the weeks leading up to November 11th, people are making donations and receiving a poppy to wear on their clothing as a sign that they are remembering those who died in the wars. They also have special services and parades at war memorials where people spend 2 minutes of silence. It is supposed to be at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, but they now do it on the Sunday closest to the 11th of November. So that was today. We went to a service in Bishop's Stortford at the castle gardens around the war memorial that is there. The service was led by a minister from a local church and we were following a procession into the area and out afterwards that was made up of different organizations wearing their uniforms and carrying flags. It was very reflective, and I even saw a young lady wipe her eyes at the end which surprised me. These Brits usually don't shed a tear, but they do seem to want to really remember and honor those who gave their lives to provide freedom today. Incidentally I did not actually wear a poppy...Maybe next time.

Guy Fawkes

On the 5th of November, 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes tried to burn down the Houses of Parliament but was caught and then executed. For this reason, every 5th of November the English celebrate the memorable event also called Bonfire Night when they light fireworks and create a Guy out of old clothes and newspapers and sew on some kind of head (ends up looking like a scarecrow I guess) and burn him on a huge bonfire. The man is infamous and gets burned to death every year just top make the point and punish him all over again. There is a saying that says, "Remember, remember the 5th of November!" And the advice there is never try to burn down the Houses of Parliament because you will get caught and humiliated well after your death! Well anyway, we actually did not have a guy on a bonfire but did go to see some fireworks last night and also set off some fireworks at one of Tim's friend's house on Friday which was fun. I am so used to having fireworks on the 4th of July that the cold weather and all seems very different to me. It was fun anyway, but I have to say the fireworks were not as big and spectacular as they are back in the States but still a fun evening out.

Our Ship Came In

Here is our shipment of everything we own being delivered to the house this morning. It has been a long day of unpacking, but let's just say that although we have too much stuff, it is nice to have our stuff with us finally. I am exhausted and can't really think of much inspiring to write, but you would be proud of the way me and my mother-in-law unpacked pretty much all the clothes and I organized and put them all away as best as I could. It has been a busy day. As my grandfather always says, " We'll sleep good tonight!"

Poor Little Birdie!

Yesterday morning, I was in the kitchen looking out the window through to the conservatory when there was little long tailed tit who didn't realize that the conservatory was a window and flew right into it. So my mother-in-law and I put our rubber gloves on and went out to rescue it. Fortunately it was not dead! He was just a little stunned. So she picked him up and stroked him a little until he started blinking and looking around. We didn't want to leave him there for the neighborhood cats to find, so we waited a few minutes and then he just flew right away. Hopefully he has found his family by now. Poor little birdie...BTW this is not the actual bird, my camera was out of battery.

Pippin, The High Puss

Pippin is our little shy puss who is very affectionate despite wanting to spend most of his time in the closet during the day. But he also enjoys being up high where he can purr loudly as he looks down at everyone else to watch what is going on. Pippin is pictured here in the book shelf that we just cleared because we are getting ready for our shipment to arrive tomorrow! Finally! On the other hand, we are totally not ready in that we have almost nowhere to put the clothes and books that are coming. Either way, Pippin is not worried, he thinks that he has just been given a new high place to sit. Little does he know that is most likely going to be the spot for some of my clothes and we will have to figure out a way to block off the side of the bookshelf so that he doesn't make a bed out of them. That is all I need, more clothes covered in cat hair! But, I don't know what we expect, they are sweet boys!

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

Recently, I have been learning how to crochet using plastic bags. To date, I have only made one bag for myself, but have started collecting more bags to use for the same purpose. The great thing is that these bags can be used for anything. You can make large to medium to small bags using plastic yarn "plarn" and you can even line them with fabric to extend their life. I think it is a great idea. Just look at this picture from the Daily Mail. This family is going to take all those bags home about once a week right, and then what will happen to the bags, they will end up getting thrown in the garbage and eventually harm innocent animals through very bad garbage disposal systems that seem to be a trend these days. Check out this article if you think crocheting plastic bag yarn is a waste of time. http://www.icis.com/blogs/icis-chemicals-confidential/files/2008/02/banish-the-bags-uk-newspaper-c.html
For me, there is little I can do about the birds and sea animals who are getting killed by these monsters (plastic bags) or about proper and ethical garbage disposal, but I can do my part and let everyone I know to either recycle your bags with the plastic recycling stuff or donate your bags to a crafter like me who will lovingly reuse them into something useful and fun. Currently I am collecting orange Sainsbury's grocery bags, and I have a bunch that I will be using to create some bags and pouches. Keep Recycling!

Merry Finds a Snacky Snack

Tim brought the cat food home, and although the bag was NOT opened, the cats were still mysteriously interested. I wonder if they recognize the same familiar bag! Well, then Tim opened the bag (to see what would happen I guess) and voila! Cat in Bag! Sorry this is just a short silly post because I am practicing writing short little anecdotes for my future publication of The Adventures of Merry and Pippin! Unfortunately so far, the adventures have been mostly Merry and not Pippin. I will have to try to get Pippin out more, but I am sure he is very much more adventurous at night (because that is when he starts pawing at all the doors that are closed because he suddenly feels an uncontrollable urge to get behind that door! Silly Puss! So When he does that on our closet doors, I chuck pillows at him.

Tim Takes Merry For a Walk

Yes, Merry has been given a little trip outside with a leash. The only problem is that in this picture, he does not know he is on a leash. Merry thinks Tim is just following him around for no reason. What followed this scene was not photographed, but Merry, realizing that he had something attached to his neck, freaked out, ran inside and ended up running straight into the glass door of the kitchen and bumped his head. After that he seemed a little stunned, but as soon as I took the leash off of him, he was much happier. Incidentally, I tried to put him on the leash and let him outside with me today but he was not having any of it! He is just a cat who is born free! Why he would want to be on a leash anyway is beyond me! He's not a dog, and even dogs don't like it very much, but cats, they're another story. They make the rules and if there were leashes involved, we'd be wearing them and not them. They know who is really boss!

Great South Run and Pompey All in One Day

On Sunday, we had a pretty busy day. We woke up early in the morning and headed off to watch Phil run 10 miles in the Great South Run in Portsmouth. Phil is pictured above when he saw us waving at him running past at the beginning of the race. It was a rainy and cold day, so Tim and I were kitted out in our waterproof clothing and wellies so we could stand outside the whole morning and enjoy watching the 19,500 people run in the race. There were many runners dressed up including the likes of Borat (in his bathing suit), Paddington Bear, a Bride and Groom, a pair of Devils (one blind) and Batman and Robin. Phil finished in an hour and a half which was pretty good. We didn't run but we had to take a ferry from Southampton to Portsmouth and walk a couple of miles from the ferry to the start of the run and back again and then we did some more walking on the way to the Portsmouth football match so we got our exercise in anyway. The picture above is Tim and I standing in front of the Portsmouth Stadium. The nickname for Portsmouth is Pompey, so the whole game, we were singing the famous, "Play up Pompey, Pompey play up!" Unfortunately, the score was 1:1 against Fulham. We sat right next to the Fulham supporters (because away supporters are always seated in a particular section with stewards patrolling in between the sections), so they were getting rowdy along with one girl in the crown who kept sticking up two fingers at the Fulham crowd and singing "F*&% off Fulham". It was a crazy day spent mostly outside that ended with some Indian take away at Phil's house before we drove home. I had to sleep in until almost 11 am to fully recover.

My NEW new haircut

.....Just a quick note to say, yes, I did cut my hair again, this time it is super short and easy to manage.....

*Photo taken by Phil Webb

Souff Hampton

Next came Saturday when I didn't go the gym and instead slept in and got up in just enough time to shower and get ready to head to Southampton with my mum-in-law to visit my bro-in-law for the day. We toured a bit around the old town of "Souff Hampton" as they often say in Southampton. Phil and I are standing here in front of the old city gate that now lead to the older parts of the city. Parts of the wall are still standing, so we did a little mini walk around part of the city wall that faces the sea. It was very windy. We had a nice lunch in a cafe and visited the Titanic museum where they have information about the British people who were on the ship as well as some of the general stuff you find out in the history books. It was very interesting. Then that night we all (meaning in-laws and Tim and I) stayed in the Southampton Holiday Inn (in separate next door rooms not unlike our home living situation) although the next morning, we were awoken by a phone call from our next door "neighbor" to inform us that a cruise ship, Independence of the Sea, had docked overnight and was waiting right outside our window. It was very surprising. Incidentally we were staying in Southampton because that is where Phil lives, and we went to visit him at his house for a bit until Tim and his dad met us down there after the Barnet game. Overall it was a very nice day.

Chelmsford Musings

On Friday I went to Chelmsford with Tim to have my appointment to get a National Insurance Number which is like a social security number so they can tax you etc. So you need one if you are going to begin working. I definitely have time to get one, but thought I would get that done while I am waiting for everything else. So I spent the day in Chelmsford with Tim (well not really with him, since he was in class all day), and I read my book and worked on my knitting. Elise, if you're reading this, I hope you like the color of that yarn! So I had a pretty relaxing day with lots of walking around by myself and sitting reading and knitting which gave me lots of time to ponder my life and everything really. I decided that I am pretty sure that there are loads more things that I would like to have control over besides which books I read and what I decide to knit etc. It is really tough when your existence comes down to pretty much choosing just those things. I depend on others for transportation, financial support and the rest is just details really. My life revolves around what I have access to be able to do which is not a lot at the moment....So I knit and read and exercise. Ah the joys of life! I would like to do a lot more things though and I decided I may one day write books. So I will be starting soon with The Adventures of Merry and Pippin to help me get my feet wet since I am still green, but helping Tim writing his papers for "Uni" has reminded me that I do have some talent. Yay!

Healing

I am confused about my food intolerances, but the best that I can say is that since I was prayed for 2 Sundays ago, I seem to be healed from them. Normally when I have wheat and sugar etc. I would feel really bloated and full and yucky, but since then I have tested it out on some food here and there, and I have felt fine. Now I am just waiting for the rest of my body to catch up with my healing i.e. my skin and my weight. When I learned about my food intolerances, I was told that they could have contributed to my acne and weight difficulties. So I am hoping for a quick recovery from all of that. I have a good few pounds to drop to be back to my comfortable weight and hopefully soon my skin will clear all the way up. We just started going to a church where people seem to get healed every week of lots of things, so I am excited, but now the whole doubt is starting to set back in. I am scared that if I am not totally healed then, me eating all these foods is actually harming my body. But I guess, the blind guy did not question when Jesus told him to wash his eyes out with mud, and then he was healed. So I should trust that if God healed me, then I should really embrace the healing and live by faith. I have had a hard time doing that my whole life, so it is still hard especially now in a new country surrounded by all new things and people and completely out of my comfort zone. It is funny because as I have been writing this post, the sky went from being completely gray to pretty sunny, so it's kind of like the rainbow promise after the flood. If I trust that healing is there, then everything will follow just like the lovely sunny day. If I trust that God will get me through this, then I will see the sun come out again! This is a tough lesson for me, since right about now I am not really in control of anything in my life and leaving the healing of my body up to God is something scary because since the rest of my life is out of my control, sometimes I think it would be nice to have my body under my control. But I have to give it all up! I am crying as I write this even though it's sunny out. It is really tough these days.

Cambridge Market

Yesterday I went to the market in Cambridge with my mother-in-law. It was really cool. They have a much larger market than we have in Bishop's Stortford and I was able to get some more rare veggies that I was missing. I also grabbed a few Christmas gifts while I was there. both of us got bargains at the book stand because the guy was selling practically new books (which we new because they had just come out recently) and we got them at book stand prices i.e. £2 for a hardback and £1.50 for a paperback. We were very happy about that. We also found out a very interesting tidbit of information about the town called Grimsby (which the fish seller told us not grim at all). The word Grimsby actually stand for Great Rimsby, and "rimsby" means small town by the sea. How interesting, so I told the fish seller I would put it in my blog, and here it is. Along with the market shopping we of course when to have coffee in a cafe and had a nice chilly walk around the town a bit. I liked shopping in Cambridge. I think it will be my new Montclair! The only thing is, I may have to take a train and then a bus to get around there if I try to go alone. We shall see, and maybe I can convince someone else to come with me who can drive.