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!