An afternoon at the Castle

Indulge my while I post a bunch of pictures (after all, its my blog, and I'm gonna post them.) Not much witty writing at the moment.

One recent Sunday afternoon showed forecasts of warmer weather and sunny skies, so we hopped in the car and headed to Hampton Court. Its a lovely castle and gardens, and we really had the most wonderful day.

The castle was simply gorgeous. I'm hoping to head back some afternoon to tour it (and maybe stay for a full tea).

The gardens were truly spectacular.

Boo insisted on trying to open the door. We explained it is just like the fairy doors that he and Pea have in their rooms - they are magical, and only fairies could open them. We couldn't decide if this was a hobbit or troll door, however.

Of course, any proper castle has a maze on its grounds. This one was lots of fun for all of us. Also a good way to run off excess energy....

The tower at the center of the maze. The third doorway was open, and allowed you to walk up steps to the top of the tower, or go down to the "dungeon" - where there was a tunnel to a sunken garden.

After a nice lunch together, we took a long walk along the river. The path eventually lead to a play area. The kids were delighted by two swings hanging from a massive tree, and had a great time just jumping on the logs.

Pea had to give the bear a REAL bear hug, Pea style!

However, all good things must come to an end, and apparently, there IS such a thing as too much fun - or there is when a little one gets overtired. But we'll be back!

Learning Football

Learning to call soccer "football" has been the biggest challenge for me. Oh, I can sort out that french fries are "chips" while potato chips are "crisps", and that one never refers to one's pants as pants, but instead they are "trousers" (as your pants are your underwear, and that snafu is sure to get everyone around you sniggering.)

But for whatever reason, "football" seems to escape me, and it drives Boo crazy.

Today he had his first practice with the Hay Under-7 football league. He was very excited to put on the full football kit. He is wearing an Arsenal uniform for no other reason than it is red, his favorite color.

Of course, having his two best schoolmates playing with him certainly boosted his enthusiasm. I'm so happy he has met C and S. They are delightful little boys, full of energy as he is, and cheeky to boot. We love them!

Here is a big hug after the first game. Boo shares the same name as this handsome fellow - so of course they hit it off the very first day of school. Boo's teacher says they also work very well together in class, which is wonderful.

Aren't they adorable!

And of course, no Saturday morning practice is complete without a post-practice roll down the hill. I'm guessing the coach didn't run them hard enough if they had this much energy!

Quiz and Curry

The Hubs and I attended our very first "Quiz and Curry" night, a fundraiser put on by the school a few weeks ago. Having no idea what we were getting ourselves into, we were admittedly a bit nervous about it.

After all, British sports and pop culture are not are strong points!

We were paired up with another lovely couple. The lads wandered off to bring us back drinks. (Open bar, of course) while we bought raffle tickets. (I think at any gathering of adults, whatsoever, someone is selling raffle tickets for a fundraiser. I've been quite lucky!)

I have to admit, it was quite hard! 12 rounds of quizzes, stopping for a dinner of curry in the middle. The headmistress did throw in a couple of questions for the Americans present. (Talk about pressure! Thankfully, we DID know which of the Great Lakes is the largest.) Whew.

We blew it on the ABBA round, as well as the sports round. Did fairly well on the music round.

We came in 7th, so not bad. I did win a bottle of sparkling wine in the raffle!

However, I will still argue that in the "standard" Monopoly game, the property that comes last alphabetically is NOT Whitehall Station, but Vermont Avenue. I stand by my answer!

Shopping, revisited

Moving here, I was warned that shopping would be a totally different thing - options would be much less, stores far away, everything a drive....blah, blah, blah.

Perhaps 10 years ago, this would have been an issue. You see, I think all the nay-sayers forgot about the internet.

And forgot about how small, really, the country is (in comparison to the States.)

So...the car seat I ordered on Monday? Delivered Tuesday.

The American food I ordered this morning? (Hello, Goldfish crackers and Aunt Jemima pancake syrup...) Just received an email it was shipped today, and will arrive in the next day or so. And shipping rates are very low, and often free.

Sure, I can't get everything I would have bought back in the States, but that is half the fun, discovering new products and styles.

And its fun to get something in the mail, occasionally, other than a bill!

The Stealth Resident

After the Hubs and Boo received a proper haircut at a proper barber here in town (gents stay out of the salons here, then, and only go to the barber shop), and it was time to head home, a Very Tired Pea (for whatever reason, apparently watching Nickelodeon in the morning is exhausting) demanded that I carry her home.

As I had carried her into town, and was properly exhausted from that, I told the Hubs that I wanted to go to some bookstores and ran, leaving him to carry home a screaming Pea. All. The. Way. Home.

(So, if you live in Hay, please note there was NOT a child abduction today. That was merely my overtired 3 year old, making her displeasure heard.)

Anywho...

So I finally popped into to a couple bookstores to supply my habit, and then wandered round to the clothing shops to have a look. I've been wanting a pair of tall boots with no heel, as the high heels on my old boots are not made for the walks back and forth to town. Finding a pair that fit the bill, I took it to the counter to purchase them.

The shopkeeper thoughtfully inquired if I wanted them without the box, as I had to ship them home. I replied, no, I'd like the box, as I live here.

This, of course, always seems to cause (quite unnecessary) embarrassment and flustered responses! Apologies are made, and so on. I mean, honestly, I live in a town that thrives on tourism AND my accent is pretty darn foreign for the neighborhood, so it is an honest mistake.

Basically, the gist of my conversation with the shopkeeper was that, (meant all in good fun) I'm a stealth resident. People think I'm a tourist, and why shouldn't they? However, in more than a few instances, people note the accent, and go on with their conversations as if I'm a bit invisible. Not realizing that the person they are speaking of, well, I have met them. Oops. (Yes this has happened once.)

Probably would be considered a bit unfair, actually, if they were the objectionable sort, me sneaking around, not letting anyone know I'm not a tourist. Shopkeepers do seem to be a bit surprised to learn that we have moved here, and most people have a genuine interest in us. (To which the shopkeeper added that people moving from a big city might find people in town just a bit nosy. I find it much better than living in a place where the people don't give a whit about you!)

I still can't get used to, by the way, people stopping me and telling me "I just LOVE your accent!" (Accent? What accent?) Oh, yes, the MIDWEST accent that my husband loves to make fun of.

I had thought that perhaps I needed to make myself a shopping bag that read "I live here", but now I think I need one that says "Stealth Resident".

Too Smart for Mama

I don't know if its just that my kids have huge vocabularies, or that they are very good at parroting my words back at me but....

Pea pushed back from a still full, barely touched dinner plate this evening.
"I'm done!", she announced.

I looked at her sternly and said"You didn't eat a thing on that plate!"

She paused, and carefully looking over her dinner, replied, "And apparently, I didn't drink my milk either".

Smiling, she left the room. She told me, then, eh?

Foreign Food

I know we have moved to a different country, and so food will be different. Going to the market has proven that, while we eat the same food (generally), preparation is quite often different. Prawn crisps replace BBQ potato chips on the store shelves. Hot dogs look like hot dogs, but aren't...quite....right.


However, the full extent of the realization that we ARE indeed in a foreign country shows most fully in the lunchroom at the primary school.


On the FIRST day of school, Boo said "I didn't eat the peas and carrots, but I did eat the rice and the chicken in sauce. It was good!"

Said chicken in sauce was curry, by the way. I'm most proud that he tried it when he didn't even know what it was.

Ain't peer pressure a wonderful thing?


Yesterday I asked Boo if he ate his dinner, and he said "Yes, but I didn't like it". (thank goodness for growth-spurt related hunger.)


"What was for dinner today?"

"Some kind of meat", he says. "What kind of meat?" I asked. "I don't know, it had stuff on it", he said; "Can I have a cheese stick?", dismissing the conversation.


Today, I spoke with Pea's teacher regarding meal choices, and learned that the mystery meat was roast beef and gravy. "Some kind of meat". Huh.

I also learned that there is a lot about the hot lunch program here that I didn't know. Like, in addition to the hot lunch choices (the main meal and a vegetarian alternative), the children also have a choice of a ploughman's lunch (either a ham, cheese or jam sandwich) OR a jacket potato (otherwise known to us as a baked potato.)

I only discovered this when Pea's teacher took me aside yesterday and said, once again, she only ate her pudding. Not surprising, as she really only eats crisps, fresh fruit, cheese, yogurt, cereal and white bread at the moment, but it was nice of her to tell me. She then told me Pea could just have a sandwich...hmmm.

Would it make me a Bad Mommy if I wait a few weeks ('til the end of the first menu rotation) to tell Boo that if he doesn't like what is offered, he can just have a ham sandwich?

(Bwah ha ha ha ha.)

Yes, it probably would. Give me my Bad Mommy button, please, I'm going to make sure he tries as much of the dinners there as he can (before he completely rebels.)

Today, thankfully, is fish fingers and chips, for the both of them. No sammies yet for Pea - can't have her all mad that everyone else is getting french fries and SHE only gets a cheese sandwich!

Now I'm going to sit here an mull over what other information I don't yet have.

Like the school calendar.

There are days I need this sign on my front door

I really do love the British. They don't mince words, do they?

They must have seen my son at the end of a school day.

Seriously, I'm framing this shot and hanging it in the playroom!

Ignorance is hilarious.

Was sharing a story the other day with the Hubs and our neighbors that I hadn't blogged about yet, and have to share. A bit embarrassing for the store clerk, but its safe to say she doesn't follow the blog...

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Shopping prior to the move, I had loads of Kellogg's Fruit Snacks loaded in my shopping cart at Tar-gay. Pea was in a foul mood, and stubbornly insisting that she did NOT want Princess gummies, and that I had to PUT. THEM. BACK. NOW.

I calmly explained that we wouldn't be able to buy them when we moved, and I needed to get them at that time.

The store clerk asked "Where are you moving?"

"To Wales", I replied.

A lull followed, then "Is your husband a fisherman?"

(ba-dum-bum)

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WHALES. Wales. Get it? (She wasn't even blond!)

It took everything I could to do nothing more than smile.
However, hitting the car, I laughed until tears ran down my face.

Whales.

I hope they make friends like these.

I have to admit, after I dropped the kids off at school and came home, I wanted to pick up the phone and commiserate with my friend Wendy, or run across the street to let my Patty talk some sense into me about feeling weirded out, or tell my mom that they did ok.

But as it was only 3a.m. back in the Chicago area, I figured they wouldn't appreciate it much.

Yes, I miss my friends. Its a bit lonely to resort to posting on Facebook so you can share whats going on with someone - not quite instant gratification, or mistakable for direct communication. But I'm a grown up.

I'm really starting to appreciate what the kids have been dealing with. I mean, they have each other, but its not the same. So I hope my kids - Boo in particular - make friends here that mean as much as THESE friends do:

In the meantime, Mary, Wendy, Patty - can any of you catch up with technology and Skype me?

Wordless Wednesday - The pout, perfected.

First Day of School: the update

After a relaxing and yet nervewracking morning (I think I was half waiting for a phone call from the school saying that Pea had melted down), I waited at the gate for the preschoolers to be brought out.

When her teacher brought her out with a whispered ("she did great"), I was rewarded with her customary after-school grin-and-squeezy hug combo that I am used to back home.

"How was your day?" I asked. "Good", she replied.

"Did you have fun?" "Yup", she responded.

"Did you make any friends?" I asked. "No, no fwends" she said.

And that was the end of that.

Her other teacher, after bringing out another preschooler, stopped to say that she did great, but hadn't eaten her dinner "but it was curry, so..." and added that she did eat her pudding. (No surprise there.)

Returning home, she ate, and ate, and ate, singing and dancing along with "Beauty and the Beast" (the Disney video, not the Linda Hamilton/Ron Perlman reruns, also shown on Sky here.)

At 3ish, we left to pick up Boo. Straight out of the chute, he was grumpy and snappish. (Read: exhausted.) I asked him if he still wanted ice cream. "Yes, but my LEGS. ARE. TIRED. I had THREE recesses today, MOM."

Sticking on his jumper was a sticker. He said his teacher gave it to him at the end of the day "because I did everything right: I did what I was supposed to, and I was a good listener". What great encouragement for a new kid on his first day at a new place. I'm so proud of him! (yet, oddly, the more he snapped at me, the more I was tempted to tear it off his shirt. but that would be very childish of me, and ONE of us has to be the grown up. Still, he was a grumpy grump...)

The aforementioned ice cream cone was devoured so quickly, I wonder if he even tasted it. Thinking about the curry served at lunch, I asked "How was lunch?" to which he quickly retorted "I want to pack a lunch tomorrow!".

"How was lunch?" I asked again. I'm not giving up - I'm too curious!

"There were peas and carrots. I didn't eat them. I did eat the rice, and the chicken and sauce."

"The curry?" I prompted. "Yeah, I ate that - it was good. But I'm hungreeeeeee". I made a mental note to feed him more at breakfast, then congratulated him for trying something new.

You have to give him credit - curry on the first day of school is about as foreign to his diet as you can get, and he handled it well.

It took until dinner time to pry more info out of him, but basically, his first school friend is the OTHER Sam, he played "Agent Hamster" with Sam and a bunch of 2nd year boys (basically, he and Sam ran and the bigger kids tried to catch them. Still, the name is a bit weird and disconcerting). They sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" in english, and then in Welsh. He said he really liked it....but...

at bedtime, he said he didn't like going all day. He told the Hubs that he missed Mommy (awwww), and he missed his toys. He missed Ox, too.

I missed him today, and agreed to take Ox with me in the car when we go pick him up tomorrow, because, honestly, I think Boo is super, too.

Fridge/Freezer, updated

This is for the interest of my American friends who (a) are curious about the fridge/freezer here and (b) have SEEN my American-style refrigerator back home.

One poor little chap, who looked about 18 and couldn't have been 130 pounds soaking wet, came alone to deliver my fridge. I was a tad mortified that he was doing it on his own, as it was not very wide, but very tall and thus a bit awkward.

No worries, after much dragging, pushing, and sweating (and that was just Boo), the fridge was in its proper place, and shortly thereafter we all jumped in the car and tore off to Hereford to visit Tesco (now that we had an actual freezer). The kids were quite keen on filling it with ice cream treats.

Its quite tall (2 meters) and narrow (about 60 cm). The fridge is on top, and the freezer is on the bottom. Here is the fridge:

The shelf space is quite narrow. A bit of rearranging would net me a taller shelf - but we rather like our wine shelf! There are no shelves tall enough for the liter of soda or an open bottle of wine - thankfully, most of the wine we've bought so far actually has had screw tops, so we can lay them back down. (Who am I kidding - left over wine? )

Now THIS is the freezer:

Yup, those are drawers.

See those little white "boxes" on the top of the bottom two drawers? THOSE are (ahem) ice cube trays. Or what they consider ice cube trays. A sad attempt at 12 or so teeny tiny ice cubes. (Phyllis, 2 ice cube trays would be brilliant). Oh, and the bigger grocery stores all sell bags of ice should we need more for a party.

The second drawer is wide enough for frozen pizzas.

Overall, its actually a smart setup. I cannot overstock the freezer, so I need to plan, and the drawers keep me organized - one for veggies, one for pizzas, one for meal products - chicken dippers, fish fingers, frozen minced turkey and beef. And, yes, the bottom drawer is the dessert drawer. The Co-op market has the best liters of ice cream and they are 2-for-£3. (I have to buy them two at a time, oh, my poor waistband.)

Same can be said for the fridge - shopping must be done more carefully, especially since, it seems to me, that the expiration dates here are much shorter on a lot of products, and so you buy what you need (after more careful planning) and there is much less waste or spoiled food.

See, I'm getting more organized already!

First Day of School, Part 1

Wait...do you hear that?

That sound of....nothing.

Quiet. Still. Quiet. A quite foreign sound 'round here.

Today is the first day of school. Boo is in 1st year here, and it is his first year of going all day. School starts at 8:55, and I (think) I pick him up at 3:15. (Need to check that shortly.)

Pea is in preschool. She, too, gets dropped of by 8:55 or so, and stays until 1pm - yes she stays for lunch! Five. Days. A. Week.

At the moment, I am sitting on my sofa, hot mug of tea and a plate of Welsh cakes on the coffee table, heart still pounding slightly from the mad rushing about the school.

You see, Pea, who absolutely loved preschool back in Chicago, stated firmly last night that she did NOT want to go to school, and she definitely did NOT want to eat lunch there. (And this is a girl who very clearly knows what she wants, most of the time.) The original intent was to send her from 9-11, and then when she adjusted, let her stay until 1pm. However, the teachers said that most children stayed for lunch (sorry, dinner), and suggested we try having her stay until 1 straight out, and if she really had issues, shorten it after the first week.

So today, all dressed in her new first-day-of-school clothes, she shyly wandered into the main room, with a sly smile on her face as she took in all the children and the toys. A helper took her by the hand, and I skedaddled. None of that hanging around for me - I learned that back at Little Angels!

Boo was patiently waiting outside Pea's classroom for me, and I led him into his room, where they were already sitting for circle time. He had an odd look on his face, which I'm hoping was just nerves. He told me that he might be shy the first day, and we had told him that this was jut fine - he makes friends easily, just to be himself. I have to add, he was pretty proud of his new uniform. I was a bit surprised about that, but to be honest, being dressed like everyone else had to be a bit of relief on the first day.

The teaching assistant showed him his hook in the cloakroom (where he is "Sam B", as there is also a "Sam H" in his class), and where to store his water bottle, and collected his book bag. A kiss on the head in the cloakroom (so as not to embarrass him in front of his new classmates) and off I dash to finish MY school errands.

I had to drop paperwork with the secretary, buy some little envelopes for lunch money (1 penny each), then drop lunch money in the kitchen - at which point my ability to do math completely escaped me, and then seeing both dinner money and milk money spots on the envelope, wondered if they had forgotten to tell me about milk money. (I'll find out today I suppose).

By then, the children had started to gather in the main area for morning assembly, so I had to dash around the school, back thru the gate (as the preschool teacher was caught up with another mum, and I needed to get Boo settled in his class so couldn't wait longer) and I hadn't told the teachers that Pea WAS indeed staying for dinner!!! THEN I needed to see Boo's teacher, as I needed to pay for his daily fruit at snack time and the 50 P that I owed for cookery for the term.

Honestly, I think I was more worked up trying to make sure I had everything straight so there was no issues for them with snacks or meals for the day than they were with starting school!

So I'm looking forward to collecting Miss Pea at 1:00 and learning about how her day went. I went to bed last night, praying over and over again for her to have a good first day, and to enjoy it. I hope my prayers were heard.

And when we collect Boo at 3:15 (ish), I'm walking them both into town, to Shepherd's for first-day-of school ice cream cones to celebrate! I'll report on how the day went later...

The Blue Chair

This is my blue chair. My favorite blue chair.

I have had this chair for a long time. It is perfect for curling up with a book.

However, at our past two houses, there was no good place for it, and its companion ottoman.

Strange, that it took travelling to another country to find the perfect corner for my blue chair - a spot with natural sunlight, a reading light, a cozy corner to curl up with a book and a cup of coffee on the shelf -- or a couple of snuggly kids and a stack of picture books, equally fun.

So its not unusual now to hear giggles from the living room, and to round the corner to find both Boo and Pea (or just Boo, or Pea) snuggled in with the Hubs or me and reading a stack of books.

A perfect place to be!

Make me Laugh Monday - How to tell when bananas go bad

I don't think anything more can be said!

Frying the Electric

A puff of smoke, and its gone.

The only real frustration I've had here is in the area of electronics. Yes, we should know better, and be very careful to check voltages before plugging things in, and then to keep a careful eye on them once plugged in. (even with a converter, I blew up my flat iron within 30 seconds of plugging it in when we travelled here back in June)

I learned, with a pop and a puff of smoke, that even with a converter, there is no guarantee.
Yep, I fried my Ryobi drill battery charger. (So hubs, if there is anything left for you to put together with the power drill, do it soon, as this baby goes back to the garage when we are done with it.)

Dear hubs also plugged back in Boo's clock (I had borrowed the converter to charge the battery charger) without a converter, and promptly blew the lamp on it. It still works on the battery backup, but the point of the clock was that it has a wake-up timer on it, and the clock glows green when its time to wake up. (Even little ones understand that "green means go").

Thankfully, we hadn't given Pea her clock yet, so a little slight of hand (and switching of clocks) and presto! Mommy "fixed" Boo's clock.

Mommy can fix anything, you know.

Needless to say, I am a bit concerned about plugging in my beloved MixMaster. The blender, ehh, who cares.

And if you come to visit, well, you can borrow my NEW flat iron.

Wordless Wednesday: Carnival ride or opening shot from a Stephen King movie - you decide

Clowns are creepy. I'm just sayin'.

Brotherly Love

Princess Pea ran to show her brother how she looks in her Snow White dress.
"Look, look at meeee. Don't i yook bee-you-tee-ful?"

Big brother responds "Snow White is a doofus."

Nice.

Extreme Shepherding

We see a lot of sheep in our drives around Hay.
However, I've not seen anything like this...

(wait for it to load)



Is it borne of boredom? Or genius?
Either way, its brilliant!

The Case of the Missing Fridge/Freezer

Apparently, for Hotpoint, "in stock" means that they have the pieces of the fridge scattered about the factory, and we'll get around to putting them together to make an actual fridge, eventually.

We have been waiting for a fridge/freezer to be delivered for about 3 weeks now - that's how long we are waiting, not the length of time in which is was ORDERED. Our first fridge selection was delayed, and then delayed again, and then we were told it would be ready - sometime in September - early or late, they couldn't say.

So off I march to the appliance store to pick out another fridge. After comparisons, remeasuring the kitchen space, and double-checking availabilities, we finally found a model that was suitable and apparently in stock.

I sit patiently, all day on Friday, and no fridge. Messages left asking when it would come, more calls and I finally talk to someone at the store - surprise, it wasn't on the truck the day before, and the owner was so busy yelling at Hotpoint he had forgotten to tell me. You see, Hotpoint couldn't tell tell them where the fridge, which was supposed to be on the truck, actually got to. They didn't seem too interested in looking into it, either, much to the frustration of our kindly fridge salesman.

However, I can hardly be upset at the owner for this, for he was so obviously agitated with the Hotpoint people. And, honestly, he has won the gold medal for customer service for cleaning out the mini fridge they keep in the back of the shop and lending it to us.

Our temporary fridge looks something like this (but more crowded):

It really has been a lesson in planning and frugality. We can only keep the necessities, there isn't much room for leftovers, so they get eaten straightaway, and there is no waste, really, because you simply can't overbuy.

Still, its a bit of a challenge for a family of four, and I'm a bit too American - I would like to see an ice cube sometime soon, and they kids look longingly at the ice cream in the freezer section of the market.

So on we wait, dreaming of ice cubes in my diet coke, ice cream in the freezer and wine chilling in the fridge.

Day out With Thomas

Today, the kids experienced their first UK-version of "Day out with Thomas", and we all had a grand time! Thomas didn't pull the passenger coaches, but instead pulled a break van once Duck had pulled out of the station with passengers in tow; on another line, Daisy pulled another set of passenger cars.

Lucky for us, this event was much less crowded than the one we attend annually in Union, IL at the Illinois Railway Museum, and less structured - the kids could ride any and all of the trains as much and as often as they wanted! It was a relaxing day (or as much as it can be with Boo in attendance, as anxious as he is to get from activity to activity.)





Here they are, all smiles, in front of Thomas. (Toot toot!)


What a treat to see so many different engines at one time!

They had countless rides on the carousel (or the "round-and-round", as the operator called out "wait for the round-and-round to stop completely boys and girls, before standing up. Well done! Well done! Don't rush now!")

Pea asked to get her face painted! (For the very first time, neat and particular girl that she is, face paints are a bit messy. Of course, 10 minutes later she was asking for it to be washed off, but still, its progress...)

All smiles, our Princess Pea. What a great day this was!

(And a surprise - I didn't tell them until 20 minutes into the ride - partly intentional, partially circumstancial - I was focusing far too much on the road!)

They said "Daddy will be jealous that he didn't get to see Thomas! I'm sure he will be.

As for me, I'm knackered. They really should offer the parent(s) a pint, shot, or Valium as they leave the place, wallet empty and credit card smoking, with overtired kids in tow.

They'd definitely raise money, there!

A White Knuckle Day

As its been a bit of drag, the past few days for the kids, and we either haven't gotten out enough (sitting all day in the house, waiting for a refrigerator that never comes) or everyone has been grouchy, I decided that I was going to venture out and take the kids to someplace special. Searching through my tourism pamphlets last night, I discovered that "A Day out with Thomas" was happening today.

I packed up the kids and didn't tell them where we were going until about halfway through the trip. I couldn't. I didn't dare take my eyes off the road.

Let me preface this by saying that the countryside around Hay-on-Wye is some of the most stunning I have ever seen, especially on a gorgeous sunny day like today. Or, I should say, some of the most stunning I would have liked to have seen. Because , again, I didn't take my eyes off of the road.

The driving on the left bit hasn't fazed me a bit. The sat nav, on the other hand (thats the GPS to my American friends) drove me insane. It would direct me to "make a left, then a sharp right". Sadly, the "left" it was advising of was actually a curve in the road before a stop sign, so I didn't actually need to turn - if I didn't follow the road, after all, I would have ended up square in the middle of the hedgerow! That said, the GPS is a Godsend - the trip had so many turns to follow the road, I would have been lost in no time, so I'm glad I have it - especially now that I know to keep a close eye on the direction of the arrow despite the direction it instructs me to go.

So, back to the white knuckle part. Most of the trip to Lydney consisted of quiet roads. There was not a lot of traffic, which was lovely, and when I'm more familiar with the roads around here, they will be a heck of a lot of fun to drive on - hilly, twisty, turny - the whole shebang. However, a lot of the trip constituted the driving of narrow roads with tall hedgerows lining the way, no shoulder. Some bits were only wide enough for one car. And then you look down, and realize you are going 50 MPH. On a narrow, twisty road.

In some parts (the most nervewracking when cars barrelled past the other direction) reminded me of Star Wars Death Star battle scene where Luke was flying through the trenches:



Yeah, like that.
Well, like that, without the shooting.

So, thanks to the sat nav, we arrived at our destination only 10 minutes later than initially estimated - not bad. We were in one piece, the car was in one piece, no one was traumatized.

When it came time for the return trip, I was feeling pretty confident (silly me). I programmed the sat nav for home, and it played a trick on me - it didn't take me back the same way. Instead, it took me on a mountain road, with many, many parts that were one lane wide. With tall, tall hedgerows (two stories tall). Or one lane bridges.

White knuckles, people.

But now, with the kids in bed, sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea and a biscuit, I'm sitting back, fingers unclenched, proud of my adventure today. Yes, Thomas was wonderful, and I had a wonderful time with my kids, and they had a great time (I'll post pictures), but I'm most proud of the excursion itself.

Good one, me!

In which I discuss walking through the sheep field coming from town

I may have mentioned previously that one way to get to town is to walk up the Dingle, down a footpath, over a bridge, and through two fields. We end up at the Car Park in town (and the primary school). On nice (i.e., not rainy) days, this would be a good way to get to school.

If my 3yo weren't lazy, that is. Its a loooong way to give a girl a piggyback ride, let me tell you.

Today, after visiting the playing field, we went for a walk into town. Its a short walk if we go down the Dingle to the main road, vs through the fields (as we have to go up the road a ways to get to the footbridge to cross the stream that runs behind us.) Pea was skipping and singing to herself. I was excited, as she wasn't whining about being tired, or wanting to be carried. (She may be small, but she is sturdy, and its tiring to carry her.)

Alas, once we got to the car park (her choice of destinations, since I didn't bring any money with which to buy her a juice at the Spar mini-mart) she showed her true colors and melted down. She couldn't decide whether to walk down the stairs, or down the ramp behind the shops at the top of the car park.

Yes, over something as simple as this. If all my decisions were this complex. But at three, and tired, that is all it takes.

Anywhoo....after tiring of the yelling, I picked her up and Boo and I marched off to the field, with her screaming "Nooooo. I want to go back to da cawr pawrk. I want to go UPPP the WAMP."

Sheep scatter as we pass. I didn't blame them a bit.

As we walk thru the field, this sheep was following us. He was either saying "Would you get that girl to stop crying" or, alternately, "watch out for the poop".


Most of the sheep were gathering by the edge of the field where the gate to go into the next field is. (Yes, we do actually walk through two fields.) By this point, Pea had stopped crying as she was fascinated by the sheep - I took the opportunity to move her to piggy-back. They stopped running away, as she wasn't screaming. (Her crying does have that same effect on me, too - I want to run away, as far and as fast as I can....)



Boo in the field. He loves this walk. (Can't you tell?)

I think his favorite part are the gates "so the sheep can't get away", he says.

After the sheep field, we walk through this field. Sometimes we find horses in it. Today it was empty.

Leaving the field, we walk down a footpath to the bridge.

We cross a bridge over the stream - the kids always stop to look at the "waterfall" underneath.

Then we walk up the footpath to get back to the Dingle.

It really is gorgeous, a bit surreal and peaceful.

However, there is one small downside to the experience.

Sheep poop.

Yes, I said poop. Bears poop in the woods, sheep poop in the fields. But you know, it IS a big field. You would think they would have the consideration to do there business anywhere other than the beaten down grass that the people walk on.*

But then again, they are sheep; they aren't all that bright. Unless, of course, they do it on purpose. Yeah, I can see a gang of renegade sheep, plotting to poop ON the path, just to watch us hopscotch around their dropping and swear when we step on some. (Note to Boo: Crocs are not the best for stepping in squishy doo.)

From in front of me, I heard "Oh, man...." and then "Mom, can I walk behind you?". So I had to march along, dodging droppings (with Pea riding piggy back) and yelling back "POOP!!!" as a warning.

It was a golden moment in parenting, people.

So if you come to visit, pack walking shoes, watch where you walk, and oh, yeah -

leave your shoes at the door.

*I write this only in jest; heck, if I can't get my 3-1/2 yr old to poo in the potty, I can't ask anything of sheep.

Simplicity at play

Back home in the 'burbs, our local parks/playgrounds were relatively big. Boo was a climber and would play on the equipment, but just try to get Pea to go down a slide - no way. If there was a swing, she would let you push her until she was dazed and glassy-eyed.

Here, we don't have a backyard swingset. However, a few doors down, we discovered the Cusop Playing Field.

Down a lane, behind a row of houses and next to a field of horses is a fenced in grassy area. At the far end is a football (soccer, for you Amer'cans) and at the front is a slide and 3 ride on, um, rides.

Its amazing how anxious they are to go when I ask (here they are, sprinting ahead down the street) and how much fun Pea now has, zooming down the slide. Today she was sliding so fast she'd fly off the end and land on her bottom with a bounce, and giggle "I fell on my butt", then run around to do it again.

No complaints about not having a slide, or how small it is. They think it is really cool. They also have learned to play together better, be it taking turns on the slide, or swapping out which bouncies they ride on.

And I think that is awesome!

The thing about Hay...

or so I'm told, is that everyone does precisely what they like around here, and no one cares.
You can be as eccentric as you want to be, and its no big deal, as that is simply the way.

Whether this is the reality, or just the truth as told by one of said aforementioned eccentrics, I think it is awesome.

I can wear as much glitter as I want, if I want to. I love glitter, but it would be a bit much back home.

It is perfectly acceptable for Pea to wear her tutus whenever she wants. (Of course, at 3, this should be acceptable.)

However, if I wanted to wear a tutu along with her, by the rules of Hay, this would be totally acceptable to.

You never know. My inner extrovert may just finally come out!

Make Me Laugh Monday - A love song and giggle

Hey, I love a good country love song as much as the next gal.

Well, I've found a new one. Its stuck in my head, and being the vindictive - er - sharing gal that I am, I figure it should be stuck in your head, too.

Yes, I may be juvenile, but its funny. Tell me you didn't laugh at this. You will.
Really!

You think its an exaggeration - but its snot.

How to alienate oneself from the neighbors

Husband: "Boo, come quick, I think I hear another horse coming down the street".
Boo runs to join Husband at garden gate, when...

Woman passes, walking heavily on too-big shoes, glaring at Husband.

OOPS.

Yes, dear - that taste in your mouth IS foot.

10 Quick Things I've Learned since Moving to Wales

1. Appliances do NOT work if you do not switch the outlet to "on".
2. The little buttons on the outlet are actually "On/Off" switches.
3. Don't order your refrigerator without measuring your kitchen.*
4. While you must curb your dog in our neighborhood, apparently, you are not required to curb your horse. (So watch where you step.)
5. If you don't bag your groceries fast enough at the market, some of the clerks will actually growl at you.
6. Same clerk will also growl at you when, using your credit card for the very first time, you realize that there WAS a reason the bank gave you a PIN number for both your debit and credit card, and you have to dig for the aforementioned PIN.
7. If you watch the laundry spin while sitting on the loo in the cloakroom, you could (a) become mesmerized, and lose all track of time, or (b) get dizzy and fall off. Not that either happened to me, of course.
8. The flies that fly in all seem to die on the window ledge behind the loveseat.
9. The sound of the sheep baa-ing is peaceful, but one could mistake the sound for your whiny 3yr old yelling if not listening closely.
10. There is nothing better than listening to your 5yr old shouting with delight as he watches the tractor, the horses, the milk truck, the postman's truck, the scaffolding truck, or the horses pass by his playroom window.

*Thankfully, we did not learn this by experience - the refrigerator that we purchased, and have been waiting for, is further delayed, and we discovered this information after I visited Sound and Vision, the appliance shop in town, and they helpfully lent me their brochure so we could pick another model. The one we will actually buy is narrower and less deep. Thankfully.

The First 48 Hours

Being so far behind on the blog, here is a quick update of our first 48 hours....

Our flight over was generally uneventful, and the kids fared really well. They watched Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam and Rubbadubbers until 10:30. Pete managed to get Boo to wear an eyemask; he went right out. Overtired Pea needed to snuggle on Mommy's shoulder (of course) so I buckled us both in (in case I actually managed to fall asleep, which I did not). When she did finally fall asleep, I put her back in her seat, where she snuggled in, and I was able to rebuckle her in. She slept the rest of the flight, straight thru the landing - and deplaning. She was out!!!

Since we had two kids with messed up body clocks and a 3 hour drive ahead of us, we opted to stay at the Heathrow Airport Hilton the first day. Figuring we needed to keep them busy AND tire them out, we took the kids to the pool. Boo and Pete swam for three hours, but Pea tuckered out after 2, and was begging for a nap by 4pm. We ordered room service (no attempting a restaurant with Pea in this state) and all were in bed at 7pm.

Surprisingly, both kids stayed awake for the drive to Hay. Boo was elated to point out every John Deere Case tractor he saw, as well as any and every construction equipment and car carrier.

I also received confirmation that I need an automatic. The roads approaching Hay are hilly and twisty, and over every hill they yelled "Wheeeee". I think Howard, the driver, was tickled and I'm pretty certain he was speeding up over the hills just to hear them yell.

Yesterday they (thankfully) dragged me out of the house to walk to the Cusop playing field. Only a few doors down, it has a metal slide, and few ride on things (the bouncy kind) and a soccer pitch. While it isn't as big as the parks they are used to playing in, they are delighted with it!

After that, they had to show me "their" footpath bridge. About 1/4 mile up the Dingle, we turn down a side street, (stop so Pea can admire the pink cottage - "isn't it sooo pretty") and onto a path to a stone footbridge that crosses the creek. A bit more up the path, past two lone cottages is a field gate. Thru that gate and thru the first field, thru a second safety gate, and thru the sheep field - and you are at the car park in town. Boo is in his glory - he loves it. He was running through the fields as fast as I would let him. He told Pete yesterday: 'Daddy, I'm really good at this travel thing. I'm not jet lagged at all any more."

All in all, packing, shopping, learning new appliances - I'm on brain overload. But its all wonderful, and magical, really. Pictures to follow soon.

Deep Thoughts from a Kindergardener

Late the other night, as I snuggled with Boo at bedtime, he asked me "where do people go when they die? I mean, they go to Heaven, but what is Heaven like?"

Before I could even ask, he asked "are Coco and Bubbles there?" (my brother's and parents' dogs, respectively.)

And again, as I started to answer, he hit me with the tough one: "What do people DO in Heaven?"

Um. Er. Yup.

One really doesn't want to get into a deep theological conversation with a 5 year old when its two hours past his bedtime, but I was pretty fascinated by his thought process. I mean, when I was 5, I was maybe thinking about my Crissy doll or rub-a-dub dolly - not death, heaven and reincarnation.

Yes, reincarnation. I don't know WHO Boo had been talking to or what prompted his thoughts that evening, but his next comment was "you know, some people think that when you die you get re-in-carnated. Why? What do you do?"

Needless to say, we had an interesting conversation about what he thought ("it would be funny to come back as a dog", as well as "what IS our soul"). So kudos to his preschool and Sunday Schoo and whatever they are talking to the kids about - they are making him THINK and ask questions, and I think they are great!

I just wish the Hubs was there that evening, so I could have said "Go ask Daddy!"