The birds in the back garden.

Now that we no longer have a cat we have taken to throwing stale bread and the crusts that my son wont eat to the birds in the back garden.  I have really enjoyed watching them have a nice winter meal of bread and sometimes a bit of Nutella on it. I have fallen in love with a little back bird with a white face. She struts around the garden, sometimes walking right past the bread, looking very sweet.

Sometimes the garden is full to the brim with these birds. I can see them sitting in the trees outside waiting. As soon as I throw out the bread they swarm like a shot. They must really be hungry.

I was very upset the other morning to look out and see that there was a pile of feathers. Some horrid cat must of been lying in wait. There was nothing left of the poor bird. Feathers and bread. I feared it was my favorite little black bird. For about 4 days not a single bird landed in the garden. No birds in the trees either. Finally today they started coming back. I was relieved to see that the little black bird was amongst them.

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Its Mimiss time.

I have to admit that most of my adult life I have hated Christmas. It always felt like the world was rubbing my nose in the fact that I was single. I didn’t get married until I was I was 35, so I spent many years watching everyone else have “family fun” or telling me that I should be the one to work on Christmas eve  because they have family events and I don’t. So Christmas was never fun. It always felt to expensive. A bit depressing. In my entire adult life I only ever put up one tree, until I move to England.

Now my son is close to 3 and he has discovered Mimiss, that’s Christmas to the rest of us. He loves the Mimiss lights. He loves the Mimiss cards on the wall. He loves the Mimiss tree. The tree that I put whilst he was in nursery as fast as I could so he wouldn’t be into the ornaments. The tree that I threatened to take down if he so much touched, and he hasn’t touched it. He loves the tree. Wait until Christmas morning when he discovers presents. 🙂  Last year he just looked at us like we where crazy to destroy unwrap presents. He didn’t like it at all.

Okay, I get it now. I understand why everyone goes crazy over Christmas. To see it through your child’s eyes makes it fun.

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Chain letter emails.

I hate getting these forwarded chain letters. I hate them. They make me instantly angry.  “Because I care so much about you and want you to have good fortune, I am sending you this chain letter. If you do not send it on to at least 10 people in 10 mins then bad fortune will follow you. Its because I care that I send you this, see it has a picture of a kitty.”  It makes me want to pull my hair out. If you truly cared you would at least put “chain letter” in the header so I can dump it before I opened it. Then you wouldn’t get the bad luck, and I wont have seen it so I don’t get the bad luck. The stupid thing would then end and hopefully the dumb ass who first decided to send it would just get the bad luck. They deserve it.

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The weirdest day out

We had planned a day out for last week a few weeks ago. We decided to head to the Peak District here in the UK. S took a day off work. We had high hopes for a fun day seeing the sights. Luckily, the day we planned was on the same day of the week that I take my son to a toddler play time at the leisure centre. We figured an hour play would get his energy out and give us a more peaceful drive through the countryside. Besides, S never gets to see him play with the other kids as he is at work. So we went, and my son had his usual fun time running, playing on the little cars, and general toddler play. I keep a really close eye on him as he has a hugging thing and can over hug other children, but he didn’t hug anyone. Then the weirdness started. There was a younger woman there, firmly ensconced with her circle of other younger mothers. We noticed at one point this woman jumped up and pushed this little kid and jumped just as quickly back in her seat. My husband and I just looked at each other.. odd. Must be her kid. Then my son went and touched her son. She was up like a shot. Just before she pushed my son she saw me, stopped, and just snidely said “tell him to not to touch”. Yeah, tell a 2 year old not to touch, right. So I moved my son along. Then it happened again, my son touched this little boys shoulder. She was up again just about ready to push my son. This time she was all glares and very angry. “keep him away”.  By the third time of her trying to get to my son to push him away I had had enough. I looked at my husband and said “that is that, lets go” My husband at this point was biting his tongue and just shooting her dirty looks. I am sure that if my son touched hers again she would of hit me. That is how weird she was acting.

So we pile in the car and off we go. We had a nice drive to the Peaks. Lovely views. Stopped for photo ops. Just had a nice drive. We drove into a town called Buxton. Very cute. Its an old spa town. The types that the rich Victorians would go to and be healed by the waters. My husband drove up to the back of the town and on a one lane, one way street we started looking for parking. As quick as can be, and SUV started backing up. We had to slam on the brakes. “Cool, parking” I said. Because this SUV had shot back so quick we needed to back up to let them out. Didn’t have a lot of room as the SUV behind us had to slam on their brakes as well, but S backed up a bit. Just then, the car behind us started honking and flashing its lights. We stopped, didn’t think to much and the SUV pulled out of the spot and we pulled in. The car behind us kept honking, flashing its lights and I noticed that the woman in this SUV was getting out of the car screaming. What the heck? So S rolls his window down and this woman is screaming every obscenity known and telling us that another woman, parked on the sidewalk/pavement, and not in the car, was waiting for that spot. How this woman knew what was going on in front of us, or in the mind of the woman parked on the curb, is still a mystery. But she was really angry. Red faced. Screaming. Man, I should of taken her picture to post. I had my camera in my hands. Next time, I will be photographing and posting to be sure. After a few mins of exchange between them, she drives off. I had S go ask the woman if she was waiting for the spot. She said yes, but she hadnt been in her car at the time. What ever! So I made him find another spot.

Buxton is a nice town. We had a wonder around. Just in town the heavens opened. I mean it was pouring. We ducked into a cafe for lunch.  One again, I am let down by the food we are served in the UK. We decided to get full English breakfast. I usually don’t go for that, but I know that my son loves sausages and would eat most of it with me.  One scrambled egg, barely cooked through, one small sausage, one fatty piece of English Bacon, one piece of toast, half a grilled tomato and a spoon of beans. Two of these and two pots of tea… £12. That is close to $24. We always feel so ripped off eating here. We wouldn’t of stopped but for the rain.

We left the area and had a nice drive. We went through hill and valleys and villages and towns. We drove through Bakewell, Edale, Eyam and a few more. We saw the Blue John Mine. We decided to get out and wander around Castleton. This is an area that my husband used to go to the youth hostel and stay when he was young. There are tourists wandering everywhere and we figured there must be some cute stores. So he decided to drive up the road, no parking but a great view. Just a lovely stretch of valley. I was looking at the view, trying to decide if it was worth stopping for a photo, when a movement caught my eye. This young woman was yelling at me. “What the F you looking at?” What? I wasn’t even looking at her. With all the tourist around, I didn’t even pay attention that people where around. She was F’in and Jeff’in and glaring. Talk about a chip on her shoulder. We drove on, found parking and wandered around. But that woman had ruined it for me. I just wanted to leave. Actually, all three horrible women had put a damper on a day that I was really looking forward to. I was ready to go home.

If, in the future, I have my camera and people behave like that, I will be photographing. I swear I will start a new blog so people around the world can add horrible people, their stories and their pictures. So next time you want to behave so poorly and have road rage or any other kind of rage, you better be prepared to be shown to the public in all your glory.

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Steamed clean

I have been meaning to post about this. I have just been so busy looking up info on our move. Last week we bought a steam cleaner. The kind that has all kinds of attachments and what not. Its bloody brilliant. First, I attacked the oven. The steam just cut through all that built on grease. It just through gunk I have tried to get off for 5 years. Amazing.

Then I attacked the bathroom. Wow, the tiles look new. Everything sparkles. Amazing. I just love it. Who would of thought that steam would be such a great cleaner. No chemicals. No pollution. If your talking green, which I am not, but if I was, you couldn’t get any greener then that.

Now to figure out what else I can steam. 🙂

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A day out to Stratford upon Avon and the Midlands

We had a really lovely day out yesterday. We are both in the mindset that we need to see as much of Britain as we can before we move away. Although S sees it everyday. He likes to try and get me to the nice bits. Yesterday we needed to take Kitty to her new owner. She lives in Cambridge so we met down towards that area. It took us about 2 1/2 hrs to get there, but we where stuck in traffic a bit due to a few accidents. I am sure we would of made it in under 2 hrs. Once again, I am struck at how close everything is in this country. We where only about 70 miles away from London at that point. I still, after all these years, can not get my head around the fact that I am about 3 hrs from London. Even more, I have only been twice.

After that we headed up to Stratford upon Avon. If you remember from history class, its the birth place of William Shakespeare.  It wasn’t exactly what we where expecting. I actually don’t know what we where expecting, but I think it was a small town with some pretty sights to photograph and a nice quiet wander around. At least that is the impression the websites gave. But nope. This is a pretty big town but UK standards. It has a large high street with all the shops that goes along with it. Nice though. And the area was chalker block full of tourist. People from every corner of the world. I will admit, we don’t do that great in mass crowds. For some reason, the city girl in me is long gone. I just feel so claustrophobic when so many people are packed together.

Shakespeares home

We had a wander up to the house the Shakespeare was born in. Its a really old, higgly piggly building. But when we looked at the prices to get in, forget it. £9 per adult. £4.50 for T who is too small to know what was going on. (that is $45 for the three of us in US dollars) As ever in the UK, things are over prices for what they are.  It is the biggest disappointment for me. Things I would love to see, but I just know its not worth the money. You hear all about how the museums are free, but I have not seen one yet, unless its a tiny museum in a tiny town that is usually naff. We got our magnet, which we do every place we go, and left.

Shakespears birthplace

This is where the day got better. We headed up the back roads through Warwickshire. All the while me thinking how I have never properly pronounced my childhood friends last name ever in my life. The surrounding areas where lovely. The day had gone from rainy to sunny. We drove by, then turned around to go into, Warwickshires oldest church. This was actually the ideal place for my son to have a run around. He needed that energy release.  All the churches, especially the old churches, are also the cemetery. I love these places. They are usually quiet, as in no one around, not in spooks making noise. 😉 When the weather is right its a great place to just be. That was what it was like. We found a little bench on a small knoll and T just ran up and down enjoying himself. I got some great photos. The church was lovely. They even had toilets to use that where really nice. That helped as T decided to dig a hole and his hands where covered in dirt.

Oldest church in Warwickshire

On our way back we went up through Shropshire. The town of Shrewsbury is really lovely. We have decided that we will have to head back and check it out soon.

We ended up having our tea (dinner for you Americans) in a pub not far from our house. One that I have been to a few times with friends, but hadn’t been able to get S to go to as he isn’t a big fan of pubs, pub grub, or ordering at the bar.  He really enjoyed it. He even said that he would like to go back. I was gobsmacked.

All in all a very lovely day indeed.

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My life is a Peanut cartoon.

I have come to the conclusion that I must sound like an adult in a Peanuts cartoon. I am sure that when I speak, my son only hears “whaa whaa whaa whaa whaa whaa”. I am pretty sure that is what my husband hears after the first sentence of anything I say. Then, when I get upset that he hasn’t done what I asked of him, saying he cant read my mind, he cant hear what my response is. I don’t like living in a cartoon.

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The joy and sorrow of a balloon aka a day of 3 firsts.

Preface: My son has had balloons before. He has had helium balloons as well but he was to young and to uninterested so its been a while, say 6 months since he had one. I don’t think he remembers them in person but knows of them because of seeing them on TV shows.

My husband asked me if I wanted to go to B & Q and check out prices on cheap tiles. We may re-tile the bathroom before we sell and just need to get to grips with the prices. So I jump at it. Anything to get out of the house. Plus, I need to stop by the store for bread and milk. Then he adds that we can do a dry run for his eye op on Saturday so we know where it is. I check on line to make sure that there is a store in the town we are headed to. Bingo, a superstore the site says. So off we go.

We find the place that we will be going for the op and then head to B&Q, only to find that its not a superstore, but a dinky store and only a few tiles. Hmmm, not good. So we decide to head to the actual superstore.

What I am not realizing until we are really into this journey how bleeding far this town is that he will have his operation. Really its about 20 miles, but on English roads it always feels so much longer. Then heading back we have another 12 miles to add on to get to the superstore.  Pretty soon my poor little son is getting grumpy, hungry, and his mild cold seems to be really acting up. So we decide to just head to the store and get a precooked chicken and a few things and head home. That just wasn’t going to do as it was getting later and later and we still had to get across town, so we ended up just going to McDonald’s. Not my favorite place by far, but as time is ticking, everyone is getting hungry, and store in England do not stay open late we just bit the bullet.

So here is 1st number one. My lovely little boy who never eats crappy food has his first Happy Meal. I wouldn’t say he all that impressed. He only ate a few bites of the hamburger but enjoyed his fries. He was more impressed with the little girls who where at the next table. I know what he was thinking… if I could get to them I could hug the stuffing out of them.

This leads us to 1st number 2. The manager came out with helium filled balloons. She was asking the little ones what color they want and his eyes where getting huge. He kept saying “loon” and “Geen” and he was thrilled to get a green balloon. Happy boy.

After we got home he was happily playing. Playing meaning he would let the balloon go and it would float to the ceiling and he would climb on his little chair to reach it. This went on for a while until… 1st number 3. Bam or should I say Phfffft. He pulled the plastic stopper out and the balloon soared around the room in a noisy flight. Me bursting into laughter, him bursting into tears. The look of horror. Poor guy didn’t know what happened or why or anything. Lucky enough it hadn’t popped so it could be blown up but not to float away.

So my little man had 3 new things happen today. My husband and I where once again reminded that most things we set off to do end in a huge kerfuffle. I think next time we will just stay home.

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I love my computer

It amazing how much my life has become dependent on computers. I remember a time, not all that long ago really, that I didn’t even have a computer. Now, most everything in my life has a computer twist to it. I met my husband on line. I got my dog on line. We found our car on line. I met friends on line. I communicate with my family on line. We found the home we want to buy on line. We pay our bills on line. We buy groceries on line. I watch missed TV shows on line. 15 yrs ago… maybe even 10 years ago people would of found this so strange. Futuristic. Not possibly true. Pretty much every aspect of my life has the computer involved in it somehow.

So nothing brings my world to a screeching halt faster then when it goes down. It did over the weekend. Talk about the world coming to an end.  Two days with no on line communities to visit. No blog to write in. NO EMAIL. What is a girl to do? I wont say that it was so bad that I got the shakes and shivers of a withdrawing patient in rehab, but boredom soon over took. The house felt much smaller. The world shrank. I seriously do not know how on earth we existed without this global contact. No one feels that far to me when I am on line. Not my family in the US. Not my friend in South Africa. No one is that far away. Just a click of a switch, a click on the mouse and the world is there at my feet. I guess I would have to say, I love my computer.

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Parent spots – Please do not park there.

One of the things I think is fantastic here in the UK is parent/child parking spots in car parks. Its something I had only seen once in the states in a brand newly built mall. These spots do not have to be in front of the store as parents are not handicapped, but they are wider spots so we can get the door of the car open and safely get the baby out. It also gives a parent enough room to put the push chair along side of the car, out of the way of moving traffic, and get the baby strapped in.  The fact that you can get the car door open all the way and maneuver into the car enough to get to the baby seat helps beyond belief. The spots are all about safety.

Before I became a parent I had no idea how hard it was to get a child in and out of a car. I had no idea how vulnerable it feels to have your head stuffed into the car and your ass hanging out with no idea who is walking up behind you, all the while fighting a toddler who is not letting you strap him in without a struggle. I remember one time when I had no parent spot to park in, they where all taken, mostly by people without a child, and hand to climb into the backseat of the car with my newborn infant. This was a squeeze between my car and a car that was so close that I could barely fit in. I hurt myself to get in by making sure that I didn’t hurt my child. There was 10 parent spots in this car park, only 2 had child seats in them.

I know how tempting it is to see a spot that looks so convenient, one that is wide enough to get the door open. Please, I am really asking you to stop and think. Do you really need to put yourself so far in front of others who need these spots to keep their children safe?  Just like disabled spots, they are clearly marked. So next time you see one and are tempted, please stop and think about the parents who really need them to keep their children safe.   Thank you.

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