It's the day after Thanksgiving. That means? No, not a mad rush to the stores. I don't DO Black Friday. It means I sit and get soppy thinking about my life.
Well, as you are already aware, this has been a year of change for me. Moving Stateside again has had its challenges, but, one of the best bits has been spending extra time with my sister and her family. I am seriously head-over-heels for my nephew. He's just the most darling little guy on the face of the planet! I wish I could show you, but I'm honouring my sister and brother-in-law's requests for no photos (at least right now) on publicly available forums. Anyway, I'm terribly thankful for the opportunity to be living down the street from him and getting to watch him grow. He's delightful! And... I've discovered that I'm GOOD at getting him to calm down! (This is mostly because I don't mind walking in circles around the house and saying "Shhhhhh!" in his ear for hours at a time.)
However, as much as I love my sister (and let's face it, she's the centre of my universe!) and her family... I love my UK family, too. And I miss them. I've been terribly homesick for you all. *sniff* So, I'm also very thankful that I don't have to choose between my American and my UK families. I'm so glad I don't live 200 years ago when it was so difficult to move between locations, even on the same continent! Never mind crossing the ocean! Heck, I'm even glad it isn't 50 years ago, when travel was still very much a thing for the elite! I'm also sooooo grateful for my heart-bigger-than-the-whole-world friend, Vee. She's been the one to make it possible for me to live on two continents. And I hope she knows that I don't take that for granted. She rocks, and I love her.
I'm also grateful for the internet and skype. Yeay for instant communication across the ocean! It let me stay close with my family when I lived in England, and now that I'm Stateside it's letting me keep up with my English connections. Not to mention my other widely scattered friends (Australia, New Zeleand, Ethiopia . . .)
I'm also crazy grateful for my parents. If I need any sort of help, they're the first in the queue to make it happen. And, I hope they know I realise that means sacrifices (of time, if nothing else!) on their part. I love them and wouldn't trade them for any other parents. Ever. I got the best of the best, and feel sorry for everyone else (except my sister, obviously) who doesn't have my parents! Neener-neener! Yes, of course they drive me batty, but when the chips are down, they really come through. (And, I promise, I'm trying to be more patient!)
And just at the moment, I'm grateful for my awesome Jeep. We got blasted by a blizzard, and my Jeep handled the weather beautifully! Also, grateful for indoor heating (and plumbing!) It's COLD outside, and I'm glad it's NOT cold inside!
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Friday, 26 November 2010
Saturday, 13 November 2010
And the Winner Is.......
Sorry this is a couple days late. Things have been a bit insane! Anyway, I've managed to get the name drawn, and the winner is.....
KELLIE!
Kellie, text me your address and I'll get Shaun to autograph the book for you! I'm sure both your girls are going to love it!
KELLIE!
Kellie, text me your address and I'll get Shaun to autograph the book for you! I'm sure both your girls are going to love it!
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Another Book Giveaway!
Another friend of mine has published a new book! It's called This: A Vampire Cure for Forever, by Shaun Roundy. I'm giving away a copy of the book that which he's agreed to autograph. If you want to check out more about him and the book, check here. The rules for entering the giveaway are as usual:
Congrats to Shaun for his new book being published!
*EDIT*
Please note: this drawing is now closed. The winner is Kellie! Congratulations, Kellie.
*END EDIT*
- Leave a comment here.
- Become a follower of the blog. (Leave a note saying you already are, or have now become.)
- Post a link from your blog to mine. (Leave me a note saying you've done it.)
- Post a link from your blog to the Amazon listing for the book. (Leave me a note saying you've done it.)
Congrats to Shaun for his new book being published!
*EDIT*
Please note: this drawing is now closed. The winner is Kellie! Congratulations, Kellie.
*END EDIT*
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Don't Miss Out!
Thinking of redoing your bathroom? Need a bit of a sprucing up? Have a look at my friend V's blog. She's got a giveaway going for $40 gift certificate that will give you a leg up!
Friday, 9 July 2010
Baby Blessings and Other Mischief
Remember back in April when I said that my friends M&J had their baby, Peanut? Well, this last Sunday, he was blessed. I drove up on Saturday to spend the weekend in Sheffield. It was a double blessing (first seeing M&J and the baby!): My Mom got to meet all the wonderful people I became friends with when I lived up North. We stayed with the Bradbury Family (whom I always refer to as "the Redheaded Family" because all 3 of the kids and their dad are ginger, and their mum's a bit on the ginger side.) They live nearest M&J, and I love them DEARLY. In a perfect world I'd get to live near all my favourite people. *sigh* Someday, yes? We also had a lovely visit with my friend Sarah, whom I haven't seen in years! She up and moved to Australia for a year, then got hitched and moved farther North, so it's a little more complicated to see her. *grumble* Anyway, we had a grand time visiting with her and her family after the blessing on Sunday. Also, J's favourite cake in the world is my Spice Cake. So she asked me to make one for the dinner after the blessing. Naturally I couldn't just do a plain cake. I had to make it pretty! Now, I'm SO not a pro-baker. But, I do enjoy playing around with the decorating. I'd love to have mad skills, but sadly the combination of heat and car vibrations on the 4 hour drive north didn't do my feeble attempts to make it cute any favours. But here's what it looked like when I first finished it off:
My mother made the baby booties and I did the rest. (If you want the recipe, here's the link.)
So, since we were going to be up north all weekend, we made plans to visit the Lake District. I'd never been before, so thought it would be the perfect opportunity to check it out. I booked a place at a National Trust place. They have various cottages and flats that they rent out. We stayed at Acorn Bank. It was a wonderful spot! Just outside of Penrith. We totally had a ball walking through the countryside. I especially enjoyed driving the crazy narrow winding roads. The best bit was this one bump, where you went over it and our stomachs dropped out from under us! It was fantastic! (Yes, I know. I'm nuts.)
Here's some photos of the walks we did.
The Lake District is also famously where Beatrix Potter lived for many years. In fact, she bought many of the farms in the area, and left them in a trust (now called the National Trust, which is now the US equivalent of the National Parks) upon her death. Many of the stories she wrote are set in and around the area, either inspired by her visits to the area as a child, or once she had returned to live as an adult. In fact, if you pay attention to the stories, you can recognise the locations and even the streets! It's pretty cool. We went to Hill Top Farm (her home), but it was raining, so we didn't want to wait the hour before we could get in. Instead, we went to the "Beatrix Potter's World". It had scenes from all the books done out in gorgeous diorama. Really delicate and pretty. They also had a kitchen garden set out like Mr McGregor's Garden, complete with Peter's jacket and shoes!
On Wednesday, we started back home, but rather than driving across on the Moterway, we drove along Hadrian's Wall. It was great exploring the ruined forts and walking along the wall, hiking up to the beautiful crags. At least, that is, until I took a tumble and twisted my ankle. As many of you know, this is not an unusual occurrence for me! I did manage to walk it off, but it was getting late, and we still had a long drive South to make, so we decided to call it a day.
My mother made the baby booties and I did the rest. (If you want the recipe, here's the link.)
So, since we were going to be up north all weekend, we made plans to visit the Lake District. I'd never been before, so thought it would be the perfect opportunity to check it out. I booked a place at a National Trust place. They have various cottages and flats that they rent out. We stayed at Acorn Bank. It was a wonderful spot! Just outside of Penrith. We totally had a ball walking through the countryside. I especially enjoyed driving the crazy narrow winding roads. The best bit was this one bump, where you went over it and our stomachs dropped out from under us! It was fantastic! (Yes, I know. I'm nuts.)
Here's some photos of the walks we did.
The Lake District is also famously where Beatrix Potter lived for many years. In fact, she bought many of the farms in the area, and left them in a trust (now called the National Trust, which is now the US equivalent of the National Parks) upon her death. Many of the stories she wrote are set in and around the area, either inspired by her visits to the area as a child, or once she had returned to live as an adult. In fact, if you pay attention to the stories, you can recognise the locations and even the streets! It's pretty cool. We went to Hill Top Farm (her home), but it was raining, so we didn't want to wait the hour before we could get in. Instead, we went to the "Beatrix Potter's World". It had scenes from all the books done out in gorgeous diorama. Really delicate and pretty. They also had a kitchen garden set out like Mr McGregor's Garden, complete with Peter's jacket and shoes!
On Wednesday, we started back home, but rather than driving across on the Moterway, we drove along Hadrian's Wall. It was great exploring the ruined forts and walking along the wall, hiking up to the beautiful crags. At least, that is, until I took a tumble and twisted my ankle. As many of you know, this is not an unusual occurrence for me! I did manage to walk it off, but it was getting late, and we still had a long drive South to make, so we decided to call it a day.
Veni, Vidi, Vici
Great weekend and fun couple of days in the Lake District. I totally recommend it to anyone!
Sunday, 13 June 2010
An Irish Week
Right, so I'm finally getting around to posting some photos of my recent Irish foray.
One of my lovely fellow Scrapbookers is Irish. Jessie and I have been emailing back and forth for the past 4 or 5 years. For some reason, it never occurred to us for me to go there, though we had occasionally talked about her coming here, for a visit. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I just thought, what if I go there?!? I haven't been to Ireland in 4 years, so it was really rather due. I emailed her about a visit, and she said, "Could you come next weekend? It's a bank holiday, so I have an extra day off." So I jumped on the internet and found a flight.
Took off for Ireland on Thursday, early morning. I landed in Dublin, and collected my hire car. I drove North-ish with the vague goal of reaching Cavan, where Jessie lives, by the late afternoon the following day. This vague roaming is a tradition for me. I love driving along the beautiful country side and randomly stopping off at things which sound interesting. I never have a hotel reservation, either. And only once in more than 10 years of travels has that ever been a problem! I just turn up to a town and either stop off at a B&B that catches my eye on the road, or I stop off at the Tourist Office and have a look at their book of local places. On my drive out of Dublin, I saw a brown tourist sign, and, as it was nearing lunch time, I decided to stop off. Turns out, the place I stopped at, the Hill of Tara, was where the Irish High Kings were crowned. Now, the thing was, this title was NOT hereditary. You had to be chosen for it based on your merit. Nowadays it's just a lovely open field and hills, with big mounds and trenches at intervals.
The hill structures were used for cremation burials. The whole vista was gorgeous, and it was fun to get to wander around with little restriction from the powers that be. No one telling you were you can't go. No one telling you that you can't touch. It was just nice.
Once I drove away from the Hill, I entered a town called Navan, where I found a lovely B&B. The owner, a man named Patrick, who goes by Pat, (Yes! And there are MORE Patricks in this story!) set me up in the lovely sitting room of the B&B with a pot of tea and biscuits while I pursued the Lonely Planet Ireland Guide.
The next morning I went out to Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre to see the Newgrange and Knowth Burial Mounds. They're megalithic (mega = large, lithic = stone) burials from the neolithic (neo = new, lithic = stone) period, approximately 65000 BC - that's older than the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt! Anyway, these particular structures are impressively preserved. Knowth has been fully excavated, then reassembled. Newgrange has not been excavated. The facade has been restored, but the internal structure has not been touched, with the exception of a couple of braces because a few of the stone slabs have cracked. Sadly, they don't allow photos inside the Newgrange site, and the Knowth site is blocked by some tunnels built in medieval times (around 900 AD). The mounds were very interesting, though. And, if you get a chance, I'd completely advise a visit! The site at Knowth was aligned for spring/fall equinox. Newgrange for Winter Solstice. All visitors to Newgrange can put a request in to be a guest for the Winter Solstice. They randomly pull names for the event. But... just because your name gets pulled, doesn't mean you get to see it! The day has to be bright, as well!
Knowth
Newgrange
However. I'll let you in on a little secret. There's a 3rd fabulous set of burial mounds. And, they're free to enter. During the summer months, there is a guide up there, but they don't do anything except tell you the history of the place, and point out cool carvings. Oh... and hand you a flashlight. They're actually brilliant. They're very helpful, and even take photos for you! It's such a beautiful location - the highest point in County Meade. And, the sun illuminates on Spring/Autumn Equinox. Now, at Newgrange, the sun illuminates for 17 minutes. At Loughcrew (that 'gh' is like the Scottish 'ch' - it's a hard 'k' sound. "Loch" in Scots Gaelic. Means the same thing. "Lake") the sun illuminates for an entire hour! And, there are 4 carvings of suns which the beam picks out on its path. It's truly a spectacular site, and virtually unknown.
Loghcrew (The drive up. It's a fun tiny road!)
The inside of Loghcrew
The view back out (L) and the tiny entrance (R)
The "Witches Thrown." (L) It's actually one of the border stones that's fallen down. But, there are a lot of local legends about witches in the area, and this stone was thought to be her seat of power. One of the other mounds (R), seen from the top of the complete one. The complete one has had it's roof put back on, but that's the only reconstruction it's had.
I actually ended up spending so much time at the site that I was nearly 2 hours late getting to Jessie's house! I rang her, when I realised what time it was, and apologised, but she was totally sweet about it, and told me to take my time. I finally arrived and met her and her DH and two sons. They're absolutely brilliant! Jessie's a total doll (which I already knew) and her husband (The other Patrick. Goes by Paddy! Yes, really!) just kept me laughing the whole evening. The boys are also wonderful. Really enjoyed meeting them.
Saturday, Paddy and the boys went down to his mother's for her birthday party weekend. So, Jessie and I were on our own for Saturday/Sunday. We didn't kill our selves getting up early and out the door, just took things easy, checked our emails, had a good breakfast . . . and eventually made out way out the door. We drove up to Northern Ireland (still part of the UK), which is pretty close to where Jessie lives. We went to a lovely National Trust site to walk through their gardens.
After our stroll through the gardens, we drove up the road a couple of minutes (honestly, only a couple of miles) to the Marble Arch Caves. That was pretty spectacular! I was so impressed. It's a limestone cave with a river running through it. They take you down, and you go on a flat bottomed boat for a few minutes. Pretty awesome. We really enjoyed the boat ride. Then, you walk through the cave system looking at curtain stalactites, rim flows, stalactites, stalagmites, columns..... pretty awesome.
After our hour and a quarter cave tour, we did a couple of walks. One was a ring walk, circling through some very empty (of humans) landscape. You literally could not hear anything man made. That was pretty amazing. We particularly liked the bluebells and hawthorn flowers, and the hazel trees they're trying to reestablish. Ireland has had hazel trees since the ice age, but they've been cut down for farm land, or grazed on by cows/sheep. So they're trying to reestablish them in some groves. My sister's no longer speaking to me, because of all the blue bells. That's one of the things she has wanted to see for ages!
After our delightful ring walk, we stopped off at another walking area. Really lovely! We totally loved the whole walk, but the best bit was this most amazing waterfall! At the end of the walk we stumbled across the "Marble Arch" for which the caves were named. That was a pleasant surprise! And even better that we hadn't walked down all the stairs from the cave, then hiked back up them, only to discover the arch later, along the flat!
Ok. It's late. You'll have to wait til tomorrow (at the earliest!) to get the rest of the adventure.
One of my lovely fellow Scrapbookers is Irish. Jessie and I have been emailing back and forth for the past 4 or 5 years. For some reason, it never occurred to us for me to go there, though we had occasionally talked about her coming here, for a visit. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I just thought, what if I go there?!? I haven't been to Ireland in 4 years, so it was really rather due. I emailed her about a visit, and she said, "Could you come next weekend? It's a bank holiday, so I have an extra day off." So I jumped on the internet and found a flight.
Took off for Ireland on Thursday, early morning. I landed in Dublin, and collected my hire car. I drove North-ish with the vague goal of reaching Cavan, where Jessie lives, by the late afternoon the following day. This vague roaming is a tradition for me. I love driving along the beautiful country side and randomly stopping off at things which sound interesting. I never have a hotel reservation, either. And only once in more than 10 years of travels has that ever been a problem! I just turn up to a town and either stop off at a B&B that catches my eye on the road, or I stop off at the Tourist Office and have a look at their book of local places. On my drive out of Dublin, I saw a brown tourist sign, and, as it was nearing lunch time, I decided to stop off. Turns out, the place I stopped at, the Hill of Tara, was where the Irish High Kings were crowned. Now, the thing was, this title was NOT hereditary. You had to be chosen for it based on your merit. Nowadays it's just a lovely open field and hills, with big mounds and trenches at intervals.
The next morning I went out to Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre to see the Newgrange and Knowth Burial Mounds. They're megalithic (mega = large, lithic = stone) burials from the neolithic (neo = new, lithic = stone) period, approximately 65000 BC - that's older than the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt! Anyway, these particular structures are impressively preserved. Knowth has been fully excavated, then reassembled. Newgrange has not been excavated. The facade has been restored, but the internal structure has not been touched, with the exception of a couple of braces because a few of the stone slabs have cracked. Sadly, they don't allow photos inside the Newgrange site, and the Knowth site is blocked by some tunnels built in medieval times (around 900 AD). The mounds were very interesting, though. And, if you get a chance, I'd completely advise a visit! The site at Knowth was aligned for spring/fall equinox. Newgrange for Winter Solstice. All visitors to Newgrange can put a request in to be a guest for the Winter Solstice. They randomly pull names for the event. But... just because your name gets pulled, doesn't mean you get to see it! The day has to be bright, as well!
Knowth
Newgrange
However. I'll let you in on a little secret. There's a 3rd fabulous set of burial mounds. And, they're free to enter. During the summer months, there is a guide up there, but they don't do anything except tell you the history of the place, and point out cool carvings. Oh... and hand you a flashlight. They're actually brilliant. They're very helpful, and even take photos for you! It's such a beautiful location - the highest point in County Meade. And, the sun illuminates on Spring/Autumn Equinox. Now, at Newgrange, the sun illuminates for 17 minutes. At Loughcrew (that 'gh' is like the Scottish 'ch' - it's a hard 'k' sound. "Loch" in Scots Gaelic. Means the same thing. "Lake") the sun illuminates for an entire hour! And, there are 4 carvings of suns which the beam picks out on its path. It's truly a spectacular site, and virtually unknown.
Loghcrew (The drive up. It's a fun tiny road!)
The inside of Loghcrew
The view back out (L) and the tiny entrance (R)
The "Witches Thrown." (L) It's actually one of the border stones that's fallen down. But, there are a lot of local legends about witches in the area, and this stone was thought to be her seat of power. One of the other mounds (R), seen from the top of the complete one. The complete one has had it's roof put back on, but that's the only reconstruction it's had.
I actually ended up spending so much time at the site that I was nearly 2 hours late getting to Jessie's house! I rang her, when I realised what time it was, and apologised, but she was totally sweet about it, and told me to take my time. I finally arrived and met her and her DH and two sons. They're absolutely brilliant! Jessie's a total doll (which I already knew) and her husband (The other Patrick. Goes by Paddy! Yes, really!) just kept me laughing the whole evening. The boys are also wonderful. Really enjoyed meeting them.
Saturday, Paddy and the boys went down to his mother's for her birthday party weekend. So, Jessie and I were on our own for Saturday/Sunday. We didn't kill our selves getting up early and out the door, just took things easy, checked our emails, had a good breakfast . . . and eventually made out way out the door. We drove up to Northern Ireland (still part of the UK), which is pretty close to where Jessie lives. We went to a lovely National Trust site to walk through their gardens.
After our stroll through the gardens, we drove up the road a couple of minutes (honestly, only a couple of miles) to the Marble Arch Caves. That was pretty spectacular! I was so impressed. It's a limestone cave with a river running through it. They take you down, and you go on a flat bottomed boat for a few minutes. Pretty awesome. We really enjoyed the boat ride. Then, you walk through the cave system looking at curtain stalactites, rim flows, stalactites, stalagmites, columns..... pretty awesome.
After our hour and a quarter cave tour, we did a couple of walks. One was a ring walk, circling through some very empty (of humans) landscape. You literally could not hear anything man made. That was pretty amazing. We particularly liked the bluebells and hawthorn flowers, and the hazel trees they're trying to reestablish. Ireland has had hazel trees since the ice age, but they've been cut down for farm land, or grazed on by cows/sheep. So they're trying to reestablish them in some groves. My sister's no longer speaking to me, because of all the blue bells. That's one of the things she has wanted to see for ages!
After our delightful ring walk, we stopped off at another walking area. Really lovely! We totally loved the whole walk, but the best bit was this most amazing waterfall! At the end of the walk we stumbled across the "Marble Arch" for which the caves were named. That was a pleasant surprise! And even better that we hadn't walked down all the stairs from the cave, then hiked back up them, only to discover the arch later, along the flat!
Ok. It's late. You'll have to wait til tomorrow (at the earliest!) to get the rest of the adventure.
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