Friends & Family!

I was very lucky to have two visits this Autumn/Winter from two of my favourite girls... my sister Danya & 'bessie mate' Elke! We had lots of fun & great girly time with both of them...I think they enjoyed it too! They were both also really lucky with the weather & we got out & about all over STL...it was sad when they left but they left at the right times as they were just starting to miss their families & I was running out of money! (**,)

Autumn Colours or rather should it be Fall Colors!?

Remember how I said I was going to attempt a mini photo project of the changing autumn colours...well here you go...over 4 weeks I tried to take a picture at the same angle on a Monday morning so I could see the changes & here they are...

Off to the Ball Game!

Ok so you may or may not know that since Harley has been at Rockwood Valley Middle School she has been playing the flute...at the start of the new school year we knew that her school band would be playing the national anthem (US not UK!) at the pre game entertainment at one of the games! She spent lots of time practising as they had to play it from memory, no sheet music allowed! We were so very proud of her & it was a very exciting evening! We had to get there early to drop her off before going up & finding our seats. I thought it was the best band performance I'd ever heard...biased maybe?! (**,)

I even manged to have the camera on when her little face appeared briefly on the big screen!

Why do they call it Fall here & not Autumn?

Ok so it really is autumn...well on Thursday it is officially 'Fall' or so my calendar says & they don't lie do they!? It's 21 days until my fabbie sister arrives from the UK & I've promised to hold off the autumn until she arrives..she doesn't want to miss it... or rather she wants to see it at its best! I'm going to take a picture looking out over the garden over the next few weeks to see how things are progressing out there...watch this space!

Autumn again...almost, not quite!

Where does the time go eh? Some one recently asked me about our blog...actually a couple of people did & I was ashamed when I went & looked & saw how long it'd been since I'd last updated it! So sorry to anyone who's stopped by & found us a little lacking! Blame Graeme! (**,)

So what have we been up too? Well the girls had finished school for the summer, had a ridiculously long time off & gone back again! The second Sex & the City Movie came out & I had the pleasure of going with Laura Clarke who was over from the UK on the day it opened just before the girls broke up for the summer...did you see it, did you love it? I did! We then began the lonnnnnng summer break...have I already mentioned how long it is...they get 11 & a half weeks off school, I work hard to keep sane during the school summer holidays! Actually we had a good one, it takes the girls a couple of weeks to get into the swing of not being at school, we broke up the sentence... I mean holiday with a road trip to South Carolina & also a trip back to the UK for the girls & I...more about that later. So how did we fill our time? Well we did various things including, swimming, sun bathing, playing, reading, eating ice cream, cinema visits, play dates & a few different other appointments! One of those appointments resulted in us finding out that Nyah needed glasses, which she was very happy to get (mainly because they came with a free pink mini bag that was actually the case) & then promptly lost them en route to South Carolina from St Louis so if anyone finds a pair of purple framed Disney designer glasses they are ours! Huge thanks to my lovely Mummy who helped us out buying the replacement pair! Love you Mum!

We had two great trips... the one to SC we did in two halves, we drove via Chattanooga Tennessee & stayed overnight before setting off for the 'seaside' early the next morning after a yummy breakfast of waffles with powdered sugar or icing sugar to you Brits & warm syrup, Mmmmmm! We had a fab week by the sea, stayed in a beautiful house surrounded by tall trees & lush plants...really was a tranquil & peaceful house...we were about a 10/15 minute drive to the beach & we also had the use of bikes to ride around the plantation...LOVED it, we all did! we were all happy to be by the sea again as it had been a good few years since we'd last had a beach holiday. What about Florida back in Feb I hear you ask....well that doesn't count because you could only go on the beach with 3 thick layers of clothing on it was so chilly...no heat from the sun? Doesn't count in my book! The girls & I flew back to the UK later in July for 10 days...we left G behind to look after the dog! Not really...he'd already been over in early June for work & is also going back in Oct for a wee trip to see friends & family. The girls & I had a great trip & pretty much managed to catch up with everyone we could in the time we had...I also had the honour of being invited to be Godmother for the gorgeous Ruby Hollins & the Christening was while we were back so it was great to go to that! I had fun getting a few little bits in the shops...things I can't get here, I also managed to fit into my case a Union Jack doormat...of which looked HUGE in the shop but now looks postage stamp size, outside the door, oh well...I didn't realise that even the front doors were bigger over here! (**,)

All too soon it was 'back to school' time...funny how the last part just whizzes, back-packs & tons of school supplies were bought...still seems weird to buy everything they need here right down to the pencils & paper, G almost had a heart attack at the pile of receipts but I did manage to come in under budget...sort of!

I always feel weird at 'Back to School' time... a little guilty at feeling excited at the prospect at being on my own again, excited for them for the new school year & also aware that as soon as the bus has left that feeling of oh so very quiet...I miss them being around, following me, annoying me with the bickering but it doesn't last & I'd never tell them I miss them a little (I'd never get Nyah on the bus if she knew!) & I soon get back into the swing of things! I love Back to School!

The last couple of days it has started to really feel like the end of Summer....even though we've had a long hot one, I don't want it to end yet! The sky is still blue & its still sunny but the heat is not as intense & you can actually have the windows open overnight & first thing in the morning which makes a nice change for the A/C not to be on all the time as I actually miss fresh air after a while!

Well I think that is quite enough...for now anyway...I really am going to try harder & blog a bit more often!

Right now I'm loving... that its still warm enough for outdoor concerts, we're off to one this evening!

Right now I'm not loving so much...the fact that the orange Oreo's for Halloween actually have orange flavour cream inside them instead of normal flavour, Yuck!

April Allsorts!

April is a funny old month isn't it? The mower has made its debut for the season & you know how that goes...once you've started there's no going back or getting off the 'Mowing Train' until the Fall...can't say Autumn anymore as no one knows what you're talking about! Ok ...so you've seen how big the lawn is yeah so its a big decision to start but we went away for the weekend & when we got back both neighbours either side had mowed & where you don't have any fences here you can really notice the 'dividing line' & we had to give in when all around us had cut theirs...talk about keeping up with the (Yankee)-Jones's!

We've also been away on another wee road-trip...this time down south to Nashville (over the Easter Weekend, more about Easter later!), Tennessee! We had a fun weekend & went to an amazing authentic southern style Cafe called 'The Loveless Cafe' & if you're ever in Nashville you need to go there, the fried chicken is to die for! They are famous for that & the all singing all dancing 'Biscuits y'all'...these are like our scones but more savoury & served up warm on the side of your meal & especially with gravy...YUMMY (but not with gravy for me, I'm not that keen on gravy...well it's not that I don't like it exactly, just a couple of drops is enough for me, but I digress & thats a different story one that isn't really even a story so much so that I don't even know why I'm telling you!) Now I'm used to the american accent but further 'down south' they sounded very different, it was a whole different beast & I found myself doing double takes when people were behind me talking...it felt like they were joking & speaking in a funny accent & it was really hard to understand!

Ok so Easter is a bit different here...for one thing the kids don't get the 2 weeks off school like they do in the UK, they get Good Friday & the Monday off & office workers etc don't even get that! But the main difference is the lack of Easter Eggs...there are all sorts of different types of Easter themed chocolate & sweet treat but nothing like what we think of an Easter Egg...OMG we were sooooooooo craving a plain & simple Cadbury's Buttons egg because everyone knows that easter egg choccie tastes different! it's funny the things you take for granted & what you miss...often the things you least expect too!

This month I'm loving... the amazing new hair growing tonic that G has been using!
This month I'm not loving... Volcano's...we have some Cadbury's & Piccalilli trapped in the UK that should of been here by now!

Weather Obsessed...

We got ourselves a little weather station because we are a little obsessed with the temperature & love to know what's going on...this is super-fandago-duper & extremely high tech...complete with a little man who changes his outfit to help you get dressed for the coming day...Love it! (Only problem is he doesn't seem to know when its raining, which is a slight flaw but we still love it!)

Birthday Cake!

Look what G & the girls made for me as a surprise while I was out having a girly lunch & shopping session for my Birthday!

Spring is finally sprung!

At last the weather is changing & its feeling more spring like...you also know when the season has changed when the Oreo's change the colour of the cream inside...taste the same & oh so very yummy!

Blacklers do Disney!

So we went to Florida early on in Feb for some 'Winter Sun'...we've never done that before, we've only gone on 'vacay' in the traditional season so we were excited! Of course the plan went pear shaped & it was cold when we were there...they'd been having some very weird weather & it was the coldest it'd been in years...it was warmer than the wintery STL that we'd just left but it was un-seasonally chilly! We weren't prepared for it of course, we only had one outer layer each so we spent the whole week layered up with all our t-shirts! We still had a fab week away, our condo was right & I mean RIGHT on the beach with great views & we had lots of fun! We stayed in Tampa & while we were there we drove over to Orlando & had a 'Disney Day' which was the longest most tiring day of my life but so worth it!

"It's Cold!" Says Graeme

I know you’ve heard us say it is cold over here, but that was before we had experienced a hot St Louis summer. Now that we have, we must have forgotten how cold it gets because it’s bloody freezing! We’ve now had over 2 weeks of the temperature not getting above 25F (-4C) during the day and some nights, wind chill taking it to -30F (-35C)! Notice how I’ve converted between Fahrenheit and centigrade? We’ve learnt so much while we’re here you know!

We also had some snow, about 4 inches overnight last week and again the efficiency of the snow ploughs are something to behold. I made my 20 mile journey to work and was only an hour late, and that is due to the office opening a little later! In fact most people make it in (might have something to do with the fact that if they don’t, they get fired!). Efficient or what! Mind you, Dionne was very nervous about me driving in the conditions. Not because of my lack of driving skills, but more about the lack of any common sense from the St Louis driving fraternity! They have a fantastic ability to not see weather. Weather is invisible. Snow, what snow I hear them cry, as they pile their car into the back of the car in front (who had to stop for traffic lights...Just) and not noticing the icy roads! M.U.P.P.E.T.S!!

We had a great a Christmas this year, which I think is largely down to us being so much more settled than last year. We could get wrapped up in the excitement of the season, rather than worrying about whether we had any cable TV connected, of whether the internet would be down because our stupid cable company failed to update our records. Dionne got a big tree (real one) which had a strange top to it... In fact it didn’t have a top as it had been chopped off by someone or something and looked very bushy, but we loved it as if it were our own! We had a lovely Christmas day and I cooked Christmas dinner at home, made by my own fair hands... No one died, so it must have been OK!

This winter, I’ve also got into making lots of fires. Not like arson, but nice house fires in the fireplace! We got half a truck load of wood brought down by our neighbour’s father from Tennessee, which we thought would last us all winter. Hmmm… We’re already running out! Well, not being wood burning experts, we weren’t sure how much wood it would take to have a fire going all day! I’ve become very adept at chopping wood into little bits, but not so adept at starting the fire! The problem is that now days we do everything online, on the computer, but I need paper to get the fire started and well, we just don’t have any. We’ve taken to smuggling out all the free newspapers at the supermarkets for our fire starting exploits! Still, we keep running out of paper. Also, the wood is so cold from being stored outside and holding in moisture, it takes longer to heat up and catch fire! Still, it’s fun trying and very satisfying when I eventually get it going!

Dog alert! Yoji doesn’t like the cold. She is becoming a lazy ginger fur ball! Oh, for sure she looks excited when I go to take her out in the morning or last thing at night, but as soon as she steps outside, she starts physically shaking (anyone would think it was cold!) and becomes schizophrenic (multiple personalities for those who didn’t recognize the word!). She gives it the ‘I’m so fit and energetic that I could run for miles’ look about her when I get my coat on, but as soon as she does her business, she becomes a mad possessed alien trying to drag me back to the warmth of the house, and in particular to get back in front of the now raging fire I made (well we burnt the children’s clothes to get it started!). If you’ve read last year’s blog entry, we’re back to me flying through the air again in front of the neighbour’s house, but this time slipping along on the icy paths (sidewalks)! Now they really do think I’m a mad Englishman… actually going out in the cold with a dog and sledging along with ginger ‘Husky’ type blur pulling me along but without the actual sledge!

We’ve got some trips planned for this year just in case we do come back in November. We’ve already booked Florida for 4 weeks time, to find out they are having the coldest temperatures (below freezing) for decades when they should be averaging mid 70’sF (23C). We will Sooooooo not be happy if it is not warm. But I’m sure that will be another story!Ok, enough of my rambling as I’ve got a stew to finish off cooking, but I’ll try and get back sooner this time with another entry.

Writers Block?!

That must be what I have...I can't think of anything to write at the moment...back soon! (**,)