Rule Britannia's National Health Care Service

Sorry for the week's hiatus! The re-immersion to the workplace after a week off for Spring Break's virtual trip to England has been a reverse culture shock! Actually, the shock has mostly been the getting up at 4:45 again and driving 43 miles one way to work!

Today I celebrate the British National Health Service through a pair of rosy tinted spectacles. I was horrified this evening to open up a medical bill for $662 for a 10 minute trip to the GP's and three labs. The price was so enormous because the labs were done at the doctor's office rather than the laboratory. If they would have been done at the laboratory instead of the doctor's office where I was too sick to remember this minor detail in my vertiginous state, the cost of the labs would have been covered at 100%. Cost to me...nada.

It simply isn't in the nature of people who were raised in the National Health Service to remember to ask whether such and such is covered under the health plan for which one pays through the nose each month. In England, admittedly we pay high taxes but when you go to the doctor's you can go and not worry about whether you can afford a basic doctor's visit (and yes, I am not talking about serious surgery or anything here). You call the practice, get an appoinment within the day and s/he makes you well. When s/he says "We're going to take some blood work" and you are so nauseous that you can't raise your head through fear of spray painting the room with puke, you don't tend to think "Gosh, I must first ascertain whether they are in my lab network" before you consent to allow them to do all in their power to restore you to health.

I'm not a political creature as anyone who knows me will testify but this made me cross at the plain unfairness and stupidity of it. I am really mad. I'm going to fight it. The cost of a phone call and 20 minutes of excruciating negotiations with the billing department of a large hospital will be the price I pay for reducing the cost of this ludicrous bill.....I hope. I will use my most reasonable voice and articulate my vowels slowly and clearly in case they are not used to talking to a Brit. I don't want that to go against me!

If anyone has got any advice for me before I place the call and say all the wrong things, please do not hesitate to let me know!

Home from Home

Today is our last day of virtual vacation and I have to confess that I am really going to miss Suffolk and my virtual home at the Swan! I have become quite fond of the place! You know, the funny thing is that although Suffolk is undoubtedly beautiful, historical and culturally fascinating, ALL of England is beautiful, historical and culturally fascinating. Whether you visit Sussex, Kent, Hampshire, Tyneside or London, you will find interesting places to visit, old and comfortable hotels or Bed and Breakfasts, eccentric folks to talk to and yes, I do dare say it, good, tasty food. You may have to do your research to find it sometimes but it's there. Real England. Ancient, mysterious, atmospheric, and then again, contemporary, cross-cultural and fast-paced, Quite a lot for such a small island!

Today we're going to leave Suffolk and wend our way south prior to our virtual trip home to Texas from London Gatwick Airport. Because Gatwick is so close to where I grew up, I thought it would be nice to spend a day in Sussex prior to our flight home. So, we are going to spend our last day on this side of the pond in Brighton.

It feels funny to be back in Sussex. In Suffolk I really felt like a tourist and a foreigner. In Sussex I feel a real sense of returning home. I look for faces I might recognize and wonder whether my own face is recognizable after 13 years away. I identify what is a sense of loss. When I last lived here my Grandparents were still alive and my own nuclear family still lived here. Now they have either gone on to better things or emigrated. What is now London's second airport was once my Grandfather's delivery route when he was a butcher's boy on his push bike! When you land at Gatwick you can clearly see Gatwick Village Church where my Grandfather would have worshipped (had formal worship been up his street!).

In Brighton we walked down by the sea front between the two piers, one now a condemned and burnt out wreck and the other a grade 2 listed building but in need of some serious TLC. Luckily nobody was down at the nudist beach today so we didn't have to have any awkward conversations or explosions of embarassed and unsubtle giggling! We admired the distressed elegance of the Georgian architecture and ooohed and aaahed at the unlikely sight of the Royal Pavillion, an Indian looking palace built by the Prince Regent in the eighteenth century shortly before that trifling matter of 1776......

Brighthelmstone as it used to be called was once a smuggling center on the south coast and the smugglers used to hide and sell their wares in the warren of narrow streets just off the front, called The Lanes. These days you are more likely to find deliciously expensive boutiques, eateries and antique shops. And in one of those very nonchalent English juxtapositions, you will also find there a Quaker's Friends' House.

We eat overpriced sea food. No kalamari or squid for us however - but whelks and jellied eels, the kind of fruit of the sea local to Brighton. The kind of food my grandparents would have eaten along with a Mr. Whippee ice cream and loads of cups of sweet tea. OK - so in my virtual reality that's what we ate but in truth there's no way on earth that children 1, 2 and 3 would have eaten anything of that kind! They would have been more fascinated by visiting an English McDonalds! They would have loved a stick of luridly pink peppermint Brighton rock however!

Tomorrow we will take the train from Brighton through the Sussex Weald, the rolling south downs where I took so many walks as a child. We'll stop at my old home town's railway station, race through the village where I was born and eventually get off the train at Gatwick airport. I'll buy every magazine and English candy or souvenir available in duty free before we board the plane home. Home from home. Hard to say which is which any more.

I never really have been to Suffolk! I'd really like to go now though. All the people I have contacted for their permission to use images from their websites were super friendly and helpful. Thank you for accompanying me these last few days. We should do it again one day! Say in about ten weeks time when I'm next off school and looking for a distraction!? Just tell me where you would like to go!

Our England is a garden

Poetry at Easton Farm Park

I like poetry. My children like poetry. Nonsense poems, rhymes, sonnets. We are drawn to them and after today's virtual excursion, Rudyard Kipling's poem certainly came to mind. Of course, to children 1, 2 and 3 Mr. Kipling is famous only for the Jungle Book and perhaps some of his excellent cakes (Translation: English people of my generation saw lots of commericals for a brand of cake called Mr. Kipling - not that we ever bought them because my 'mean' mum insisted on home made!) but in truth the man wrote a mean poem/short story/essay!

This is a long poem so I have picked out our 3 favorite stanzas - sorry Rudyard!

The Glory of the Garden


Our England is a garden that is full of stately views,
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;
But the glory of the garden lies in more than meets the eye.

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows;
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,
For the glory of the garden occupieth all who come.


Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees,
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray
For the glory of the garden, that it may not pass away!
And the glory of the garden, it shall never pass away.

Beautiful gardens are everywhere in England - perhaps we are not so much a nation of shopkeepers any more but rather have become a nation of gardeners. Lovely window boxes and hanging baskets everywhere overflow with a profusion of spring flowers, bright green pocket handkerchief gardens in front of houses and of course the gorgeous, manicured, landscaped gardens associated with just about every historical building.

by kind permission of Easton Farm Park

Today we headed to Easton Farm Park, a working farm with its own luscious bright green grass and blooms that caters to family days out. I wish we had places like this in Texas (I haven't found them if they exist so please feel free to tell me if they do!) because we were busy and happy all day long. We petted goats and lambs, saw the gorgeous Suffolk Punch Mares and Highland cattle, trekked down a horse trail, made arts and crafts and even got a chance to see traditional artisans at the blacksmith's forge where they made an array of iron works. Walking by the river we glimpsed herons and kingfishers and smelled the wild garlic and blossom everywhere. What an amazing place. It made me wonder how I could turn my 52-acre ranch into something more productive! When child #3 saw a toy tractor that he could ride on his day was complete and it was with some difficulty that we left the farm. Definitely a place to revisit one day.

Oh - and for you Texans with your love of Longhorn cattle, here is a picture of the Highland cattle at Easton Farm Park. I really love these cows - they have such a friendly fluffy appearance that Longhorns, for all their rugged charm just do not possess! 

After a wee drive home on the left side of the road, we decided to spend the rest of the evening relaxing and letting the children watch some excellent BBC children's TV. As for Mum? Asleep in front of the telly within about 30 seconds!  hope they do room service at this hotel 'cos, as we say on this side of the pond, I'm cream crackered! (Cockney rhyming slang for knackered. Translation: tuckered out!) "And so", as the diarist Samuel Pepys so famously said, "to bed".

Beatrix and her hitherto unknown descendent Harry

Well, we are half way through our virtual vacation in Suffolk but we still have so much more to see, eat and experience. This morning's kippers and malted granary loaf was certainly an experience for kiddoes 1, 2 and 3 who were vociferously aghast at the idea of fish for breakfast!!!! Their complaints gave me additional enjoyment to this gustatory treat :)


I am fortified for the day ahead!

We started off the day at Bridge Cottage at Flatford Mill. This cottage is situated in the heart of Dedham Vale and houses an exhibition on John Constable who painted such famous pictures as the Haywaggon in this area. Much as I would have been happy to stay awhile and perhaps do one of their guided walks, it was not to the taste of three young children so we decided on a trip back to Lavenham - by now becoming gloriously familiar, almost homelike and a trip to Curiosity Corner - a specialist shop selling Steiff Teddy bears.

With three new furry friends added to our party we had the difficult choice to make as to how to spend the afternoon. We decided to nip to the corner shop (Translation: very small locally owned grocery store) and buy bread, cheese, pickle, fruit, crisps (Translation: chips) and some orange squash (Untranslatable) in order to have a picnic. No trip to England with hybrid English-American children would be complete without an English parent forcing aforementioned children to endure a cold, windy picnic in the open air, "Just like we had when I was a girl". They've got that T.Shirt now!

During the squabbling and bickering held during a traditional cold English picnic we had to decide between visiting Gainsborough's house in Sudbury and a National Trust property called Melford Hall, an Elizabethan House. Melford Hall had gardens for unrestricted running around and a tea room. It was the favorite hands down!

I am so glad that we bothered to find out about this place. It was brilliant! not only was it actually interesting and quirky and atmospheric but it really gave the kiddoes a feel for a family house that made up a bit of their historical and cultural heritage. Built in the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I was entertained here (the red headed queen with the white face!) and more interestingly for the kiddoes, Beatrix Potter visited here often as her relatives lived here. There is a room called the Beatrix Potter bedroom and all sorts of sketches she made of squirrels and of the old ponds, the inspiration for the Jeremy Fisher stories that Offspring #3 so loves.

Melford Hall by kind permission of The National Trust

Games of Hide and Seek and Tin Can Alley amongst the Beech trees and Yew Hedges, not to mention 'grass angels' in the soft English grass that harbors no stinging fire ants perfected the day. Terrific tea rooms and a satisfying gift shop made this a place that we will long remember. A perfect memory.

On the drive back to our home, The Swan, in Lavenham, a sleepy #2 Offspring was heard to murmur sleepily about the coincidence of Beatrix and Harry Potter both having the same last name. "Perhaps they are related?" she asked.

A Virtually Perfect Day

After a great night's sleep we all awoke virtually famished - if not actually! We grabbed our virtual Swan Breakfast menu and decided what to eat. The kiddoes decided on pancakes and toast - not just plain old white sandwich toast however but home baked toasted apricot and walnut granary bread - heaven! Personally I went for 'The Full Suffolk', local free-range pork sausage, smoked dry cured Suffolk bacon, Lane Farm black pudding, field mushrooms, tomatoes and free range Manor farm eggs. The menu is so delicious that I've already made a mental note of what to eat tomorrow for breakfast!

We have fun-packed day ahead of us! First stop is Colchester Castle. Colchester was the first capital of Roman Britain (not Londinium/modern London). There was a huge Temple of the Emperor Claudius here which was attacked and destroyed during the revolt of the Iceni Queen Boudicca. A terrific virtual tour of the castle and Roman remains follows for your delight and edification! I love the fact that there is a lot of hands-on activities here for children 1, 2 and 3 who could choose from trying on togas, handling real Roman artefacts, talking to historical character re-enactors and taking part in pottery or weaving workshops. So cool!

http://www.colchestermuseums.org.uk/castle/castle_vr.html

After a quick sandwich near the castle we headed off to Colchester Zoo to see the new Gelado Baboon baby and the endangered species Dragons of Komodo. Telu, the  Komodo Dragon on display was small but to be fair to him was only 3 years old. When fully grown he could be as long as 3 meters!!!

Today has been a huge success. Lots of kid-centered things to do, so to redress the balance we went shopping for Mummy at J & J Baker Antiques. Always wanted a Welsh dresser....wonder how I'm going to get it back?

Munnings Tea Rooms

To round off a perfect day we went to Munnings Tea Rooms in Lavenham for English afternoon tea. Now, this is not exactly a novelty for my kiddoes because I often bake and make tea but the idea of going 'out' to tea was the novelty factor. Wow - just as well we had done so much walking today! We had a huge pot of tea, scones with clotted cream, tea loaf and Yorkshire Curd Tart! SOOO delicious. The kiddoes drank Elderflower Cordial because they have never tried that before. What a treat! the atmosphere in Munnings reminded me of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books and every other novel tea room I ever read about.

To celebrate the feel good factor of English tea, here's my Mum's recipe for scones - they're deceptively simple but you must eat them on the same day that they are made - they don't keep well!

English Scones
8 oz Self raising flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 oz butter or margarine
2 oz dried fruit (optional)
1tblsp sugar (optional)
1 egg, beaten
3 fl oz milk

1) Sieve the flour and salt in to a bowl and rub in the fat. Add the sugar if using and the fruit and stir well.
2) Add the beaten egg and milk and mix to a soft dough
3) Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 3/4 " thickness. Either cut out with pastry cutters or leave in a large round and indent sections with a knife.
4) In either case place the scones onto a greased baking sheet and bake towards the top of the oven for 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees. As oven temperatures vary I would check after 8 minutes!

Are we (virtually) there yet?

"Main Street" Lavenham

It has already been established that I am a magazine junkie - as long as the magazines are about England. As I devour every word of the magazines, I peruse even the advertisements at the back of these publications. This week an advertisement for a beautiful historical Conde Nast hotel in Suffolk caught my eye and gave me the idea for taking a virtual vacation with the kiddoes and y'all of course.The reality of spending a week in England currently seems a tad remote!

So - we're going to spend the week staying at the Swan Hotel in Lavenham, Suffolk and exploring some of the National Trust properties in the area as well as privately owned farms, museums, cathedrals, zoos and of course gorgeous tea rooms. I'm really looking forward to it! To make life easier and cheaper we'll be using our British Heritage Pass - sort of a ticket/passport to places of interest.

Lavenham is one of Britain's best preserved Medieval villages. It was prosperous in the 14th century on account of its thriving cloth trade and is one of those gorgeous villages that had a market square and a guildhall, an almshouse, a warren of winding narrow streets (studded, I trust, with antiques shops and second hand book sellers). The Church of St Peter and St Paul there dates to 1486 and has fabulous stained glass windows.

The Swan hotel is definitely a hotel with a history. Imagine waking up in this room! Built in the 1400s the hotel is made up of three Medieval houses. In 1667 the landlord was called John Girling and in that fantastic English dynastic tradition where families live in one location for generation after generation, there are still Girlings living in Lavenham today.

My American friends will certainly appreciate the American contribution to this inn's history. The hotel's historic bar was haunt not only of the RAF but also of the U.S. 487th bomber squadron during the second world war. Some of the stories from this period are probably better told in the bar there itself!

On our first day here in Lavenham I think we may be pretty jet-lagged so we'll take it easy, settling into the sumptuousness of the Swan and strolling around the village window shopping. We'll probably need a place for lunch so will go and enjoy the home made organic food and real ales (well, not the kiddies!) provided by The Greyhound Pub. Please understand that a pub in the U.K. is not a place from which children are necessarily banned - most have lovely beer gardens (sadly and wistfully, as hubby points out, beer does not grow on trees in these gardens!)and do excellent food. DO not think of an English pub as being anything like an American re-creation of one!

I think after lunch we will return to our home away from home for a nice restorative nap. We'll need to acclimatize asap because tomorrow there's going to be a lot to see. Dig out your walking shoes and a brolley - it looks like it might rain!

Gosh I have enjoyed traveling this way today. I haven't spent a dime yet, children 1, 2 and 3 have been politely cordial about the pictures they've been shown of Lavenham, have learned what the Medieval period was and best of all, no plaintive cries from the back of the car/boat/plane....."Are we nearly there yet?"

Recipe for Flapjack

Artistically displayed English flapjack!

Spring Break starts today so I have time to make real food for children 1, 2 and 3 AND to do something I LOVE!! I get to bake!! Baking runs in my family. My Great Grandfather was a baker in the trenches of France in the First World War. My Grandmother was an exceptional baker and my Mum is also a whizz in the kitchen.

I never said I was a great baker - but I really do like it and making family recipes and traditional English cakes and breads is one more link with the mother country.

I don't think I'm giving away any major family secrets by posting these recipes here!

Flapjack

4 oz rolled oats
2 oz butter or margarine
4 oz syrup*
2 oz soft brown sugar

* Syrup can be bought at a good grocery store (Here in Texas HEB has it!). It is in a squishy plastic bottle and its official name is Lyle's Golden Syrup. It can be found either with the baking stuff, the molasses/waffle syrup or the jellies!

1) Melt the fat in a pan
2) Add the sugar and syrup
3) Warm (but don't let it boil) 'til sugar melts
4) Stir in the oats
5) Press into a well greased tin forming a layer 1/4 " thick
6) Bake for 30 minutes on 350 degrees
7) Leave for 10 minutes to cool and then cut into squares or fingers while still warm. Leave until nearly cold before removing from the pan.

My kiddoes love flapjack when it is really chewy and hard around the edges - if that sounds good to you then let the flapjack cook for another 5-10 minutes in addition to the 30. The house smells soooo good while this is cooking!

It's in the bag!

It's corny I know and any men who follow this blog will already have tuned out, but here is a picture of my lovely Cath bag together with my friend's new Cath bag at our recent church retreat! A beautiful sight! (Both the retreat and the bags!)

Another beautiful sight would be my order from Cath Kidston arriving some time soon. For heaven's sake! I placed that order on February 19th and today is March 11th and nairy a sign of this order. I ADORE this product and am impressed by their kind and polite customer service but I think I must have become impatient in my old age. I think 3 weeks is a long time to wait for an order to arrive!

Out of a sense of sheet altruism and knowing that this product has to be shipped from England which apparently takes an annoyingly long time, I offered the nice people at Cath Kidston the use of my 2000 square foot barn as a warehouse here in the States so that their customer base over here doesn't have to wait so flaming long for an order. Funnily enough I have heard nothing from them in this regard!

Grhhhh. Rant over. I still love Cath and will place another order soon so if you want to order anything  (link to website is at top of blog) let me know and we can split the shipping. It might get here before Easter..........

On a less shallow note, I heard the birds singing today and it made me think of England. Not that birds don't sing here but I spend so much of my day in a building or a car with all the associated white noise that I guess I rarely hear the birdies. I used to love the birds in my back garden in England. Black birds, thrushes, robins (real English robins - check picture), sparrows, chaffinches - they all make such beautiful music. In England you can hear birds either from the inside of your house with the windows open (without fear of letting the air conditioning out or some nasty flying and stinging insect in) or while you are walking (yes, walking!) around town instead of having to drive everywhere! I miss bird song!

Robert Browning says it best in Home Thoughts from Abroad - and yes I know it's not April yet!

Oh to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!
And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark! where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent spray's edge -
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recaptureThe first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower

Have a great Spring Break all of you! 9 days of not having to get up at 4:45 sounds good to me! Hope to see some of you soon!

Pancake Day

Today in the life of our local church we are celebrating Fat Tuesday. We will have a community gathering and eat real American pancakes with sausage and syrup. The proceeds will go to a good cause, I won't have to think of something for supper that will please all five people in my family and a good time will be had by all!

In England, a little less imaginatively, they/we are celebrating Pancake Day! Today is Shrove Tuesday - not a name you hear often around these parts! it seems to me that Fat/Shrove Tuesday and Pancake day are pretty much the same thing just celebrated a bit differently. No cheap shots please from my overseas friends about the use of the word "Fat" on this side of the Atlantic :)

Both terms describe the day before the start of Lent, a day of releasing high spirits and using up rich foods before the sombre time of denial and reflection. The word "Shrove" is the past participle of "Shrive" - or obtaining absolution for sins by way of confession and penance. I love these archaic English terms!

In England today in addition to the consumption of wafer thin pancakes with lemon juice and sugar, all sorts of traditions are taking place. As part of the community celebrations there may be a "mob football" game, a tradition dating back to at least the 12th century if not earlier where teams from different villages would play this somewhat violent game as part of the festivities or there may be a pancake race! Pancake races are terrific fun! The story goes that a housewife was so busy making her pancakes that she forgot the time. When she heard the church bells ringing to call her to Shrove Tuesday service she dashed out of the house still flipping her pancakes in the pan!

Vive la difference!

So before we enter our time of reflection and denial here's a moment of levity

What did the young pancake say to the old burnt pancake?

"I don't like your flip side"!!! GROAN!!!!!

Here, courtesy of Emma Bridgewater is a lovely recipe for English pancakes!

Ingredients
1 Cup plain Flour, 3 eggs, 2 Cups milk, 2 Tablespoons melted butter, 1 Tablespoon of sugar, 1 Pinch of salt

Method~Sift the flour and salt in a bowl and add the sugar
Make a well in the flour, stir in eggs and milk (beaten well together) and the melted butter, whisking it into a cream thick batter Leave it in the fridge for an hour to stand if possible
~Heat a thick frying pan and coat with oil. Pour in less mixture than you think and tip the pan about until the batter covers the base the thinner the pancake the better
~As soon as it has crisped underneath FLIP with a confident gesture and cook the other side
~To avoid screaming make the first few before you admit they are ready then the wait for the first pancakes is shorter
~Keep eating them till the batter is gone

Happy Pancake Tuesday!

Gnome Place Like Home!

Yesterday I allowed myself to be emotionally blackmailed in to going to see the movie Gnomeo and Juliet with daughters #1 & 2. So, today, rather than treating myself to 90 minutes in the company of Colin Firth in The King's Speech, as would have been my d'rathers for my 12 year anniversary outing with hubby, I found myself fulfilling my promise and staring at a number of cavorting gnomes on the big screen in Marble Falls. One of the gnomes was particularly distracting as he was sporting a flesh- colored, spandex one piece swimsuit and a beard.....

I'll be honest and admit that I took some work to do via my I-phone but it only took about ten minutes before I found myself being sucked in to the plot. Like an idiot I hadn't put 2 and 2 together and figured out that a movie featuring garden gnomes to a large degree MUST be shot in England and the characters have English accents. Here in Texas anyhow I have NEVER seen a garden gnome. I don't know about the rest of America. This piece of kitsch is unique to England - and dare I say especially the southern counties from where I hail.

I mean, garden gnomes are a point of humor back home, synonymous as they are with prissy and snooping neighbors in a semi-detached suburban context. Mrs Bucket from PBS's "Keeping up Appearances" would probably have a small army of them in her garden. No-one of real taste and class would be seen dead with one nicely appointed in the hydrangeas or rhododendron bushes! To illustrate my point, a quick Google of garden gnomes informed me that the Chelsea Flower show, England's most prestigious horticultural event banned them in 1990 because they were so hideous!

Still, in the movie the gnomes were rather cute and I allowed myself a quick wistful longing to acquire some just so that it could be one more cultural experience of English-ness for my kiddoes who prior to this adventure had never even heard of 'em. Then again, I only really want gnomes who can speak and interact like the lovely James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine and Maggie Smith who played the protagonist gnomes in the movie. What a cast and what a shame the movie isn't doing great statistically - we were 3 out of 10 people in the audience!!

Still - what started out as an exercise in resentment for me in not really wanting to go to see this particular movie turned in to a jolly old trip down Memory Lane thanks to Gnomeo's director Elton John - yeah - surprise!! Red buses, cars driving on the wrong side, tea pots and strange terracotta figurines in tunics and pointy hats. Awwwww! It's true after all that there's Gnome place like home!

Cambridge in America

In what I hope is a non-arrogant kind of way I am pretty proud of the fact that I graduated fairly well from Cambridge University - a fine British establishment. Nostalgically and sentimentally I also remember that hubby and I were married at one of the college chapels so Cambridge holds a dear place in my heart. If ever I have any spare money I will bequeath it to my alma mater. I know Cambridge would like some money now but I am afraid they will have to wait until I peg out as there is none to spare currently!

Daughters #1 and 2 have been early indoctrinated to believe that Cambridge is better than Oxford and they are probably the only people under the age of 18 in a 30 mile radius of our house who know about the Oxford-Cambridge boat race, or even what the university is! Sadly, we never go back to Blighty any more so the long cherished dream I hold of walking with my children along the Backs or through my college's beautiful gardens, or riding bikes through the city's medieval streets will have to stay on the back burner for a while.

HOWEVER!!! I am thrilled to report that through the wonderful Cambridge in America initiative, St. John's College Choir will be performing at two different venues in Austin in April. Daughters #1 and 2 and I will so be there ('with bells on' as we say in England). I don't even mind that one of the performances is on a school night. I think it is important for my kiddoes to hear some beautiful music in eccelsiastical surroundings just as they would have been dragged to had we lived in England! Daughter #1 happens to really like good choral music - something I was surprised by when I found her listening to my collection on my I-pod. That particular apple didn't fall far from the tree!

I hope you enjoy this YouTube clip about the college and the choir!!

If you're in the Austin area let me know if you want me to get you tickets for the concert!

Crikey! Where are all the Brits?

OK! I have to know the answer to this question!

Who is buying all that English fare in HEB?

I am not complaining (un-British of me I know!) about the fantastic and large selection of English food available in Leander's HEB, but I would really like to know who's buying it? I know a few English people in this area and I know a few Anglophiles who like British biscuits, tea, Ribena, Marmite etc, but there is a huge choice of grocery products at this Hill Country store and some of it is pretty specialized so I am curious to know who is lapping it up? I may find some new friends or some new English playmates for my kiddoes!

My children are so used to going down HEB's International aisle with me and standing longingly in front of all of those (over-priced, irresponsibly carbon-footprinted) English foods that they didn't even bat an eyelid when I took photographs of the shelves. They have their own favorites - English baked beans, English tomato soup, any kind of sweet but especially wine gums! The latter are not at all alcoholic by the way, but I think the name adds a certain 'je ne sais quois' to the eating of them! I sure do feel very happy after I eat them! The kiddoes' Dad also likes English fare but tends to find the malted, hopped (is that a word?), beverages of his choice down a different aisle in HEB and they have a good selection of those too!

On a different note, in class today, my junior Anglophile students who enjoy the Harry Potter books were asking me what "Crikey" and "Blimey" mean. They get the general sense of surprise and exclamation implied by those terms but wondered whence such colorful and strange words derive. It was interesting! "Crikey" is a shortened form of "Christ the King", used to express displeasure at an event and "Blimey" is a shortened form of "God blind me" used when someone saw something that they should not have seen.

Well who knew?