A lady in HEB - our local supermarket - once recognized that my children were English just by looking at them. I was flabbergasted. "How on earth did you know?" I asked her. "They have absolutely no English accent at all." "But my dear", came the octogenarian and mellifluous tone of the Southern counties of England (she herself turned out to be an elderley ex-pat) "They are wearing home knitted sweaters."
So true! You don't see m/any home knitted cardigans and jumpers around here and it is rather cosily English and outdated, alongside Enid Blyton books or the Chalet School books. And she didn't say 'sweaters', she said 'jumpers' but not many people here know they are interchangeable terms back home.
Still, knitted clothing is held dear to an English heart and the tradition for knitting runs strongly down the female line of my family. Children #s 1-3 and now husband all proudly sport their knitted socks especially as they slide so satisfactorily over wooden floors! I am a reasonably good knitter but the socks you see above are knitted by my Mum in Australia and sent up from 'Down Under' at regular intervals to remind us not only of her love for us but also of our British roots.
I've done my part to pass this part of our heritage down. I have taught daughters 1 & 2 how to knit and pearl and the look of ferocious intensity on their face as they grip the lethal looking knitting needles is priceless. I'm not adverse to teaching our boy child how to knit (for example during those evenings when his Dad's not around to give me the "What are you doing to my son?" look) but let's face it, pointy sticks and three year old boys are not a sensible combination.
I am a huge fan of the U.K. edition of Country Living Magazine. I happily fork over $8.50 a month for this publication and 'him indoors' (my husband) never raises an eyebrow because it's so much cheaper than therapy for my homesickness.
I digress.
A recent edition of CL had a pull out poster of sheep varieties as well as an article for the many uses for sheep wool. As we live on a modest portion of Texas I thought what a splendid addition sheep would be to our current livestock collection so that our offspring could enjoy the rare Texas sight so common in England of sheep blissfully and serenely grazing. I have vivid memories of holidays in a rented cottage in Herefordhire as a child where sister and I fell asleep listening to the bizarre yet soothing sound of sheep chewing, farting and coughing, not always in that order.
I duly emailed a sheep specializing professor at husband's alma mater who advised me as to which sheep breeds would be bonkers enough to thrive in this part of the world in a Texas summer. Sadly they were not the Wallace and Gromit fluffy variety, which incidentally hybrid Brit-American children adore, but rather pig-looking creatures with cross faces. Still it might be good fun to watch them roam wild and free against the backdrop of the neighbor's bison and llamas. No doubt they'll give the neighborhood coyotes a run for their money before I introduce the children to the delights of mutton stew or lamb chops with mint sauce. If ever they really do make their ovine appearance here I'll be sure and let you know!
Does anyone have any experience of raising sheep in the Texas Hill Country? Please do let me know!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton,_West_Sussex
Today we went to church. We manage to get organized enough to do this most Sundays and the whole family likes it. To be honest church wasn't a big part of my life growing up in England. We occasionally went to church with my Dad or as part of a school function but we certainly were not members. Church was significant to my childhood memories as a place that you visited as part of a Sunday afternoon walk or to see some interesting old gravestones or a kissing gate. The church we liked best was Clayton Parish church (see link) which was really really old - about eleventh century and had the double benefit of having a park on one side and the rolling South Downs on the other where my imaginative sister and I (not so imaginative) used to play dragons by an old tree which really did look like a dragon.
Nominally my English family was Church of England and my hybrid British-American family is Methodist so today's very short talk with the kids was to describe a service I attended once as a student at Christmas time at King's College, Cambridge. Now this is not an ordinary C of E church by any stretch of the imagination but I think they liked the fact that they could imagine what it looked like thanks to the first few minutes of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie which features the chapel. Child #3 lasted perhaps 30 seconds into the memories of angelic alto voices bouncing off the Medieval gables of the roof before going off to play cars but the girls sat out the full minute and a half quick recollection of describing being in a place which has heard so much music and so many hopes and prayers over hundreds of years before they went off to more interesting diversions!
Perhaps had better stick to English cake for a while and watching Harry Potter or Avalon High for our daily dose of Englishness!
Am so excited! New Cath Kidston bag has finally arrived after getting lost and touring the whole USA before it got here! It's a gorgeous saddle bag and I have already had loads of positive comments upon it - just like my other Cath bags. I know at least one other lady who has ordered a bag recently based on seeing mine. Soon there will be a load of happy Cath Kidston-toting ladies in this little corner of Texas! Wish she did an oilcloth Union Jack bag then I could really fly the flag here in the Hill Country!
I had a significant birthday yesterday and it made me both reflective and nostalgic. Even though I like it here I am really homesick for England and wish my kiddoes had more opportunity to experience English things and explore that part of their heritage. Seeing as my opportunities to return to Blighty are non existant in the future I have decided to spend the next year consciously raising their awareness of English things - food, art, books, history, traditions. "English Stuff" that I totally took for granted and didn't appreciate at all. I hope they'll have fun, learn a little and remember their batty mother doing this when they too hit their own significant birthdays.
So today on Day One of this English year we hit the ground running with breakfast. Robertson's Golden Shred marmalade on toast! They loved it as I would expect from discerning Marmite-eating children. Hope they don't want it every day though as it's jolly expensive and hard to find - might have to ask Mum how she makes her marmalade from Seville oranges. After basketball and the official opening of our fab new library here in our small rural Texas town, daughter #1 and I decided to continue with the foodie theme by donning our pinnies (aprons) and making jam tarts, Shepherds' Pie and her Great Grandmother's "Cut and Come Again" cake, a recipe brought over from Sussex. All turned out beautifully and the Shepherds' Pie in particular was wolfed down which caused stirrings of guilt for the less-than-home made food that my kids often have to eat as their Mum works full time. Squashing that thought quickly, I promise to become proficient on how to upload pictures of these English events as they unfold. Day 1 was lots of fun. Off to see what English programs we can find on the telly! More anon!
