Clan McAllister

Birthday Celebration

2012-01-14T04:14:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of my latest photos from birthday celebrations this week, including what I am dubbing the "birthday altar."

There's a mixture of Christmas and birthday cards because cross-celebrating often happens when one has a January birthday! I received some beautiful cards, with many of them handmade by my crafty friends.

I also snapped a photo of a collection of snowmen on our fireplace mantel.

Removing the twinkling fairy lights after Christmas is always hard, especially if the weather is cold, grey and cloudy. Keeping a strand to illuminate my snow friends is one way to cheer us up until spring!

Here are some snaps of my newest tea sets, Portmeirion's Eden and also Holly & Ivy.

Some of the pieces were purchased for Christmas and some for the January birthday. I really love the Eden set, but it feels a bit premature to use it when their is a heavy frost on the ground!

With a nickname like 'teawife,' you know I love the tea drinking experience! I have found my collecting of tea paraphernalia to have changed over time. I used to collect single mugs when we traveled; I'd have a mug to remember every vacation. Now we seem to travel to fewer places, so I'm not as likely to collect mugs. I also collected solitary teapots, but now I find it is much more useful to have full tea services (teapot, sugar bowl, cups, mugs, milk jug, plates, etc.). These full sets come in handy when my friends come over to craft and chat.

There is something quite elegant and special to hold a saucer in one hand and sip from an exquisite cup. I never used to be the type of person to appreciate that experience; I always liked mugs, and I still love mugs and use them daily, but now I enjoy the ritual of bringing out a beautiful tea cup that has lovely shape, form and weight.

Retirement might change me again; we hope to spend more time travelling once again when dear hubby has a free schedule. What will I collect then? And don't say 'wrinkles'!

Gluten-free pie crust

2011-12-10T05:10:00.001-08:00

Christmas time = Baking time

Although I don't bake near as much as I used to at Christmas, I do like the odd festive treat.

The other day, Dad was telling me that Mom was busy in the kitchen baking our traditional 'bastada' pie, which is sour pork pie that has its roots in Alsace Lorraine, France. The recipe has been part of family Christmases in Castroville, Texas, for generations.

Living in England, I tend to feel separated from my family, heritage and culture, especially at Christmas. Cooking family classics helps to keep the traditions alive, even if we are thousands of miles away from Texas!

Bastada pie is made of minced pork, which is 'soured' in a vinegar mixture along with onion, parsley and bay leaves and left to marinate for 24 to 48 hours. The mixture is then put into a shortcrust pie and baked until golden brown (see above for a photo of my bastada pie!).

Because I'm gluten-intolerant, I can't easily purchase store-bought, ready-to-bake crusts. Therefore, I scoured the internet for recipes and came up with my own shortcrust pastry concoction, which seemed to work a treat!

Teawife's Gluten-Free Pie Crust

1/3 c. Potato starch/flour
1/3 c. Tapioca flour
1/3 c. Rice flour
1/3 c. Almond flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 c. cold butter, cut into pieces
1 beaten egg
1 tsp. vinegar

Egg whites as needed

If you don't have almond flour, double the rice flour to 2/3 cups.

Use a food processor and whir up the butter with all the flours, salt and xanthan gum.

After the mixture is crumbly, drop in the beaten egg into the mixture and whir again. Now scrape down the edges of your food processor to release some of the butter/flour that might be sticking to the sides and bottom.

Add in the vinegar and continue whirring the mixture.

Check to see if the mixture has the right consistency. If it doesn't, you can add in egg whites (I always have a carton of egg whites in the house).

Don't over process or add too much liquid. You can tell the consistency is right when you can squish the mixture together.

Put out on a pastry board and roll it out.

Eggnog

2011-12-09T10:57:00.001-08:00

I've always been a real fan of eggnog, and it's been a traditional item in our family Christmas celebrations since I was a child. However, living in England presents problems in obtaining eggnog, which doesn't seem to be a popular drink. This is a puzzle because the origins of this festive drink are supposed to be English!

I recently had a little Christmas party for some of my American and international crafting friends. I decided to make eggnog since I'm not able to source it here. I loved the results, and I've promised some of my friends I'd post the recipe. I've made this a non-alcoholic recipe; traditionally, it features lots of rum or bourbon.

Teawife's Eggnog

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup heavy or double cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla

ground nutmeg (add last)

Whisk all the ingredients together.

These are your basic ingredients. If you want a bigger batch, you can double or triple the recipe.

What you do next is up to you. Many recipes do not heat the eggnog. However, I decided to be safe and heat set my mixture. You can use a double boiler or carefully cook in a saucepan; but I used the microwave and one of my Pampered Chef glass mixing pitchers. To microwave, use 50 percent power and cook for 2 minutes at a time. Then whisk the mixture. Microwave again for 2 minutes at 50 percent. Then whisk again. You continue to do this for about 8 to 10 minutes total. The mixture will just begin to thicken when the temperature is correct. Do not overcook! Let the eggnog cool and then whip it again. If the eggnog is too thick for your tastes, you can add a bit more whole milk. If you like the taste of nutmeg, you can add it now and mix it through. Now chill the eggnog until ready to serve. Be sure to whisk the eggnog before serving. More nutmeg can be sprinkled on top of each serving.

Big Elk Bulls

2011-07-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the week, tourists were stopping in our neighborhood to take photos of a gang of Bull Elks (or wapiti, as they are called here in Colorado). I've never seen four to six Bull Elks travelling together before; I thought they'd be too territorial. However, here they are, sharing the shade of a tree located across the road near our Loveland home.

Happy Families

2011-06-25T04:23:00.000-07:00

Even though Magpies have a bit of a reputation for being the bullies of the bird world, I happen to be very fond of these striking black and white birds. I think they are funny, clever and great survivors. In fact, some sources say they are one of the most clever of the bird world.

We have a nesting pair that have taken up residence in a large tree just outside of our back garden. As a result, the male and female and their brood use our garden as their smorgasbord. They pick up food that drops from the feeders, or they help themselves to the ground food that I scatter. The parents have spent a great deal of time with their fledglings, which we call the 'teen-agers,' to show them how to look for insects and worms.

The back garden not only has become a dinner table for them, but it's also their playground. And incredibly, Magpies are amazingly playful and social. It's not unusual to watch the teen-agers play tag or engage in other bird games. They also like a bit of tail pulling when a parent is relaxing and sunning on the lawn.

In the corner of the lawn is a gingerbread style Wendy house, and the Magpies have decided this is their place. One of the most touching scenes I've seen was when all five were hanging around the Wendy house, and the male adult was spreading his wings in the sun, and mom came over and cuddled right into him to sun her wings (see the photo above). They are also clever enough to get out of a heavy rain, and I have spied the family sheltering under the eaves of the Wendy house. Yesterday, a large fragment of a suet ball had fallen from the feeder, and a Magpie ran over and grabbed it off the ground. It then proceeded to stuff the ball under the floor of the Wendy house so it could come back and eat it later.

Magpies are large and visible, so it is easy to watch this family of five develop and interact. They take great care as parents to teach and socialize their offspring. I don't know how long it will be before the teen-agers pack up and 'leave home' to set up their own forested household, but this family has been a real treat to watch.

Spring Garden 2011

2011-06-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

We've had a dry and warm beginning to Spring 2011 in our English garden. The garden hose -- or as it's often called here, the hosepipe -- has already been out in force.

Above are currant bushes, a fox glove and Delphinium.

The warm spring has been a mixed blessing in the garden because the ample sunshine has brought everything into bloom earlier. However, great care must be made to keep things moist. I find it all a bit bizarre because I spent April in Colorado, where it was supposed to be mostly dry, and I experienced several snows, hail, sleet, freezing temperatures and lots of rain, and it continued to rain there through May. I come back to England, and they were enjoying summer-like temperatures of low humidity and little rain, and these pristine conditions have continued now into June. I'm not complaining by any means; just observing!

Back to my gardening adventures . . . I've planted a range of flowers in our back garden since moving here about three years ago. Although I re-infuse the garden every year with annuals, we also have perennials that have successfully come back each year, such as the Pink Poppy above and the Red Poppy below (which were planted last spring), along with Delphinium, Lupins, Fox Gloves, Peonies, and Columbine.

I also planted some strawberries in a disused gravel area, and they've come up really strong this spring, with lots of sweet fruit.

We have blueberries and white currants in one of our beds, too.

I also enjoy filling pots with petunias, trailing lobelia, fuchsia, cosmos and other flowers.

Although the pots look a little thin right now, they will be overflowing with color by mid-summer.

The birds also have been taking advantage of the warmer conditions, and many have begun fledgling their offspring much earlier than last year. Some of the interaction can be quite sweet, such as when a parent blue tit was feeding its young while sitting on top of a suet-filled coconut husk. Wish I could have captured this scene today.

*But then there are the STARLINGS!*

They have arrived at the feeders with their fledglings about a month earlier than last year. The onslaught of starlings drives dear hubby Niall nuts! He has nick-named them the Orcs of the bird world (as in the trolls from Lord of the Rings). We can have as many as 65 in our garden at once, and their noise is deafening. They are particularly interested in the suet pellets that we have in the feeders (we use them instead of peanuts). The suet pellets attract a wide range of birds, including stunning Greater and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, which fly over from nearby Norbury Woods. However, Niall is tempted to forgo the suet pellets to dissuade the starlings from overtaking our garden. We seem to forever go outside, clapping our hands and yelling to scare away those persistent starlings. But then, they are back as soon as we turn our backs. If we are sitting outside, taking in the lovely weather, sharing a cup of tea on the patio, the Starlings will perch in trees and wait for us to leave! The constant cacophony of shrills from them is enough to send us back inside.

I asked my contact at Wildbird Direct, where I order my bird food, how to discourage Starlings from the feeders since they dominate and don't allow the smaller song birds to eat. Darren said: 'If I had a pound for every time a customer asked me that question.' Oh well . . .

Then I discovered they have a natural enemy: the magpie. If the starlings are the Orcs of the bird world, the magpies are the Orcas! Not only do they have the same coloration as a killer whale, but they will hunt down fledgling starlings, as I found out one morning. Those of you readers with a predisposition to a queasy tummy should skip this part! Last week, I heard a frantic shrieking from the back yard and saw a pair of magpies murdering one of the Starlings. I tried to get there in time to break up the massacre, but alas, I was too late! Murder by a hundred pecks.

Our garden has become the scene of not only beauty and color, but of murder, mystery and mayhem!!

A Tipping Teapot

2011-05-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

Like many of my friends here in England and in the US, I have been quite a fan of the series, Downton Abbey, the fictionalized upstairs-downstairs period and costume production, which is set around the time of the First World War. I was quite excited when the American Women of Surrey's English Experience group arranged for a tour of Highclere Castle, home to the Carnarvon family and the estate chosen as the film location for Downton Abbey. I booked this trip with the AWS ages ago.

Okay, and then life intervened. You know, best laid plans and all . . . The idea was that dear hubby would collect dear son from school on that afternoon, as I couldn't be absolutely sure if I would get back early enough from our all-day excursion, which was going to include another stop, lunch, and lots of touring. Well, as seems to always happen when I have something planned, dear hubby was told he was going to Spain on a business/science trip. On top of that, when I pre-booked the tour, I didn't realize that my son would be starting his GCSE exams, which would require being dropped off by 8 a.m. and collected after his exam around 11 a.m. How was I going to manage that while I was strolling the grounds of Highclere.

In the end, my role of Mom to Teen and Resident Taxi Driver took precedence, and someone else went in my place, ate the lunch I ordered, saw all the wonders that I was meant to see, and had my afternoon tea.

Me not happy :-(

To try to cheer up myself, I decided to go to the Epsom Downs Racecourse -- no, not to blow all my money on a pony out of frustration -- but to attend their quarterly Antiques Market. I must admit that I was pretty underwhelmed by much on offer. A lot of the bits and pieces looked like the discarded costume jewelry heaped in my old jewelry box -- except that my stuff was in better shape!

But there were some lovely things on offer, too. For example, I found three silver items with which I'm pretty pleased:

1) Art deco stainless steel butter/jam knives for tea (in their original box)

2) Art deco silver teaspoons for tea (in a box, but perhaps, not the original)

3) James Deakin & Sons Victorian silver tipping teapot with stand and oil lamp

The spoons and knives will come in very handy when I host my Wednesday stamping and scrapbooking gatherings. The little knives are perfect for paté and spreads, and the teaspoons are the quaint and elegant touch I need for serving tea and cappuccinos.

The silver Victorian tipping teapot was something I didn't need but found fascinating. In fact, the first time I saw a tipping teapot was while watching Downton Abbey! I loved the fact that it sits ontop of a small oil lamp flame, which works wonderfully to keep the tea warm while not corrupting the flavor of the tea. I also love the way the pot gently tips and pours into the tea cup. So sweet!

This may not the best example of a tipping teapot; it was quite tarnished in places, and Niall and I are still trying to polish up the stubborn black. But, as I quietly vacillated about purchasing the item, holding it in my hands and thinking, the vendor kept lowering the price by £5 pounds a pop. The original price was £65, and I eventually snagged it for £30.

The day's shopping therapy did help to put my mind right, but I still would have preferred to have gone to Highclere. *sigh* However, I wouldn't have my tipping teapot! Also, since I picked up Branduff in mid-afternoon, we were able to have a lovely late lunch at the Rubbing House at the Epsom Downs Racecourse -- http://www.rubbinghouse.com/home.html. It has outstanding food (and the best souvla in the county!!), and it was enjoyable to spend some time with my fast-growing young man.

Gran McAllister's Boiled Cake

2011-03-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Recently, tea friends Holly and Eve reminded me of an old family recipe that is made with day-old strong tea. The fact that Niall and Robert's lovely Gran McAllister is still remembered for her infamous Boiled Cake, is quite touching. Niall absolutely adores this cake, and I must admit that I don't make it near as often as I should.

By popular demand, I am posting Gran's Boiled Cake recipe here so that a little of her lives on. Enjoy with health!

Gran McAllister's Boiled Cake

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup of cold tea
1 to 2 cups dried fruit

Bring all to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Take off heat and 
leave to cool. Add 1 egg, well-beaten. 

Then add:

1 teaspoonful mixed spice
1 teaspoonful cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 teaspoonful baking soda

Bake in moderate oven (350 to 375 degrees) for 1 hour.

Notes: It's better if the tea sits overnight. In other words, this is a great recipe to rid up the tea from the day before! Also, I sometimes experiment with adding Drambuie or Cointreau or some other liquor. The fruit we use tends to be raisins/sultanas and currants. However, you can add candied citron or cherries, too. The new dried strawberries and cranberries might make a delicious twist.

Feathered Visitor

2011-03-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

We have a new regular visitor to our English garden: a pheasant.

She's been coming once or twice a day to poke around on the seeds that fall from the bird feeders. She mixes it up with the wood pigeons that fly over from Norbury Woods across the road.

Hopefully, she will stay clear of the other garden visitor, Foxy, that I mentioned in the previous post.

Foxy Visitor

2011-02-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

While we've known we have foxes that come nightly to our gardens in England, we rarely see them during the day. However, one fox seems to be particularly brave and unconcerned that we have a Border Collie, Sophie, who usually is quite demonstrative about unwelcome parties. While this particular fox was scrounging around the bird seed, I was able to snap some photos through the window next to my crafting table.

Canadian Geese

2010-12-21T09:53:00.000-08:00

These Canadian Geese seem to be right at home in our back yard in Mariana Butte! They are coming every afternoon before sunset.

Changing Colorado Skies

2010-12-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

I've been at our home in Loveland, Colorado, for about ten days now, and I've been astounded at the changing character of the sky.

While most of the photos I've taken have been off the balcony of our home, facing Lake Buckingham, you can see that things change dramatically from one day to the next, and even every hour!

There was one late afternoon that the sunset was particularly colorful, and I was able to catch the sun receding behind the Rockies over an hour.

Buckingham Lake picks up a lot of the changes in the sky, reflecting back light and color. Quite stunning!

I took a walk through our Mariana Butte neighborhood and caught a glimpse of the taller mountains in the Rockies.

These peaks had mostly been hidden under snow clouds for the first few days when I arrived. Apparently, the skiing regions have been enjoying higher than normal amounts of snow. While down in the foothills and Front Range, we have been very dry with little or no snow to speak of.

Today, I glanced outside and saw a convention of Canadian geese happily lounging on the ice on Buckingham Lake.

We have lots of geese that hang about the Mariana Butte during the winter in large flocks.

They are quite loud with their honking, and leave lots of 'pressies' behind, if you know what I mean! But they are amazing to watch.

On another day, we received a light dusting of snow.

The temperatures were well below freezing at about 11F or -12C. When the snow hit the ice on the lake, it stuck, creating this interesting white snow effect.

At the same time, the day was so dry that most of the snow we received simply evaporated!

If only the snow would evaporate in England. Hubby and son were supposed to join me today in Colorado, but their flight from Heathrow was canceled, along with many, many other flights. I know this has caused a great deal of frustration and disappointment for countless families who were hoping to fly out for the holidays. I am still hopeful that my son and husband will be able to make their re-booked flights on Christmas Eve. That would be the best gift ever to see them sitting under the tree on Christmas Day.

Snow Pictures

2010-12-03T02:31:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from the latest big snow, which began on Tuesday November 30th and kept snowing through Thursday, December 2nd. Now it is about 23 degrees F, so the snow is going crunchy!

Snow Days

2010-12-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

There's so much I should be blogging right now about the recent snows that hit SE England beginning on Tuesday, November 30th (including the SEVEN hour trip I had to collect Branduff from school in Ashtead). However, for the moment, I'll just post these photos of 15-year-old Branduff.

He was compliant in leaving the toasty warm house just so mom could snap these photos. However, in the photo below, that's him saying, "Hurry up, mum, and take these photos. I'm freezing!"

Snow cometh

2010-11-30T02:31:00.000-08:00

After Scotland and the northeast of England have been hammered by the winter weather for the last week, southeast England is now starting to see the white stuff.

The flakes were only lightly falling this morning when the bus collected dear son for school. Now the flakes are coming down thick and heavy, and I'm supposed to pick up my son from school this afternoon. Usually, snow driving is left to hubby, who just happens to be in Moscow on business! My silly car is only rear-wheel drive, which is useless in snow and ice. I'm contemplating using hubby's car, which fortunately has front-wheel drive. Caveat: I've only driven it twice before and it's currently covered by a pile of snow.

Snow is pretty but it sure can be a hassle, too.

In the meantime, my border collie Sophie is totally oblivious to the conditions. Should I say that she's actually enjoying the weather?

For our friends and relatives in Scotland, I hope that you are all managing in this thick white stuff and staying nice and toasty.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

2010-11-18T04:47:00.000-08:00

We had a fantastic time yesterday during stamping class making Christmas Cards. Everyone brought some lovely food items to share during lunch. I made a pumpkin cheesecake as my contribution, and some of you asked for the recipe.

Notes: My recipe does not have (or need) a crust, but you can use a graham cracker crust base if you wish.

In England, I can usually only find the containers of the Philadelphia Cream Cheese, which are 300g each, or about 10-11 ounces. You can use three 8-ounce bricks of Philadelphia Cream Cheese if you wish.

2 300g Containers of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup cream
1 can pumpkin or 16 ounces or 500g of freshly pureed pumpkin or winter squash
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Use a mixer or food processor to whip the Philly Cream Cheese until soft. Add in the cup of sugar and continue to mix.

Slowly add in each of the eggs, one at a time.

Add in rest of ingredients and continue to mix until completely smooth and creamy. Pour into your square baking pan or round pie pan. I particularly like using my Pampered Chef square baker.

Cook at 165 C or 325 F for about an hour or until a knife comes out clean.

If you don't like pumpkin, you can make this recipe without the pumpkin; just reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup and leave out the pumpkin spice.

Goldfinch Bath

2010-08-29T04:26:00.000-07:00

Hello, folks! Branduff and I have finally returned from our long summer vacation in our new home in Loveland, Colorado. Niall seemed to be very happy to have us back. He had been living off whatever was remaining in the kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer. I think he was thrilled that his cook was home. LOL!

The summer is quickly slipping away here in England . . . a big difference from the mid-90-highs that Loveland has been experiencing over the last week. However, there have been truly lovely days peeking through the grayness and rain showers over here in Surrey.

Some of our little friends still enjoying the remaining summer days are these gorgeous goldfinch, which Niall snapped having a bath on the flat roof over our laundry room. This area also has a tendency to ice up in the winter, and I can imagine the robins having a skate around at that time.

While our beloved goldfinch were having a swim, our least favorite birds, the starlings, showed up to bully them out of the way. The starlings are also incredibly greedy and grabby at the bird feeders. They apparently are good at eating pesky insects in the lawn, so I suppose we have to put up with their Orc-like ways!

Feathered Friends in the Garden

2010-06-22T02:08:00.000-07:00

We've had lots of feathered garden visitors over the last number of weeks. The Blue Tits have been bringing their fledgling chicks to learn how to feed on the suet nibbles. In particular, they love the RSPB's Buggy Nibbles, which you can see on the RSPB's website.

These precious little birds aren't too bothered by me, as I'm the mad woman with all the food!

You can hear the Blue Tits flitting to and fro in the shrubs and trees with their young. There is a very specific song they sing when they have the little ones in tow.

I plopped myself into a chair, not too far away from one of the feeding stations, and the Blue Tits happily came and fed while I snapped these shots.

Daisies in the Garden

2010-06-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

I planted some Ganzia, African daisies, in our back garden last Thursday. At that time, the daisies were standing tall and blooming brightly in the English sunshine. However, after planting them, our weather turned windy, overcast and downright cool for the weekend. Hubby Niall kept looking at the Ganzia flowers, with their heads completely shut, and questioned why I purchased such reluctant specimens. I promised him that they are stunning when the sun shines and the flowers spread open.

Now that the weekend is over, OF COURSE the weather has improved, the sun has returned, the wind has died down, and the temperatures are warmer. I have taken photos of the Ganzia as proof to my husband that they really do open up during the day!

In addition, the Livingstone Daisies are finally blooming, too. They also wait for the nudging of the sun before they open and share their vibrant colors.

Strawberries in June

2010-06-19T03:10:00.000-07:00

If it's June in England, there must be strawberries!

These are strawberries from one of the six plants that I bought last year. They have been prolific this season.

And, last autumn, I potted up about 30 baby plants from the runners from the original plants. This spring, I planted them into an old rubble pile in the back garden.

The plants have lots of lots of little strawberries, ready to ripen. Where's the cream?

We've also had a lot of success with the potted roses this year. There's something in the climate this summer that favors the roses. The entire neighborhood is filled with roses, and you can smell the lovely scent hanging in the air when out walking.

The potted plants in the back garden are just starting to bloom and fill out. In a couple of weeks, they will be a lot fuller and more vibrant, but it's always interesting to see their progress over the summer.

Garden in Bloom!

2010-06-07T03:12:00.000-07:00

Some of our late spring/early summer flowers have bloomed in the back garden. In particular, the lupins have come out in their majesty, standing tall and proud -- for now! I hate when they lose their freshness and start to droop over. For now, let's enjoy them in all their glory.

I originally planted these lupins last year, and they didn't produce much. However, they are much more established now and seem to like the location and soil.

In addition, we also have a couple of Delphinium, and they has come in strong, too. Last year, the newly planted perennials fell over after they bloomed!

Our first poppy bloomed over the weekend, and I love the frail paper-like quality of the petals.

I'm sure you can tell by the posts on my blog that Niall and I love color in our garden. Hope you enjoy the show, too.

Wisley Gardens in Springtime

2010-05-17T01:08:00.001-07:00

It's been a wild and crazy spring thus far.

As my friends know, we traveled to Colorado during spring break, and we fell in love with Loveland, Colorado! (I know that I really need to post photos of our Rocky Mountain vacation!) We were especially fond of Estes Park, and we ended up having a lot of extra time in Estes Park and Loveland. In fact, our two-week vacation stretched into three weeks, thanks to that annoying Icelandic volcano. What a nightmare we had trying to get back to England. We spent a fortune on an extra week of accommodation, food and one-way air tickets. Geez!

While we were gone, I kept hearing from friends that the weather was absolutely gorgeous and sunny. Sure enough, when we returned home to England, the weather was miserable, gray, cold and bleak. In fact, one day, we even had sleet! Yuck!

We'd been wondering where the fine weather had gone, and we had started to give up hope that there would be any sunshine this spring. However, this Saturday was splendid! And, the weathermen are predicting warm weather through the week. Unfortunately for travelers, it seems that whenever England experiences lovely weather, we also have a return of the volcanic ash cloud, which completely disrupts the airports.

Back to the lovely Saturday weather . . . Branduff was away for the weekend on a field trip to Somerset and Devon with his geography class. This left Niall and me as temporary empty-nesters. Oh my! It was such a strange feeling. As he has only three years left of senior school, I suppose we better get used to it!

Having the day to ourselves, we decided to go to the Royal Horticultural Society's Wisley Gardens nearby in Woking, Surrey. My friend Catherine originally took me here a couple of years ago, and I find the place so magical. The diversity of plants and flowers is astounding. If you are planning a trip to London, I highly recommend adding Wisley Gardens. to your travel plans.

All the photos here were taken by Niall at Wisley Gardens.

Parakeets in the Garden

2010-04-02T03:11:00.000-07:00

While there are lots of wild ring-neck parakeets now residing in Surrey, we have only the occasional fly-by of these amazingly beautiful birds. I never tire of seeing them, as they seem in-congruent to the English countryside. They also have very distinctive calls, and we've learned to turn eyes to the sky when we hear their shrill trumpeted arrival. They generally fly over in groups of three to five, and rarely alone. I have only seen them in our garden three times, and recently, I managed to photograph two of them eating from our feeders. Because they are very shy and will fly away at the slightest of movement or sound, I have to carefully shoot the photos through the glass in the French doors of our dining room. As you can tell from the photos below, the results are usually poor. However, while one of the parrots was feeding, its mate sat in the tree above the feeders, and I was very happy with the results (above)!

Father & Son

2010-03-08T01:57:00.000-08:00

Thought I would share some photos that I took this weekend of 14-year-old Branduff and Niall (age unknown!). They were watching an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is a very campy and silly program highlighting some really bad movies. I think this particular episode of Mystery Science Theater was Godzilla, Mothra and an overgrown lobster sea creature! I guess you just had to be here.

Branduff and Niall are the same height now, and they wear same size clothes. Oh well! Things do change.
On a springy note, Niall and I spotted our first daffodil of the season this past weekend. The snow drops were very slow to pop up this year since we've had such a cold winter. There's clusters of snow drops, crocuses and daffodils all together. Lovely sight!

Birthday Flowers!

2010-01-11T02:40:00.000-08:00

Wow-eee! Look what just arrived at my doorstep! A very large bunch of gorgeous flowers from my stamping and scrapbooking friends here in Surrey, England. Aren't the flowers absolutely beautiful?

It was such an unexpected surprise, too, as we haven't had any kind of deliveries or mail since the snow showers started last Tuesday.

Thank you so much to all of you who have taken time to send messages, mail cards, make phone calls, and do so much more to help me celebrate my 50th birthday. I certainly feel very blessed today.

Love ya'll!

Big Freeze of January 2010

2010-01-10T01:50:00.000-08:00

Thought I would add in some photos that Niall took of the snow and weather conditions here in the countryside of Surrey, England. Niall walked across the road, into the Norbury Woods and adjacent fields, to photograph most of the scenery (except the top pictures, which show our back garden covered in snow).

The snow began on the evening of Tuesday, 5 January, and we are still facing freezing temperatures and some snow flurries today, Sunday 10 January. We continue to be blanketed in white . . . it is truly beautiful and incredibly alien to a Texas gal.

Branduff and Niall should be returning to school and work tomorrow; although many side roads are still icy since they haven't been treated with grit. I believe that Branduff's school is still covered in snow, so the kids will be walking up the big hill to get to the campus.

In the meantime, enjoy the snow. I especially ordered it for my 50th birthday, which is tomorrow, 11 January!

If you want to view any of these photos larger, you can click on them to open another window.

Snow, snow, snow

2010-01-06T02:42:00.000-08:00

The SE of England has been blanketed by an unusually large amount of snow since nightfall. We are guessing that we have about 7 inches of snow in our back garden. And, it is still snowing!

My dear son Branduff is celebrating the fact that he's only managed to have one day of school under his belt for the new year! His school is still open -- they have boarders -- however, it's near to impossible to get there as the side roads aren't gritted. We have some poky little roads leading up to the school. In other words, he's not going to school today.

Niall is home, too, so it is a pleasant extension of the holidays.

I also recall looking up to heavens around Christmas and asking Him up above if I could have some snow for my birthday. I'm feeling rather blessed right now. LOL!

I have been trying to feed my birds, who are desperate to eat but finding the snow hard going. I was able to clear off the large ground food platform I have for the ground-feeding birds. The food tubes are all working -- not frozen! We've had lots of feathered guests this morning.

Doggy Sophie finds the snow exhilarating, and it's hard to get her back inside after a romp. Once she's in, she spends five minutes pulling little snow balls off her extensive fur!

As it is the Epiphany, or Twelfth Day, I need to finish putting away my decorations. How sad! The Christmas tree and twinkling lights look so lovely next to the white of the garden. So that's what I will be doing today . . . as well as making some borscht. Feels like the perfect weather for soup.

Mincemeat Pies

2009-12-16T01:55:00.000-08:00

Last year, dear son Branduff made mincemeat pies during his food tech class right before Christmas. Mothers were encouraged to make the pastry and mincemeat filling from scratch and send the ingredients to the school for the students to assemble and bake. However, the FT teacher said store-bought versions would be accepted.

Having never made mincemeat filling, I decided to buy a bottle of Robertson's traditional mincemeat filling and send that to school with Branduff.

I did, however, make the pastry from scratch, since I usually prefer to avoid eating wheat and gluten. My pastry is made with a combination of non-gluten flours. Pastry made this way can be more crumbly, but the flavor is actually quite rich and yummy.

Branduff's mincemeat pies, often simply called mince pies, turned out really well. Unfortunately, Niall and Branduff wouldn't eat them! I realize that mincemeat can be an acquired taste, and when we first moved here in 2000, I would avoid them. HOWEVER, I have discovered that I do like Robertson's mixture, probably because it is sweeter and more homogenized than some highly seasoned more "adult" versions of this traditional fruit and spice mix. I would think that the Robertson's variety would be something that the whole family could enjoy, the kiddos, too!

So perhaps I'm a sissy, and I like tame mincemeat. In fact, I not only like the Robertson's mincemeat, I love it!

This year, Branduff doesn't have food tech, so the responsibility fell onto me to make the now-traditional pies. As a twist, I decided to make some of my mincemeat pies with a topping of pecans. A friend had mincemeat pies at a coffee morning the other day, and some of them had pecans and almond toppings, and this made the pies unique and yummy.

Gluten-free pastry can be a challenge, so the tops of the plain pies look sort of like the dog's dinner. Fortunately, I think the pecan-topped pies look especially festive. And both varities taste very delicious, or as they say here, 'scrummy'! And yes, I am still the only one in the family who is eating them. Oh well!

I will grab a cup of tea and a mince pie and sit at the kitchen table and watch the snow come down (predicted over the next few days). Sounds lovely to me!

Merry Christmas!

Buggy Nibbles Attract Birdies

2009-08-15T06:53:00.000-07:00

I've recently moved a number of our feeders into a plum tree in our back garden instead of only using a feeding station at the end of the garden. The metal rod feeding station with hanging feeders was being inundated with piggy starlings, and they were keeping away the little song birds. We discovered that the tree provides a lot more cover for the smaller song birds, especially the Blue and Great Tits, and they feel much more comfortable to dilly-dally around and feed through the day.

The birds are quite happy to have me sit near them while they dart in and out of the tree and feeders. It's quite relaxing to watch them, and I thought you would enjoy a glimpse of their activity.

This video is of Blue Tits flitting in and out of the caged feeder containing Buggy Nibbles, which are little suet pellets with insects and meal worm bits - yum! They love them, and they also like the fact that the bigger birds (such as the starlings and pigeons) can't bother them at this feeder.

Hope you enjoy the video!

Cherkley Court & Gardens

2009-07-22T03:25:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, Niall and I finally made it over to nearby Cherkley Court & Gardens, which was the home of William Maxwell Aitken, (1879-1964), the first Lord Beaverbrook, and a former Member of Parliament and newspaper mogul.

I'm not sure when the house was originally built, but the website notes that it was damaged by fire in 1893.

In around 1910, the story goes, that Aitken was driving in the countryside with his wife and their friends, Mr. & Mrs. Rudyard Kipling, and they stumbled across the lane to home and a for sale sign. After Aitken took one look at the house, he declared that he would buy it. He rebuilt and restored Cherkley Court in the French chateau style.

Here are some of the photos we snapped while walking in the gardens.

There is a lovely cafe on the premises, and they have outdoor seating when the rain is off and the sun is shining. The day we were there, the skies varied from clear to gray, and back again. We started a walk with a very cool breeze, and half way into our walk, we ended up in a 15-minute rain shower.

We took refuge in one of the gazebos in the garden, along with two elderly English ladies out for a garden stroll.

They were interested in my American accent, and assumed I had come from thousands of miles to see Cherkley Gardens. I think they were a little disappointed to learn that I live just up the road! They weren't the least bit interested in Niall's very definitive Ulster accent. Ah, but he's used to being snubbed!

While at Cherkley, would took time to enjoy a cream tea, complete with fresh scones, clotted cream, Tregothnan kea plum jam, and Tregothnan tea. If interested in the Tregothnan products, please click here. We would have loved to sit on the patio, but the weather kept us from doing so. Maybe next time!

Click to read more about Cherkley Gardens and Lord Beaverbrook.

We decided to join up and become Friends of Cherkley, which will entitle us to return to the gardens anytime during the summer season. We find it fascinating to see how the vegetation changes through the year. Cherkley is open until 30 September.

Box Hill Village Fair 2009

2009-07-13T07:46:00.001-07:00

As the weather has turned more manageable again, I decided to drag the family to the nearby Box Hill Village Fair. This annual event featured some interesting activities, including Birds of Prey Demonstration and the always-anticipated Dog Show.

I suppose there were about 50 vendors of all varieties at the fair, too. It all made for an enjoyable day out as a family, and we all were a little bit sunburned when we came home.

We got there just in time to see a demonstration of the birds of prey, featuring Honey, a European Eagle Owl, which some say is the largest of all the owls. Even though it looks huge next to the other birds of prey, this particular owl, Honey, weighs between 3 and 5 pounds only! Goes to show you how powerful and strong, yet light, bird bones are.

I thought you would enjoy some photos of Honey and her handler. Yes, one of the photos shows Honey with a chick hanging from her mouth. This is the real world after all!

Not a bird of prey, but I had to attach a photo of the ever-growing Branduff, who reluctantly allowed me to take this photo. You can tell how enthused he is by his warm smile. LOL! Teens will be teens.

This weekend, we also managed to catch another elusive bird in our camera lens, although this one is much more placid! The Ringed-Neck Parakeet is such a beautiful green parrot with a lovely elegant tail.

I've learned to recognize the call as they fly overhead; we have at least five living in our neighborhood. However, they rarely come into to feed on our feeding station. Amazingly, we had two of them come to munch and investigate in our back garden on Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, the starlings are so annoying that they wouldn't give the poor parrots any peace, and they flew off after 10 minutes or so. During that time, I was able to snap some photos at a distance; hence, the graininess of the image. Still well worth the effort!

Still Hot!

2009-06-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

We've been experiencing a heat wave in SE England . . . they are expecting scorching weather until Friday, when we *might* have some rain.

Everyone associates England with rain, but we've only had one shower a week ago, and little else in-between. Ninety-plus temps in my garden wouldn't be so bad if we had air conditioning in the house.

Yesterday morning, I was thrilled to be shopping at my grocery store, Waitrose, because they have wonderful air conditioning.

I was feeling quite spent and dehydrated by the afternoon, and I couldn't wait to jump in my car -- with air conditioning! -- to pick up my son from school. I even thought about spending the afternoon driving around, just so I could stay cool. :-o

The NHS has advised us not to drink alcohol or TEA! What, no tea??? Impossible.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Summerhealth/Pages/Heatwaveredalert.aspx

I still drink hot tea in the summer, because I like it :-) and since hot drinks are supposed to have 'cooling' affects according to ancient Chinese traditions. However, I have also been making some decaf iced tea. The owners of this house are an international pair, and my large American-style side-by-side fridge-freezer has an automatic ice dispenser! This is almost unheard of in a UK kitchen. We also have a wine fridge -- how cool is that? I just wish I could crawl into it right now and cool off.

I added a twist to my iced tea yesterday . . . I filled my tall glass with ice and tea two-thirds of the way up, and then I topped it off with diet ginger ale. This isn't just any ginger ale . . . it's a Tesco's variety and it's called American-style ginger ale! The thing is, it's strongly peppery and gingery, unlike anything I've had in the States. The slight bubbles and the ginger background were wonderful in the iced tea and fantastic cooling agents in this heat.

Strawberries, Sunshine, Surrey

2009-06-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

We are now into summer here in SE England, but it honestly has felt like summer for weeks! It's been incredibly dry and warm as spring goes here. I've been out with the garden hose twice a day trying to keep my parched flowers and strawberries from wilting on the vine! The grass in many areas is no longer green; it's brown and dry, and reminiscent of the grass that they grow in Abu Dhabi! What is going on?

We've been finding it too hot to use the oven in the kitchen, so we've often been cooking on the grill outside. I even made a round of fajitas, which went over extremely well with fresh salsa.

As you know, most homes do not have or need air conditioning. Instead, you throw up the windows wide on the warmer days. Without screens on windows, we have to chase the occasional wasp or fly around the house with our special battery-operated fly zapper swatter, which Branduff and Niall think is a bit of fun!

Wimbledon tennis has begun up the road from here, and they are also having sunshine and strawberries. If you're looking for those moody, gray Wimbledon days, you won't have them this week. Bring the SPF50 if you're planning on being out for any time!

Back on the homefront, and we've been able to purchase really scrumptious strawberries from the stores for the last month. English strawberries are among the sweetest in the world, and I will sorely miss them when they are no longer in season.

I decided to plant up a few of them in containers at the house. They have been very healthy and happy, after I water them twice a day :-o. I have one type that grows miniature wild strawberries, which never seem to grow bigger than a 5-pence piece! I also have traditional size strawberry plants, which have given me, in total, about a carton full of fruit. I don't have anywhere to plant the strawberries in the ground, so I'm having to make do with the pots.

Pulling a ripe strawberry from one's own vine is such a treat! It is amazing how sweet they can be eaten right off the plant. We haven't had any problems with birds pinching the fruit, as they have quite a lot of seed in their feeders. However, there have been a few ants nibbling at some of the succulent berries.

Today I had strawberries and cream for lunch. I used a combination of thick Jersey cream and Rhodda's clotted cream to envelope my strawberries, which this time, came from Tesco's.

Here are a collection of photos from our garden.

We have a tree that is in full white bloom; anyone know what type of tree this is?

There's also a tall dahlia, which is a silky chocolate color with a hint of a chocolate scent.

I also have some hot pink petunias that are happily growing from pots on our patio.

Bird Feeder Update

2009-06-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

While we have been inundated over the last month with starlings and their fledglings, we also are fortunate to still have an array of Tits coming to the feeder. They particularly like to come in the lull between the starlings, who have a tendency to monopolize the feeders.

We've had a cute family of Blue Tits, with the parent teaching the three offspring to eat on the suet-filled coconut shells. Here is a photo of a Blue Tit taken today.

The coconut shells have been a real hit with all the birds. It's all they seem to want to eat these days! But their preferences change with the seasons, just as the types of birds that we have at our feeder.

Spring Photos of Branduff

2009-04-29T09:13:00.001-07:00

Branduff officially is taller than me, Mom. Once upon a time, I was five-foot-seven and a bit . . . I've shrunk to slightly below 5'7" while Branduff is about an inch taller than me! How soon it all happens!

When we were on holidays in the Lyme Bay area of England, I took these photos of Branduff in the lovely gardens of Forde Abbey.

Video of Robin Feeding

2009-04-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a little video of the robin feeding the fledglings.

It wasn't until Sunday that we notice the little heads bobbing up and down. The father and mother have been incredibly busy feeding their offspring, and it's nice to see three healthy little birdies chirping for food.

In the video below, you can see the heads of the little robins bobbing up and down!

Nesting Robins & A Thank You!

2009-04-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

I want to say a very big 'thank you' to both Dave and Catherine, who volunteered to come to our home during the Easter week to feed our wild birds while we were on our holidays in Dorset.

Before we left on our week-long trip, the birds seemed to be frantically feeding; apparently many were nesting and sitting on their eggs or feeding their fledglings. We worried about leaving the birds without food in the feeding station for a whole week.

Thankfully, my long-time friend Catherine was able to pop over while we were gone, and I was lucky to meet Dave through the Wildlife Aid Forum. Dave volunteers through the week at Wildlife Aid, and he lives not too far from our home. He also has a bird feeding station at his home and enjoys watching all the different varieties of birds that congregate.

This is why their contribution was so important. Check out these hungry robins who are living in a nesting box under the eaves of our Wendy house in the back garden.

I hung this nesting box in the autumn, and I had no idea if we'd have any customers. However, with the protection of the eaves of the little house and the food just a hop away, this is equivalent to a four-star hotel in the bird world!

Let me take a moment to plug Wildlife Aid, which is located in Leatherhead, Surrey, and is a wildlife rescue group made famous by the documentary program Wildlife SOS, which is shown on Animal Planet. Wildlife Aid can always use donations to help fund their very important causes and efforts. If you've been interested in seeing the premises, they will hold their annual Open Day on Sunday, 21 June. You can read more information on their site: http://www.wildlifeaid.org.uk/index.php

Again, thanks to Dave and Catherine for taking care of our birds while we were away!

Charity Shop Finds

2009-04-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

I popped into the local charity shop to make a donation of some of dear son Branduff's too-short trousers. That boy is growing! Already taller than me, and I'm 5'7".

While there, I had a quickie look around, and saw some things in a shelf that caught my eye.

First of all, there was a small Blue Willow patterned ceramic tea jar, which was a smaller version of one I bought about 15 years ago. However, this one was marked Mason's Patent Ironstone China. There's more information about the company here:
http://www.janicepaull.com/ironstone/ironstone.htm

But the item that I thought was a real find was the Fibre China Glass small sauce server or milk jug by Lawley's of Regent Street, London, W1. Lawley's were a chain of china and glassware shops founded by Edgar E. Lawley (1889-1977).

This particular vessel has a wide and shallow shape, which is not as typical for current milk jugs/pitchers and is a bit too small to be a typical gravy boat. I will probably use it for a combination of things because I just love the color, design and shape of this little server. I'm just not the type of person to leave an item like this on the shelf and unused. I do wish it was marked with a date.

If you are reading this and have more information on the pattern or date of the pieces shown, please leave me a message.

Thanks!
Kathy the teawife

Gone a bit potty!

2009-03-20T06:53:00.001-07:00

The weather in SE England for the last week has been amazing! The sun has been shining and we haven't had rain or cloudy skies for more than a week. When the weather is like this, I find it difficult to concentrate on anything else but being in the garden, digging in the soil, and potting up new plants.

Niall and I popped over to one of the local garden centers the past weekend, and I picked up a collection of brightly colored flowers, including anemones, ranunculus, pansies, tulips, and daffodils. I've attached some photos of some potted plants, which are sitting on our deck in the back garden.

Stop Animation - The Magician

2009-03-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

Branduff spent the afternoon creating a new stop animation video, "The Magician." You can see it here, but it's also posted on his updated website: www.branduff.com

The video is very clever with a wry sense of humour. Enjoy!

Magical Mystery Tour

2009-02-27T14:19:00.001-08:00

I decided to take a little adventure to find a craft store -- Crafts U Love -- which is located not too far from Gatwick Airport.

I was planning to go to the hairdressers in Dorking in the morning, and the craft store was supposed to be an additional 15-20 minutes down the road. I decided to try out my navigational system that Niall bought me in January for my birthday. Well, 1 hour and fifteen minutes later, I finally pulled into the craft shop! The navigational system had me turning on non-existent roads and going down lanes that were well out of the way.

On top of all that, I had accidentally depleted the battery in my mobile, and I couldn't call the craft shop for directions! Arggggh!!

The navigational thingy couldn't figure out exactly where I needed to go; a problem with these devices. So I reset it to the closest town to the shop, Charlwood. I finally stopped in Charlwood at a really lovely kitchen design store and asked for directions. The shop had wonderful wicker baskets, teapots and kitchen essentials, so naturally, I had to stop and browse for a while. After all, I am completely addicted to collecting tea mugs, and I found some lovely Dunoon bone china mugs called Waverly, by Jenny Matthews, with soft floral motifs featuring irises and roses.

The real life person in the kitchen shop -- not my navigational device -- eventually led the way to the craft store.

I mainly went to Crafts U Love because I was on the hunt for some Copic markers, alcohol based markers that are all the rage right now in paper crafting and rubber stamping. I've attached the cards I made trying out my brand new Copic markers; I definitely like them!

For such a small store, there were five ladies bustling around like crazy! I'm guessing they have a pretty successful online business because I was the only customer in on that day. Although, I know such stores are always busy on the weekends.

As my home address is plugged into the navigational device, it knew exactly how to get home! The return trip only took 25 minutes.

When I got home, I was shattered . . . still had to go and do the school run! Whew. What a day. Although, it was great therapy to force myself to get out of the house, experiment with the navigational tool, and go somewhere brand new.

And, I got my Copic markers!

Branduff, Sophie, and My Soap Box Message

2009-02-04T03:13:00.000-08:00

On Monday and Tuesday, the snow and ice were so bad in our Surrey area that it was too dangerous for children to go to school. Lucky for them, they had two snow days and stayed home to sledge, build snowmen, throw snowballs, and generally goof-off.

While Branduff was thrilled to have some time off school, he seemed less enthusiastic about playing in the snow. You would think that he would find it all a novelty and would be playing in the snow all day. Well, uhm, no . . . Sophie showed more excitement about the snow than Branduff.

He did manage to go out a few times. This little film clip taken on Tuesday shows him shaking snow from the trees. Dad told him that it helps to keep the branches from breaking. I think it was just an excuse for some fun.

Today, it's Wednesday, and the kids have gone back to school. Driving was still treacherous, and there were queues of cars along our road, gently maneuvering in the big round-about in front of our home.

Bran's morning school bus was cancelled, so Niall used his front-wheel drive car to take him to school, as well as go into his office. Yesterday, the snow and ice was so bad that he had to walk into work. The road up to Branduff's school in Ashtead was still frozen and not gritted, so Niall had to park the car in the village and walk Branduff up the road. Many of the kids will just not make it to school.

I shop for groceries online and have them delivered to my home each week; however, I received a call from Tesco this morning to say they weren't sending their trucks out today because the conditions were still too unpredictable. There are a lot more cars out today since more people are going to work and school.

I haven't received mail in two days. Our postmen are on bikes, and the conditions are seriously dangerous for bike riding. The pavement/sidewalks are like icy glass in most places.

The rubbish collection is cancelled for today, too, so my green bin will be overflowing by the time the guys come in a FORTNIGHT!@ I understand why they can't come today, but you would think they would make an effort to collect the stuff before two weeks.

There's been lots of talk in the media about whether the country could have handled this snow event better. There are two schools of thought: one says that we're a modern country, and we should be able to cope. The other side says this is a freak act of nature that only comes every 15 years or so, and we can't be expected to have the snow plows, supplies and other infrastructure to cope with rare natural events. Personally, we don't want to have to pay MORE taxes to ensure that such things are available for the next freak storm.

Having been through some bad episodes of flash flooding and hurricanes while living in Texas, I know that 'stuff happens.' Sometimes you just have to sit things out and wait for them to return to normal.

However, the government and media could have done a lot better about communication. In Texas, during bad weather events, the media are on 24/7 with news and weather updates, school closures, traffic notices, and other advisories. If you're lucky enough to keep your power in such instances, you can watch developments on television; if not, you listen to the radio. Here, the television stations carried on with regular programming. The news reports were more interested in placing blame for the uncontrollable events of the day instead of providing useful information to viewers.

On the first day of the snow-in, I was amazed that some people were desperate to go into work, no matter what. At one point, there was a 50-mile jam on the M25 motorway. Some official should have been on the news Sunday saying in very specific terms that only essential emergency personnel (such as nurses, doctors, police, firemen, planners, and others critical to the running of the city) go into work or school.

Communication is key.

And for the parents who were angry that schools were closed for two days, I say, "take a chill pill, dears." I find it incredible that some parents felt that allowing our kids to be off school for two days was teaching them to make excuses and be lazy. Oh, give me a break! Perhaps this event was reminding our children that we can't control everything and that things don't always go to plan, and that life is tough and difficult some time, and we have to all pitch in together.

Robin Glory

2009-02-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

I guess you're starting to think we're real bird fanatics, with all the bird videos we've posted! I guess we do really enjoy the English countryside wildlife. We certainly do our part to help our feathered friends and occasional furry mammal in the lean months, as well as in the glorious summer.

During the snows, the robins were particularly keen on getting their seed. We were able to get very close to them. During the warmer months, they are not very interested in the feeder, unless there are mealworms on offer. However, during the winter, they seem to be a more frequent visitor to our feeders.

Elusive Birds

2009-02-03T03:45:00.000-08:00

It's rare to see the elusive Long-Tailed Tits at our bird feeders.

The first time I ever saw these birds was in 2002 at our previous home in Surrey -- Keepers Cottage, near Chipstead in Surrey.

At the time, I was working away on my computer in the lounge, which had a lovely window to the back garden. I just happened to turn around and see that it had begun to snow, a rarity in April. Then this flock of about six to eight Long-Tailed Tits landed on the newly budding rose bushes. The hungry beasts frantically began to munch on the rose buds for about 2 minutes, and they flew away as quickly as they came.

The weather needs to be inclement, icy or snowy before I see these stunning birds. They seem to only come in groups, never singularly.

Since moving to Hillside, I've managed to spot the Long-Tailed Tit about five times, mostly during snowy and icy conditions. Trying to get a photo or video of them is near to impossible, as they come and go so quickly.

I was quite shocked I managed to get a video of these birds at in our front garden during yesterday's snow.

If you'd like to see some really lovely photos of Long-Tailed Tits, have a look at these photos by Andy Bright:
http://digiscoped.com/titsdslr.html

Snow in Leatherhead, 2 February 2009

2009-02-02T07:50:00.001-08:00

The weathermen had been predicting for nearly a week that the Southeast area of England would be hammered by a Russian front, bringing in lots of snow. As much as we could, we prepared for the snow, but I'm not sure anyone really expected to have a foot of the white stuff.

The video above shows some of our activities in the early part of the snow shower. The snow started coming down during the day on Sunday, 1 February, and it continued through the entire night. I would occasionally look out the bedroom window, only to see the street light glazed over with a veil of flurries.

Upon waking on Monday morning, my car was almost completely covered by the snow. Branduff was up and already dressed for school by 6:45. Considering we couldn't even get the cars out of the drive way or open our the gates on our property, we suggested he change into more appropriate clothes. By 8 a.m., we had verification that the local schools were closed. In fact, school is closed tomorrow, as well. Happy Branduff!

Looking into the back garden, I saw that the bird feeders were filled with heaps of snow! Once the sun was up, the birds were chirping and clamoring to be fed. It was a pity to have to walk through the pristine and sparkling white covering, but the birds had to be fed. I was amazed to see the snow came up to my knees. Thank goodness for wellies . . . they do a great job to keep your feet dry in the snow. Although, our feet became pretty cold!

Through the day, we dusted snow off the feeders and refilled the seeds for the particularly hungry birds. The robins were so insistent, that they allowed me to be within inches of them as I refilled the feeder. We even had the ever-elusive long-tailed tits at the feeders today. They only time I ever see them at the feeders is when there is snow and ice.

Our Border collie Sophie has only been a hot-weather dog, until moving to England. This winter is the first encounter she's had with ice and snow. The look on her face when she initially jumped into the foot-high snow was priceless! She has since figured out how to get around, and it seems to make her very frisky. Since she has a long coat, balls of snow seem to freeze onto her.

In the afternoon, Niall and Branduff went outside to play in the snow. As usual, Branduff was more interested in deconstruction (throwing snow balls) and Niall was more into construction (building interesting robot snowmen). I hope to have more video of their antics later.

The normally busy road in front of our house was mostly empty in the morning. A few more cars have braved the road this afternoon, as the tires have slowly melted the road snow. There have been many walkers and kids on rambles to see the sights. One poor soul was walking all the way to work at Sainsbury's in Leatherhead. I felt so sorry for him. Surely the store would have been closed? There were no buses to take him on his journey.

Some experts have said it's been 18 years since snow like this in the London and surrounding areas. Heathrow Airport has been closed all day and the buses and the Tube have not been running. It's eerily quiet . . . fortunately for us, the phone and internet lines are working.

Best wishes, from Kathy, Niall & Branduff McAllister

Snow in Fetcham, England

2009-01-09T06:28:00.000-08:00

On Monday, 5 January, we woke to fields covered in snow near our home in Fetcham, Surrey. The snow continued through the day, and was heavy at some points. The birds were frantically trying to fill up on seeds to keep up their energy levels. However, when the snow was heavy, only the woodpecker was brave enough to come to the feeder. Here is a Greater Spotted Woodpecker munching on the energy suet in our back garden.

Adventures in Cooking

2008-12-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

In England, Christmas is just not complete without the traditional mincemeat pie. I was never a big fan of mincemeat pies when we first came to England in 2000. However, over time, I have started to acquire a taste for them, if they aren't too heavy and overwhelming.

Dear son Branduff had to make mince pies during his food tech class at school. In England, food tech is a class that all students take. They usually split a couple of electives during the year -- IT/Computer, Food Tech and Design Tech. They feel that knowing how to cook is critical, and it is a blessing to have someone else teach your child the basics, safety issues, and how to clean up afterward. Although I love to cook, it's not always easy to teach Branduff, especially when I'm just grabbing a pinch of this and that. He also seems to think I'm punishing him when I ask him to clean up! However, if his teacher tells him to clean up, he does it without hesitation.

Anyway . . . . back to the mincemeat pies. Branduff took in a jar of Robertson's mincemeat, which I picked up at the local grocery store. I think I like this particular brand of mincemeat because it has an even and smooth flavor. Some mincemeat pies can be strong and unsettling on my tongue, but I do like the Robertson's. In addition, making homemade mincemeat can be pretty easy, although there are quite a few ingredients.

In addition to the jar of mincemeat, Branduff also had to take in the homemade shortcrust pastry. I'm not big into making pastry, so I needed a recipe and found one on the bbc.co.uk site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/shortcrustpastry_2801.shtml

I tend to bake gluten-free if possible, so I adapted the recipe to gluten-free flour. Branduff's teacher warned him that the gluten-free crust would crumble. However, as I'm the only one who would eat the mincemeat pies in this family, I decided it was worth the risk.

In class, Branduff learned how to roll out the dough and cut out pie circles and little Christmas trees to top the pies. Very cute! The first batch of pies, Branduff managed to burn, along with his arm (which is still healing, two weeks on!). The pies were still very edible, and since they were burnt, they didn't crumble as badly. The second set were under cooked, so they tasted really yummy, but they crumbled if a wisp of wind blew over them!

All in all, it was a good experience for Branduff. I liked all the pies -- crumbled, burnt or underdone! The Robertson's mincemeat pie filling was more tasty than most mince I've tried. Also, the gluten-free shortcrust is even more "short" and tasty than using wheat flour.

I'm going to ask Branduff to help me make some more at home during the holidays. I do think my tastebuds have certainly changed over the years, and I found these mincemeat pies very enjoyable and I was sad when they were all gone! There is something about the cold, the spice and the tradition that make the mincemeat pies more enjoyable! Also, it's very special to have them made by one's son!

Happy Christmas!

Kathy the teawife

The photo of the nutcracker is by Piotr Bizior, and you can see his photos on stockxpert (www.sxc.hu).

Christmas Greetings!

2008-11-27T07:00:00.001-08:00

I've been busy hand-making Christmas cards to mail to family and friends, and I also finally finished the family letter. Whew! The McAllister clan has been through a lot of changes since last year at this time, and I was shocked I could get all the information into a double-sided page! Here are some photos I took of Branduff for the Christmas letter.

Hope all of you are enjoying the preparations for this holiday season!

October Snow in England

2008-11-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

This Texas gal got quite a treat when it snowed at our Fetcham, England home on the night of 28 October. According to the recordkeepers, this was the first time it snowed in October in the London area since 1934! It wasn't very heavy or long-lasting, but it was historic.

Have a look at some of photos of the rare snowfall.

We had just planted these pink and white cyclamens. Fortunately, after the snow, they were thriving!

This lovely fuchsia plant sparkles in the dusting of snow.

This photo was taken from the back garden. The snow on the roof was the last thing to melt.

Our little Wendy house is just on the edge of the snow.

The rooftops of houses from our guest bedroom.

Ice crystals cling.

Palm trees in England?

And below, Sophie is just not sure what this stuff is! She was born and reared in Houston, Texas, with humidity and mosquitoes. She spent about a year in the desert conditions of Abu Dhabi. Now we have brought her to this strange new climate, filled with squirrels, foxes, wildlife, snow, falling leaves, cold temps, fireplaces, coats and other oddities!

Craft Storage

2008-10-25T10:03:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm still working on organizing my craft and office space! However, I wanted to share some of the ways I've stored my unmounted stamps. As my craft space is on one side of the living room, I've tried to make the stored craft supplies as pleasing to the eye as possible. I use both built-in bookshelves and also our large wooden display and book shelves to hold my crafting goodies.

The first photo above shows our large Arabic bookshelves, which we use to split the long living room into two. One area of the room is for watching television and lounging. Behind the bookshelves is my craft/study.

I use the built-in shelves on one side of the room to store some of my (mostly) Stampin' Up! sets. Before we moved from Abu Dhabi, I took all my SU stamps off their wooden mounts, stripped off the old adhesive cushion, and attached EZ Mount Cushion. I now use the stamps as unmounted with my acrylic handles. The stamps take up a fraction of the space.

These are other sets of stamps from other makers, and I have found different hard plastic containers that I like for displaying them. I have these sets in our huge wooden display and book shelves.

As you can see with all my containers, I have used my label maker to create white labels with easy-to-read titles and descriptions. I can quickly find the stamps I need when working on a project.

I have other storage containers for my embellishments, including these wonderful ribbon keepers that are made of leather. I love wicker baskets and I use them for a lot of my bits and pieces.

I would show you more of my craft area, but it's currently in a terrible state! I hope to eventually take photos WHEN THE ROOM IS TIDY! Don't hold your breath! Hah

Cosy Dining

2008-10-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

My friend Eve was asking about the Great Kitchen at Hillside (see previous blog) . . . which is truly amazing. The owners did a fantastic job of refurbishing the kitchen/dining area. They knocked down a couple of walls and installed underfloor heating, limestone tiles, granite countertops, wood cabinetry and amazing appliances.

In addition, the kitchen opens up into a very roomy dining area. The kitchen/dining is where our family spends most of its time. As a result, we tried to make the dining area as comfy and cosy as possible, including bringing in two wing chairs to head the two ends of the table. These chairs were nearly discarded by Niall, who has always proclaimed that they are incredibly uncomfortable. I begged to differ, and I saved the chairs, although he's always tried to give them away, including when we were preparing to move from Abu Dhabi.

Now, guess who sits at these chairs ALL the time? Guess who has brought his laptop computer to dining table to use in the evenings? And where does he sit? In the so-called uncomfortable wing chairs. And, guess who fell asleep in the wing chair the other night? Uh-Huh. That's right: Niall!

Autumn arrives

2008-10-16T02:11:00.000-07:00

It's been 1 1/2 months, and I do believe we are pretty much settled into our new home, Hillside. The move was quite difficult. We have so much stuff and the older homes in England have quirky spaces and storage. Even though Hillside has been refurbished, we were still struggling with where to put all of our furniture and things. In the end, we have managed -- although I am still working on my craft and office area to make it more easy to use and tidy up. Some of our things are in outside storage; we also were able to make a significant donation to one of the charities with a shop on the High Street in Leatherhead!!

After the move, two business trips for Niall, and a really bad cold for Branduff and me, we are finally getting into a rhythm. And guess what, the autumn has arrived! One minute, we were enjoying lovely warm temperatures while living in our temporary flat in the centre of Leatherhead; the next minute, we are in our Hillside home with leaves falling everywhere and cold weather creeping in. I must admit that the last week has been more of an Indian summer. It was a welcome respite from the cold and wet weather we were having the week Branduff and I were sick with colds! Alas, the weather is changing again, and it was noticeably chillier this morning.

Yesterday, I popped out my front door to snap some photos to share with you all.

One of the scariest photos is of a spider, which resides in the shrubs just outside our house gate. Branduff and I have been watching the progress of the web over the last few days while he waited for the school bus. We never saw the spider, until yesterday. It is big and ugly -- well, I think it is!

I haven't had a good time with spiders lately. I recently went to visit my friend Fanny, who lives about 20 minutes away. After stopping for petrol at a local Esso station, I climbed back in my car, started to drive up a very steep road, and felt something crawling around my bangs. Then I saw these legs dangling over my eyes, and I immediately flung the beast off my head. The spider in question scampered off under the passenger seat. I lost the gear on my car temporarily, and I was very lucky that no one was following closely. As I continued driving to Fanny's, I worried that the monster (about 3 inches in diameter) would come back out from the seat and land on my feet. As it turns out, Fanny is a great spider hunter, and she was able to hunt down the spider in my car, catch it with her bare hands, and throw it out of the car. Whew!

My question is: was this spider on top of my head when I went into the Esso? Didn't anyone see it? Did they think it was a hat? If you ever see someone with a spider on top of her head, please let her know.

Some of the photos of pumpkins and flowers are from Fanny's house. Aren't they lovely?

Enjoy the autumn tour.

Rubbish

2008-08-21T06:24:00.000-07:00

Rubbish.

When you live in England, you get the sense that the government wants you to have less of it. The local councils limit the amount of trash that can be collected kerbside, so it’s no wonder that parts of the countryside are littered with abandoned cars, rusty refrigerators and bags of household trash. The unsightly waste strewn along country roads or dead-end lanes can be distressing.

At our new home, household waste will be collected every other week. That’s right – every OTHER week or fortnightly. We are only allowed to have one medium-sized authorized wheelie bin. On alternate weeks, we are allowed to have one bin filled with recyclable materials. We may not allow the items to overflow the bins, or none of it will be collected.

We are desperately trying to figure out how we will manage with such limited rubbish collection. I’ve already lost sleep about the situation, and I haven’t even moved into the house yet! The current owners of the house asked for an additional bin, and they were flatly denied. The only exceptions are for extra large families or those with newborns (i.e. to dispose of the environmentally unfriendly nappies).

We’ve been trying to figure out our options to dispose of the waste greenly and legally.

1. Start a compost pile. We had two large compost bins at our old English home, Keepers Cottage, when we previously lived in England. Composting is a great way to get rid of the biodegradable waste products from the kitchen, house and garden. My friend Catherine said that paper is also wonderful in the compost pile. This is great; however, we now have a garbage disposal for food scraps.

2. Looks like we will be hand delivering bags of trash to our local council sponsored dump, if I can figure out where it’s located!

3. Buy a paper shredder so that it takes up less volume.

4. Buy a trash compactor to make the trash less bulky . . . but wait . . . that costs way too much money!

When we previously lived in the countryside, neighbors took care of their extra waste by burning it. Like dumping unwanted trash in the countryside, this option is hardly environmentally friendly. Now we will be living on the fringe of a village, and we won’t be able to get away with fires, anyway.

The easy answer would be for the council to authorize additional wheelie bins and more rubbish collection. Instead, they use the excuse of the “green theme” to justify not collecting trash and spending the funds. Very frustrating!

A Trip to Guildford

2008-08-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

One of the towns in Surrey that I’ve always enjoyed visiting is Guildford on the River Wey. It has lots of character and tons of shopping, which was the draw for me!

When we lived in Keepers Cottage near Merstham (from 2000-2002), I used to travel to Guildford every other month or so. The drive used to take about 45 minutes, utilizing busy motorways, including the always unpredictable M25. Now the drive is much easier as we are living off the Guildford Road, and it is a convenient 20 minutes away.

Even though I used to drive into Guildford somewhat regularly, I was very much out of practice. I decided our shopping needs were strong enough that I would brave the congested traffic in the city center of Guildford. The drive along the Guildford Road was really pleasant, and things didn’t become more difficult until we reached the city center and tried to determine which road to take to park. As it turned out, getting in and out of the parking was the only tricky part of the trip, and even that wasn’t too bad.

However, the weather was a bit of a challenge. Although the skies were blue with fluffy clouds when we left Leatherhead, we knew that rain and strong winds were coming at some time during the day. For those familiar with English weather, you know that it can change in the blink of an eye. We had been on the High Street for only five minutes when the sky opened up and buckets of rain started pelting us! I had an umbrella that already was on its way out; Branduff had no protection. My umbrella actually gave me little protection as the winds were so strong that the frame turned inside out and bent beyond repair. Oh well! I wouldn’t melt!

Branduff and I managed to find the Friary Mall in Guildford, and we ducked into it, along with the entire population of the town! We were packed tight in the mall, but at least we were drying out. While there, we did some critical shopping, including sports shoes for Branduff, who seems on a mission to grow right now.

Afterwards, we were able to sneak between rain showers to walk up the street to the Fridays for a bite to eat. Before we got there, Branduff found a toy store and made a beeline for the Lego section. Branduff and Niall spend a huge amount of time building Lego worlds; in addition, Branduff uses the Lego people to make stop animation videos. The stock clerk was busy working in the section, and she said, “If you wait 20 minutes, this entire shelf will be filled as we just received a huge order of new Legos.” Branduff and I looked at each other and decided to go have lunch and come back.

It was 12:30 p.m., and I expected a huge crowd in there, but it was eerily quiet, with only about six diners. The staff had time to kick back and watch the BBC coverage of the Olympics. Everyone was transfixed on Michael Phelps of the US as he had just clenched his sixth gold medal of the games at that point.

We returned to the toy store before leaving Guildford, and Branduff found yet another Lego set (featuring brand new Clones) to add to his collection.

All in all, we had tons of fun, even in the rain! It is great to live in a place that has so much complexity and richness that an outing to shop in Guildford is more fun than I ever had living in Abu Dhabi.

Waiting to Move

2008-08-08T06:23:00.000-07:00

I should be using this blogsite daily or nearly daily; however, I have been very bad about staying in touch! Now there seems so many things to tell you about that I don't even know where to start! One of the things that seems to preoccupy my mind is our home in Fetcham (see below).

We still have 3 weeks until we move into our new home in Fetcham. We plan to visit with the owners of the home tomorrow. They are also expats like us . . . wandering souls who go where their company takes them. They are bound for Trinidad in late August.

I must say that they have done so much with their home in the few years that they lived there. They have lovingly refurbished and renovated the kitchen, living rooms and bathrooms. I feel quite lucky to be able to live in their home while they are overseas.

It's only been recent that English homes have started to experiment with great kitchens and open living spaces, which is so typical of many homes in the United States.

Previously in old English cottages and homes, the bottom floor would be chopped up into individual "reception" rooms of a dining room, formal living room or parlour, and casual or family living space. The fact that this home has a wide open modern kitchen with Italian range, granite countertops and light wood cabinets is truly special. As you can see from the photo, there is an eat-in granite table; in addition, the kitchen flows into a spacious open dining room.

From the dining room, the hallway flows into the long expansive living area featuring two fireplaces made in Portugal. The property is stunning. The owners have the living room visibly (but not physically) split into two by using two separate suites of leather furniture. We plan to do something completely different, and I'll post photos when we're done. More than likely, I will have my computer in the living space (pictured below), overlooking the back garden.

Incredibly, we still are a bit short on space for our needs! A friend exclaimed, "You have five bedrooms. What are you going to do with all the space?" But I know we will struggle to find room for our bookcases, hutches and cabinets! At the same time, while we might have to lose some furniture, we will have to purchase a wardrobe or two.

Our master bedroom with ensuite bathroom is massive and stretches over the width of the garage, so it is really roomy and has massive IKEA wardrobes and storage. None of the other bedrooms have closets or built-ins, so we have to purchase wardrobes (which take up more space!).

Niall needs an office/study for his computer and library; he needs the space and quiet for concentrating on our finances and future! His office is a really good size and overlooks the back garden.

The guest bedroom is simply gorgeous -- it has a big brand new bathroom. If you are coming to visit us, you will find this bedroom a nice sanctuary and spa get-away!

Son Branduff will have a good-sized bedroom with views of the front garden and the extensive fields across the road. He also will have a very small second bedroom to use for his computer, digital piano and games. Fortunately, he has outgrown the age of big toys and games that require a gigantic playroom.

I was hoping to end up with a designated craft room, but that won't happen, unless I inhabit the lovely, lovely guest room. But where would all of you stay when you come to visit? I just hate to lose a guest suite, even if the room is occupied only a fraction of the time. In addition, I find I spend most of my time downstairs in the kitchen and living area, and I am going to try to set up my computer and craft area down there. I think I can do it without driving my family crazy with the clutter! This time, I won't have a little "boutique shop" in my house, the way I did in Abu Dhabi. There, I actually had a large metal display spinner and shelves to display stuff for sale. There are enough stamp and craft stores here that I don't need to have my own business; I'm going to be just an artist! Whoo-hoo!

As you can tell, I am quite excited about our September move into our new home. I stay awake at night, virtually placing furniture and determining how everything will look and function! For the time being, we are still in our two-bedroom apartment in the heart of Leatherhead. We've had lots of fun walking to local pubs and restaurants and strolling around the city center. We do miss our doggie Sophie very much (no pets allowed at this apartment complex), and we will be happy when we are able to collect her from the kennels, where she is "vacationing." We have visited her twice since we've been here, and she seems so happy and "full of beans." Even with her happy disposition, we know she'll be even happier to be "home."

And so will we!

Branduff's Stop Animation Creations

2008-07-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

Branduff has been spending time teaching himself how to create small videos. He stumbled across some freeware from MonkeyJam (http://www.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.com/monkeyjam/) that allows him to create stop animation videos.

He began messing around with the stop animation while we still were in Abu Dhabi. At that time, he had a very old Logitech camera, and the graphics were marginal. Still, his results were pretty astonishing to me, since I had no idea he was off in his room learning these computer graphics.

We knew he would have a lot of time on his hands once we moved to England this summer. After all, he hasn't had a chance to make new friends, and he's stuck in a two-bedroom apartment with his mom (while dad goes out to work each day). Honestly, how much fun can that be.

As boredom sometimes breeds ingenuity, we purchased a newer camera for him to use. His favorite objects with which to work are Legos, and he particularly likes creating medieval or space wars. Branduff also has become quite addicted to classical music, and he seems pretty good at picking the pieces with lots of drama and movement.

Below you will find two debut videos created by Branduff. Please leave a comment for him if you like his work. He'd love to hear from you.

This first video is Bob DIY.

This second video is a bit longer, and features the creation of the Alien Fighter. (Music credit to the Dr. Who Series 4.)

Our Move to England

2008-07-18T03:26:00.000-07:00

There is so much to share about our recent relocation back to England earlier this month. However, I’m just not sure where to begin!

When we arrived early on a Wednesday morning, we were greeted with rain. Not just a light misting, but a persistent cold continual and unrelenting wetness of heavy droplets. We had not seen rain since January when the desert land of Abu Dhabi had its yearly rainfall.

We were relieved to see that our airport transport had arrived to Heathrow to collect us and our nine pieces of luggage! We were relocating, after all, and it’s almost impossible to do so lightly. Each of us had two checked bags and one carry on; we were allowed three checked bags, so we were actually under our limit! Hah! Because of our heavy load, we had booked what’s often called a “people mover” or better known as a van. For some reason, our transport company sent TWO drivers and TWO cars instead of our requested van. In other words, we had to pay DOUBLE the agreed-upon price. I would have called the company to complain, but Niall didn’t want to bother.

I must admit that the two drivers were incredibly friendly and helpful, especially when we discovered that we couldn’t get into our apartment. The courier bringing the keys to our temporary apartment couldn’t find the complex! I thought couriers were supposed to know the lay of the land? One of our drivers stayed behind with us in the pouring rain while we waiting for more than an hour for the courier to arrive, which he did . . . eventually.

Once we were in our apartment, we had a full day to dry out and sleep in, which I did. Niall, as usual, was more interested in looking around our area in the center of Leatherhead. We are within walking distance of a Sainsbury’s supermarket, Argos, Curry’s, Blockbuster, our NatWest bank, and several restaurants and pubs. Niall especially likes the pub, which has a full range of real bitters and ales. We’ve since discovered that small local vendors set up in the Swan Square Centre to sell things like free-range eggs, homemade jams, and fresh veg and fruit.

On Thursday, we were thrilled to wake up to dry conditions and brightening weather. We met up with our relocation advisor, Kay, who would take us to a number of home properties in the area and drop us off at school appointments. The great news is that Branduff was accepted into a well-regarded private/independent school, City of London Freemen’s. We had started the application process back in February, and after exams and paperwork, Branduff will begin at Freeemen’s on 3 September. The school is located in Ashtead Park, which is within a stone’s throw of Niall’s offices!

Back to the house hunting . . . we began our search in the area in which we used to live in 2000. For some reason, the house selection was questionable; there was only one house in Kingswood that we all really loved, which we nicknamed the Swiss Chalet Ski Lodge. It was gorgeous and was being refurbished. It had a lovely garden and a pretty conservatory and really large bedrooms and newly redone bathrooms. The downside is that the kitchen was not refurbished; but they were willing to consider doing it to our standards. But the deal killer is that we determined that the house was way too far away from school and work.

That left us with one day – Friday – to find THEE perfect property for us to rent. The very first house we looked at that morning in a quaint village (called Fetcham) met the criteria. The last time we lived in England, we rented from fellow expats who had refurbished their home to “expat expectations.” Oddly enough, this house in Fetcham is owned by expats who had recently redone their home. The way they refitted the kitchen is just amazing, amazing, amazing. Below is a picture capturing a bit of the kitchen, which is the true heart and hearth of this home. They also refurbished their bathrooms with stone and modern fixtures. The house has sort of a light Scandia feel to it, with light wood and Burberry carpet throughout.

After we saw that home, we still had about 12 homes to view. However, as the day progressed, it was pretty clear that the first home in Fetcham was the one for us, and we returned around 3 p.m. to have a second viewing. In fact, we put in an offer on the spot, and we sat with the homeowners (our future landlords) and shared a beer! It was wonderful. They are such nice people. If they weren’t going abroad on their own expat assignment, I think we would have become really good friends. But they need to leave because we love their home!

We have to give them some time to organize themselves and move, so their home won’t be available to us until 1 September. Our sea shipment arrives from Abu Dhabi by the end of July, but it will have to sit and wait for us! Oh well! The house is very much worth waiting for. We have the option to live there for three years.

I must give a big call out to Kay for helping us snag this property. Her knowledge of the area is astounding! We never would have seen this house if not for Kay and her contacts. This rental home had not even been placed onto the market; we had a rare opportunity to see it before any other potential tenants. So, "thank you," Kay! You are super!

We will have a lovely guest bedroom set aside for our friends and family who come to visit. Fetcham is well placed between Heathrow and Gatwick. Perhaps you’d like to book your visit? We’d love to see you!

The Trials & Tribulations

2008-06-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to my Teawife Tales blog! This is the place to read about our upcoming move from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to Surrey in England. Once we get settled, I hope this blog will be more of an ongoing descriptive narrative of our life in England.

Apparently, when we move from the UAE to the UK, we will be on what is called a back-to-back assignment. The usual procedure after an overseas assignment would have been to return to the ‘home country,’ which, for us, is the United States.

Looking at it from the outside, I would have assumed that such a back-to-back assignment would be straight-forward and simple, without the stress and hassles of when we left Houston 18 months ago. At that time, we had a home in north of Houston (Spring, Texas) to sell, two cars, and lots and lots of paperwork associated with hurling a family of three over to the other side of the world.

Who in our family will forget listing our home on the market early to ensure that it sold, only to have it sell particularly early? We thank our lucky stars because we know that the home market has softened since we left, but its early sale meant we had to live in an apartment for a month. At least we could spend Thanksgiving with my parents during our “homeless” state. At least we sold the house. At least we got what we wanted for the price since this was before house prices started to decline.

Here in Abu Dhabi, we have less material constraints. We are in a home maintained by the company, we have one car, and very little of the paperwork has changed since the transfer from Houston. Our home is an apartment in the Bel Ghailam Towers on the beautiful Corniche near the centre of Abu Dhabi. I’ve included photos of Bel Ghailam Towers (above) and the view from our apartment (below). Well, it was the view until last year when they started to build a public beach. Our view has been blighted by a construction site for a full year. The initial operation – dumping tons and tons of sand to create a beach from nothing – was amazing to watch. Apparently, the beach will be finished in July, just in time for us to leave. Someone else will have the benefits of the brand new stunning view.

Now that the moving process is underway, I realize that I was completely delusional to think that there would somehow be less stress associated with this move. It’s easy to forget that the “normal” person doesn’t move as much as us expats. Incredibly, there are some over here in Abu Dhabi who have moved a lot more than us! I need to remember that moving home is up there in the stress categories with marriage, death, divorce, and child birth! Just because we are serial movers, doesn’t make this process any easier.

OK, I have admitted: We are addicted to moving. We like the adventure of living in new and different places. We get bored easily if we’ve stayed in one place too long. We worry when we retire that we will get itchy feet and feel the need to move again. Will we ever find “just the right spot”? Will travelling help to ease that need to pick up and move wholesale? Can I have just one home and be happy? Is my son American, English or Irish? Where do we belong? Where is home? These are some of the questions that expats ask themselves all the time.

I digress . . . I was talking about this move from Abu Dhabi to Surrey, England. Regardless of the size of the move or distance involved, there are always so many niggling things that come up. The most stressful of the issues has been finding a school for our dear son. We started that process even before we knew for sure that the transfer would go through. But I won’t go into that process at this moment, even though it keeps me up at night and gives my stomach pains!

At the moment, the most pressing issue has been the car. I love our car, which we purchased new only a year ago. At the time of purchase, we had no idea that our time here would be so short. In a year, we only managed to put on about 5,000 miles. The car is pristine. It should be really easy to sell this motor.

We were told to post car flyers at the two expat supermarkets, which we did. Instead of other expats calling us about purchasing the car, we were set upon by local used car dealers. These vultures came to look at the car and wasted our time and offered us real low-ball prices on the car. We then found out that the information was being passed around the dealers, and we were simply pawns in their amusing game. One would offer a price; when we would phone back to accept the price the next day, the price would be significantly lower. Then another dealer or middle man would appear on the scene, already aware of the price we were offered, and low-ball that price, and on and on.

While this was happening, we were trying to sell the car to our friends, and we were preparing to advertise the car in the local newspaper, the Gulf News. Our friends offered to buy the car, and we gave them a really deep discounted price because 1) they are our friends and 2) the used car dealers indicated we would never get a fair price. Then, the Gulf News Classified Ad came out. Wow! We were inundated with more than 100 calls. There were some serious offers – people wanting to pay full asking price.

In the end, I am happy we are selling to our friends, and it will be nice to know that they will be bee-bopping around in the car, which I treasured for a year. However, the pressure of the used car dealers here was overwhelming, stressful and confidence-shaking. Now that we have been through this process, I recommend to any expats in the UAE reading this: Sell to your friends OR place an ad in Gulf News FIRST! I have lived so that you may learn.

I’m not sure what I am doing writing this blog when I should be dealing with move issues. However, I sometimes feel it’s important to take a moment and express myself as a stress release.

There will be more stories about the move to come! Eventually, life will normalize and I hope to have interesting stories from England.

We're on the Move Again

2008-05-18T00:26:00.000-07:00

After a mere 1 1/2 years in Abu Dhabi, the McAllister clan of Niall, Kathryn and Branduff are moving . . . AGAIN!

We are happy to announce that we are returning to Surrey in England.

The packers will start the now-familiar process of packing us up around 2 July. We hope to fly out of here around in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, 9 July.

Our sweet Border collie Sophie will be coming along, too, of course. She's done her quarantine period while here in Abu Dhabi, so she'll fly over to England ahead of us and stay in the kennels until we can find a home.

I hope to use this blogspot to keep you up to date on my comings and goings in England. So come back often and check out what's new.

Kathryn the teawife