Peppa The Pig Or Panda?

What a whirlwind the last couple of weeks has been! We arrived home, with some Bausemums in tow to spread the addiction, and it was lovely to be back. It was also a relief to see our house still standing (phew! so I hadn’t left the oven or straighteners on).

We got over the journey my way, which was possibly not the most relaxing. Whilst Luke wanted to take it easy I decided to invite family over and cook them sunday lunch. Well, I might have got Luke to cook the sunday lunch. I just ran around the house with a duster, hoover and mop as I rearranged furniture to make sure everyone had a seat even if they were wobbly ‘emergency chairs’. I thought it seemed a bit unfair, as I had to keep a firm grip on the table in case my chair collapsed, that my parents’ dog had the best seat in the house! However, the food was scrumptious and Luke, somewhat surprisingly, outdid himself. It was certianly a nice way to get used to being home. It was so nice in fact that I will be sticking around a bit longer than Luke for my work and I can commute to Norway. Not a bad life! I get to choose when to go over and this maybe when it is warmer. There just so happens to be the Norwegian food festival in summer. Perfect!

This also meant we could get another addition for the family in the form of a mini panda called Peppa. Well, she is actually a collie disguised as a panda at the moment. A lovely fat panda. Well she is lovely most of the time but I have now spent all my time- even all through the night- following her around with kitchen roll armed with a disinfectant and anti-chew spray. I am like a highly trained agent. Trained in cleaning up poop. How glamorous!

I do worry my neighbours think I may have had a turn and are almost avoiding me. In their defence all they will see is me wandering about the garden, holding a blue lead, appearing to talk to myself, looking bedraggled and once ( by accident as I hadn’t realised) blindly staggering about in the early hours of the morning in my pyjamas. Whoops! One even commented that I looked well, in a concerned wary way, when we had our usual chat over the garden fence. I have made a note to now carry the puppy, very prominently, so that they know something is actually attached to the blue lead!

Although, at the rate she is growing they will be able to see her soon! I did get a bit of a shock when I found she had managed to get up to the third step as I almost stood on her. There is now an assortment of furniture dotted around the house in strange places to stop her from going anywhere she can cause mischief. The post lady certainly looked a bit bemused as I clambered over a footstool, underneath a lamp and moved an upturned bench to answer the door. I explained about the puppy and she gave me a knowing nod. Alas, the odd furniture arrangements don’t seem to be working. It turns out, she can skilfully jump over a bench, leap (or elegantly roll) off steps, crawl behind her den, tangle herself up in curtains and go under cupboards. I am slowly getting her trained to avoid any mishaps. So far we have sit, paw and ‘come here’ sorted (unless she gets too excited and takes a flying leap at me instead of sitting). Now all I have to do is apply the same techniques to Luke and see if I can’t get him trained as well!

 

Bugs, Skirts and Going For A Spin

After a rather hectic weekend we decided to have a relaxing trip to the cinema on Monday to watch One Day. It was an enjoyable watch although I am still a true bookworm at heart. I would recommend going to see it but maybe read the book first, well I am glad I did it in that order. Once the film had finished the relaxation was over as I spotted a golden opportunity. There was a huge, dark, empty car park and there was the car just waiting for me. I made Luke hand over the keys and I took the car for a spin. I felt it was about time the poor car got a half decent driver and I would like to say I floored it and gave the Stig a run for his money but that would be being a little economical with the truth. It appears that I am too careful for that but now I can certainly appreciate why Luke likes to speed off at lights in this car. I just wish I knew what it felt like to drive it in a straight line as the circles weren’t so good for gaining speed but I think this was Luke’s intention.

I was brought back down to reality the next day as I found myself  sat sewing on the balcony. Yes, I am still sewing the quilt. I hope it is worth it! Although I may be so paranoid it will get damaged that I will have to frame it instead. If I can find a frame big enough! I have also branched out into making a few skirts (please see my making, baking and growing page). They turned out ok-ish, after an emergency phone call to my Nana to see how exactly one can make a button-hole. The skirts are a bit long as my sister highlighted when she pointed out that I do have legs but they can’t be seen in the skirts. However, I guess it is better to be conservative! At least they have not turned out like the plants I was trying to grow, which are now  definitely dead. I’m afraid I am not living up to my family name. I then had to make a hasty retreat when a huge bug, that sounded like a mini helicopter, descended on my balcony and stayed there for the next couple of hours. Once I realised it hadn’t flown all the way up twenty-two floors to attack me I sat back down and continued sewing but ensured I kept a beady eye on my bug-like companion. I still can’t believe how big it was! Terrifying.

I was soothed later on by a nice meal that Luke cooked for me. This consisted of mash, asian flavoured Tilapia and green beans. It was lovely and reminded me of the cookery class we went to. Then I got some bad news. The next cookery class (meant for tonight) has been cancelled! It was skinny sweets themed as well. I had been looking forward to that all month. Oh well, I shall just have to try to bake something else tonight but I still feel a little of that bitter disappointment when you have eagerly anticipated something and then it gets called off. Maybe I am being a little selfish though as it is not the instructor’s fault she is ill! So now I will go to be calmed once more in the presence of giant crocodiles and dinosaurs, before nipping to the shops to find something to cheer me up. However, there is not a lot you can do with a chicken that could compare to making lots of desserts. Still, I shall have to make the best of this evening. Maybe that should mean frequenting my favourite frozen yoghurt place?

Related articles

• I made an actual, real life, wearable skirt! (thefledglingseamstress.wordpress.com)
• A Walk In The Park (lhgardener1988.wordpress.com)

 

Hooray for the Parade.

Now, I can’t say that I have started many bank holidays standing on my balcony and being able to see floating Panda’s but that’s how my first one in Indianapolis has started. Don’t worry, the metropolis of Indiana is not being invaded by giant, floating animals. It’s parade time! In fact, we were almost flattened by said Panda as it decided to have a lie down, during the parade, when it got to where we were sitting!

But we didn’t let that stop us getting into the true parade spirit.

 We were guided to our seats by three or four mini scouts as Luke thought it was doing our bit for the parade because the scouts will have felt useful, which they were but it felt a little bit strange to be escorted down the parade route. However, there were also the amazing police officers aswell so don’t worry parents we are perfectly protected here!

The atmosphere was lovely. There was so much to see in the parade and it was a whole two hours of immense entertainment. It was fascinating to watch all the different bits, including the advertising helicopters circling around overhead. There were lots of floats aswell and all of the Indy 500 drivers came along in the parade row by row. It’s not quite like the Bramhall fete that I used to watch, sat outside Woolies, when I was younger.

The people we were sat next to were very friendly and gave us lots of information about the parade ,which was very kind of them. One lady on our left has even promised Luke a free lunch as her cousin is the manager of the Rolls Royce Deli! All Luke has to do is ask for Anna apparently so we shall see on Tuesday. The sense of community is massive here and it felt like everyone in Indianapolis had come out for the parade with a cool box of goodies in tow (I was beginning to regret leaving our picnic in the fridge as we thought we wouldn’t be hungry enough after having breakfast late. Yes , that right, I got to get up at 8 today! I am spoilt) Luke also felt that his community was sufficiently represented!

I have never seen so many marching bands in my life! and they all appeared to be wearing sparkly baby grows for adults. I’m not quite sure why though. I felt very sorry for some of the band players carrying Tuba’s in near 80 F ! Luckily, they had people running up and down the lines squirting them with water, although it did  make some of them lose some of their timing. I can imagine that it is very distracting getting a face full of water sprayed at you as you’re trying to play a musical instrument. Especially a brass band instrument.

After the parade we went to the airport to see if we can swap the car (nooo!) and as Luke was talking to avis I got accosted by every drivers worst nightmare on a Segway. That’s right, the traffic wardens go around on Segways. Unbelievable! and let me assure you that they are much more frightening when they can move quicker and you can’t hear them coming. Luckily Luke, after running around different floors of the car park looking for our car,  came back and we  are keeping the Edge

We then ventured to Weber’s bar and Grill where we had our first proper meal out and the portions were huge! I’m talking a whole chicken breast as part of a starter plate! Each!. Needless to say, we didn’t manage to clear our plates (sorry Dad!). Even worse than this was that I did finish my drink. Big Mistake! As, like the food, you are given more alcohol in your drinks. I should have listened to the alarm bells that went off  in my head when  I asked for a double and the waiter told me I was his ‘kinda gal’.

A few drinks later, with Luke’s colleague Daniel from Tower 3, and I then banished myself to the sofa as I couldn’t stop my head from spinning. This seemed like the best plan of action. American measures are not my friend!

 

Let them eat cake. Cupcakes.

I ventured out again today to pick up our tickets for the Indy 500 Parade. We have a road-side seat and everything .

This time,  I was doing so well on the directions! Until I decided to take a random left as I feared I was edging my way out of downtown and possibly into the areas where I have been specifically told not to go to if I can help it. It is almost as if there is an invisible box around Riley Towers and I keep bumping off the sides instead of getting around smoothly! You would think the block system would help but not so much. I even, half heartedly, took a google map with me again. Maybe next time, the third time, I will get lucky and find where I need to go by using them. After asking a few people for directions I ended up at the Monument Circle twice by accident and, incredibly, from two completely different entrances (although that wasn’t too bad as there were lots of men in uniform for the Memorial day ceremony, and women of course). I was then directed back to the spot where I had taken the wrong turning and informed all I needed to do was cross two more blocks and turn right. I had been so close!

After having a lovely conversation with the very helpful ticket man, well when you don’t have a job  it’s these little conversations that provide the anchor for human interaction. I think I have turned into one of those people who bars/shops can’t get rid of because all I want to do is stay and have a chat. Later on, I even had a fumbling with quarters ‘moment’ at the supermarket and didn’t pack my bags quick enough! Oh god, Indy has aged me already! Must find something immature to do.

After informing the lovely ticket man that we call ‘Soccer’ Football and, no, I do not support Manchester United. Only true Mancunians support Manchester City (Sorry Andy and Jude!). I decided I needed cheering up from my disastrous but, as it turns out, quite enjoyable extended walk. I couldn’t think of a more delightful way to do this than a little outing to The Flying Cupcake Bakery to pick up a friday treat.

My word! If I could ever make a cupcake that was a quarter as good as the ones in that delectably stripy shop then I would be ecstatic. The menu was far too crucifying for the diet. I chose the ‘Gime S’mores’ for Luke

and I just couldn’t resist the  ’Peanut Butter Blackout’.

Heaven!

However, my heaven was disrupted when the handle on my Marsh supermarket bag decided to give way and snapped off my shoulder, dropping my shopping all over their floor. Thankfully it wasn’t the bag with the glass jar of pasta sauce, one can only imagine the scene if that had smashed! Just imagine the headlines if  the red , tomato sauce spattered  all over the perfectly formed cupcakes.I would have been forever known as the cupcakes murderer of Indiana.

 Yet, at that particular moment I wished I had dropped to the floor and it had swallowed me up  just as long as the cupcakes, preferably the chocolatey/ peanutty ones, came with me. I was so embarrassed! , which wasn’t helped by the fact that the staff were not particularly empathetic and did they offer to help? oh no. So  looking like a bumbling, mad Englishwoman (especially  as my hair had gone wild in the humidity) I mumbled a feeble thank you and, with the little fragments of what was left of my dignity, I excited the bakery.

I then struggled with another two bags as I had to work out a way of making it home. I had to do all this whilst keeping my precious cupcake box intact.

It was like an intelligence test. Luckily, although not especially intelligent, I am unstoppably determined when it comes to keeping cupcakes safe. well, that is until I eat them. I made it back to Riley Towers triumphant! Then , just as I made it to the kitchen the handles on the other bags broke. So it appears that they are not quite the re-usable bags they crack up to be.

I did begin to feel much calmer after my peanut butter goodie. It was yummy and helped smooth my bruised ego from the shame of that ‘shopping incident’. What also made me feel better was that Luke had also managed to get lost on his way home. Using a Satnav! hehe. I feel that my smugness has reared its ugly head again.

 

This isn’t just any farmers market; This is an Indianapolis original farmers market.

Well, I am almost adjusting to my new wake up time of quarter past 5, which is far too early in my opinion! Luke starts work at 6 (Sob ) and we always try to have breakfast together. This may be one of those traditions I wish I hadn’t started but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Maybe I will get away with pretending to sleep through the alarm? I shall schedule a practise fake snoring session for tomorrow. I may also have to practise my tornado evac plan as there are more severe storm warnings for today. I spoke to the gent on reception and he said not to worry as the towers are very solid ( well you would hope that they would be!) but if I am worried I can come and stay with them downstairs. However, he said if the sirens go (and apparently you can’t miss them when they go off) I should get out of the building very quickly, so they can’t be that solid can they? I have placed my duvet by the front door just to be prepared.

There is one good thing, the only thing, about early mornings = an empty gym. No-one else is insane enough to be up at that time and I don’t even have a job to get up for! After the gym, and after seeing some shoots emerging in my mini-vegetable garden ( very exciting news I know), I decided that today was definitely a day for seizing.  Therefore, with my trusty Google map directions securely in hand, I bravely ventured out of the comfort of Riley Towers. I never go anywhere without  them in order to avoid a repeat of a previous incident when I had to ring Luke to get him to locate me and direct me home after I had taken a wrong turning. Mildly embarrassing, to say the least, as I had lived in Newcastle almost three years by then. I now find that a map is always necessary, especially in new places and in foreign countries.

I tootled along to the first summer market for Indianapolis‘s local farmers hoping to seize some culinary goodies. Unfortunately, the maps really didn’t help me so much because I had no idea whether I was facing North or South and when are you actually allowed to cross the road? Therefore, I formulated a way of getting myself to the market sans Google. This included making sure I always had someone to, subtly, follow across the various roads. This resulted in some very sporadic, sleuth like zigzagging across the roads. Oh well, that way I got to see the shops on both sides of the road. Although, some poor person actually asked me for directions! so maybe I looked like I knew where I was going? They had no hope. Thank goodness, for me, that I  spotted this sign though!

Next time, I am taking a compass and possibly a rulebook of how to cross American roads.

Once I had, finally, made it to my destination I was very pleasantly surprised.

There were lots of cute, free-standing stalls filling a street outside of the indoor city market. There was far too much choice! The stalls ranged from oils, wine, apple cakes, flowers, coffee and, of course, doggie treats (www.merchantcircle.com/business/Bags.of.Wags.Dog.Bakery). Everyone was so nice and friendly although I did get a few odd looks when I began to talk to the stall holders. I am hoping it was due to my accent and not that I had been walking around the market with something on my face. However, after the initial hello I got chatting to some lovely people. I was even given a purple asparagus (yes, purple!) as a present by one vendor to go with the green ones I had just brought! I did wonder why he asked me to wait after I had brought my bunch, stopped his lovingly repeated spray of water onto the remaining asparagus so they didn’t get dehydrated, disappeared into the back of his lorry and came back out with this purple stick.  It is , quite possibly, the nicest vegetable I have ever been given!

The free things didn’t stop there, oh no! I also got given a sample of ‘chips’ from one vendor when he heard I had just moved here. I say ‘chips’ but it’s what the American‘s call crisps, queue a mini debate about this. I am now going to use being English everywhere to see what other freebies I can get . I am also very proud to have now been officially welcomed to America by its true ambassadors= the markets stall vendors of Indianapolis, who really did say “welcome to America”, a lot.

I did actually spend some dollars too, it wasn’t just a free market. I brought some local mustard; an apple cake with crumble on top, which is the Americans genius idea of half apple pie/ half apple crumble for those who can’t decide which one is better. Let face it, it is a tough choice;

and a croissant for Luke’s breakfast, although whether he gets to eat it will depend on how generous I am feeling at 5:15 tomorrow morning. After my seizing of various bits n’ bobs, I thought I would take the opportunity to grab a coffee, sit outside and enjoy the peace and sunshine. The peace was momentarily disturbed by a huge screeching noise and then police cars pulled up near the entrance to the market. I think there may have been an accident but I’m not sure. The emergency services are completely different to the British ones and they do tend to go all out , even over little accidents.

Nevertheless, I got my cup of Java (aka coffee) from a lovely little stall (http://www.bjavacoffeeandtea.com/), which was actually individually hand-filtered whilst I waited.

Very Impressive! I’m looking forward to getting an iced coffee next week after the lady who was served after me highly, and repeatedly, recommended them. In fact she was so eager to get her iced coffee that she proceeded to knock it all over the table in her excitement. When I get one , next Wednesday, I will aim to keep the liquid in the cup. Unless drinking it off the table is actually the way to drink it? Surely not…

I took my coffee and found a table to sit at, near to a Tamales stall. I had absolutely no clue what theses Tamales were. I was intrigued as they looked very popular so I researched it when I got back  (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamale). I wish I’d got one now! My table was surrounded by lots of different characters. Some looked a bit disheveled; some were escaping the office; some were with their children; and ,thankfully, there were some other happy loners like myself. It was a perfect spot for being able to watch the live band in glorious sunshine –  Acoustic Catfish. Yup, Catfish (http://www.acousticcatfish.com/). They even had two big cuddly catfish toys at either side of the stage. At least I think they were cuddly, and toys. I really didn’t want to get too close to inspect them incase the band did something horrifying, like speak to me or get me up on stage. They were fantastic though, proper old school blues/ rock n’ roll. They were even wearing cowboy hats, playing harmonicas and I could not believe it when a lady walked past and completed my shameful stereotyping by yelling ‘Ye’ha’ as she stamped her foot. Love it!

After feeling my experience of the market was now truly complete, I went in search of some emergency suncream as I had enjoyed sitting out in the sun a bit too long. I then took myself, and my pink arms, back to Riley Towers. Proud of my mini accomplishment of getting myself to the market and back without too much incident. Except for a slightly squashed apple crumble/ pie in need of some major reconstruction (sorry Luke!) 

 

Here I go again on my own

So, first day by myself in Indianapolis. I would say that I packed Luke off to work like a proper ‘housewife’ but alas, all did not go to plan. I did make him a packed lunch,

But subsequently forgot to hand it to him, so it is still sat in the fridge. Oh well, saves a job for tomorrow but there goes my housekeeping Kudos!

Breakfast was considerably more successful. We even have a kettle now and its a cute whistle one you put on the hob. Hardly anyone has an electric kettle here!

What wasn’t so cute was my peach yoghurt. It looked like it could, quite possibly, glow in the dark. This could be because it is a light- low-fat yoghurt instead of just low-fat. God knows what is in that!must remember to stick to natural next time.

We also watched’ Good Morning America‘, which is very different to ‘Daybreak’ I can tell you. There are adverts literally every five minutes. Usually quite funny ones, although I am not quite sure if they are meant to be funny. For example, there is a great advert about ‘Lightspecs’. These are amazing glasses with two spotlights attached to either side so you can shine them on whatever  you are looking at. I am almost tempted! and I don’t even wear glasses!

There is also a constant storm update every five minutes on every news channel. You get to hear from a real storm chaser too! Yes they really do exist! Indiana has the threat of high storms, as well as high temperatures, for the rest of the week. So I have essentially left a milder, wet England for a sweltering, wet Indiana. ummm…

Saying that, the storm last night was incredible with huge fork lightning. All the building around ours, and including ours hopefully!, have lightning rods attached to the top so you could see them all getting hit last night. Theres a storm going to hit again today. In fact, the T.V. was just interrupted by the National Weather Service,  with a severe storm warning and advising people to stay on the lower floors in their houses due to 70 mph winds; dangerous quarter-sized hailstones and deadly lightning. So I’m nice and safe on the 22nd floor! I’m hoping moving away from the windows is just as effective? (http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/weather/wdt_alert/Severe-Thunderstorm-Warning_54555656)

Due to being a lady of leisure, I am having to organise hobbies and things to keep busy. So what does a British lady of leisure do in Indianapolis? Well for today I am going to stick to the safety of Riley towers. I have been to the gym so I feel like I have been outside but I will ease myself out into the rest of Indy, and civilisation, during the week. It will take a while for my sense of direction to recover from the shock of moving to yet another unfamiliar city! Now, all I am aiming to do is learn a spot of French (idealistic I know) and then assemble my Kids Miracle-Gro ‘Ready , set , Gro Terrarium’.

Yes, I know, It is a kid one but I was quite restrained by not buying the Disney version, so it’s not too bad! Well, seeing as I don’t have a job, I may as well live up to my surname and become a true Gardener. You may think this is silly, but I will have the last laugh (here’s hoping) when I can pick Eggplants (Aubergine), Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Sweet Peppers from my balcony. Albeit in tiny child size portions.

 

It really was a fascinating project for the afternoon.

You put a powder into a cup;

Add water and it grows on by itself! Magic and I can see why it is so appealing to kids!

Once soil is grown, add seeds;

Then you get your own sticker of the vegetable into the pot and voila.

Now all I have to do is wait…but I’m guessing ‘ Miracle Gro’ doesn’t mean that they will be ready for dinner tonight.

 

Civil war then a spot of brunch.

We have just returned from a lovely day on the prairie ( very  Laura Ingalls Wilder). There was the old-fashioned homesteads, which I very nearly fell out of and flat on my face after following luke off the veranda! I have made a mental note to never again blindly follow Luke, especially not in oversized jeans when there are nails perilously jutting out of floorboards. For that particular chestnut I almost got my own back …

But I thought no, I may need him.

There were also camps and lots of characters walking around (including  Abraham Lincoln !). However the peace on the prairies was soon disrupted by a huge civil war re-enactment to celebrate the 150 year anniversary. There were Confederates and Unionist all over the place trying to avoid the cannons, horses and each other! It was fascinating to watch and, as it is America, it was on a very grand scale!

I am now having to swot up on my civil war history after it dawned on me that, although I have learnt about it, I could not remember much past watching ‘The Patriot‘ with Mel Gibson. Even this did not help. However, it was fascinating to remember that modern-day America (since Columbus ‘found it’) isn’t very old and the people who were sat behind us were talking about how their grandfather fought in the civil war.

After we got back there was a mini modern-day civil war being acted out underneath our ‘garden terrace’ between the police and ticket touts. The police were using the novel way of informing the touts, via a megaphone, that if they did not cease selling tickets they would be arrested. We had a great vantage point from our balcony, whilst eating our very first Reece Peanut Butter cup, and watched the comical scene of the police car informing the touts to stop; the touts appearing to stop, but really they moved around the block and continued selling ; the police car going the other way round the block and then the cycle began all over again.

I am currently waiting for Luke so we can go out to Brunch. It seems that, even in America, there is no escaping the F1. Even if the commentators aren’t as funny, in my personal opinion, or really know what they are talking about (according to Luke). All I can hear is the ginormous freight train that goes through Indy every couple of hours (I know this because I have been delightfully woken up by it every night, every two hours, since we moved here. Thank god for my emergency stash of pretzels and soymilk which I swear are helping me get back to sleep. Honest!); a random saxophonist; lots of whirring sirens that sound like someone whooping when they first get going and the church bells. Apparently everyone goes to church on Sundays so we have made a mental note to do our grocery shopping every sunday morning. Whilst fellow Hoosiers will be worshiping in the various churches. I shall be able to visit my new place of worship – The Whole Food Market (again, sorry Nana!).

We explored Massachuset Ave for a bit and found lots of bars,restaurants and even free newspapers! in proper post boxy looking containers not just stacked in a metal storage unit thing.

My Favourite thing was the cupcake bakeries. I know where I will be returning to tomorrow, and possibly every day whilst Luke is at work, it’s a hard life I know. By far, the best thing was the bakery for our canine friends.

And I thought that this was extreme, but when we got to our brunch destination (Good Morning Mama’s- http://www.goodmorningmama’s.com) there wasn’t just a grocery or bakery for these furry friend, oh no, there was a hotel! so if they decided they had enough of endless walks and dried biscuits they could escape it all.

My Word! Although after seeing the amount of roadkill, of all sizes and species, I think that the animals of America might be in need of some respite.

The brunch was amazingly good! Luke even got biscuits and gravy! together! for breakfast!

Now I know that I love mopping up leftover gravy with a piece of bread, but this is pure culinary genius! Although it may not be pretty, and could quite possibly look like the dishes served across the road at the doggie hotel, this little dish could still give Heston Blumenthal a run for his money in the taste stakes! The atmosphere was great too, it was packed and there were lots of sporadic bouts of laughter from various tables.  Also, the interior and the servers (waitresses to us Brits) were very yellow and sunny.

I think this will be a regular occurrence on weekends and next time I’m having the pancakes! For now I am safely inside , with peanut butter and jam ryvita, just watching the beginnings of what will be a huge storm.

 

Men and Motors

The male species seem to revert back to their childhood when it comes to cars. I always feel that men and their motors behave very similar to boys and their toys.

Luke is no different, especially now he has the new car to play with. Oh how it has amused him. He now has some top things he consistently finds amusing about this car,and that never fail to bug me.

• The novelty of the driver seats ability to move forward and backward automatically when you switch the engine on or off. Luke tried to see exactly how far forward the seat would go  and we found out that it did , indeed, go pretty far. As illustrated beautifully in Luke’s own words  ’Ah it’s crushing me!’ as he tried to push against the dashboard to stop this horrible fate. On hearing this I found trying to look concerned, and not smug, was the hardest part as this particular party trick lost its amusement after, roughly, the hundreth time. I spectacularly failed at this task later on though when I wasn’t able to keep the smugness off my face after he managed to get his hair gel pot wedged into the drinks holder.  Yes really, and I thought men were meant to have better spacial awarness! It even had the lid on so it is not like he can convert the drinks holder into the cars very own hair styling unit.

• Another amusing thing, according to Luke, is how big the boot really is and that must explain his sudden urge to put one back seat down (automatically of course) and see if he could fit in the back by lying down lenghtways. He said that this was being useful for when we went on road trips. However as we were in a field , surrounded by lots of people parking their cars, I didn’t deem this as a particularly useful, or appropriate, activity. I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to close the boot (don’t worry his feet were securely in because as it turns out the back of the car really is huge) , leave him lying there, and head of onto the prairie by myself.

• This is possibly the BEST thing about the car, ever! When you lock the car, not only do the lights flash but it beeps! Yes , beeps! So now every time we go anywhere, and that really does mean everytime and anywhere, I not only have to put up with everyone else car beeping, but Luke ensures our car keeps beeping constantly untill we get into the place we were heading for. We have had a few strange glances whilst walking up to the  supermarket entrances I can tell you. However, men, like boys, seem to have an abundance of fascination levels with anything cars can do. No matter how many times they have seen it.

• Lastly , the size of a car is a point of wonder and marvel to all men and must be compared to other cars to see how it measures up..

.

Yes , I really did have to demonstrate that our car is bigger than a mini.

Yet, with all my quandarys about Luke’s love for the car. I am very pleased that he has got a car he likes so much and I am very grateful for all of the driving he does for us. Plus, I think I have manged to find another friend for him to spend quality time with.

 

The perils of drinks out and salad.

I have just had a lovely, grown up weekend spent in the countryside (at a friend of my partners) in a very oldy worldy and beautiful house. Picture Shakespearean as it is the village where Shakespeare’s mum lived (allegedly).

 However , I am still trying to redeem myself after thinking it was a perfectly good idea to go on a night out after only eating a bowl of lettuce all day. Needless to say, after just a few drinks, I was ready to be put in a taxi and taken home ! Luckily , I was quite a contained little drunk person so not too many people noticed. Yet, for my partner it was a different story. It became his responsibility to co-ordinate getting home , which was down a very windy and bumpy road (perfect!); Getting me to release my vice like grip/ hug combo around the toilet and get me to bed fully clothed before everyone else came back. Thankfully he managed all of this, with a lot of protest from myself as a refused to leave my new favourite place in the world for that night aka . the bathroom. I also showed a complete lack of remorse for ending his night out early and instead cried because I didn’t like the feeling of feeling sick…I think that the alcohol temporarily affected me priorities, as well as my co-ordination. I did, however, wake up with huge panda eyes and my tights on underneath my PJ’s .I think the talents of my boyfriend stops with the little details, like using face wipes or removing tights, but I guess that is a small price to pay for getting too drunk.

I then had to try to make up for this the next day by getting up before anyone else and acting like a magic house cleaning fairy so that when the others surfaced later everywhere was astonishingly tidy. I then tried to act as mature as I could to ensure that my partner’s friends did not think that I consistently went out and had to be taken home early, which I can assure you I do not.

 After helping to prepare a chicken and gravy pie, with extra trimmings, I think I just about managed it. They do say a way to a mans heart is via his stomach but I will find out if this is true  if I am politely missed off the invitation to the reunion….

Next night out I shall be having as many carbs as I can manage, just to be on the safe side.

 

Saturday afternoons and the beauty of exploration.

Why are Saturday afternoons beginning to always feel like Sundays now? They have become dedicated to tidying, doing the washing and for a quick sorting your life out from the previous week (if only this could be done in one afternoon!). Does this mean that Sunday afternoons should now be the time to go out and explore the local area?

I have to admit that there is a certain catharsis quality to knowing that, by 5 pm on a Saturday everything for the next week has been prepared. Everything has been sorted out into some form of order from the previous week, which results in endless opportunities for Saturday night and Sunday! So why do many of us waste them by plonking ourselves in front of the T.V?

I have realised that, no matter how much I love curling up and watching Saturday night T.V, there is a wealth of activities to do in everyone’s local areas that prehaps people who have lived here all their lives don’t always get to know about. Having just moved to a new area I have needed to get to know these things in order to build up a form of social life, or an attempt at one. This has led me join a various things, such as a local Ladies Society. No we don’t knit like the W.I, but we have been known to make chocolate truffles instead which resulted in a much tastier creation than a scarf.

However, when talking to my colleagues about the society, many of whom have lived here all their lives, none of them had heard about it or about the different workshops on in the local area. Maybe it is only when you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and off your sofa on a Saturday, that you discover these things.

I am now going to make it my mission to never misuse the town that I’m living in, which you can hold me to. If ever you hear of something unusual happening in a town that I am in please let me know and I will go and find out about it. I will also try to forget what enjoyment can be had in exploring every aspect of a place. You can continually find things to do so that, whether it be a Saturday or a Sunday , as soon as  the afternoon is beginning to merge into the evening without having done something exciting or new I will drag myself out and fall in love with my local area all over again. Or if falling in love with a place is too extreme, as I can’t imagine ever loving some of the places I have lived in even though I have been very fortunate with the places I have been able to live in, at least to find one bit of it you like!  Then with enormous sense of satisfaction you can retreat back to the sofa for the rest of the evening knowing you have leaped outside of your comfort zone with no scary repercussions. Instead, you will have learnt something new or visited somewhere lovely which you can let everyone else know about. An added bonus is that it makes your responses to the standard monday question “What did you do at the weekend?” much more interesting.