Merry Missenden!

So you've all read (or at least some of you have) how much I loved Roald Dahl's hometown of Great Missenden. Well, when I was there, I saw a flyer advertising their "Festive Evening" on the "High Street". (Every town has it's own 'High street', like our Main street.) I couldn't resist going back and this time dragging my family with. It was very sweet - like PR's but much, much smaller. They had a 3 piece band (guitar, keyboard and base) playing in the courtyard of the Roald Dahl's museum. An hour later, we saw the same band playing outside the library! No, you haven't overindulged in the mulled wine and do not attempt to adjust you dial. There ARE two Father Christmas's waving to you here on the High Street. Check out the decorations - small (real) Christmas trees sticking out from what could be flag pole hangers.
We've also seen real trees, sliced down the middle and decorated, then wired to buildings for decoration. Cool!
Like most small towns, the streets are very narrow and the homes and shops are right at the edge of the skinny 'footpath' or sidewalk. As you walk by, you are looking directly into people's reception ('living') rooms and sometimes directly into their faces if they happen to be in the room! Whoops!

Not sure if they did this on purpose, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but note the name of the Chinese Restaurant Santa's sleigh has parked in front of.
A better view of Santa's sleigh and plaster?paper mache? reindeer. Plus, a few darling passers-by;)
Unlike what I've heard about at home, the shopping in Great Missenden did not start at 12:01. The Festive Evening hours were posted as "5 pm until late". Gotta love that.

Happy shopping!

Day-Tripping with The Patts

Thought you'd like to experience a typical side trip with us....we're headed for Abby Road studios where the Beatles recorded many of their albums.
This is our tube stop, West Harrow. If you click on the picture below, you can see the tube sign clearer. (In fact if you click on any of the pictures in these blog pages, you will get a full screen shot of it! This just discovered by my genius hubby!) We are waiting for the Metropolitan line train. Sometimes we have to wait several minutes for our train/the right train. As a way to amuse themselves, the kids pick out a spot on the platform they hope will be closest to a door when the train pulls in. The kid who comes closest to a door, wins. Wins WHAT we have not decided. Just the fact that they have WON has been sufficient so far.
Ahhhh, now we are sitting down, whooshing our way toward our destination. This trip requires only one switch onto a different line, the Jubilee. Out the window, above the red-and-white building in the foreground, you can see the famous silhouette of Wembly Stadium. Well, it's famous for some. I, on the other hand, had never laid eyes on it. When it was pointed out to me, I asked if that tube-ish arc was some sort of ride, like something at Vegas, etc.
Well.
You'd have thought I asked if it was an alien space ship, for all the grief I have gotten about it.
Here, Owen does what has become the traditional Remind Mom of Her Stupid Question, by saying, "Hey Mom! Look! It's the ride!"
They have yet to miss one opportunity, of which there have been many. (It is on the way to London AND to Heathrow.)
Sigh.

Here we are! Outside Abby Road studios. This pillar has John Lennon's likeness on it, with thousands of signatures surrounding. There is a matching wall, also filled with signatures, to our right.
A short walk from Abby Road is Primrose Hill, a posh neighborhood high on a hill (er, hence the name) from which you can see downtown London. Although Owen looks like he has transformed into Quasimodo, I can assure you he hasn't. Not totally anyway.
Now, to get home, just reverse this process.

And do me a favor. Don't point out the 'ride'. Ok?

I get enough grief as it is.

Thanksgiving Initiation

In keeping with the Pilgrim's custom of sharing a feast with the natives, we decided to do the same and invited 3 of Keely's English pals to share in our Thanksgiving dinner. (They did not wear loin cloths, however, preferring the more modern trousers and 'jumpers' instead.) Starting at the front of the table and going clockwise, we have: Shayna, Jer, "Mills" aka Mike (K's beau!), Nikola, Charlotte, Erin (from Park Ridge), Lucia (also PR pal), Keely, Owen and Mason.

I ran into a few snags when trying to rustle up all the ingredients to the traditional dinner. There was no pumpkin, fresh or canned to be found, which makes pumpkin pies a bit...lacking. So I made apple crumble instead. Then, this is the biggest bag of stuffing I could find! (Placed next to my mug for perspective). So, I did a Martha Stewart and supplemented with my own homemade croutons. (Thank goodness for Recipes.com!)

Also pictured are my very appropriate bday gift from pal Kathy T. - acorn salt and pepper shakers! They, plus a few Thanksgiving cards we received in the mail, made up our holiday decor' :) Thanks, guys!

Another group shot. Check out our festive tablecloth. No one knew it was the top sheet from our bed;) (Yes, I washed it first!)
Mills brought a bottle of wine (love him already) and mince pies for 'pudding', which is what they call dessert. We played a rollicking game of telephone, ("Chinese Whispers" to them), where Jer complained it wasn't fair because he had to sit next to 'the English Guy', in fact, the whole "English Channel". We assured him it was just because he was getting old and hard-of-hearing;)To round off the indoctrination, we forced our guests to sit 'round the telly and watch A Christmas Story with us. I'm sure they all thought we were completely 'nutters'. Which, in fact, we are.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with love and laughter and bags of stuffing larger than your average teacup;)

Cheers!

Things are looking UP!

The next time you walk outside to get the paper or down to your local Starbucks, or even just out to the car, take notice of where you're looking. If you're like me, you'll be scanning the sidewalk (footpath, sheesh!) for cracks or bumps or puddles or something else that may trip you up. You may go a whole day without raising your eyes past what's right in front of you.

But you never know when you might be missing something...

Statue of St. Paul in back of St. Paul's Cathedral

The Tower spires in the pink dusky light at Tower Bridge.

A guy wearing a very funny helmet in the Roman Baths.

Perhaps a Poseidon weather vane (Amsterdam)

Or even a new friend, anxious to make your acquaintance. (Amsterdam)

So do yourself a favor today - Look up!

Places we have stayed

Although I haven't taken pictures of EVERY place we've stayed, here is a sampling:

The Victoria Guesthouse, Dover England

Just as cute inside as out.

The Youth Hostel in Bath. Our room was the one with the large balcony and french doors on the second floor. It was an old hospital, made of cement! The building is much bigger than it looks and goes back/deep a ways. We had three sets of bunks in our room and a sink. Shared toilets, showers down the hall and hot breakfast included;) For about $300 less than the standard hotel. Such a deal!
Failed to take a pic of the outside of our rented flat in Edinbourgh but this is the view looking out the kitchen window. You can just make out the individual stone walls separating each flat's 'garden' from the others. If you're a Patt Bloggie, the outside looks similar to the shot of the below-level garden and the house with the cat topiary;)
This is the fabulous House of Janet and Steven, friends/old neighbors of my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. (Hi guys!) And yes, this is a house for one family, not your typical 'semi-detached' shared building. They live in the quaint seaside town of Southport. More pics of this later.
just kidding.
;)

Stonehenge!

On our trip to Bath, we made a side trip to Stonehenge and a little town called Lacock (which I've written a bit about already). Stonehenge was an amazing sight, right out in the middle of nowhere - if you didn't know where to look (or missed the sign), you might have passed right by it. These two travelers look happy to have found it.... as well as the coffee/hot chocolate stand attached to the gift shop;) We learned some interesting stuff, like, it was built in stages, by different peoples, hundreds of years apart. Around 3050 BC, the circular ditch and bank ('henge') was built. A thousand years later, a circular structure was built from wood....(so instead of those rocks, there were wooden poles/pillars)...
Then from 2500 - 1500 BC, the stone monument was constructed, arranged and rearranged. See the little tip carved in the top of the tallest stone? All the tall stones had these at one time. Then the ones that laid atop had a matching circular hole to fit that tip into. Early tongue-and-groove!
This seemingly unimportant lump of rock in the foreground is actually a 'station stone', used for measurement against the circular structure. The largest, tall stones were brought from an area 19 miles away and the smaller ones came from over 240 miles away!!

Wow, and I thought lugging my groceries home from Tesco was hard work.
The fact that these stones are still standing, some 4000 years later is staggering.

So much so, that I think I need a pint just to wrap my head around it.
Too bad I don't drink beer.

Roald Dahl Museum and Hometown

For those of you who don't know who Roald Dahl is, I have two words for you: Willy Wonka.
Now do you know? Roald Dahl is best known for his children's book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but has written scads more children's books as well as some very dark short stories for adults and two James Bond screenplays! I took the train to a little town called Great Missenden, where Dahl lived in his home 'The Gypsy House' for many years. There they have The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre. I was the only adult there not attached to a school group or pram;) It was heavenly! Below is a HUGE photo of RD, as well as a portrait. Don't know why the lighting in this shot is funky but, whatever! This is a model of RD's 'writing shack', a little shed he built behind his home where he did all his writing. The funny green board atop the chair is his writing 'table' he made himself. Having been shot down in the war, he had back problems so he devised this chair and lap table (with a roll of corrogated paper under to prop it to just the right angle) so he could write for long periods of time w/o hurting his back. This museum is for kids, so all the items were interactive and told a bit about him/his stories, etc.
This is a typical street in the town, just a few blocks from the musuem. I decided to walk to his gravesite, which was only about 3/4 mile away. As you can see, it was a beautiful day for a walk!
Ok, this seems wierd that I took a picture of his grave. BUT, let me explain!
The bench you see in the background has a quote from one of his children's books. Then, at the edge, you see an enormous footprint, pointing in the direction of RD's grave. Then there are 3 more of these (cement) footprints in the grass (they look like bald spots in the grass from this angle!) that lead right to his stone. These are footprints of a character in one of his books, The BFG - The Big, Friendly Giant. So it was like the BFG was either visiting his grave or had laid him in it...I don't know but for me it was very, very touching. I got all teary eyed! So I sat on the bench...

...and looked out on this view. I just sat and took it all in. It was wonderful!
Then, to round out the day, I went back to the little cafe attached to the museum (called Cafe' Twit, also in reference to one of his children's books) and had an incredible treat called Bread and Butter Pudding (with a side of real whipped cream) and, of course, a spot of tea. This is England, after all!

Cheers!

Doorways I have seen

For some reason, I'm in love with all the different styles of doorways. They're like an advertisement for who or what lives behind them:) (Now I'm cringing, thinking of the PINK door we've got at home - what is THAT saying about us? Oh boy.)
ANYway, this is the subject of today's blog.
Saw this in Bath - doesn't it look just like you imagined the door to The Secret Garden might? Brightly colored doors show up so nicely against Edinburgh's gray limestone buildings.
And can you beat these welcoming bushes and flowers lining the walk?
In Amsterdam, many of the doorways had these beautiful tiled walls surrounding them. Gorgy!
Again in Amsterdam. You can see the pretty fall leaves (and, um, the photographer) in the reflection off this door;)
And, finally, the door of the local dentist's office (called a surgery). You will note the impressively boarded-up door, weeks of undelivered mail decorating the stoop and various indigenous plants taking root. For those of you who are familiar with England's reputation for dental care, this should be fairly amusing. For those of you who aren't familiar, you are now;)
Cheers!

Halloween - England Style

Many of you asked about how and if Halloween is celebrated here in England. As a whole, it really isn't. There are no decorations on houses or store fronts. Very few pumpkins. And many people do not participate in the trick-or-treating. Some think it's begging, others view it as too dangerous, etc. But, our neighbors (probably from hearing our kids go on and on about Halloweens at home) decided to get into the spirit and dress up. From left is:
Mason, Calem, Jack - Mason's best buddy and a frequent face at our dinner table,
Shayna, Zoey (in black, front, also Jack's sister and Shayna's friend) and Julia in pink, pal from school.
Jack and Zoey's 'mum' and Jer and I walked the kids around. Only about one or two houses per block had their lights on or something in the window to show they were participating. One house gave out one pound coins, much to the kids' thrill. About 10 minutes after that, another man at another house came the door with some coins. He dropped one quid (pound) into Julia's bag. The other kids smiled and held their bags open, waiting. He frowned and said, "What're you lot waiting for? I gave her a pound - you can share that! I only got fifty p (pence) left for the next group."
They weren't quite sure if he was kidding or not. When he said good night and closed the door, they discovered he wasn't!!

Owen and Keely went out with their friends too. Owen said they rang the doorbell of one house and an old Asian (what we would call Indian, from India) lady answered. Owen and his big buddies said the usual, "trick or treat!" Wide-eyed, she held up a hand, signaling for them to wait. After a minute, she came back.

And held out an entire box of cookies.

She kind of waved it at them, for them to take it. They did and she quickly closed the door. Pretty cute, you gotta admit;) And speaking of cute, take a look at these little monsters...

It's really not Halloween without chocolate eyeballs, right?

(And candy corn from home - thanks, Judy!!)

Video Greetings from the Thames!

Hello Everyone!!!!! Thought we would just really say "HI!" We miss you all at home alot! And wanted to tell you in person! So we did!

English Lesson

Alright, all you Americans -
Time for a quick lesson on the Queen's English.
Let's begin, shall we?

#1 "Right". It is customary to begin any conversation with the word, 'Right',
as if you've been talking for ages, not just starting right that minute.

#2. "Y'all righ?" When greeting someone, instead of saying, "How are you?" or
"Hi, how ya doin?", you say, "Y'all righ?" (Do not pronounce the end 't' in right).
Brits typically answer, "Yeah, you?" Non-Brits check themselves for a fever or spots,
thinking they must look sick to illicit such a query.

#3. "Yeah" Use 'yeah' at every pause in your story, to make sure your listener
is following or awake. As in, "I went to the store, yeah, and bought some cheese, yeah, not
that smelly limburgah kind, yeah, but a nice cheddah..."
Note: the word 'right' may also be used in this same fashion.

#4. "Knackered." Use this term in informal settings to let people know you are extremely fatigued. As in, "I sunk a few at the pub las' nigh' and this mornin', I am completely knackered."
And finally,

#5. "Init" This is a common substitution for the American phrases, "Don't you agree? Doesn't it? Doesn't he/she? Right?" Several examples are: "He's hot, init?" or "This tastes nice, init?" "Can't find your brully, init?"

I expect you all to practice faithfully and regularly.
There will be a test. Maybe.
Or you can make up your own and just test yourself.
I really don't want to work that hard.
Cheers, init?