We tried to take some 'family photos' in the flowers on the side of the road. There were several outtakes. {No puppies or Adam's were harmed in the making of this blog post.}
We eventually got one I would accept. Yea, spring!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Daffodil Mania
Around us, the daffodils are popping up everywhere. Like bluebonnets in central Texas, you'll see them driving down the road, or in people's front lawns, or covering the parks. Here's a few from some of our journeys of late.
We tried to take some 'family photos' in the flowers on the side of the road. There were several outtakes. {No puppies or Adam's were harmed in the making of this blog post.}
We eventually got one I would accept. Yea, spring!
We tried to take some 'family photos' in the flowers on the side of the road. There were several outtakes. {No puppies or Adam's were harmed in the making of this blog post.}
We eventually got one I would accept. Yea, spring!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Weston-Super-Mud
The town of Weston-Super-Mare is a touristy seaside resort about 45 minutes from our house. Many Bristolians flock there for their feet in the sand needs. We’d seen a program on television where they said that Weston was in the top 5 beaches in the UK for making sand castles, so we thought we’d try it out. So, loaded up with a shovel & pail and two dogs, we headed out.
The Grand Pier is a carnival attraction on the beach. The pier originally opened in June of 1904 with a 2,000 seat theatre which was used as a music hall and for opera, stage plays and ballet. Central to the history of the pier is two great fires. The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1930. As the building was underinsured the pier was put up for sale and bought by Leonard Guy, who opened a £60,000 new pavilion three years later. This second pavilion housed a large undercover funfair rather than a theatre. Over the years, new shops and an amusement arcade were added. Then in 2008 fire struck again. The official cause of the fire is unknown; however locals have told us stories from arson to electrical fire to the cooking greases from too many fish & chips. £39 million and two years later, the pier reopened on 23 October 2010. We’ve been told the new pier isn’t as nice as the old, but from the pictures I’ve seen, they look about the same. Guess we’ll never know!
Here’s the part people forgot to mention. The tidal range in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel of which Weston beach is off of is about 48 ft. Owing to this large rise & fall in the Bristol Channel, the low tide mark in Weston Bay is about a mile from the seafront. Although the beach itself is sandy, low tide uncovers areas of thick mud. Yes, mud.
Thick, sinking mud.
We never actually saw water on our trip to the seaside.
But the scenery was still nice. Most of the British were settled in along the sand dunes as far from the mud as they could be, enjoying a picnic and tea. (Who drinks hot tea when it is 75*?) Adam & I laughed that they were at the sea side, but as far from the sea as they could get. We however decided to just walk the beach.
The girls loved it. Well... Daisy loved every second of it. I wish I had a video camera that I could have recorded the frolicking in the mud. She made a strange plop, glulp, click sound as her tiny feet galloped through the mud. Ginger was a bit skeptical of the mud. She much preferred the sand. She would come down, sniff it out then walk back up the beach away from us to continue her journey.
We were all coated in mud by the end of our walk. Don’t worry, I brought towels & there was an outdoor shower that we took advantage of before getting back in the car. Plus, everyone got a bath when we got home!
I think we all had a good time. After about 2 hours & 3 ½ miles of walking on a beach you get this from the girls. I love it when we can wear them out!
The Grand Pier is a carnival attraction on the beach. The pier originally opened in June of 1904 with a 2,000 seat theatre which was used as a music hall and for opera, stage plays and ballet. Central to the history of the pier is two great fires. The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1930. As the building was underinsured the pier was put up for sale and bought by Leonard Guy, who opened a £60,000 new pavilion three years later. This second pavilion housed a large undercover funfair rather than a theatre. Over the years, new shops and an amusement arcade were added. Then in 2008 fire struck again. The official cause of the fire is unknown; however locals have told us stories from arson to electrical fire to the cooking greases from too many fish & chips. £39 million and two years later, the pier reopened on 23 October 2010. We’ve been told the new pier isn’t as nice as the old, but from the pictures I’ve seen, they look about the same. Guess we’ll never know!
Here’s the part people forgot to mention. The tidal range in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel of which Weston beach is off of is about 48 ft. Owing to this large rise & fall in the Bristol Channel, the low tide mark in Weston Bay is about a mile from the seafront. Although the beach itself is sandy, low tide uncovers areas of thick mud. Yes, mud.
Thick, sinking mud.
We never actually saw water on our trip to the seaside.
But the scenery was still nice. Most of the British were settled in along the sand dunes as far from the mud as they could be, enjoying a picnic and tea. (Who drinks hot tea when it is 75*?) Adam & I laughed that they were at the sea side, but as far from the sea as they could get. We however decided to just walk the beach.
The girls loved it. Well... Daisy loved every second of it. I wish I had a video camera that I could have recorded the frolicking in the mud. She made a strange plop, glulp, click sound as her tiny feet galloped through the mud. Ginger was a bit skeptical of the mud. She much preferred the sand. She would come down, sniff it out then walk back up the beach away from us to continue her journey.
We were all coated in mud by the end of our walk. Don’t worry, I brought towels & there was an outdoor shower that we took advantage of before getting back in the car. Plus, everyone got a bath when we got home!
I think we all had a good time. After about 2 hours & 3 ½ miles of walking on a beach you get this from the girls. I love it when we can wear them out!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Brandon Hill
The normal cold, dreary spring weather of southern England has taken a (temporary) break leaving us with some unseasonably warm weather. In fact, as I write this, I’m sitting in our sun room in {gasp!} capri jeans. It’s worth noting that it is only 61*F according to our thermometer…I’m not real sure how I’m going to adjust to Texas weather again. But that’s a problem for another day – today is beautiful.
Yesterday, Adam had to meet someone in downtown Bristol (or city centre, in our new language) to work on a paper for school (or uni, in our new language). We decided to head into town a bit earlier than he needed to be there & we’d eat lunch then he could go to his meeting & I’d go into my office to finish up a few things I avoided working on last week. We ate at Magic Roll. It’s near my office and one of those cult following favorites that people fell in love with while they were in college and still have great memories of, like Fuzzy’s in Fort Worth or Harold’s (moment of silence for the closed BBQ) in Abilene. Since being introduced to it the second week at work, I’ve tended to go back anytime I ‘forget’ my sack lunch. I can’t really describe with words except to say it’s amazing. Chicken, cheese, tomato, avocado, chorizo, and peppered mayo on a large flour tortilla grilled like a burrito – what is better than that? Adam, however, had never been despite me discussing at home (a lot). I’m not sure what Adam ate; neither is he, if he’s honest. I was on about bite number four when I looked over at him licking his fingers clean. Apparently, we have a winner.
Adam went off to work on his paper & I walked down to my office. It was very strange to have the entire office to myself. It was me & the security guard in the building. After an hour or so, Adam called & said that he was finished with his paper. We have to take a detour in the story to learn some Bristol geography. Bristol, because we haven’t mentioned this in a good month or so, is hilly. Not the Abilene definition of hills, the Colorado definition of hills. There are lots of them. You don’t go anywhere in the city without walking up one. And I swear you walk up more than you walk down. I don’t know how that happens. Where Adam was when he called was absolutely at the bottom of the hill. Where we’d parked was about 1/3 of the way up, my office where I was was just a bit further up, and where we’d eaten lunch was nearly at the top. Adam had walked from the car to the top of the hill to eat lunch and all the way back down for his meeting. So when I said, ‘why don’t you meet me at my office & we’ll walk to the park,’ I could hear the thought of ‘because I’d have to walk up the hill again’ coming through. But, I charmed him (and offered to buy him an ice cream cone in the park – I’ll let you decide which one really motivated him) and he came back up the hill.
The view from my office is beautiful. It’s situated just outside a park. On a nice weekend, such as this one, it’s packed with people absorbing their vitamin D. This is actually the view from the front door of my office building.
Pretty cool, huh. The park is called Brandon Hill, and is considered to be Bristol's oldest park. At the top of the hill is Cabot Tower.
From the stories I’ve pieced together from things people have told us about the history of Bristol (aided a bit by some Google research), Brandon Hill was a strategic location during the English Civil War sieges in the 1640’s & 50’s. In the 1600’s Bristol was very important to the country in both wealth & prestige because of the access to the ports and shipping. At points during the battles occurring in Bristol both sides claimed the top of Brandon Hill as their own.
Cabot Tower was built between 1896 and 1898 in commemoration of John Cabot, 400 years after he sailed in the Matthew and landed in what later became Canada. When we first arrived in Bristol, the tower was shrouded in scaffolding. It had closed in November 2007 after bad cracks appeared in masonry around the viewing platforms. Four years and a little over £200,000 later, restoration has now been completed and Cabot Tower is open to visitors again.
So we climbed up. (We all know my love of tiny spiral staircases).
But, it’s worth it. Some great views from the top.
After climbing back down, we (got an ice cream cone – Adam has a very strong, yet selective memory – and) sat in the park with all the locals enjoying the very spring like day.
Yesterday, Adam had to meet someone in downtown Bristol (or city centre, in our new language) to work on a paper for school (or uni, in our new language). We decided to head into town a bit earlier than he needed to be there & we’d eat lunch then he could go to his meeting & I’d go into my office to finish up a few things I avoided working on last week. We ate at Magic Roll. It’s near my office and one of those cult following favorites that people fell in love with while they were in college and still have great memories of, like Fuzzy’s in Fort Worth or Harold’s (moment of silence for the closed BBQ) in Abilene. Since being introduced to it the second week at work, I’ve tended to go back anytime I ‘forget’ my sack lunch. I can’t really describe with words except to say it’s amazing. Chicken, cheese, tomato, avocado, chorizo, and peppered mayo on a large flour tortilla grilled like a burrito – what is better than that? Adam, however, had never been despite me discussing at home (a lot). I’m not sure what Adam ate; neither is he, if he’s honest. I was on about bite number four when I looked over at him licking his fingers clean. Apparently, we have a winner.
Adam went off to work on his paper & I walked down to my office. It was very strange to have the entire office to myself. It was me & the security guard in the building. After an hour or so, Adam called & said that he was finished with his paper. We have to take a detour in the story to learn some Bristol geography. Bristol, because we haven’t mentioned this in a good month or so, is hilly. Not the Abilene definition of hills, the Colorado definition of hills. There are lots of them. You don’t go anywhere in the city without walking up one. And I swear you walk up more than you walk down. I don’t know how that happens. Where Adam was when he called was absolutely at the bottom of the hill. Where we’d parked was about 1/3 of the way up, my office where I was was just a bit further up, and where we’d eaten lunch was nearly at the top. Adam had walked from the car to the top of the hill to eat lunch and all the way back down for his meeting. So when I said, ‘why don’t you meet me at my office & we’ll walk to the park,’ I could hear the thought of ‘because I’d have to walk up the hill again’ coming through. But, I charmed him (and offered to buy him an ice cream cone in the park – I’ll let you decide which one really motivated him) and he came back up the hill.
The view from my office is beautiful. It’s situated just outside a park. On a nice weekend, such as this one, it’s packed with people absorbing their vitamin D. This is actually the view from the front door of my office building.
Pretty cool, huh. The park is called Brandon Hill, and is considered to be Bristol's oldest park. At the top of the hill is Cabot Tower.
From the stories I’ve pieced together from things people have told us about the history of Bristol (aided a bit by some Google research), Brandon Hill was a strategic location during the English Civil War sieges in the 1640’s & 50’s. In the 1600’s Bristol was very important to the country in both wealth & prestige because of the access to the ports and shipping. At points during the battles occurring in Bristol both sides claimed the top of Brandon Hill as their own.
Cabot Tower was built between 1896 and 1898 in commemoration of John Cabot, 400 years after he sailed in the Matthew and landed in what later became Canada. When we first arrived in Bristol, the tower was shrouded in scaffolding. It had closed in November 2007 after bad cracks appeared in masonry around the viewing platforms. Four years and a little over £200,000 later, restoration has now been completed and Cabot Tower is open to visitors again.
So we climbed up. (We all know my love of tiny spiral staircases).
But, it’s worth it. Some great views from the top.
After climbing back down, we (got an ice cream cone – Adam has a very strong, yet selective memory – and) sat in the park with all the locals enjoying the very spring like day.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Happy Texas Independence Day!
In our ongoing mission to enlighten the world to the amazingness of Texas, I decided to teach my colleagues about Texas Independence Day. My office is always in search of a great dessert. And, what better way to teach, than with food. So, I made some ‘Lone Star’ sugar cookies.
You might notice that I’m wearing a Kansas t-shirt to make my Texas cookies in, but please disregard. When your team is the Big 12 champion for the 8th year in a row, you can wear your t-shirt whenever you want too.
You might also notice that I have my tongue slightly stuck out. As if there were any doubt I am my father’s daughter.
Finally, please notice that I’m cutting cookies by hand. Apparently my cookie cutters are somewhere in my Mother’s attic just behind Santa, a large pumpkin, and the Easter Bunny.
So today in the office, I hung my Texas flag from the cubical wall & sent out the following note to my contemporaries:
Mission accomplished.
Happy Texas Independence Day to all of you back home!
You might notice that I’m wearing a Kansas t-shirt to make my Texas cookies in, but please disregard. When your team is the Big 12 champion for the 8th year in a row, you can wear your t-shirt whenever you want too.
You might also notice that I have my tongue slightly stuck out. As if there were any doubt I am my father’s daughter.
Finally, please notice that I’m cutting cookies by hand. Apparently my cookie cutters are somewhere in my Mother’s attic just behind Santa, a large pumpkin, and the Easter Bunny.
So today in the office, I hung my Texas flag from the cubical wall & sent out the following note to my contemporaries:
176 years ago today, Texas declared its independence from Mexico and for about 10 years we were our own Republic before joining with the United States.From about 1:30, when I sent out the email, to 5:15 when I left work, I think I heard the song playing about 20 times.
In honor of the day, join me in singing ‘Deep in the Heart of Texas’ along with all the school children celebrating in Texas. Since I’m guessing you don’t have it memorized like I do, I’m providing the (slightly cheesy) Texas Chamber of Commerce youtube version of the song.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGF4ibgcHQE
You can watch it as you eat the Texas Star sugar cookies I’ve left in the breakroom.
Happy Friday, y’all!
Amanda
Mission accomplished.
Happy Texas Independence Day to all of you back home!
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