Visiting Constable Country

[Photo]What would you choose to do on the most beautiful day of spring? BBQs, picnics, visits to a local pub's beer festival and cycling over the hills of Suffolk are among some of the very many activities our friends participated in over this past weekend. We were lucky enough to have a visitor from America and took to opportunity to endulge in a relaxing afternoon including a long walk along the Stour River trail after an amazing lunch at a well known pub and a little bit of sight seeing following an evening of live music and steak and ale pies. We basically made the most of our less than 24-hour visit and stayed within a 12-mile radius of Bures. How did we do it? We mapped out the area we wanted to stay in, took into consideration the amount of time we had and multiplied that by what I call "impact factor". The equation led us to a route that took us through a quick drive around Bures and into Dedham and Flatford - the heart of Constable Country. [Photo]If you haven't visited Constable Country, make the effort. And, if you have't spent time inDedham or Flatford in particular, consider it a must-do. Eating, walking, sightseeing, crafting and boating are only a handful of things you can occupy yourself doing in these villages. With exquisite dining at the reknown Sun Inn to casual pub fare or a vanilla ice cream cone just around the corner, delicious food is plentiful here and can cater to any size budget.
Once you've had your fill of food and drink, your next stop should be the Dedham Art and Craft[Photo]Centre. This centre is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. You will find arts and crafts from all over the area as well as a few from further afield. Stop by the church next door for a tour and a trip up the tower for a breathtaking view of Stour River Valley. Once you've made your way through Dedham, your next stop should be Flatford Mill. But don't get back in the car to do this. The footpath from Dedham to Flatford provides for an easy walk. And, if you are looking for something a little more adventurous, consider hiring a boat at the Dedham Boat House. Whichever way you choose to get to Flatford, you are guaranteed a wonderful visit. And may even be welcomed by some of the area's more unique residents. Once in Flatford, be sure to visit the Flatford Bridge Museum and the infamous house of Willy Lott. [Photo]Regardless of which activities you choose while here, you are guaranteed a beautiful visit of an historically important area of East Anglia. Just don't forget to stop and smell the flowers! 

Chalkney Wood

Oftentimes when I discover a new place I can feel how old it is, especially now that I am in England. I can almost smell the ancient age of trees and soil in the air. And sometimes, a place has such familiarity that I actually wonder if I have been there before. Take Chalkney Wood for example. In the heart of Colne Valley in Essex County lies Chalkney Wood, an ancient forest that has lived for nearly 10,000 years. Yet, however ancient this forestland is, it can be said that it does not give the same feel as other places I have been. The wood is skillfully managed by the Essex County Council and the Forestry Commission. Coppicing has been practiced in this wood for over 400 years so if they don’t have that method down yet, they probably never will. Suffice it to say though they have it down. And this past weekend I observed first hand the practice of coppicing and reaped the benefits of this method of woodland management. [Photo]
Chalkney Wood The drive to the wood was quick and easy. As my husband, stepson and I drove up the dirt road to Chalkney Wood, I felt a thrill I haven’t in a long time. With the pinging sound of gravel kicking up on the underneath of the car it reminded me of home, driving on the back roads of Vermont. How apropos that the address to the wood is America Road. There were multiple choices of paths from which to choose to enter the wood. On our chosen trail we quickly found ourselves meandering through a recently cut portion that had begun to re-grow giving that fresh and alive feeling of youth. As we worked our way through, admiring the many wildflowers in the early stages of bloom, we enjoyed the sun on our face and the piercing blue sky. Conversation sprouted on how this part of the wood had been cut very recently and that certain trees were proudly sporting their bright orange patch to show how they had been chosen to remain standing while others had obviously met their match with a chainsaw. A clear sign that the survivors were the chosen natives to remain, almost as if to watch over life. [Photo]

Wool Street No sooner had we finished that conversation did we notice that the wood had changed dramatically. Larger trees, plenty of undergrowth, woodland flowers and moss-covered stumps were enveloping us until our sunny path turned into a wonderful true woodland walk. The trees were older and we felt their age. The path seemed endless too. Weaving our way throughout the woods, often changing course, we found ourselves resting at handmade benches, on stumps or even in trees. My breathing was steady save for the several deep breaths made to inhale the smell of decomposing leaves and trees: a real woodland smell triggering another recognition I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Was it home? I do miss New England and I almost found it here in Chalkney Wood. It was at this moment I noticed we were walking along the ancient Roman street, Wool Street. Haha! This is definitely not New England. This is true England in all it's ancient life and history. And we were here, walking the same path, breathing the same air and living in a moment that so many of our forefathers had done. [Photo]
Muntjac (center of path in distance) 
All in all it was a marvelous day, complete with a picnic lunch, a few tree climbs, wildlife and laughter. The promises of viewing wildlife as long as we remained fairly quiet became a reality when we spotted one hungry muntjac – my stepson’s first glimpse of a muntjac too. I encourage you to visit Chalkney Wood. If it’s in your back garden, you have nothing to lose. If it’s the better part of a day for you to get there, bring your picnic lunch and binoculars. You won’t be disappointed. Take the Chalkney Wood Walk This marvelous 5-mile walk takes you through the Colne Valley and Chalkney Wood into Earles Colne. Enjoy lunch at one of the several pubs or a cream tea at the tea room in Earles Colne. Visit the Colne Valley site for details of the walk.
Nearby Villages of interest include Marks Tey, Bures, Sudbury and Colchester.

The River Stour

To kick off this blog about living in and visiting East Anglia, it seems most appropriate to write about the river Stour. Appropriate because I have explored this area more than any other in East Anglia. Appropriate because it is one of England's oldest navigations. And appropriate in hopes that the river's original meaning "the strong, powerful one", will give this blog the strength and power to continue on, perhaps changing course, yet encouraging some to take refuge along it's mighty path.
[Photo] In short, it is modestly stunning. The river gracefully curves along the landscape and softly erodes its banks to slowly change its course. Slowly being the operative word: so slow in fact that change is indiscernable until centuries have passed and only the paintings and photographs of times past compared to those of present indicate the true nature of the river's actions. The history alone makes one walk slower to soak in as much as possible, to breath in air that may have existed hundreds of years ago in hopes of capturing a glimpse of life as it used to be or perhaps to give oneself a new perspective on life as it is now. Whether you are in need of such solititude, simply need to stretch your legs or are in search of the famed and most honored inhabitants of the River, the white-legged damsel fly, scarse chasher dragonfly and the otter, the river can accommodate you.
Must Sees & Dos Along The River Stour Bridges of the Stour Long Melford Dedham Vale Flatford Chappel and Wakes Colne Bures Special Links Tourist Guide to Suffolk Villages On-line Guide to Suffolk River Stour Trust River Stour Boating [Photo]

It only works when you use both

My stepson

In the last year he has provided me with a lifetime of funny stories which I will undoubtedly threaten to use against him when he least suspects. As I am sure those of you with children understand, the humorous material they provide is endless. 

Chay is eight years old and as such, considers himself a man. He wears a "tough" look when he's around adults giving the impression that he's uninterested. He imagines he is a rugged outdoors man (who interestingly enough is grossed out by touching bugs and dramatizes "injuries" such as limping when he's scraped a knee and then forget the injury only to resume limping on the other leg when he witnesses you looking at him). And of course, he falls for every marketing campaign selling new toys, video games and naturally, men's deodorizing body spray.

Sex sells... even to children

We've all seen those sexy Lynx commercials demonstrating how easy it it is to strip a woman down to her leopard print panties simply by spraying the body spray in a Z pattern across your chest. Well, for those of you who have been using this, pay close attention. As Chay informed me, it doesn't really "work" unless you use both the shower gel and body spray together...

An innocent dose
On Christmas Eve, Chay and I were in the house talking about Father Christmas, where he might be in the world at that very moment and how many presents he thought he would get between all of the separate Christmases he would be celebrating over the next two days. Wearing his super cool look, he produced a box set of Lynx shower gel and body spray that his mother gave him as an early present (he asks for the spray every year). He was especially excited about it because it contained two products, the shower gel of which he had never used up to that point and of course the deodorizing body spray. Eager to tear into it, he asked if it would be alright if he put some on. "Sure", I replied. 

Tsh, tsh, tsh. 

I heard a very conservative amount being sprayed onto his shirt and thought to myself, "whew, that's OK. Not too much. I can still breath". A few moments later after walking into the kitchen I heard the horrifying sound...

tttssshhhhhhh, tttssshhhhhhh, tttssshhhhhhh.... 

Walking into a cloud of perfume I noticed with a dreamy look he was gazing at the box containing the treasured items. As he looked up from the box he commented on a diagram on the back indicating how to use this deadly combination.

Pointing to to the first part of the equation he said "see, first you use the shower gel." Moving on to the second part of the equation he informed me that that step two was to spray the deodorizing body spray on in a Z pattern, as he just had.  At the third part he stumbled and paused. 

"Aaand, I'm nooot suuure what this last part means..." he stammered.

My reply? "Oh, that means you're ready to party!

"Really? It looks like a guy with two girls?"

"Sure, you're dancing with the ladies!" I replied with a grin.

It only works when you use both

Later that night after Chay was in bed I mentioned the conversation to Justin. "It all makes sense now!" Apparently  Justin had noticed that Chay sprayed the Lynx over his body and asked humorously if he was 'trying to get a girlfriend'. Chay's response? "No, Dad. It only works when you use both. And I'm never using both!"

I found a dreidel in my Christmas cracker

This time of year is filled with everything Christmas

We were lucky enough to get snow, which really drove the Christmas cheer home, presents from family arrived on time, our tree is glimmering with lights and ornaments, radio stations are pumping out Christmas songs and we got a load of wood so we are sure to have a crackling fire to see us through the new year.

And, as is always the case this time of year, Christmas crackers are plentiful!

Just a Christmas lunch and yet, so much more!

Yesterday, Justin and I met up with my mother-in-law to celebrate Christmas a bit early. After handing over a Christmas tree-shaped and decorated plastic tub of freshly baked cookies and treats, she announced she was taking us to lunch. "Great", we both chirped as we gulped our last bit of tea.

She took us to a pub just a stones throw away and commented on how she had been there several times in the past month. The pub, Compasses in Great Totham, is fairly small with two fireplaces, a friendly staff and very cozy. After ordering our roast dinners (me, turkey; Justin, beef; Gilly, gammon) we settled into enjoying a nice glass of Rioja. The dinners were delicious and after cleaning our plates we decided to rest a bit before ordering dessert.

I have not laughed this hard by myself in a very long time

It was now I suggested we open our Christmas crackers. Now, I don't remember Christmas crackers being popular where I've lived. Somehow though, I have a vague recollection of something of this nature but cannot place it.  Nonetheless, they are very popular in England and you find them everywhere this time of year, and this pub was no exception. Each place setting cradled a cracker and after moving them aside to enjoy our roast dinner, I could take it no more!

We each crossed our arms and took one end of each of our crackers (if you can imagine) and pulled. Crack! they all opened and a little toy, paper crown and joke fell out of each of ours. We read the really bad jokes aloud, placed the crowns (each a different bright color of pink, yellow and blue) on our head and held up our toy. Justin's was an over sized bright green paper clip (?), Gilly had a bright green golf tee and I had the mother toy of all...

a dreidel. A Dreidel!

I could not stop laughing and laughed until I cried. When my tears of laughter were met with quizzical looks, I stated several times and with more emphasis each time "I got a dreidel in my Christmas cracker!" As it turned out, neither of them had heard of a dreidel and so did not know what one was. Somehow, this made me laugh even harder. I had to stifle my laughter after a bit because I realized the joke was going no further than right there with me. Still though, every time I think of it, I can't help but giggle.

I don't know exactly why I think it is so funny. Perhaps it is just the lightheartedness of the season.

Regardless, it's quite charming and I like it. Intended or not, this is just a tiny way of bringing religions together. Next year I'll be holding out for a tiny model of the Hindu God, Ganesh. Wouldn't that be the best?!

Happy Holidays to all of our family and friends!

Last night we had our first snowfall of 2009. Looks like all of those snow danced finally paid off!

This is what it looked like when we went to bed last night...

Chaga and I went for a walk this afternoon. These photos show how gorgeous it is outside still!

What a beautiful place to be with snow!

We're hoping to hold on to this little bit of winter wonderland long enough for Christmas. 

Here's wishing all of you have a beautiful holiday season

a spectacular new year 

and a few wishes of your own come true.

A bridge walk

This past weekend Justin, Chay, Chaga and I went on a walk around Nayland and Wiston. It's amazing how a fresh walk can build your spirits! We were all energized - even when walking through the muddy field.

Since there were so many bridges along this particular walk, I decided to take photos of us at every bridge. I did forget one bridge along the way, but got all of the others.

Bridge #1: At the very beginning of our walk in Nayland

Bridge #2: In Wiston near the round church. This is a lovely bridge and part of the trail. This bridge crosses the River Stour.

After crossing the Stour, we decided to investigate a bit closer to the river.

Bridge #3: Just after crossing the River Stour, the trail wends it's way through a sweet little tree plantation before coming to this bridge.

Just after crossing Bridge 3, Justin and I both noticed how incredible the light was. Chay and Chaga of course were standing at the right place, at the right time, in the right light.

Justin and Chay in the grove. Look at how every little branch is covered in moss!

Bridge #4: Justin said I'd never get the camera to rest on the railing along this bridge. That generally means you'll get it to work just the way you want it to!

My girl. Just look at how beautiful she is!

Bridge #5: Between Bridges 4 and 5, the path works it's way through the above field which, at this time of year, is a mud pit. In this picture we were comparing our boots to see whose was the most muddy. We all agreed that Justin's boots won!

Bridge #6: This was by far the tiniest bridge on the walk.

Walking up the one hill on this walk.

We made it to the top!

And here we all are, at the top of the hill, taking a little break.

And there you have it. Our walk appropriately ended, of course, on a bridge.

Even with loads of sugar and butter Oatmeal Cookies are still the healthy treat

Oats are loaded with nutrition and versatility! I use oats in breads, cereals, trail  mix, as a thickening agent in soups and stews and of course, in these delightful and "healthy" treats! 

Spicy Oat Cookies
There is much dispute amongst my family and friends over whether to put raisins in oatmeal cookies and then, whether or not to use soft of hard raisins. In other words, do you soak them and get them nice and plump or use them straight out of the box? I myself am a purist and more often than not choose no raisins, mostly because I love the texture of the oat cookie as is and then because I know more people will enjoy them. After all, you wouldn't not eat this cookie because it didn't have raisins. But, you would choose not to try it if it did. However, when I do use raisins, I only use raisins that have been plumped by soaking in bourbon or rum. 

MAKES 4 DOZEN

1 1/3 cups unsalted butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (If you like a good salty-sweet treat, you can add 3/4 tsp. salt, which compliments the brown sugar nicely)
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. nutmeg

1. Cream the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

2. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and all of the spices.

3. Beat flour mixture into butter mixture and then add oats and stir until completely incorporated.

4. Roll dough pieces into generous 1 1/2-inch balls and place them on baking sheets about 3 inches apart.

5. Bake on greased baking sheets for 10 to 12 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 350°. 

Some Great Links on Oats

McCann's Irish Oatmeal - I love steel cut oats and McCann's produces some of the best I've had.

Hamlyns Oats of Scotland - Some of the best oats around come from Hamlyns, which produces a nice variety of porridge oats to pinhead (steel cut) oats.

Eat More Oats - A fabulous website dedicated to all things oat!

Stoats - Not only a great name, but great oat products!

It's all in the Snap... Gingersnap, that is!

This post is dedicated to the tantalizing, spicy and versatile tuber, Ginger.

Ginasnaps
(yes, Gina-snaps. Named so by my wonderfully clever friend, Paige. Adapted from a recipe included in Saveur by Claudia Fleming.)

These little morsels put a whole new snap in a traditional gingersnap. With freshly ground white pepper, loads of fresh ginger and dry ginger, and adorned with a little diamond of crystallized ginger on top, you'll go hot and heavy for these holiday treasures!

MAKES 6 DOZEN


1 3/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
2 tbsp. grated peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest *or 1/2 tsp. lemon oil
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. ground ginger
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground white pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 tbsp. turbinado (raw) sugar
2 oz. (80g) crystallized ginger sliced


1. Cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg, fresh ginger, and lemon zest or oil and beat well.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, white pepper, and cloves. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating until well combined. Form the dough into a large disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°. Scoop out 1 tsp. of the dough at a time and roll it between the palms of your hands to form a ball. Place the balls on a cookie sheet and press down hard with the base of a dry measuring cup or drinking glass that has been dipped in flour (after each "pressing" to prevent sticking) to form thin rounds. Press in one slice of ginger in the center of the round and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with turbinado sugar. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until crisp and browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Some of my most favorite Ginger links

Ginger Pig - Ginger pigs are one of those guilty pleasures. If you ever get the chance to try one, do it.

Ginger People - Absolute Ginger Heaven! I love their ginger chews!

Fentimans Ginger Beer - With a little bit of tang and a little bit of sweet, this ginger beer is just spicy enough to knock your socks off!

Birt and  Tang Tea Shop - I think this is the best packaged ginger tea if you don't happen to have some fresh ginger on hand.

Fresh Ginger Tea

Every time I make Ginasnaps, I make a ginger tonic that can be diluted and made into several cups of fresh ginger root tea. Simply take all of your ginger peelings and soak them in 2 cups of boiling water for several hours. Strain ginger peels and dilute to a 50:50 mixture with more boiling water and 1 tsp. honey.
Deeee-lish-ous!

Shhhh... I'll tell you a secret.

I am going to capitalize on the fact that I don't have a lot of readers and take the opportunity to post some of my favorite recipes for the holiday season. Not all are my personal recipes, but all are my personal favorites. The recipes I am going to post over the course of the month are coveted by me. It has taken quite a while to tweak them and get them just to my liking. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do in our home.

From our home to yours over this wonderful holiday season, we wish you love, happiness, health, spirit and above all, delicious sweet treats made with a dash of each.

Cheers!

I'm taking on a new mantra

The information I choose to share is valuable. At least it's valuable to me and therefore should be worth a listen or a read. At least to my family and friends.

I really ought to get more of my thoughts down on... on... paper? Screen? What do you call it when you write it on a computer but don't print it? Ah hell, it's not like it matters.

My point? I sit at home applying/bidding on dozens of jobs every day and after a year of doing this it would be nice if one person replied, "hey, nice letter. Impressive resume. Let's have a chat about the work we'd like you to do".

Just once.

Actually, that's not really fair, those porn sites really want me to write for them. Hey, it'd pay more than all of that volunteer work I do raising funds for cancer research, or press releases I write for a struggling pub, or even managing all of those damn social networking sites for my husband's band. They don't pay, they don't even say thank you. But, I know I'm doing it. And I know it's read because someone eventually responds. Even if it's just to say, "hey, press release seems ok but I'm too brain dead to actually have an opinion". Is that a compliment? Not really. But I'll take it.

As my father would say, "Shit man. At least it's somethin'!"

Writing Reviews

Yesterday I applied for multiple freelance writing jobs. Let's just say I was on a role. Really, it seemed absolutely unbelievable that I would find so many ads in search of freelance writers or assistants to the editor or bloggers, etc. After writing several ingenious cover letters I attached writing samples and my CV and sat back feeling quite satisfied to have accomplished so much in one afternoon. Undoubtedly you can imagine my enthusiasm when within the first hour I received a reply. A reply! I have so rarely received a reply to any job I've applied for or bid on in nearly a year and after feeling utterly dejected this was the boost I needed!

Upon quick inspection of the email, I took notice that it seemed a bit on the shady side and still possibly very legitimate. And there was only one way to find out. I responded by completing the task assigned to me and emailing my final product. However, it doesn't end here. While working on my writing assignment I noticed another reply pop into my inbox. Then another, and another, and another until I had received a reply to each and every job application. Amazing! And yet, it wasn't adding up. So I read them. And yes, there were several scams instructing me to send in only £11.95 for tutorial pamphlets or spending a low one-time fee of £20 to receive that special how-to-make-a-fortune-in-an-afternoon video - after all, you have to spend money to make money my online interviewer enthusiastically stated. The more I read, the more I realized I had opened a sort of Pandora's Porn Box. Take the image as presented. And yes, when I say box I mean "box", if you know what I mean...

I was horrified. Not in the way that makes you afraid to walk outdoors in the dark but, the kind of horrified that makes you cringe whenever you see young girls at a Daytona Beach tequila bar while on spring break. You just know that vacation is never going to turn out quite the way they had imagined. Woooah, that was dangerously close to judging, wasn't it? Be that as it may, I cannot deny my initial feeling; and it wasn't good. That being said, I have this overwhelming sense of curiosity when it comes to pornography. I just can't help but take a glance. It's sort of like the sense of excitement my mother would get when she would have to pull off to the side of the road when an ambulance zoomed by. "Let's follow it!" she'd say craning her neck around at us as she pressed down on the gas pedal. We rarely ever caught up to the ambulance or even followed it to it's ultimate destination. But, it was exhilarating just imagining the gore we might be confronted with if we ever did catch up.

Anyway, I was hooked and proceeded to bring up hotsugar.com, realdrunkgirls.com, among many other sites, and I just couldn't go any further. Now, I'm not about to start a conversation or debate on the ethical nature of pornography. That's not my bag baby. However, I do know what doesn't settle well with me and this just wasn't settling.

So, as great as all of those opportunities may be, I chose to delete the responses and block the websites and never to look for a job on that website again. Did I shoot myself in the foot? Cut off my nose to spite my face? Was I a lost ball in the high weeds? Possibly. Perhaps I could have been one of the best script writers for B rated XXX movies. Damn, I missed my opportunity at the AVN Awards!!!

We'll see where I get with the writing assignment I did submit. Perhaps it will be my chance at glory after all.

Moving Can Be the Pits. At Least There's Television to See Me Through!

My one-year anniversary celebrating my giant move overseas was on October 31. Since then, I've been thinking a lot about moving in general, how many times I've moved over the years, the number of houses I've lived in (or structures), how much money I've spent on gasoline travelling back and forth with all of the trips. Seriously, it seems endless. It feels like an endless string of insecurity, instability and anxiety. So, what are the common denominators? What are the few things that keep me sane during all of these tumultuous events? Well, the answer isn't going to be life altering for those of you who are looking for the answer to your existence. It's not some sort of existential, life-altering epiphany. It's really rather simple - as well as the subject of much debate.

Television. That glorious and fascinating product of technology!!

Television has been one of the best constants in my life. It keeps me grounded so to speak. After 25 moves, 25 homes and countless amounts of money spent on moving expenses the one thing in my life that has helped me cope with the stress of moving is television. Now I have no intention of initiating a debate on the negative affects of television - mostly because I believe everything is good in moderation. However, I AM saying that television has been important to me over the years. I'm not afraid to say. Hey, I'm actually proud to say it. I love TV!

However, if you're ever moving to one of the more remote places in the country, such as the North East portions of the US like up state New York or Vermont, then you know how even conventional TV antennas don't help much with reception. Thank God for the invention of satellite television!!! There are so many digital television services out there but, for me, the one that offered the best support (and hooked my service up the fastest) was Direct TV. I remember when I moved back to the Northeast Kingdom to the farm house I grew up in. I was soooo happy to find a Directv service that would actually come out that far! Direct TV in New York state was amazing. I think it took a total of 24 hours from the time I phoned in my order and the time they serviced that house! I was soooo relieved when I realized I could tune into my favorite shows, wake up to the morning news with a hot cup of coffee, catch the summer Olympics!

Now that I'm in the UK, I miss that kind of service. Television is not free here with just a conventional antenna. Everyone pays something like £12.50/month for service. The general consensus is to just stick with that. I, however would like to find another satellite service. There are satellite services out there. Guess I'll just have to check into them. Maybe I'll be able to get the Evening News with Katie Couric at 11 PM!

Beards and Bras and Pants, Oh My!

Today I was interviewed on BBC Radio Suffolk; and, it all started with the growth of a beard... Oh, and throw in some bras and pants as well. The celebration of such undergarments and facial hair growth is all in the name of cancer research and support.

11 November, 2009 – For Immediate Release

Beards & Bras in Bures

November is cancer awareness month in Bures. In an effort to support both the prevention and care side of this devastating disease, local supporters are raising money for Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support.

On Saturday, 28^th November 2009 at the Swan Pub & Bistro in Bures you will experience a fundraising event like no other! In an effort to raise money for the fight against cancer, one of Bures’ more colourful characters, James Lee generated sponsors (and nearly £2,000 in sponsorships to date) who challenged him to grow a beard over the past 6 months. James met this challenge and by the 28^th of November will have completed his mission.

In support of James’ efforts, a group of local supporters collaborated to organize the first bra and pant project in our area. Everyone throughout the region is invited to participate by creating or decorating a brazier or pair of pants and donning these articles of clothing on this same night. “Including men in this event is crucial to the message we are sending” said Gina Geremia, project organizer. “It seems that more of us are aware that breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women. However, for men prostate cancer is the most common cancer. We want to include men in this event by encouraging them to create or decorate a pair of pants symbolizing their fight against prostate cancer.”

Once the night of the event is over, the project is just kicking in. With the help from Cancer Research UK, Geremia is searching for venues in which to showcase the bras and pants as what will be the first travelling bra and pant art exhibit in the country. The idea to showcase these came from Geremia who did not want to see these art designs disintegrate into the night. “These will mean more than we can ever imagine” said Geremia. What cancer survivors and their families and friends go through is beyond imagination. My guess is we’ll be seeing some pretty profound designs honouring children, parents and friends.” Of course, designs will only be included in the exhibit with the express permission of the artist.

Although they aren’t calling it the first annual event as such, the thought to make it one has occurred to the group. We’d love to have 10 men next year lined up ready to shave off their beards and the march to double in size said Geremia. “Who knows, perhaps other communities will jump on the Beards & Bras bandwagon. Then we can make it a growing bra and pant exhibit and bring it home to Bures next November!”

Participants are encouraged to wear their designs over their clothes and show off their work of art by participating in the 1-mile march for cancer throughout the village. Their goal is to match the nearly £2000 generated by James Lee. All funds generated by this effort will be shared between Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Support Beards & Bras in Bures

· Place your donation in one of the fundraising tins throughout the village:

Swan Pub & Bistro

Eight Bells

Post Office

Deli

• Purchase your raffle tickets at participating locations or on the night of the event.

• Decorate a bra or pair of pants (or create a new one!) and join in the 1-mile march. Be sure to attach your personal signature on your creation as the collection of entries will travel the region in the first bra and pant art exhibit in the nation!
• Join James for the long-awaited “shaving of the beard”.

Schedule and Important Information

• A sponsorship/Entry form will enter you into the bra and pant decorating and 1-mile march. (sponsor/entry forms available at participating locations)
• 20:30 – Bra and pant creators gather at the Swan to prepare for the march.
• 21:00 – March along a designated route through the village (end at Swan by 21:30).
• 22:00 – The Shaving of the Beard in the public bar of the Swan.
• 22:30 – Announcement of best decorated bra and pants followed by raffle drawing
• The evening of the event is free to the public and there will be refreshments for all!

For more information contact Gina Geremia, 07946668516 or ginageremia@gmail.com.

Chappel Beer Festival

It was one night and one night only we were able to experience the week-long festival. Still, it was one GREAT night and well worth the one year wait! The party consisted of (starting from front left) Claire, James, Tom, me and Justin along with about 300+ fans and 400+ beers. Our mission was to taste delicious beers from all over. After going through the full beer list I made my list of must tries (assuming they were still around!) and headed for the train station... What a lucky night! We rode the train to Chappel from Bures and back for free!!! When we got to the festival it was "first thing's first" with Claire being as thirsty as she was. I didn't' even have time to go over my list before we were in the first building and I was being handed a taste of... well, to be honest I don't even know what! Here we are excited to see our favorites! After we wet our whistle, we headed for the food and had one of the best cheese toasties on planet Earth! Er, that's basically a grilled cheese sandwich to my stateside friends! We were finally prepared to set out for Mission Beer Festival. The kegs were lined up in endless rows by alpha order - I was surrounded by kegs of beer in multiple buildings and it was overwhelmingly fantastic! Claire and I couldn't get over how delicious some of our choices were! Here I am surrounded by hundreds of delicious brews. I wish all of my beer loving friends could have been there to celebrate with me. Just look at all of those kegs being cared for with their blankets and labels. Here, I had just tried the Summer Virgin by Brentwood Brewery and it was good... it just wasn't what I wanted. I wanted the Screaming Virgin but wasn't on tap. Basically, Brentwood had my favorites to try: Chockwood Orange (dark, deep chocolate beer with hints of orange) and Screaming Virgin (strong, citrus) but neither one were on tap. :( After a quick visit through both of the big buildings we visited the tiny Sunter's Arms. It is so tiny there is only enough room for two customers in at a time and they only had three beers on tap. Claire loves this place! Look how happy she and Justin are just to be near it! After visiting the Sunter's Arms we went to the Belgian Bar where we had some of the absolute best Lambic on Planet Earth! Raspberry, Peach, Cherry, Pink Grapefruit, Black Current... the flavors were all so delicious and refreshing! Of course, the hefeweizen got the double thumbs up too! With so many people, it was tough to find a place to relieve oneself. Thankfully for Justin and Tom there was an antique gentlemen's "shelter" where they could relieve themselves in private. Or so it seemed... Well, after a few more trips around the festival we were ready to take one last group shot and the train back to Bures. We'll be back next year, you can count on it!

Enjoy The World Through Another's Lense

I love looking at photos. I love looking at snapshots of life through someone else's eyes. It is inspiring, emotional and in some cases downright odd (check out the photo of the body builders - you couldn't stage it better!).

Antony Bennison is a photo editor for MSN in London. Each week Antony hand picks the most striking photos (as he sees it) taken over the previous seven days. Check it out. It's one of my favorite blogs!

This is an AP photo taken by Mark Keppler (isn't is sweeeet?!). Click on the photo to get to Antony's photo picks!

Life on a Daily Basis

Clean, Walk, Bathe, Eat, Bake. Wait. Dishes. Dinner. Dishes. Guitar Sounds. Food and Music. Food, and Music. Food. Music. No matter how you slice it, it always turns out the same -- delicious and fun. Nice to taste. Nice to hear. What a nice way to be. Not to sound like life is a bowl of cherries. Some days it is. Some days the cherries are bitter. Some days it's nothing but pits. And some days, it's pan au cherry chocolat! Today is a waiting game. Waiting to hear about a potential job interview. Waiting to hear about the house we want to move into. Waiting for Justin to come home so we can go for a long walk. Waiting to hear back from friends. Waiting for that damn package I was supposed to get yesterday. But it's not a day of pits even though it's the pits waiting. It's a day of cherries. The cherries may be going moldy in the refridgerator, but they are there nonetheless. Waiting game days mean biscotti. When in doubt, bake. They'll sell. With a cup of coffee you can't go wrong!

Shopwiki to the Rescue!

One afternoon a few months ago while browsing the Internet I realized my computer was acting odd. This odd behavior continued for several weeks until it became eminent that it was to be replaced. I had been so far out of the market that I had no idea where to go or who to talk to regarding a suitable replacement. That being said, I knew exactly where to start my search - Shopwiki. Shopwiki is a comprehensive online shopping comparison site that has changed the way online shoppers look for products. Like a search engine such as Google, Shopwiki crawls through cyberspace finding every store on the Internet that has the potential to offer you what you want. Rather than listing only those stores that have paid to be included, all stores on the Internet are included in the search. This maximizes your opportunity to find what you need and allows you the opportunity to make the best purchase choice possible. And it doesn't stop there. Other valuable components to this are Shopwiki's product comparison and purchase guides to whatever you want. In my case I went to the Laptop Computer Buying Guide and from there determined where to start my search and what computers to eliminate first. Was a laptop the best option for me and my family? This was a big decision for us. Would we go for the more "bang for our buck" option by purchasing a desktop or would convenience and transportability be more important factors with our type of lifestyle and work? To help us make this decision we went to Shopwiki's Laptop vs. Desktop page. Of course once the decision to purchase another laptop had been made, we needed to decide on the minimum computer specs for the computer of our choice. And, when you look at the specs for individual computers it is of the utmose importance that you actually understand what the computer specs are. Overall, with Shopwiki we were able to narrow our search down from an enormous list of options to our favorites: Apple, Acer and Toshiba and then scan the stores recommended by Shopwiki. Did we find our computer? You bet we did! And we could not be happier with our choice. Could we have done it without this amazing shopping site? Of course. Would we attempt to make a purchase without first going to Shopwiki? No.

How to Lose Weight

What it all boils down to is that a diet of sausages and mashed potatoes simply is not as slimming as a diet of salads and fresh fruit. Just remember, if you really are what you eat, would you rather be brown and mushy or green and snappy? You choose.

I'm Not a Pro Blogger

I like my blogs, I like to write, take pictures and share about my life. I don't have a lot of advice to give. I don't have the incredibly mind altering, earth shattering, life changing experiences of other bloggers. I am not a single mother who offers advice on how to get back into the dating game or what brand diaper suits the urban green momma. I don't take the time to blog about everything I do: every walk I take with my dog, every time I get together with friends, every television show I watch, every dream I have, every argument with my husband, every time I miss my family and friends. I haven't even blogged about how difficult it has been to relocate to an English-speaking European country. And believe me, I could write endlessly on the differences one faces when making this kind of move. Although, hasn't that already been done? Aren't there dozens of blogs focusing on the American Expatriot? I confess, I haven't scoured the Internet in search of these blogs. I do know however, that there are dozens of books on this very topic so it stands to reason that someone out there blogs about it - and probably very well, I might add.

I know there are all kinds of things you can do to increase traffic to your blog, maximize your audiance's time on your blog, get folks to subscribe and become a fan and actually re-visit your blog. I know you can link it to all of the social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Myspace among others. And I try. I honestly do try to do all of those really important things to get more people to read about me and my expriences, to stay interested, comment on postings, basically become active readers. I also know that I have a tendency to lose interest in such things. Flake Out as the saying goes.

Take Myspace for example. Only two and a half years ago I was absolutly addicted to Myspace and my Myspace friends. My virtual world was expanding and I was becoming much more aware of the potential of this virtual social network I was creating. It was a new beginning for me and I was loving every second of it. Then I joined Facebook. It seemed to be a progression; a natural next step. I didn't like Facebook and believe I had a mere dozen friends for the first two years until somewhere along the line about a year ago, people from my past started to find me. Now I check my Myspace page on average once every three to four weeks.

I joined Twitter a year ago and still only have about two dozen followers (a couple of whom I do not know but think I am supposed to). Although as of late it seems that everyone is discovering and using it. Now Twitter is following in the Facebook steps in that I have a tendency to only open Twitter and update my status as I know it will show up on all of my other social networking profiles. I know this too will fade as LinkedIn is now the up and coming professional social network. Yeah, it's great and all. It's similar to Twitter in that you only have to update short blurbs about yourself, your day, a project you are working on, you name it. You don't have to give it the ol' pulitzer prize attempt at writing about your life. And again, it's great. It's easy and it's easy enough to link all of those blurbs into your real blog, Myspace or Facebook page.

The damn thing about all of this? I'd still just rather be on Myspace. I miss the simpler days when that was the cool site. It is no longer enough to virtually chat with folks, leave comments on pages and share photos, etc. Now it is much more interactive with games and applications, surveys and quizes. We've become bored with just getting to know one another with silly bulletins and blog postings.

What it all comes down to though is, you'll read about me if you're interested. You'll follow me if you have nothing better to do. And, you'll find me on the Internet if you want to take the time. Take your pick, I'm on them all - or at least all the ones I know about.