Easter in Farham

For the second year in a row I've spend Easter at Margy and Ian's (they are Tom's aunt and uncle on his Mum's side).   They live in Fareham which is near Portsmouth, about an hour and a half down the coast from Brighton.

Our lunch was delicious, and as always I was stuffed like a turkey on the way home.  For starters Margy served avocado and pancetta salad.  The main was chicken cacciatore, and I'm now dying to make this dish myself.  It was so good!  Next up came puddings, too many to choose.  I decided to go for the lemon meringue pie, a little of the lemon treat and half of a molten chocolate brownie.  Piggy I know.

After lunch we took our walk along a pretty little river.  The path we took reminded me very much of the ones my family rode bikes along on Easter days as I was growing up.

As we finished our walk through the village of Titchfield I saw the shortest door I've ever seen!  Look at it:

My head reached the top of this teeny door, and it came only to John's shoulder.  He'd have to be very careful ducking into that house.

Our walk finished and we went back for tea with a couple more cakes and cheeses.  Yep, more cakes!  I did have my first ever Bakewell Tart, a classic English treat, which I've added to my list of must make some time.  It was so good and almondy. 

As you can tell there was a lot of food consumed, but luckily our walk undid some of the damage I'm sure.  I enjoyed the day very much and fell asleep full and happy.  Although, I did miss my Mom's twice baked potatoes.  I wonder if they would survive being mailed here?  Ah, probably not.  I guess I'll have to wait until next time I'm home for those.  

Love

April sun brings fun

The weekend that just past was incredible.  I'm happy for two reasons: 1. In England they honor Good Friday and Easter Monday, which means I had a great four day weekend 2. It has been HOT here.  Seriously Hot for April.  I spent the majority of the weekend hanging out in my bikini.  Yesterday I heard on the radio that this weekend it's been hotter in England than it was in the Sahara desert!  Crazy huh?  The highs were in the low 80's which is hot for England, especially considering its still only spring.

Most of my time was spent on the Hove end of the beach just down from where I live.  It is a bit more quiet in this area.  Although, this year a new beach bar opened drawing in loads of people that weren't here before.  I even thought about going for a swim one day, but by the time I got up to my knees my feet were numb so I ran straight back out squealing.

Brighton beach was heaving all weekend long.  Thousands of people were out having fun enjoying lounging, drinks and games in the sun.

The beach bars were mad, obviously good for business.

I'd almost say it's a shame I'm back to work tomorrow, but it's only a three day week with another four day weekend ahead.

Love

English countryside

I was really lucky to get out for a walk at lunch today.  It is summer in England.  Yes I know it's only April, but its hot here.  Skirt and tank top weather.  And with the four day Easter weekend ahead I plan on camping myself at the beach to enhance my golden tan.  Of course I do have yoga tomorrow, a hair appointment on Saturday and lunch with Tom's family on Sunday to fit into my taxing schedule.

But back to today.  As you know I work in the country, so you get more pics of the gorgeous English countryside:

Envious?  Have I made you want to come visit me yet?

Oh and here is my desk, and me at my desk:

Love

Driving lessons

After work today I got to drive around a cool car just like the one above.  Okay, so it's not really that cool but that's what my driving lesson car looks like.  Yes, I am taking driving lessons.  It seems a bit silly when I think that I've had my license for eight years now.  However, I am going to get a British driving license and want to make sure I pass the test.

Why do I need a British license?  I don't really, it's perfectly legal for me to drive on my American one.  But as I drive every day now it would probably be better to have a British license, just in case.  Plus, for some reason I took my theory (a.k.a. written) test ages ago.  It's about to expire and I don't want to have to take it again.  So in a few weeks I'll be taking a driving test.

I remember when I was first in England studying I often got asked if I had a driving license.  I'd always answer, "Yes, of course."  Everyone was so impressed, and I didn't really get what the big deal was.  Everyone in America has their license.  I'd been driving since I was fifteen (I went to a private driving school so I could get my permit early) and it's not something you think twice about, everyone has a license.    

Apparently in England driving tests are really hard and a lot of people have to take the test multiple times before they pass.  This is one of the major differences I've noticed.  Besides the obvious difference of having to wait an extra year until you are 17 to get your license, it also takes a lot more work.  To start, everyone here takes their test in a manual.  You can take your test in an automatic, but you get a limited license doing it that way.  Learning to drive a manual car was my first obstacle.  Tom taught me that skill, luckily he was brave and almost patient enough. It took ages and confused my brain for a bit, but I'm happy to say it's no longer a challenge.  Oh yes, and there is the issue on driving on the other side of the road, but it's kind of relative and didn't really phase me.

The main reason for my driving lessons is to undo all of my bad habits.  I need to re-learn the proper guiding points for manouvers, and learn how to bay park (not a done thing in the states) and how to do a controlled stop.  Plus ALL of the mirror checks.  Not checking the mirrors enough or in the proper order could get me marked down a lot.

I'm feeling pretty confident right now.  I've driven for years and although I rarely drove over the past couple of years, the past month I've been driving every day.  It's just like riding a bike, and I'm really good at that!

Love

Walking around the farm

Often on a Sunday Tom and I go to Brook Farm for Sunday roast (note: if you go to that wiki link the pic is horrid, it looks like a roast you would get at a really bad pub).  After gorging ourselves on roast meat, vegetables and other yummy roast treats which are followed by pudding (a.k.a. dessert in American) Tom's Mum, Sarah, and I take the dogs for a walk around the fields.

The countryside is beautiful!  I always enjoy these walks, the fresh air, chatting to Sarah and just taking in the landscape.  Today Sarah's sister Margy joined us on our walk as she and her husband Ian had come for lunch.  And, for the first time ever I had a camera on me whilst out in the fields.  I can't believe I haven't captured this before, look at how lovely it is:

See, pretty isn't it?  

Love

I love leeks

Leeks are one of my favorite foods!  I can't remember eating them growing up.  I don't think I've ever ate one in America.  Perhaps they are more common in England, perhaps one of my parents didn't like them, or perhaps they aren't that popular in the Pacific Northwest.  Who knows. Whatever the reason, that fact is I didn't have my first leek until I was probably 21, and now I love them.

Tom's Mum (Sarah) has an impressive vegetable garden that grows great leeks.  Often when you find leeks in the supermarket they are small and puny, but the leeks Sarah grows are serious... nice, big and substantial.  Luckily for me recently she has given us quite a few.

Now I do have a point with this post other than going on a tangent about how much I like leeks.  The other day I tried a new recipe for tender braised leeks that was so simple, and sooooo delicious!  I highly recommend you try it.  Just throw a few ingredients including the leeks and water in a pan and let simmer for 20 min.  Out come nutritious, tender, and flavorful leeks.  The perfect side dish.  I paired mine with grilled seasoned chicken for a wonderful meal.

Unsure of what to make tonight?  Go on, try the leeks!  You wont regret it, promise.

Love

Heat Wave

This past weekend was summer!  Literally.  The UK experienced a blissful heat wave.  And to think my Dad told me just a couple of days before that he had driven to work in snow.

Saturday was a beach day.  After getting up early for Bikram Yoga, by noon I was ready to relax in the sun.  I was delightfully surprised as I left yoga with a text from Siobhan letting me know that she and Tom were on their way down from London.  Plus, Lucia was in Brighton visiting Dave this weekend.  It was the perfect group for a day on the pebbles.  See...

I can't think of a better way to spend my weekend then hanging out in the sun with good friends.  My chest and nose even got a little pink!

Unfortunately, today was cold and cloudy.  I'm a little sad to see the warm weather leave us.  At least it was here over the weekend and not just mid-week when I'm indoors working.  Hopefully we will see more warm weather soon.


On a different topic.... I did have a major accomplishment today.  After work I went on an hour long cycle ride with my proper shoes, and I'm proud to say I didn't fall once!!  I did it!  I can now call myself a proper cyclist.

Love

This tune says summer is here

This song screams summer, loving it right now! Roll down the windows, let the wind blow your hair and sing loud for all to hear.

The sun is shinning and it was too hot to put on tights this morning.  I can't wait until 5.30 tonight when I will be at the beach, hopefully with a cider or perhaps even a Pimms in hand!

Beauty

Sunset over Brighton beach Friday evening

Pretty flowers in Peterborough

Love

Cartoons rock Peterborough

I can't believe we are already 5 days into April, it is going by so quickly!  I've been super busy with work, Shaun came back down to visit for a couple of days at the end of last week and over the weekend Tom and I went on a road trip for our friend Ade's birthday party.

Ade grew up in Peterborough which is about a three hour drive from Brighton.  On our way we stopped at Tom's Aunt Jane and Uncle Chris' for lunch.  I hadn't met Jane and Chris before and I had a wonderful time visiting them.  They are both very friendly and a lot of fun.  Jane made us a delicious lasagna and I took a lemon drizzle cake for pudding.  I got rave reviews on my pudding from Chris, which I was very happy about.  After a few hours of chatting at their house we continued on our way to the party.

The theme for the night was cartoon characters and I was impressed with the effort everyone put into their costumes.  I heard a number of people even rented costumes for the night!  I raided Sally's dress up box and went as a Flintstone.  Tom went as the preppy Scooby Doo character, although he didn't even know his name (I just looked it up, its Fred Jones).  Housemate Roo was there as Mini Mouse and Birthday boy went as Syndrome from the Incredibles.

 

 

The party was fun; good food, good drinks and lots of dancing!  I'm glad we went and that I can now add Peterborough to the list of English places I've seen.
Love