Comparing Homes

I'm back in Canada at the moment and have been noticing some of the little differences between where we live in England to where my parents live in Canada. Just a few things I've noticed this past week.

• Rounded curbs, rather than straight edge ones, are the norm here in the suburbs.
• Bigger parking spaces everywhere, but not much reserved parking for parents with little kids.
• Cheaper gas. It's $1.30CDN/litre (£0.65GBP) here compared to £1.20GBP/litre ($2.42CDN) in England.
• My elementary school no longer has school patrol in the mornings or afternoons because hardly anyone walks to school anymore. I will post more on this another day. Stay tuned.
• There is just starting to be organic products in the grocery stores, but it is still a young market. This was similar when we were in Australia too.
• 30°C is more scorching here as there is no cloud cover with that kind of temperature, so you get no breaks from it. However England tends to be more humid and therefore feels stickier at that temperature.
• As in Australia, there are lots of garage sales around. In England there is very rarely garage or yard sales. I've never seen one at least. It seems most people take the stuff to boot sales, where you sell your stuff out of the back of your car.

That's a short list of small differences. It's funny what you notice and what you don't. I'm sure there are other obvious things that I just don't notice because I'm too used to both the English and the Canadian ways.

A Boring Gardening Post

I know that gardening isn't everyone's idea of a fun activity, and even fewer find reading about it to be stimulating. Hence the warning in the post title today. My husband could be considered one of those who don't find gardening that thrilling, which is part of the reason I went to the Open Gardens Day in Cookham Dean on Sunday without him. I made it to 4 out of the 5 gardens and it looked like the day was a big success, as there was loads and loads of people around with programs in hand. I paid extra for good weather on the weekend (we had a BBQ to celebrate someone's 30th birthday) and it was well worth the expense, plus the open gardens benefited as well from the mild good weather. As all the money was going to charity, Thames Hospicecare, so I'm glad so many people came.

It was a good mix of gardens, from some small ones about the size of our back yard to a big acre and a half plot which I didn't make it to sadly. I guess it makes sense to show a variety, rather than just the same type. I liked the two that also had vegetable plots the most. Partly because I liked the vegetables, but also because they felt like gardens people actually use and enjoy, rather than something created for a look or maintained to keep up the good surroundings of the house. But it was interesting see all of them. I'm sure lots of people were like me and were checking out the houses as much as the gardens. Cookham Dean is considered to be the rich part of Cookham, and there are some mansions about the place that would help you confirm it (not that the Rise or the village don't have them, but the Dean has more). So it's fun to have a gawk about and see how the better off live.

On my own allotment, I was getting a bit disheartened with the slugs eating my squashes, the grass growing better and faster than any of my plants, etc etc. But there is one thing that is keeping me going - I've had some absolutely fabulous strawberries this past week. They are one part of my plot where I've managed to keep the weeds in check and there were giant, sweet and flavoursome red jewels for me to pick as a reward for my vigilance. Lena likes them too. In fact, she currently doesn't make too much fuss leaving the playground and the swings to head over to the allotment, because she knows that the strawberries can be found there. G. has had very few of the strawberries, as between Lena and I, we usually manage to eat all the berries right there and then. Perhaps it will be encouragement for him to go up to the plot and do a bit of watering and maintenance for me while I'm away with Lena in Canada the next 2 weeks. A girl can hope.

Getting Done

So I have another check on my list of British experiences. My bank card details have been stolen. There was a call yesterday from my bank's fraud department, asking to call back urgently. I only got the message this morning and dutifully called. After doing a few security check questions, it seems that someone has been trying to use a fake copy of my debit card in Canada and the U.S. They managed to get out around 150 pounds on the card. Apparently we won't have to pay it back after filling out the requisite forms (stay tuned if that isn't the case), but it's still a bit upsetting to have it happen in the first place. After reading the front page of the weekly local newspaper, Maidenhead Advertiser, it seems that the gas station (aka petrol garage) that I filled up the car earlier this month is the likely culprit. Well to be fair, they aren't the culprit, they are victims too, as it's likely the station was targeted by a gang of criminals. What annoys me is that I never fill up there, this was the only time. Argh. Ah well, it's not the end of the world, but for some people whose accounts have been cleaned out, it might feel like it. And it comes on top of our phone not working yesterday because someone had stolen the copper wiring from the local exchange overnight. (See the story What NO Phone, NO Internet? for more details.) So right now, this week, I'm not really enjoying the local British life that much.

The Grand Prix of Singing

The Eurovision Song Contest is tonight. My North American and Australian readers might be saying, "The what?" to that announcement. That was certainly my reaction when I first heard people in Munich talking about the Grand Prix. I assumed they were talking about car racing at first, as that's the name by which I knew Formula 1. But with all the talk of costumes, voting and oh yeah, singing; I realised it couldn't quite be Michael Schumacher they were talking about.

If you are that interested in it, you can read about it in my first link. If you're not that interested, just a few quick facts for you to take to your next trivia quiz. ABBA won Eurovision contest in 1974, which basically paved their way to fame. 1988 was the year Celine Dion won the contest (performing for Switzerland, not Canada). And Riverdance, the Irish dance show sensation, started as a 7 minute filler during the 1994 Eurovision. Funny that the filler became more famous than the act that won.

This will be my first time watching it with the BBC coverage, and only my 2nd or 3rd time over all. Apparently half the reason my British friends watch the show is simply for the dry witty comments from Terry Wogan, so that is something to look forward to. Everyone in Munich always complained, "It just wasn't the same" without Terry covering it. So tonight is my chance to see if it's even close to worth the cheesy hype it's given.

Turning British or just Odd

First of all, an apology for the lack of posts for so long. We were away for a few weeks and I've fallen out of the habit. Hopefully this will be the start of a revival.

So, the idea of this blog is that we are the colonials infiltrating the Brits. However, I think the Brits are infiltrating me. I found myself watching coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show last night. Okay, I admit it, I watched an hour of it on Monday too, that's how bad it's getting. My interest in gardening is normally limited to vegetables, but for some reason, I was attracted to watch a show about show gardens. Not really anything much I can take back to my own Garden of Weeden; these are pretty fancy and expensive gardens. Rightly or wrongly, I felt like an old woman watching the show.

Speaking of weeds, I decided to put some of those weeds to good use and make nettle soup. Surprisingly, there wasn't as many nettles as I thought on the plot - the couch grass much be beating it. But I got enough to make the soup. It was a lovely green colour and the taste was alright too. But the texture was yuck. Even pureed, it still felt like I was eating a bowl of chewy grass. I'm pretty sure I let it wilt enough, so I don't know how it could have been a smoother texture. And rightly or wrongly, I felt like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall eating the soup.

Celeb Spotting and Market Hopping

I saw my first famous person this week. Well, other than the Queen, but that was hardly an unexpected siting, driving down to Ascot. This week, I almost literally bumped into Michel Roux as I was walking down Maidenhead High Street. This is the elder Michel Roux, not his nephew. It took me nearly until I had passed him to recognise him, as obviously I wasn't really on the lookout. All I really noted was that he was wearing bright orange cords and is a bit shorter than I expected. I don't know what I expected to be honest. I think living with G, who is pretty tall, makes me think the average is taller than it is. No, I didn't ask him for a free lunch at Le Gavroche or The Waterside Inn, but it did cross my mind.
I had to laugh that the first British celebrity I spot is a chef. That speaks volumes of what I watch on TV. Apparently there was some actress whose path we always used to cross when we walked the the Long Walk but I never actually noticed her nor knew her name when I was told. Chefs are much more my cup of tea.

In a food related tangent, the Cookham Country Market will be closing down in April, according to the Cookham website (this is not a permanent link). I'm really a bit sad about this. I didn't go to it super regularly or anything, but I did go several times and it was always nice to go there and pick up a pie, or some jam or chutney or what have you. They will continue, but once a month in Bourne End. I really don't know why it's going to Bourne End rather than staying in Cookham. If it's only going to be once a month, wouldn't there be enough custom in Cookham for it? The market was one of those pros on a very long list of why I like living in Cookham and it's sad to cross something off that list.

A couple of updates

Lena is coming on in leaps and bounds in every way. She has a small vocabulary of about five words (mama, dada, more, slide, up) and a few signs to communicate with. She is walking quite well and really enjoys singing nursery rhymes now. So below you can see a few videos of her in action.

This first one is her doing the actions to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. You'll notice that she's ahead of the song since she knows it so well.

And this video is of her walking a circuit in the living room. Facebook viewers will have seen this one already.

In other updates, the leak in the roof above our bathroom has reappeared. We got a cheap and simple fix to the problem, as we are looking at putting on an extension on top of it, so it seemed a bit silly to spend several hundred pounds on something that would be ripped out in a few months. And admittedly, the leak isn't where it was repaired, but a different location nearby. It's only because it's been raining quite a bit recently compared to our dry and sunny February that I've noticed it. So action will again have to be taken. Sigh.