HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! This is our second year in a row to miss the big family gathering at my parents' house...that means no dressing from Mom or perfectly sliced turkey from Dad or delicious desserts from my sister. It also means I will not be able to hug my favorite family members and watch the Dallas Cowboys while everyone snores away their turkey hangover. BUT...I think this may be the last year we are all apart, so that makes me feel better.

I have decided that I don't care if it's only Edgar and I this Thanksgiving, I am still going to make a feast. I decided against the Stovetop Stuffing so graciously shipped over from Julie and Jonathan, and instead will be making homemade stuffing using the cornmeal they sent. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without homemade stuffing. I will also be preparing turkey (0f course), sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, broccoli and cheese, deviled eggs, and pumpkin pie.

Thanks to the magic of technology, I will at least get to see everyone via Skype. If we can get things working just right, we may actually all eat together-their lunch and our dinner because of the time difference. But with our faces right there on the screen occupying a spot at the table, it will feel just like we're all together!

It's probably too late to join us, but you can still make it for leftovers if you leave right now!!!

Our First Snow!

Looking out the kitchen window into the back garden

It's hard to believe it's already that time...yep...it's winter AGAIN! I think I only wore short sleeves a couple of weeks this whole year! We woke up this morning to snow! It was a very small amount and was melted by the light rain within a few hours, but still, already? We don't get loads of snow here. It's nothing like the snowplow-salt truck-don't leave your house snowfalls we used to get in Columbus-thank goodness! But it is just enough to get excited about, maybe build a snowman, and still be able to carry on with your normal lives.

Looking out our bedroom window towards the front of the flat

Let Your Love Flow

I really like the music over here and I'm always tinkering through the UK Top 40 songs to add some spice to my iPod. As I scrolled through the list this week, I noticed The Bellamy Brothers' Let Your Love Flow was listed at #28. What? Are they starting some kind of reunion tour I didn't know about? Did they remake the song? I couldn't figure out why this classic country song was on the UK Top 40, and climbing every week nonetheless. Then it hit me last night when I heard it on TV and realized it is featured in the new Barclay's Bank commercial on TV. There is quite of bit of music that crosses the pond, but classic country is generally not on that list. I have posted it above for your viewing pleasure. Tell me what you think...I really like it!

Monsters Invade!

We had some scary looking creatures stop by our flat on Halloween. Charlie brought her three boys, Ben, Noah, and Adam, as well as two other boys who were family friends visiting from Norway. The Norwegians weren't too sure about the whole trick or treat thing, but they quickly warmed up to the free candy. (Edgar and Charlie are not included in the "scary looking creature" group)

Being Good Citizens

Edgar ponders the many choices on his absentee ballot.

I know this is a little late, but what the heck...

Edgar and I were determined to vote this year, despite living as expats half way around the world. I started our absentee ballot process a long time ago, so we had our paperwork in plenty of time. This was especially special for Edgar because it was his first time to be able to vote as a US citizen! I am hoping they received our ballots and our votes were counted. There really is no way of knowing if everything worked out properly. I basically just put our things in the mail and hoped they would make it to where they were supposed to.

The Cotswolds

I really needed to get out of the house this past weekend. I've been just kind of hanging out the past few weeks, and the walls seemed to be getting closer to each other every day. This was making me a bit...cranky. On Friday around 2pm, I heard keys in our door. I wasn't expecting anyone from management and they are the only people besides us who have keys to our flat. So I firmly placed my hand on the door to keep it from opening, knowing all I needed to do was let out a blood curdling scream and my wonderful neighbor, Roger, would rush downstairs to see what was going on. Then I heard that familiar whistle that could only say it was Edgar on the other side of the door. Surprise!!!

He said, "Let's go somewhere this weekend!" We narrowed it down to Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds is an area of England about 1 1/2 north of London and is full of quaint and cozy little villages. As you drive through them, you feel as if you are driving through a fairy tale, with rolling hills, stone cottages, tea rooms, cute shops, and, most importantly, the friendliest people I have met in all of England!

We stayed at The Royalist Hotel, which is right on the edge of town with walking access to everything. The hotel dates back to 947AD and was so cool inside. Some of the beams are original, so they are over 1000 years old! The old fireplace in the restaurant area has "witch marks" that were supposed to keep the evil spirits away. We had a great dinner at Allium...great food, great wine. We rolled out of there I think. It was the kind of place that brings a nibble to the table, then a pre-appetizer, then the appetizer, etc. It was all so good, I was a little disappointed I got full so fast!

Sunday saw rain and drizzle, so not the best weather for strolling through villages. We took some out of the way country roads and just enjoyed the scenery and the changing colors of the trees. They were still pretty, but I think they probably hit their peak a few weeks ago. We got a recommendation to stop by Daylesford Organic Farm and I am so glad we did! It was the neatest place with yummy food and all sorts of outdoor stuff. We bought an almond cake and some BBQ sauce. The cake is good, haven't tried the sauce. It will either be really good or will make me miss home.

Now, it's only 3 more weekends until I head to Texas!! Woohoo! Can't wait! I really need to keep myself busy to make these next 3 weeks go by quickly!

A Slight Correction

So maybe I've been out of the US for a bit too long as I have forgotten my holidays. Today is Veterans' Day in the US, which is the official equivalent of Remembrance Day in the UK, and is actually celebrated in many places around the world. If you see someone selling poppies today, please make a donation and wear it with pride. Most importantly, take a moment to remember all of our veterans and the sacrafices they have made.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is the UK equivalent of the US Memorial Day. It is observed every year on November 11th, and at 11am on this day, everyone is asked to observe a two minute silence to reflect on those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in past wars. In addition, November is poppy month. And everyone around here wears poppies...young, old, hipsters, yuppies...everyone. As a little side note, the factory that makes all the poppies for the entire world is right here in Richmond, just down the road from where we live!

Why Poppies?
Poppies flourish as weeds in grain fields. Their seeds can germinate for years until the topsoil is stirred up just enough to allow light to filter through to the seeds and begin their growth. War, with its many bombs, artillery shells, and corruption of land, disturbs the soil, and allows the poppy flowers to flourish in war ravaged regions. It was a Canadian doctor serving in WWI, Colonel John McCrae, who penned the famous poppy poem "In Flander's Fields" while remembering his comrade who had been killed in battle. As he stared at his friend's grave and the destroyed, muddy land around him, he saw spots of red poppies blowing in the breeze. A kind of symbol of life in a sea of death. I'll post the poem at the end of this post.

My Thoughts
I really feel that people over here remember more. In the US, we see Memorial Day as a day off work and a good excuse to BBQ and have a party. Perhaps it's because people here can see the effects of war. Unless one has had the opportunity to explore abroad, I doubt anyone has seen a real bomb crater. In Richmond Park, just up the road from us, I jog past bomb craters from WWII. At the Richmond Golf Club, there are framed rules from that time period explaining proper etiquette when encountering a ball hit into a crater or next to shrapnel, or how to resume the game after an air raid siren has blown. Unexploded bombs are still being recovered from the Thames River and are sometimes unearthed during building excavations. I had the chance to tour the Normandy D-Day beaches with my parents in June. What a poignant and humbling experience to stand on the shores of Omaha beach. I looked toward land with my back to the sea. I looked at concrete German bunkers still hidden in the hillside. I tried to imagine what it must have felt like for the thousands of soldiers landing there being met with gunfire and the ravages of a world at war. It felt almost wrong to stand on sand that was once stained with blood. But then, on top of the hill, sits the American Cemetery, containing the bodies of 9,387 US soldiers, most of whom were killed during the Normandy landing. The cemetery is a reminder that those people died so we could stand on that sand and enjoy the beauty of the peaceful surf and the feeling of the gentle breeze.

I have been guilty of not remembering properly in the past. I feel fortunate that I have never encountered a 20 foot bomb crater on American soil or driven past small plots of cemeteries with the bodies of foreign soldiers. It did take me seeing things first-hand to realize just how horrible and recent WWII was. Please remember. Not just on Memorial Day, but everyday.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders field the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.
~~By Major John McCrae, May 1915.~~