Year in Review

I know, it's not quite Christmas yet, but I don't know how often I'll get a chance to use the computer. With Brendan out of school and Bill learning about day-trading, I probably won't get a blog in edgewise next week.

I've been looking back through my day planner to remind myself of all the wonderful things we've experienced in the past year. Here are a few:

January began with Brendan breaking his wrist when he fell off of his skateboard. He had a distal radial reduction with a pin for good measure. He thought the camo cast was cool for about a week, and then couldn't wait to get it off! We are now strong believers in full-body gear. Brendan sweats when he skates from all the pads. Also in January, Bill's dad had a heart valve replaced with one bypass since they were already in there. Besides a headcold, I'm happy to announce that, at this moment, we are all healthy. Thank you, Lord.

Our newest niece was born February 9 - Hannah Beth! I was so honored. She's gorgeous.

Brendan turned twelve in March. He calls himself a twelve-teen, not a tween. I feel really old!

In April, Bill kindly let me leave him on his birthday to be part of a surprise 40th birthday party for a dear friend in Florida. I've never done anything like that before. It was a great girl's weekend.

I did a lot of substitute teaching throughout the spring term. In May, I worked at least three days a week. I think this could me my second career.

We spent nine weeks of the summer in Manchester, England. Bill worked a contract job while Brendan and I explored the city. It was a great way to see another part of England and visit our friends in Collingtree almost exactly a year since we left. We miss them. That was an idyllic time and place. The summer in Manchester was cool, overcast and wet.

We got back just in time for Brendan to register and start school. It took him a while to adjust to a new school, but he now has wonderful friends and enjoys his classes, even those I think must be totally boring!

In September, we took a quick cruise to the Bahamas for some fun in the sun. We snorkeled with stingrays and rode jet skis. It was a great getaway.

October was pretty quiet. I finished the dummy book for "A Pumpkin Named Jack" and sent it to a prospective publisher. I have to wait four months for a response. I officially joined the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators as Illustrator Coordinator for our area. I'm looking forward to the conference.

I stopped taking notes in November and December, but I remember them to be good times with family and friends. It's nice to be nearby for the holidays. I love this time of year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Take a moment to reflect on where you've been and where you plan to go in the future. God bless you.

Let it Snow!

You won't believe this. If I hadn't been here, I wouldn't. Yesterday we had a record high of 83 degrees. Then as the afternoon rolled by, a front moved through, it was sleeting by bedtime, and Bill woke us later so we could see the snow! Of course it was too warm to stick to the ground, but there was still snow on the cars and rooftops when we left for school in the morning. Now it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! I love it.

BTW - Brendan didn't make the basketball team. He's not too upset as only one of his friends who tried out made it. I had mixed feeling about the whole thing anyway. But now, I've lost my early morning quiet time to write. I'll have to be more diligent to get it done throughout the day.

I've just finished my family's holiday cookbook, and I'm reworking my novel, Dillon and Blue.

I hope the weather where you are is as wonderful.

I'm Back

After an extended, month-long break from writing or illustrating of any kind, I find myself with some uninterrupted time to pick it up again. Brendan is trying out for Basketball this week. He has to be at school at 6:45 AM! If he makes the team, he'll have to get there at 6:30 every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I'm determined to make good use of the quiet time. By the end of Basketball season, I should have cranked out a novel, at least. The hardest part is getting out of bed. Once I'm up, I'm up. So let's get started with a quick blog entry.

Happy Thanksgiving - a little late! By now the leftovers should be just about gone. Mom made a 17 lb. turkey for the five of us to eat, because Bill wanted lots of leftover bird for sandwiches. True to his word, it's almost gone. I froze the rest of the stuffing and gravy for later. We had a great time baking and cooking in Bandera. The scenery in the hill country was particularly pretty this year, but of course I didn't take pictures. The weather was weird -warm with low clouds and HUMID! We came back in from our morning walks damp. I hardly had to take a shower.

Since it was just Thanksgiving, Id like to give thanks for a few things. In this economic climate, it may be tough to be thankful. But we are such a blessed nation. We have freedoms other countries can only dream of. We have the freedom to participate in an election process where each vote counts. We have the freedom to worship as we wish without fear of persecution. We are relatively free from fear that when we lay down at night, we will wake up in the morning in a safe place. I am personally thankful for a warm bed, food to eat, friends near and far, a wonderful extended family who all are well at this moment in time, and an amazing son, who continues to surprise me. Allow me to brag for just a moment.

Whether he makes the Basketball team or not, Brendan is distinguishing himself in other areas. His watercolor painting of a stingray was submitted to the Reflections contest, a fine arts competition with music, poetry, drama, etc... and was selected to go the next round of judging. We have the honor of going to the awards ceremony. Also, because of his perfect score on the English portion of the TAKS test, he has been invited to participate in Duke University's TIPS program of excelerated learning opportunities. In order to place him appropriately in the program, he will be taking the SAT this Saturday! He constantly goes above and beyond what is expected in assigned projects. And even though he says he doesn't want a "nerd" award, I think he would do well in the science fair with his tornado simulator. As you can see, I'm very proud. Okay I'm done.

This year, I am collecting the "must have" recipes from all Moehring family members to put into a cookbook. Brendan's favorite dish is Mom's cranberry sauce, and I still didn't have the recipe. In the book, I'm putting photos of holidays past. We spent a good portion of a morning looking through Mom's albums looking for family photos. The one you see above is of me at my new kitchen set. It's a great trip down memory lane, and brings up lots of great stories - fodder for my writing... which I need to get to now.

Hope this hasn't been too disjointed. I had lots of thoughts running around in my head.

Merry Christmas! May God unclutter your mind and put peace in your heart.

Christmas is Coming!

Seems like the world has decided to skip over Thanksgiving and get right to Christmas. Retailers are so worried about low profits that they've started their ads now, and a local radio station has already switched to an "all Christmas music" format for the duration.

While I love Christmas and can't wait to get to the celebrating, I think it will be interesting to see how people will adjust this year. With less to spend, they may actually rediscover the real meaning, and spend more time with relatives and loved ones than money. I can see the spoiled consumer in my son disappointed that he will be receiving fewer gifts this year from family members, and the price limit is lower. On my side of the family,we are exchanging gifts amongst the grandchildren, and adults are doing a white elephant exchange, which gives the opportunity for regifting and homemade gifts. But then, my family grew up making presents and shopping at the Five and Dime for inexpensive gifts.

We will still enjoy our precious few days together, but since most of the money will be spent on traveling to our parents' house (don't get me started on the airlines), we'll redefine our visit by reading the story of Christ's birth, re-enacting it with the manger scene that I loved unpacking as a child, and singing Christmas carols, which somehow got lost in previous years amongst all the discarded Christmas wrapping paper.

I pray that this time of year doesn't leave you too stressed, and that you might consider leaving some money in your pocket, yet have a richer holiday by getting back to basics. Attend a Christmas eve service, or drive through a live nativity, and light the fire of hope in your life that Christ was born to die for you - the ultimate gift from our loving father. Merry Christmas.

Halloween photos

Brendan as an alien cyborg and the first pumpkin he's carved all by himself.

Milestone met

Okay, by now, I'm sure you're tired of hearing about the dummy book. Well, it's done. YEAH! At least in it's first form that was submitted to the publisher along with the manuscript for Umi and Xandar. (See the sow that eats the tender pumpkin plants to the right.) Now I have four different pieces of writing out there waiting to be considered. Two are in magazine contests, which seem to capture my imagination most and play to my need for a deadline. One should announce the winner this month. The other is in January, I think.

So, I took a little break to enjoy Halloween. Brendan went with his buddies in a totally different neighborhood to trick-or-treat. He dressed as an alien cyborg. His friends went as a Krispy Kreme donut and a policeman! I love the homemade costumes. There were lots of them this year.

I wanted so badly to be a fly on his costume, but we left him alone. He had my phone in case he needed us. I'll add photos as soon as I get them from my in-laws. I forgot my camera.

I love this time of year. Can't wait for Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Head

The past few weeks, I've had pumpkins on the brain. With our Texas version of autumn, cooler weather and imported pumpkin patches, I've had renewed inspiration to get my Pumpkin Named Jack dummy book done. I've spent time in the church's pumpkin patch several times and managed to sketch a few while I was there. I also presented it to an audience for the first time at Saturday's meeting of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators group. (Say that fast three times!) They had some good suggestions, which I plan incorporating into the story and illustrations. It became very clear that this is still very much a work in progress, and anyone who sees it will have an impact on it.

Mostly, I was surprised that they still had suggestions about the story, which I thought was pretty well set. After all, it was a finalist in last year's picture book competition. First was to cut it by 300 words, and let the pictures do the talking. Good point. But then, it was also suggested that Jack being the hero needed to find a way to save himself, instead of external forces doing it for him, which completely changes the tone of the book. See if you agree. Click the link for the ABC Picture Book Competition. Go to Year 3 finalists and read the story. I'm really interested in what you have to say. It could change the whole thing.

Baggie of Water

Fact or fiction?
We've tried this, and the results are mixed, but it sounds plausible.

If you put a penny in a baggie of water and hang it in a prime location, it will deter flies. Flies have many facets in their eyes. The way the sun reflects through the baggie and water has a prismatic effect on the fly, confusing it. One explanation says their GPS works on the directionality of the sun, and this throws it off. Another says, that the bag looks like a bee hive, and since they are afraid of bees, they stay away. Either way, it's worth a try next time you're having a BBQ outside. It's better than bug spray any day.

I hope you sleep better now that you know the answer.

Jack O'Lantern

This week, I'm working on Jack's new Jack O'lantern face for my dummy book. This is the big ta-da for the story, so it has to be extra special. If you plan to carve pumpkins, I'd like to see your designs. Email them to me and I'll post them here.

A friend of mine sent this sweet greeting to me (thanks, Peggy!), which encapsulates the meaning of A Pumpkin Named Jack. It's the reason I can't give up on Jack. If you haven't read the story, click on the ABC Children's Picture Book Competition link to the right. Look under the 3rd competition finalists.

-----

A woman was asked by a coworker,"What is it like to be a Christian?"

The coworker replied, "It is like being a pumpkin." God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.
He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

Beth's Brain Aerobics

Okay everyone, assume the position (that is pencil or mouse in hand)! Let's work those brains! This will be a regular feature, and I want to hear from you. When I walk in the mornings, I sometimes have strange thoughts that turn into strange questions, which I'll pose to you. These should be exercises in creativity. Think up the most unusual solution and send it to me. No googling to find the "right" answer. I'll post them here!

A couple of RVs in our park have a gallon-size ziplock bag full of water with a penny in it, hanging from their awnings outside their trailer. WHY?

I just found out what this is for, and I'll tell you in a few days. But first, send me your most creative guesses.

I've Been Outed!

For the past few years, I've concentrated on learning the craft and business of writing. I heard so many negative things about trying to submit art and manuscripts together that I set my illustrating aside. I already knew how to do that and could pick it up at any time.

Even in the local chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, I presented myself as a writer. So, when I asked about the notes for the talk on "How to Make a Dummy Book," the leader of our chapter asked, "Are you an illustrator?" I had to confess. And there was a need to fill the Illustrator Coordinator position for the group, which I volunteered for.

So now I'm neck deep in it, and I'm sort of glad. Because now that I think about it, I've been denying an essential part of my creativity. I can write and/or illustrate. And doesn't that make me more marketable?

Thus, I've remade my blog - again, to be used more as a marketing tool. And hopefully, you'll see some of the things I'm working on in both writing and illustrating.

I still haven't given up on A Pumpkin Named Jack. I just know he's destined for publishing. I'm working on drawing up a dummy book that I can send to publishers. See how far Jack has come from prelim sketch to final illustration (right).

Also, my dear friend and former boss, Chuck Sisson has self-published his first novel called Pitch Black! You can find it on Amazon.com. He's asked me to illustrate a book of poetry for him. So you'll see some of those sketches soon.

10 Things I Hate About Manchester

Two days to go and counting. Overall, I've enjoyed being back in England. We got to see old friends and explore a different part of the country. But, we can now say definitively that we are NOT city dwellers. Here are my lists of 10 things I hate and love about Manchester, if I can think of that many.

10 Things I Hate

1. Outdoor smoking

2. Pidgeons

3. People in a hurry

4. Gum on the sidewalk (but thanks for the blog title)

5. Street racing at all hours of the night

6. Noisy drunks turned out of pubs at 3 a.m.

7. Street sweepers cleaning at 4 a.m.

8. Sunrise at 4:30 a.m.

9. Hand-carrying our groceries home (Our arms are at least an inch longer!)

10. British TV programming

10 Things I Love

1. No smoking indoors

2. Falcons adapted to city living

3. Strolling around town, not needing to be anywhere in particular

4. Flake 99 (soft-serve) ice cream sold in street-side stands

5. Odeon movie theater five minutes away from our apartment

6. Wagamamas

7. Street sweepers (that work during the day) cleaning up the cigarette butts

8. Sunset at 10:30 p.m.

9. Using re-usable shopping bags

10. Our clean, well-appointed, central apartment that looks out on the city

Remembering Wayne

Today is my older brother Wayne's birthday. He died at the age of 23 after living with Leukemia for 10 years. I think about him a lot at this time of year - not with sadness, but with sweetness and reverence. His illness shaped our family in so many ways. It made us closer to each and taught us to depend on God for his peace and strength and to wait on his plan for our future. We couldn't have done it any other way.

It was an honor knowing my brother. He grew in godliness throughout his illness and became an inspiration for those who came in contact with him. But I like to remember his as the orny big brother he was before he got sick - Wayne the Pain, we called him. Thank you, God, for his life.

End of Season Sale - 90% OFF

I hope we made the most of our summer, because it it GONE. The days are getting shorter, the sun seems to be taking longer and longer breaks behind the clouds, and the summer clothes have been sold, making room for the drab winter clothes that they wear. Black is the next black. Everyone in Manchester wears A LOT of it. It would depress me to have so little color in my wardrobe. Even my summer clothes looked out of place here because I like to wear yellow and green, pink and blue!

Unfortunately I have no photos to post this time because my camera battery died, and it seems silly to buy a new one with only a week left. Brendan and I are leaving on Sunday and Bill will leave the following Saturday. We made the most of our last weekend, though. We took the train to London to see the Tutankhamun exhibit at the O2 stadium. I felt a little deja vu as this was the same exhibit that toured the US about 30 years ago, about the time that my youngest brother was born. There was a huge publicity blitz and lots of excitement surrounding it. London is the only place in Europe to see the exhibit this time around, and Brendan loved it, so we were fortunate to get there. They didn't have the burial mask or his mummy, as we had hoped, but it was still very interesting. They had several of the personal effects, like an intricate inlaid dagger that was placed in the folds of his wrappings, near his hand to protect him in the afterlife, and some beautiful jewelry that adorned his body. The one fact that I came away with that was startling to me is that by the time Tutankhamun came to the throne, the pyramids in Giza were already 1000 years old!

London seems so familiar to us. We've been a least half a dozen times now, and still love to come back. It's funny to see the first-time tourists riding in the top of the open-top sightseeing buses, huddled under umbrellas and wearing disposable ponchos, determined to see the sights even though it's raining buckets. We were there once.

We stayed in a wonderful hotel just off of Trafalgar Square, which we walked to several times a day to watch the Olympic coverage on the giant Plasma wall that obscured Lord Nelson's monument. No one could get near the lions, much less climb them. But the atmosphere was festive. There were even live performances throughout the weekend.

Now, summer really does feel like it's coming to a close, because we're focused on getting back to Texas, registering Brendan for school, buying school supplies and new clothes. He'd rather stay in Manchester. He's enjoyed being a junior couch potato, playing Wii and watching the Olympics all day. I did manage to get him interested in a book about young James Bond, which he's almost completed - one for the whole summer (shameful!). He wants to get the sequel, so that's a good sign. I'm ready for him to get back to school and I can't wait to see how he takes to athletics. He wants to run track, which is only one season out of the year. Maybe he'll decide to take up another sport as the time comes around (hopefully not football).

He'll have a lot of anxiety around the first few days of school. Unfortunately, he has to go to a different middle school due to rezoning. It's a bigger campus at an older school since this used to be the only High School for the whole district. Fortunately, many students from his old school have to move, too, so he will know some of the kids, but he's fretting about finding classes and getting there on time. I need to download a map for him and maybe walk the halls when he gets his schedule.

Lord, give me patience and understanding, and give him courage and confidence. And please heal Bill's sciatica soon.

Comfortable Shoes

The thing Brendan had been looking forward to and fretting about all summer finally came to pass this last weekend. We made plans even before we came to Manchester with all of our old friends so that we could see each other on 2-3 Aug in Northampton. We lived there for three and a half years before we moved back to the US, and it's been just a little more than a year since we left. Brendan was afraid that everyone would have grown apart and not have anything in common. I have to admit I worried that we'd run out of things to talk about in the first half hour and stare at each other uncomfortably for the rest of the day, with nothing to say.

But we needn't have worried. We fit right back in just as if we'd never left, just like a pare of comfortable shoes. Brendan said of his friend Daniel, "He may look different and sound different, but he's just the same." I think that's the sign of a true, lifelong friend, when you can pick up where you left off as if no time has passed. The friends we made in Northampton are such friends. It made me realize how special they are, and how much I want to be sure to stay in touch with them wherever we go.

Brendan and I took the train to Northampton on Thursday. Helen picked us up, we met up with Sandra and spent a lovely long lunch in Little Brington, near the Althorp estate (where Princess Diana grew up). We drove through the countryside, past beautiful fields and sheep pastures. I miss the lush green-ness of the summers here, the trees and flowers, the brambles and rabbits.

Thursday evening, we had dinner at the Pedels. Tom came home after a long day of playing cricket and played with Brendan with a reserve of energy that came out of nowhere. They played cricket in the garden until they couldn't see the ball anymore. I hated to peel them apart.

Friday, we went to Stanwick Lakes with the Pedels and Pointers. Ben, Brendan,Tom and Jess stopped long enough to eat a fabulous picnic lunch before heading back to the climbing frame to play tag. We walked a good ways and they played on an assault course, fake rock, zip line and swinging tires. The entire day was windy, but when the dark clouds moved in, we quickly headed for the cars and just made it before the rains fell.

Friday night we picked Bill up at the train station and had a great, huge Chinese dinner with the Messoms. By the time we'd finished with the large plate of appetizers, and our soups came, I was full. But I still had to try the crispy duck and the mains. Delicious! Wonderful conversation!

Saturday, we had breakfast with the Hutkos, another American family that we had met during our time in England, who are still living near London, and were in Northampton visiting friends, too! It was great to catch up and find where our other American friends had ended up.

Saturday morning was rainy and blustery. We were afraid our BBQ would be rained out. But at 1:00 on the dot, the sun came out and we headed to Sandra and Paul's for a day full of play and conversation. The kids never stopped. They swam, sat in the hot tub, and bounced on the trampoline all day. The adults didn't stop talking. Honestly, in the seven hours we were together, there was never a noticable lull in the conversation. Sandra and Paul were gracious and generous hosts. They kept us in wonderful food and drink all day long. Even though these friends came from different groups, they all came together and seemed like old friends. It was a brilliant day. I hated to see it end.

Sometimes, absense makes the heart grow fonder. But sometimes, it's as good as you remember it. I felt like we could have taken up house again in the lovely little village and had our fast friends back as if we'd never been gone. It was a special time in our lives, living in Northampton. And we came away with forever friends.

Photo Safari III - The oldest buildings in Manchester

Sunday morning has a post-party, hung-over induced quiet that no other morning of the week can provide. This past Sunday was sunny, warm and glorious. I got out an hour early before church services and walked around the city. The only people out were the street-sweepers, people rushing to Starbucks for their caffiene fix, and others dressed in their Sunday best. I walked a long way down Deansgate, which is usually so crowded with pedestrian and auto traffice that it's a little daunting, turned around and came back toward the cathedral.

These two building, along with the cathedral are in the Medieval part of Manchester. The one on the left is the Old Wellington Inn, serving drinks and food all day long. Next to it is Sinclairs Oyster House. You should see these places after work. They're packed. I haven't been brave enough to go inside either one of them, as we're not big drinkers and pubs still hold a mystique for me. I don't ever see families around them, which is the only way we'd approach them.

These are the oldest buildings in Manchester, dating to the 16th century. The survived the blitz, the IRA bombing and two moves. The 15th century Courthouse and Town Hall stood up the road, as well as the Market Cross, stocks, pillory and whipping post. They were removed in 1815.

On the other side of the cathedral is Chetham's Music School, with the oldest and first free public libary in England. It has over 100,000 books, half published before 1850. The church is offering a tour through the library for members. If there's a spot open on the 9th, I'd love to tag along, maybe take some pictures.

Row, Row, Row your Boat

Summer has finally arrived and it's hot! Not that I'm complaining. Ever since we arrived in June, the weather has been lackluster. Texas weather has nothing on England in its ability to change rapidly. It can be sunny, cloudy and rainy all within the space of minutes. Mostly, it's been overcast and cool, which really depresses me. I was starting to wonder if I'd wear my shorts at all while we were here. But school let out for summer break on the 23rd, and along with it came the sun. (They only get five weeks for summer this year!) It's been getting steadily warmer every day. Now I'm thankful that Bill requested to have an A/C unit placed in our apartment.

Brendan and I celebrated the sun's arrival with a trip to Heaton Park to get a little exercise and breathe some fresh air. That's my biggest complaint with city living. Even though smoking has been banned inside public places, people smoke like chimneys outside. Not matter how hard you try, you can't avoid walking into and breathing in clouds of second-hand smoke. Brendan attributes some of his headaches to the stuff he inhales. At least Heaton Park is more spread out and the smokers are fewer and farther between.

We rented a rowboat and rowed around the tiny lake that was hand-dug by unemployed workers back in the 1800's and hauled away in people-pulled carts. It's not a very big or deep lake, but it's tree-lined and there are lot of geese and ducks to mess with. Rowing is a great upper-body exercise. Brendan did the bulk if it, but after about 45 minutes, we were done. We walked around the park, enjoying the cool breeze, but heating up with each step. We didn't believe it was going to get hot, and wore jeans instead of shorts.

We had to stop to look at these two long-haired cows in the paddock with the burros and goats. They look like a cross between a cow and a yak. I've read about them, but never seen them. They are Highland Cows, raised in the Scottish Highlands for their hardiness and lean beef. Most of their insulation comes from their fur. They have the prettiest ginger coats and sweet faces, and now we can say we've touched on.

Also, this past weekend, we took the tram out to Altrincham, and an area know for it's beautiful homes and scenery, to attend the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park. It's like a home and garden show without the home stuff. There were lots of display gardens and lots of stuff to buy for the garden, food and a band playing in the bandstand.

We didn't get to explore the area as much as we would have liked since we didn't have a car. But, it's good to know that there are "leafy" places not too far from Manchester that we would enjoy living. If this contract job ever turned into something more, we could live well here.

By the way, I learned a new verse for "Row, row, row your boat" when I was working with a Moms and Tots group at Grange Park Church. It's my favorite.

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

If you see a crocodile,

Dont forget to scream, aahhh!

Further Afield

Finally, after being in Manchester for three weeks, we decided to get out of town and explore. It took a tram and two trains, but two and a half hours later, we were in the picturesque town of Skipton, a place we knew from "The Calendar Girls." It's better known for Skipton Castle.


It was a lovely trip on the Trans Pennine Express, leaving the city behind and watching the green mountains (really just hills) roll on, dotted by pretty little and no-so-little villages and towns.


Skipton is a big barging town. It had canals with locks through the centre of town, and there were scores of longboaters enjoying the part-sunny, part-cloudy, part-rainy day.

The castle is situated at the top of the High Street. We arrived late, so we didn't have much of a chance to browse in the shops. they close pretty early on Sundays. We ate some great fish and chips and headed to the castle to get in the whole tour before it closed.

Skipton Castle was begun in 1090, and has been added on to several times. It is one of the best preserved Medieval castles in England. It was the last Royalist stronghold in the North during the Civil War, holding out for 3 years before surrendering to Cromwell in Dec. 1645, who removed the rooves. Lady Anne Clifford got permission to replace them as long as she promised they would not be strong enough to hold cannons. It was lived in by the Cliffords at least until 1900 (can't find a later date in the literature) and only updated it's kitchen accomodations once. We only found one toilet in the whole castle, a small room off of the old kitchen. Brendan models for us.



Before we left Skipton, we stopped for Cream Tea and Hot Chocolate, sitting outside by the canal, and then took the long train-ride home. All-in-all, a lovely day out. I can't wait to do more.

Carpet of Flowers 2008

All this week, outside the Manchester Town Hall in Albert Square, you will find a carpet of flowers made up of approx. 50,000 mums imported from Holland, laid on a thin layer of turf by approx. 150 volunteers. Brendan and I were two of them. We spent parts of Monday and Tuesday, basking in the English summer weather (rain gear and jackets required) on our hands and knees poking toothpicks in to the flowers to hold them in place. It was fun to be a part of a community project that was larger than ourselves and had such a lovely result. AND - I was on the BBC Tuesday evening news, well at least my bum was. We could see ourselves in the timelapse piece, too. Sweet!

I found out about this project from a brochure that we picked up at the Visitor's Centre. There was a call for volunteers, so I rang. I was pleased with how welcoming they were. We got to meet some locals and some foreigners, like us, but from France, who were also helping. It was a real international event.

Photo Safari II - Urbis and Printworks

Urbis is a museum dedicated to "all things urban." It lies at the heart of Manchester city centre and has a restaurant and gift shop along with several exhibition spaces. The first week we were here, Brendan and I went to see "How Manga Took Over the World," and exhibit about Japanese graphic art that is equivalent to US comic books, but has grown to so much more. The most commerically successful lines are Hello Kitty and Pokemon, but if you spend any time with middle school kids, you'll find that they love the graphic novels that are read from back to front, and this style is used in all areas of design to communicate difficult concepts in ways that are easy to grasp. There are graphic novels of Shakespeare's plays and even a Manga Bible!

Brendan's very good at drawing these types of characters, with big eyes, tiny noses and spiky hair. Although I appreciate it, I'm not so good at drawing it. I guess I have my own established style by this stage of life.

Across the street from Urbis and up the road, are Printworks and Exchange Square, with it's scaled-down version of the London Eye. This is a great place to people-watch. The weekends are busier than the week-days, as people come in from miles around for concerts and hen/stag weekends. Printworks has all sorts of bars, clubs and restaurants. The MEN arena is just around the corner. (Last night, Kylie Minogue was playing.) And this whole area is a shopper's dream, if you want to spend double what you'd pay for it in America. We rode on the ferris wheel to see the Manchester skyline. I think it's the most intriguing side of Manchester. The combination and blending of architecture is amazing.

Photo Safari I - Manchester Cathedral

I hope this is the beginning of a series. Brendan took these brilliant shots of the Manchester Cathedral on our first walk around town. There is SO much detail in these things, that it's hard to represent it well. But I think he did a great job. We didn't take any of the inside. The stained glass was not remarkable, and we didn't want to be disrepectful of the tombs. But the choir stalls were SO ornate. We stood and stared at them for a long time.




Gargoyles are always my favorite part of the exterior. Did you know the word "gargle" comes from the sound the rain makes coming through those down-spouts. I hope you can see these. The other two are of saints and angels. There were many empty niches around the outside. I wonder if the statues have been lost or if they've been intentionally left open for generous benefactors to have a chance at putting their likeness there for posterity.

Of course, it's Church of England, very similar to Episcopal in the US. Since it was the closest church, I visited on Sunday morning for the family Eucharist service. They have a small choir, maybe 20-25 children and adults, but they filled the worship area and the tall ceilings with clear, beautiful tones, all in Latin of course. I remembered a few phrases from my choir career, but not much. So I didn't try to follow along. I closed my eyes and just listened. Then, I was doubly blessed by a concert from a South African Youth Choir - WOW! Their short concert included works from Russia, Scandinavia, and finally South Africa, which I enjoyed immensely.

I have to say, there's much more available to do in this size city than there ever was in Northampton. Brendan and I are going to help build the "Carpet of Flowers" in Albert's Square in front of town hall next week. It will be similar to the ones they do in Belgium, on a smaller scale. It's a great chance for us to be outside and useful and meet some locals.

Our Room With A View

New location. New urge to journal. If this blog is supposed to exercise my brain, my gray-matter's gotten flabby.

We're back in England, this time in Manchester, living in a corner, top-floor flat in a Victorian building that was probably a cotton mill in city centre. We're here for eight weeks while Bill does contract work for Cooperative Financial, one of the largest companies in Manchester. It's a great opportunity to come back, we never thought we would, and re-aquaint ourselves with British-isms, like four-wheeled shopping trolleys, and looking right, then left, before stepping off of the curb, and taking three hours to do a load of wash. It's different being in a city. We don't have a car, so we're working on figuring out the tram and buses, and are doing much more walking. Smoking is not allowed inside public places anymore, so everyone steps outside to take a drag. Weekends are busier than weekdays, especially at 2:30 in the morning when the bars and pubs close, turning out all the noisy drunks onto the streets.

Two sides of the flat are lined with nine large windows that look out over the roof tops and give us a birds-eye view of people coming and going on the street, on the tram, and on the buses. I enjoy looking out at different times of the day to see what dramas are unfolding. It would be easy to become a voyer if I had a good pair of binoculars. Here are my favorite views.

Happy Trails

This is one happy cowpoke. He has been wanting to ride a horse since he was about seven-years-old, but every time we try, something seems to get in the way.

This year for Spring Break, we booked three nights at the Mayan Ranch in Bandera, Texas. It's a 300 acre dude ranch run by the Hicks family where the food and the horses are the main attraction. We got to go on trail rides twice a day. My bum was sore by the end of the first day, but Brendan just had to ride, and he wanted me with him (one of the rare times anymore), so I sucked it up and rode.

People from around the world come to the ranch for that "true cowboy experience" - and they dress in funny boots and hats, too. There were people from Germany and a family from Japan there during our stay. Even in the winter/spring, before things really green up, the countryside is beautiful. The ranch is bordered by the Medina river which is great for tubing in the hot summer, and when you ride, you get to go all around the ranch, up the hills, through the trees, etc... You get to see wild deer, turkeys and peacocks. We stayed in a rustic cabin, took a hayride to an outdoor cowboy breakfast, and toasted marshmallows over a bonfire at night. We fished in the river and played tennis on the new courts right outside our cabin.

The food was excellent - bbq brisket, sausage, steak, chicken with all the fixings. We were always entertained with authentic western music and old cowboy tunes. We missed Mexican night, with margaritas and mariachis, which really bummed me out, but we couldn't stay the whole week.

Each afternoon, there were snacks and entertainment. We had a trick roper, who cracked a mean bullwhip, and a man who brought out two young bison. There was a magician for the kids and a man who told Wild West stories and passed around replica guns.

I was a little disappointed that there weren't more organized things to do during the day. Perhaps that was intentional so there would be some down time. It was too cold to swim and the kids ran a little wild. They had one horseshoe pitch, which was broken, one ping-pong table and one shuffle board. And there was only one bbgun to go around for 30 kids in the bbgun shoot. I found out they weren't running a full week-long schedule, like they do in the summer. According to the website, there should have been archery and a talent show. Perhaps that happened on the weekend, when we weren't there.

Overall, we had a great time. Brendan couldn't get enough of the horses, and we were only ten minutes away from my folks. Who knew such a gem was hiding in the hills on the other side of town. Yee haw!

Zorro!

I've had substitute teaching positions for the last four out of six days. I've taught Spanish, Math and Science. You should have seen my trying to help the pre-Algebra class. It was a riot. I looked at the problem thoughtfully and said, "Who can show us how to solve for X?"

I'm really enjoying it, but I've decided that they leave the most gawd-awful assignments for the subs. No wonder kids hate having a sub. For instance, the Spanish teacher had an emergency, and had to leave quickly, which is why I was called in. She said she never lets the kids watch videos so this would be a big treat. Cool! Easy for me.

The movie was The Mark of Zorro - not the one with Antonio Banderas, much to the female students dismay. It starred Tyrone Power and was in black and white. The only thing it had to do with Spanish class was that they threw a few Senors and Senoritas in the script to make it more authentic. It actually wasn't so bad. The writing was rather witty. The kids had questions to answer, so they paid attention. But, by the end of the day, I'd seen the first 55 minutes of Zorro five times!

The teacher requested me again on Monday, presumably because I knew the routine now. Okay, I though, today we'll see the end of Zorro five times.

But NO! The school has A and B days. So I got to see the beginning of Zorro, again, FIVE times. Just to have closure, I stayed in the classroom at lunchtime and finished the movie, just to be sure Zorro didn't get caught, the badguy got what he deserved and they all lived happily ever after.

After that, I started bringing a book!

BTW - Zorro means "sly fox" in Spanish. That was one of the movie questions.

Hospitals, Hospitals, Everywhere!

Thank goodness we're only visiting...

We haven't seen the inside of a hospital in many years, and suddenly, in the past four months, we have had three major incidents. They come in threes right? So we've had our quota for the year! Bill, bless his heart, has put in the most hours. And I have to say, he has a gentle bedside manner that is so unexpected, reassuring and disarming. I think he missed his calling.

The first incident happened with Bill's aunt in September, which I've already written about. The second happened the day before school started back after the holidays. Brendan broke his wrist, which I've already mentioned, too. Just yesterday, he finally got his camoflage fiberglass cast, which is all he wanted out of this ordeal. He thinks it is WAY cool. But it is extremely rough. We wrapped a blanket around it last night so he wouldn't accidently rub off half of his face if he brushed past it.

The last incident was with Bill's dad who was told that he could take his time and pick the best date to have a heart valve replaced...oh and by the way, one artery was pretty blocked, so while they were in there, they'd do a bypass. All of this is hopefully pre-empting worse heart complications as he gets older and will improve his quality of life. So he checked in at 5 AM on Tuesday morning, with Bill and his mom in tow, and spent eight hours on the table with his chest wide open and his heart not beating. But believe it or not, today they removed all of the tubes, except his IV and had him up and walking so that he can go home in the next few days! And I thought they kicked you out of the hosital too fast after child birth!

Dad has improved by leaps and bounds over the past two days. Hopefully, he will continue to heal at that pace. He still can use all the prayers and well-wishes you care to send his way. And while you're praying, pray that Bill stays out of hospitals from now on, as a visitor or a patient. His poor heart has had enough, too.

Skateboard vs. Ripstick

I'm back! I took the whole month of December off, and didn't do much writing at all. But as with every resolutions, I'll start off strong and see how long it lasts.

Brendan got this cool new contraption for Christmas, which I recommended, from his aunts. It has two caster wheels on the bottom. And since it looked so dangerous, we made him put on all his safety gear.

He took to it like a fish to water. He has the technique down within a hour. I couldn't believe it, but was still very cautious.

Then, after the new year and our trip to Florida, Brendan wanted to ride his old skateboard. He took it down to the basketball court, the one with the smooth surface, without his gear, hit a rock an broke his wrist when he fell off! He says he wasn't even doing any tricks!

So we spent Sunday at an Urgent Care getting X-rays and a splint. He's been so brave, working through the pain I think because he feels guilty that he hadn't worn his gear, like we always ask him to. He got extremely confident on the ripstick and the skateboard felt totally different.

So here's my warning to you - no matter how much they complain, make them wear their gear! It's kinda cool that Brendan has this badge of courage - every kid should break a bone, but it could have been prevented.