A Beautiful Flower.

Look, how gorgeous is this flower? Unfortunatley I cannot remember its name. It reminds me of a ladies crinoline dress.

The Good Old Camps

I went to visit Mme L a yummy friend of mine who I taught to knit moons ago. She has taken to it so well that she now advises me on my projects. I am obviously a good teacher & a crap knitter!

She works at a local camp for boys and I had the privelage of a private "out of season tour", it was like stepping back 100 years in time.

The first thing that I noticed was a wooden hut that was fully kitted out with an oil drum and lots of old oil lanterns...the sort that they used in "Little House on the Priairie!" Very quaint. They use these to wander round the camp at night. Needless to say there are no PSP, DS,Cellphones etc over here!

The buildings were all wooden and had the most beautiful structures surrounding them made from the local trees. Inside the dormitories (that looked like POW camps) from "The Bridge over the River Kwai" were tin beds in straight lines, they were so basic & ancient that you could feel the snoring of the boys from 50 years ago with the odd chatter in the background.. All the walls, ceilings etc were carved with boys names or initials. What really amazed me that even though it was so old there were no swear words or colours used at all, it was all old fashioned penknife etchings. These must be good kids.

Every year they host a play at the camp and make posters to advertise it. These old posters were posted all over the stage & camp auditorium dating back 50 years. Each year a photo is taken of the whole camp, framed & displayed on the walls.

After all of these years the boys still wear the same t-shirts.......its strangely comforting to see that good old fashioned camps are still around.

I could not resist taking some photo's of the camp to share with you all as it was so interesting.

I'm becoming a local New Hampshirite!

What do you do when you have an abundance of pears?

Become Martha Stewart and can them!

Are you impressed folks?

I think I have been living in NH far too long as lots of people do this with all sorts of fruits & veggies.

Does anyone have any other ideas what to do with lots of ripe pears?

A beautiful walk in the woods...

My what big roots you have my dear!

Jumping for joy with Molly....where did that puppy go?

Squam Lake..or Golden Pond as in the movie.

Roots can be so interesting.....how the heck does this tree survive with the extreme weather conditions & the hundreds of kids that clamber over its roots?

FRUSTRATION!

The definition of frustration today:

1. A new tenant that gets 2 kittens & not one as agreed in the lease....they have only been there for 2 weeks!

2. The bank charge for the box of checks....Hello advertised as a Free Checking Account!

3. My Zen MP3 player & my sons both break on the first attempt to re-charge them!

4. A neighbours child hits my child with a slingshot, which resulted in a heated discussion with the parent.

A day of agro (hassle & conflict) and it is only 2pm.......

A Cadbury's Flake Moment.......

After the first week of school & the juggling of soccer, cross country, play dates, working, shipping the in laws off back to the UK....Friday night appeared.

I managed to find a Cadburys Flake that was untouched....a miracle!

I ran myself a nice Aveeno bubble bath, grabbed a new book, put my hair up in a ponytail & brewed a fresh cup of tea.

Digging in the bathroom cupboard I found my long lost blow up towelling pillow.....oh yes here we go relaxation & child free time is a comin!

The bath was ready, the bubbles were ready, the music was playing softly in the background, I blew the cushion up, put it into position.....ahhh relaxation here we go.

I got in the bath singing the "flake song" sat down & relaxed.....yet another Ahhhhhhhhh!

Approximately 5 seconds later I heard a slow rushing of air (no I had not relaxed that much!)

My pillow had a leak & as I laid on it the air was gushing out & making a terrible slow tooting noise!

WTF!

Moment spoiled.

For 5 seconds I was the Flake girl all gorgeous & sexy.....not anymore!

I was so upset I stuffed the Flake in my mouth, guzzled the tea & had a quick soak......anyone have a puncture repair kit?

Interesting English Words

We have had guests for the past 10 weeks with a few days off in between to change & wash bedding & stock up on food.

Needless to say my English accent has strengthened significantly & some of my old words are back in use. Here are a few of my faves:

1. A tosser: a person who has annoyed you & you do not want to swear in front of your kids!

2. Brilliant...I'm not sure why I have stopped using that word...no I do not use awesome yet!

3. Gym Bunny: a lady who spends lots of time at the gym & is generally high maintenance.

4. Knackered: meaning tired yet not used in NH so people just smile when you use it as they are unsure of what you have said. It gives you a smug feeling...naughty Daffodilly!

5. "Ow do?" slang for how are you.

6. Chaffer: someone who has no standards....not me!

I'm sure some more will come into my tiny memory...so watch this space!