Tea Room the 37th. A new one. Needs fitting out.

[UniS]

Here is Tea Room the 37th.
A new one.
Needs fitting out.

Please help.

Have a fun time MT!

Scout - I have some books etc. to send you but I can't find your address. Would you be able to PM me?

It's been a long, long week

Tops up bean's .

D'oh, I forgot to respond to that previous conversation. Sorry, bean, off to PM you.

Arf at SB planning his next two parties!

It's another lovely sunny day here. The garden badly needs watering but I hesitate to say I want rain.

Had bucket loads of rain here in last two days Maud, shall I send you some?
Despite the rain , boy had another cricket match last night. Once again they won. Sooner or later they will get beat, I just hope he and the team can be good losers.
MT- don't suppose mc has grown out of cricket trousers as well as rugby boots ? He may be playing in south Devon on the first Sunday of your holiday. Would that be a good day to meet up?

Had bucket loads of rain here in last two days Maud, shall I send you some?
Despite the rain , boy had another cricket match last night. Once again they won. Sooner or later they will get beat, I just hope he and the team can be good losers.
MT- don't suppose mc has grown out of cricket trousers as well as rugby boots ? He may be playing in south Devon on the first Sunday of your holiday. Would that be a good day to meet up?

Maud, not only is SB planning his next two birthdays he's planning his trip to the States for Thanksgiving and wondering if he's going to find a present (Mom & Dad always leave his main birthday present "hidden in the open" for him to find so that he has toys/something to play with when we're there) and what questions Grandmom might ask him when he finds it (last year when he found the present he didn't touch it in case it wasn't for him so my mom asked him a series of questions to help him understand it was for him things like "It's for a four-year old, how old are you?" and "It's for a boy, are you a boy or a girl?" and "It's for a four-year old boy who just took an airplane from England" which caused much jumping and squealing of "I'm a boy who's four! I flew in an airplane to America from England! Is it for me?!"). He's also been talking about Christmas and all of the traditions we have the train advent calendar, making Christmas puddings, going to PiLshire to see his grandparents and aunts & uncles and cousins. Oh, and don't forget our annual holiday to Devon -- he's got the whole week there planned already!

He also can't quite believe that I didn't have a dream last night because he had a dream about LEGO or something.

Had a mixture of weather this weekend but still went to the RSPB and the beach on Saturday. Good time was had by all. Yesterday was a bit more mundane with church, grocery shopping and a trip to the new garden center in the village next to our town.

Off to the park for a picnic and a play with friends today so SB is very excited and trying to pack the house to take to play.

MC doesn't have cricket trousers I'm afraid Unis - they play in school kit at school at the moment (thank heavens). I will ask DH about the Sunday and whether we might do a meet up - would be good to see you again (sorry about last year - still feeling the effects of that now!). DS wants to be in a rugby club next year, so that's next on our list of things to find.

Saturday went well overall - very tiring for us (and I think the children) but not easy! I did have to warn three of them that I would be taking them back early if they carried on misbehaving - then when one (of the three) asked if I could cheer MC up I told him that not arguing with him all the time would help - at which point he started to argue back and I pulled him up and said 'there you go, you were just about to start arguing with me then' and he stopped (!!!) and they all did manage to get on a bit better for the remainder of the day. DH and I could have done with more looking at animals, but the boys really enjoyed playing on the outdoor play area and the indoor barn - so we must have had at least 2 hrs of them dashing around them spaced out over the course of the day. They all managed to eat some lunch, and no one complained too much that we were supplying them with water to drink and not buying snacks (we had some cookies in the car so had one before we went in and one before we went home so they weren't exactly hard done by). So... generally speaking I think it was quite successful.

Glad you survived Saturday MT, it can be so stressful being responsible for other people's children!

Hope that you get on ok finding a rugby club, Small Bean absolutely loves rugby juniors. We play a couple of clubs from near you - let us know who MC ends up playing for? I have to admit that I find it really friendly, a lovely family atmosphere and very inclusive. I was a bit sceptical about spending my Sundays watching rugby but it's not so bad and it'll be even better next season when I have found the biggest, cosiest, quiltiest coat that I can possibly find!

Scout - I haven't forgotten your parcel. Hopefully I'll get it to you later in the week.

Bean - do you have an annual pass for the large attraction which is getting white bears soon?

MT - yes we do! Strangely we use it more in the winter than the summer.

No rush, bean. It's very kind to be thought of.

I'm exhausted today. Does anyone have any to keep me going?

Units cycles into the tea room. She unloads her cycle trailer and loads the table with cake stands. Please help yourself to a variety of your favoured virtual cake to celebrate my birthday with me.

I'm starting with a cinnamon bun.

We're aiming to cycle 242 miles today and tomorrow in the office on two exercise bikes (raising money for a charity)

Happy Birthday Unis!!!

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I'll have a piece of lemon drizzle if I may?

Mmm., birthday cake is the best! Calorie free! Happy Birthday, UniS!!!!

Belated happy birthday from me too, UniS!

That is very splendid bunting that Bean has run up on the tea room treadle sewing machine. I am very impressed.

I've spent the weekend surrounded by Americans (both in person and on the radio and/or television). I feel strangely homesick.

Aww, Scout. How long now until your next trip back?

Thanksgiving. So we'll leave mid-November (ish). Not long in the grand scheme of things. Just a bit too far away. Thing is I only lived in my home area for a few months before moving here, having spent the previous four years elsewhere in the country so I haven't really lived at home for 15 years. Everything is different. A lot of school friends stayed in the area but the friends I care about/want to see don't live at home either and don't always go back for Thanksgiving.

I guess, really, I just miss my family and friends, the people i have shared history and culture with.

Yeah, I understand. The funny thing is that, to me (and possibly other Brits too), our culture - at least, our telly and our popular culture - seems very Americanised but I guess that you can see that it isn't really (and especially not when you take wider cultural influences into account).

I see American influences here but find it's still more British than American here. I noticed a lot of differences in culture/attitudes on the base on Friday. It was a very weird experience, the little bit of the States in England. Even SB seemed a bit unsettled by some things that happened around us -- very American/not very British behavior.

Really it just comes down to missing my family and my friends.

Mom called me tonight -- I wasn't expecting her to. We just chatted for nearly 90 minutes (poor MrScout, hearing only half a conversation while waiting to put his DVD back on).

Has talking to your mum made you feel worse or better?

Give some examples of the behaviour that was very American/not British. I'm intrigued (in a good way)!

Yes, I'm also intrigued! My aunt moved over to America and comes and visits occasionally - some of the Americanisms we note with her is her dietary requirements change every time she visits. On one visit she brought powdered egg white with her so that she could have egg white omelettes ( ). I can't tell what's 'normal' with my cousins as they got drawn into a sect for a long period by their father. .

Felt better, Maud, though when she called my first thought was "something's happened to Grandma" since we usually plan when we're going to speak. (Grandma's fine, by the way.)

Well, for one thing, Americans are WAY more demonstrative in their patriotism. Way more. Lots of military uniform (to be expected, given where we were) but it was rare to see someone not in a red/white/blue combination or wearing a flag of some sort. And I heard several times which gets drug out during patriotic holidays and major events (like 9/11 anniversaries).

One thing Americans aren't necessarily good at/known for but the British are is queueing. Even my mom said how good Brits are at it. SB and I were waiting in line for the elephants. We were the first people and were standing on the bottom step. Gradually all of the other children going on at the same time got on the step or further up and when the gate was opened they all pushed and ran past. Even the woman running the ride said "You better run and grab and elephant or this lot will get them all and you've been waiting patiently." SB couldn't quite understand why these other children who were after him (we had been the only people waiting in the queue for a few minutes since the ride was full/hadn't started when we got there) pushed in front when he was "doing the right thing, Mommy, and waiting. I want that elephant, Mommy!"

We also seem to be louder than the average Brit. I know I can be loud but a lot of people think I'm a mouse. I'm not saying everyone there was because that would be tarring everyone with the same brush but there were some that I did think "my goodness, turn down the volume!"

As for food, I do know there are some faddy diets but there are just as many here. In fact the only person I know who has a real food issue is my crazy BiL, the one here that I moan about regularly. He's British.

SB has decided he like to go back (to the Fourth of July celebrations at the base) again next year.

Hmm. It's outside my experience but I hear what you say about cultural differences - especially the manifesting of patriotism. I'm glad that speaking to your mum lifted your mood.