Wet

It was wet all weekend. It may not have been raining all weekend, but it felt like it. Every time I went out; to yoga, to see Richard's Dad, to take Ollie to James' party, to get some power chord extensions from Curry's and Jill and Charlie from Sian's party, to take Ollie to soccer, get George from soccer and take George to Alex's Quaser Laser party, and finally to go to the station to get a ticket for tomorrow's trip to Southampton, it was the same.........wet.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a fantastic holiday: No presents, very little commercial nonsense surrounding it and a time when family and friends and SAYING THANKS is really what it is all about. Every country should have one.

We were so lucky when we were in the States to be invited to Judy and Morgan's house every year. The one year we thought we would give them a break and take a family trip away up the Connectitcut coast it rained so heavily and so continuously, it had to be an omen. We didn't skip the McGrath's thanksgiving again!

And with the wonders of technology we didn't skip it again this year. Between courses Judy, Morgan, Peter, Junko, Sarah and Morgan Jnr took the time out to include us in this year's Thanksgiving as well.

And we had a Thanksgiving phone call as well. Wonderful people.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh England, My Lionheart

So this is what we returned to the UK for. Sunday 10.14 am. 0 C (or 32 F); either way it is freezing, literally. Fortunately you can't see (or feel) the wind or the freezing rain. It even started to snow at one point. The best word to describe the conditions is 'miserable'. It was cold watching; the guy in jeans and wellies in the foreground decided to jog a couple of laps just to keep warm. Feet were wet and frozen. Hands tingling cold. It would have been even colder playing; shorts and all.

This is London Road, George's team. They beat London Colney, 2-1. George played his best game yet for them. We went straight off to watch Ollie's game afterwards.

This is Jill dancing at home in an attempt to get warm.

In contrast here is some cold US weather. This is really cold but you would never say it was miserable. It is one of my favorite winter pictures. By total coincidence, it was also taken on a Sunday morning, one minute later, at 10.15 am, but in February not November. It is 0 F. Proper cold. No grey clouds. No rain. Ski-ing not soccer. I am going to miss US winters.

Jonathan Taub

Great to see Jonathan Taub at the Market Porter next to Borough Market last night. He has flown over from Chappaqua for the weekend to see two soccer games, catch up with some mates, drink beer in pubs and generally be British. Cheers Jonathan!

The boy's happiness at seeing these pictures was tinged with a little sadness too. We miss you. : (

Here are a few words from boys:

"hello, miss you, wish we could have seen you. i miss having such a great football/soccer coach. say hello to the team from me." george.

"hello, miss you so much. I miss your really funny jokes and your "trying" to do an English accent.I wish I could seen you(with my brothers)\I miss you very much." Oliver Barnett

"you're a good ref" Charlie

Quaser Laser

It was Nathaniel's birthday party at Quaser Laser. It was great to see the Carisses and Fryers again.

Bob's New Friends

Bob was given a bit of a surprise last week. A mate of his got some prime tickets to the Liverpool-Spurs Carling Cup match. The surprise bit was that he got to meet some of the Liverpool players, and the manager as well. Shame Steven Gerrard wasn't playing and Torres was on the treatment bench, but there was still a pretty good turnout for Bob. Here are a couple of photo opportunities.

Firstly, the manager, Rafael Benitez...

Secondly, Alonso (so Ollie tells me)....

And thirdly, Mr. Babel (again, according to Ollie)Unfortunately, Liverpool lost 4-2 to a resurgent Tottenham under Harry Redknapp.

Poem

Erin forwarded me this poem by Jane Kenyon in response to the post on the whisk.

I took the last
dusty piece of china
out of the barrel
it was your gravy boat
with a hard, browndrop of gravy still
on the porcelain lip
I grieved for you then
as I never did before

It is a lovely and poignant poem.

Erin's blog is excellent. It is here.

It's Funny What's Important

Anna and I have started to go through the content's of our Father's house. It is not an easy task. One of the nice parts is finding unexcepted things that have strong emotional resonance. This whisk is one of them. We both remember our Mother using it 35 years ago and more. Of course there are better ways to whisk things nowadays and the whisk itself is so tempremental that it takes a persuasive hand to get it work properly - slow and steady - but of course that isn't the point. For a good few minutes we were memorized by it and the memories it stirred in us.

Fleetville Fireworks

Last night was fireworks at Ollie's school. The fireworks were good and the crowds big.

I had a conference with Charlie's teachers last night. He is doing well. The fact that he started school a year later than other kids ( as in the USA, kids start school a year later), doesn't seem to be holding him back. In a couple of months, with some extra tuition, he has managed to pretty much catch up in reading and writing. The interesting point here is that the American system of starting reading a year later hasn't put him at much of a disadvantage. I understand the Scandinavians start their children reading even later and they certianly aren't dumb! The other thing to say is "Well done Charlie".

This is a self-portrait (by Charlie) taken with the trusty Blackberry camera.

King's Lynn Road Trip

When both George and Ollie were younger I had taken them for off for a few days. This weekend it was the turn of Charlie. We stayed in the King's Lynn Best Western (Charlie is pretty brand loyal after all our American stays) and explored the Norfolk coast. We checked out Ely on the drive up, the cathedral is magnificent:

Went to Blakeney Quay to go on a seal watching trip (though the only trip of the day had already departed by the time we arrived), and have a walk around the charming seaside town:
Had a really good fish and chip lunch in Wells-next-the-sea:
and checked out Snettisham beach as it was becoming dark:

Unfortunately, Charlie was sick on the Saturday, but I hope he had a decent time.Perhaps we can go for another road trip when he better.

For all the photos, click here .