The FIFA World Cup

For the next month or so, the FIFA World Cup is taking place in South Africa. (Click on the highlighted link above to see the Wikipedia article - very informative.) Before moving here, I was a football fan but in no way a die-hard fan. I can honestly say that my level of interest in football has increased dramatically and my interest level is not based on the fact that football players are quite fit and easy on the eyes, but it's definitely a plus. Needless to say, it is great to have football on the telly twice a day during the semi-finals. I actually plan my day and my lunch around when the match will be on the telly. Craig and I have both decided to support the Americas - North, Central or South - to victory. Craig, with the law of averages and past precedence, thinks Brazil will win it. I really want the USA to make a strong presence.

Today's noontime match is Honduras v. Chile. I am not sure who I am pulling for because they are BOTH Americas teams (Central and South). I think I am swaying towards Chile just 'cuz they have an excellent name for a country. The teams are playing in Nelspruit in northeast South Africa. Here is a photo of Mbombela Stadium.
The zebra-striped seats are awesome.

The commentators today are a Brit and a Scot. I have no idea what the Scot is saying but his accent is incredible at least what I can hear of it over those stupid horns that are constantly blowing. I can't imagine being at the game and am really glad not to be because I think I would feel the need to harm someone or something after hearing that noise for two hours straight.

Friends are also watching and here are some things that we all have heard the BBC presenters say in these matches or others which makes me snicker a bit just because they are totally Brit lingo:

restored to health
lovely touch
cracking shot or a cracker that was
a bit sticky
really snatched at it
boredom that was
a bit dodgy
a light hand on the till
and the ubiquitous
"Well DONE!"

Just now, Chile scored! GOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!
Looked like an own goal to me though.

Happy Flag Day

Non-Stop

We had sort of a busy week and weekend last week. We were taking care of two of three of our friends' kids from Tuesday to Friday. It wasn't so bad to be the parents of five and one of the kids was a girl, so it was fun to have some female solidarity in the house for once. On Friday, Owen, Finn and Craig walked across our back park to the school behind us where a Cheltenham Science Festival event was taking place. The title was "Water Rockets" which probably tells how much the kids enjoyed it. Then on Saturday morning, Craig led a group walk along the Severn River near Apperley whilst Evan attended another Science Festival event at the Town Hall. I played chauffeur most of the morning and met Craig, Owen and the group at the pub for a pint and a pie. Evan and Finn had another Science Festival event on Physics scheduled, but we didn't make it. Then Craig went downtown to watch the USA v. England football match in the evening.
On Sunday, I cajoled Owen through the end of his big Year 5 project on the Aztecs whilst (love that word) Craig took Finn and Evan to a Science Festival event about Lasers which they loved. In the gorgeously sunny turned windy afternoon, I went to a fancy schmancy hotel in town, The Queens, to attend a baby shower whilst the guys walked around Imperial Square enjoying the free science demonstrations. We returned home to devour a roast dinner and settled in to watch the Germans spank the Australians' bums in their World Cup match.
This week should be much quieter (fingers crossed) with just normal stuff. I was able to obtain two new tires from the RAF base just like the ones we got in France, so that might just be the highlight of my week when they are put on the car. Oh, and Evan is getting his bottom braces put on as well. His side tooth that was jutting out is in place. It has only taken a little less that four months!! Modern (FREE) dentistry... I tell ya!

National Pride

In the US of A, it is hard to walk down a street without seeing the US flag waving from a flag pole in front of a house or school or place of government or even a shopping center. In Britain, this is not the case. One rarely sees the English flag flying
and hardly ever do I see the Union Jack of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)
waving in the breeze (and definitely NOT on top of a Mini Cooper - it's just not done here!). However, a sporting event called the World Cup is quickly approaching (like tomorrow) which will pit the football teams of the world against one another. The English football team and the American football team are in the same group this year and are playing the first match of their group against one another on this Saturday evening (afternoon for you American soil dwellers). Needless to say, national pride has skyrocketed because the English do love their footie (maybe even more than they love cricket) and English flags are FLYING! They are everywhere - outside of pubs, on cars, hanging out of windows. It's slightly insane to see this many flags when there were like NONE two weeks ago.
The USA v. England game is very important on a whole lot of levels, but mainly because in 1950 (yes, 60 YEARS ago), the USA beat England 1-0 which is the only time they have played one another in the past 60 years in the World Cup. From Wikipedia: In 1950, "a combined Great Britain team had recently beaten the rest of Europe 6-1 in an exhibition match and England went into the competition as one of the favourites. However, it was not to be, as they went crashing out in a shock 1-0 defeat by the United States (when the score appeared in English newspapers, many thought it was a misprint) which, combined with their 1-0 defeat by Spain, led to England being eliminated." So tensions are high, smack talk is rampant (like a lion) and we are so excited to be in the midst of it all. Craig and I can't wait to go out on Saturday to watch the match. I told Craig that we need to go early to get a good parking space so we can high tail it out of the place when tempers inevitably flare when the
US WINS!!!!!!!
USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

Comments & My Posse

Awhile back, I stopped accepting comments on my actual blog (not the facebook version). I got this weird comment from a random person and was a bit creeped out. But some people have asked me to allow comments and I am relenting. So comment away. Oh, and become a follower - part of my posse - because there HAS to be more than nine people who read my ramblings. You know who I am; I want to know who you are. If you are reading this from facebook, click the 'View Original Post' option and you'll see the posse on the blog page. Adios amigos!

Bath Spa Day

About two weeks ago, a group of ladies and I went to Bath to bathe and eat and shop and sort of sight see, all in that order.

The visit was in honor of the departure of two women who I am very happy to call friends, Erin and Nancy. We started our day at Thermae Bath Spa which is an awesome place to spend the day. The naturally heated rooftop pool is stunning and has such a great view of Bath. From their website: "The water from these springs is believed to have fallen as rain around 10,000 years ago and then sank to a depth of about 2km below the earth's surface. Here it was heated by high temperature rocks before rising back up through a break in the limestone that lies beneath the city of Bath. Over 1 million litres of mineral-rich water flow from the thermal springs each day, at an average temperature of 45°C or 113°F." All of that spa-ing made us hungry so another friend, Amy, asked for a restaurant suggestion and we ended up here thanks to her trusty iPhone:

For those of you NOT on this planet, Jamie Oliver is like the UK fresh food guru and is really pushing for healthy school lunches. His lisp sort of drives me berserk, but his restaurant was fab.u.lous! Then we split up for a bit - Jane and I went sightseeing and shopping for gifts. Amy, Erin and Nancy went shopping for clothes. Jane and I stopped into the Bath Abbey and the scalloped ceiling vaulting was gorgeous...

as were the stained glass windows. I just can't get enough of these things.

After sampling the mineral water...

we also visited the Jane Austen Centre's shop

The Two Janes

and Sally Lunn's Bun Shop

which is located in the oldest house in Bath. Here is a bit of history from their website: Sally Lunn, a young French refugee, arrived in England over 300 years ago. She found work at what is now known as Sally Lunn's House and began to bake a rich round and generous bread now known as the Sally Lunn Bun. This bun became a very popular delicacy in Georgian England as its special taste and lightness allowed it to be enjoyed with either sweet or savoury accompaniments. Many attempts have been made to copy our world famous Bun with little success."

Overall, a day well-spent with friends!

Sable d'Or les Pins

This half-term break, we opted for the northwest coast of France mainly because we still had a credit through 30 June with the ferry company from the Christmas blizzard fiasco. Craig chose a small beach town in Brittany, France called Sables d'Or les Pins which means literally "sands of gold, the pines". We rented a very nice and roomy traditional house. The location was gorgeous and very secluded and relaxing, but also very close to all required amenities. There was plenty of room for the kids to explore and the view of the coast from the front of the house was fantastic.

The beach was awesome. At low tide, it ran on forever. We think that perhaps we have lived in England too long because everyone of us got a pretty decent sunburn the first day. We just didn't expect to get so much sun.
The water was warm enough for boogie boarding with a short wetsuit.
The shell hunting was amazing!
We made a pretty mermaid out of all of the shells we found.
Here's a visual of how far the tide receded everyday.
One day, I decided to walk over across a small spit of land that gets covered over at high tide to visit La Petite Chapelle de Saint Michel. It was based on the larger Mont Saint Michel which was located east of us. It was a pretty amazing place because it was a fairly remote location and to think someone lugged all of the materials over a small spit of land that was only there for part of the day... that's dedication.
Here are some dawn photos that Craig shot:
And just some more nice photos:
This photo might not actually be all that nice. It is a snapshot of dead eels tangled in a fishing net.Finn's self-sculpture
We only went sightseeing on one day because it was sort of rainy. We visited Cap Frehel, a lighthouse right up the coast and Fort La Latte which was just up the coast from that. Owen enjoyed the day; the other two tolerated it.
Fort la Latte was very photogenic.
This tower was pretty scary to climb. We had to pull ourselves up really steep and uneven steps using that thick fraying rope which totally would not be allowed in the US. We descended on our bums.
This cow carved into the wall was hidden around an unobtrusive corner.
While driving, we saw some fun things:
An awesome bridge in Honfleur with a dramatic sky
A fire bucket at a petrol station in the UK
At this rest stop, you can get information, make a phone call and eat 'FRITES' under a pine tree.
And finally, my obligatory animal-related photos:
This was our resident chat which had chatons hidden in the bois de feu.
No Airedales allowed on the beach - sorry Pete and Michele.
Instructions regarding clean-up of 'les dejections' from all of the beagles with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer noses on the beach