26th March 2012

My first official volunteer stint is over. The school ran the Sports Relief mile, with all of the students doing at least 2 laps around the field. I was at point 6, defending the woods from thralls of truant school children dropping out of the mile and slinking into the woods with bad intentions at the forefront of their minds. Er....I mean....cheering on and encouraging these bright young minds to continue onward. I must admit, this is an area where my Americanism shines through in spades. We are masters in encouragement and cheering on.

The Mike's after the mile.

I at least feel I can practice what I preach. I have started using mapmywalk.com and have currently logged 47.45 miles over 19 days. The puppies love the long walks and often lead the way while I meander along through the woods following their noses over logs and through creeks.

Michael is visiting his dad in America. We planned the trip so that Mike would arrive right in time for his dad's birthday and he was delighted to be dad's "birthday present". We flew on the Virgin "Tokyo" from Heathrow to DC. I was fairly certain it was the oldest plane in Virgin's fleet. With ancient in-flight entertainment and a whistling sound screaming through the roof on landing which had me convinced the roof was going to peel off, I was loathe to learn that it was the plane which I was flying back to the UK on after dropping Mike with his dad. However, research has unearthed that it is merely the 5th oldest plane, at 15 years old, in the 75 plane strong fleet.

The Maiden Tokyo

Other than our unfortunate border detainment in 2009, I have not traveled round trip over a weekend but this trip entailed our landing in DC at 3:30pm, and I boarded the plane back to the UK at 6:30pm. Sadly I missed the Skype call with my in-laws updating us on the birth, and introducing us, to our new nephew, but Neil was very happy to have had the chance to catch up with them. .... I think it is time for Mike to fly as unaccompanied minor!

Mike is having a good time in Virginia. We called him last night and he was watching Batman and drawing. The drop off was easy. All smiles and tear free on both sides, I would never put the weight of my sadness on his little shoulders. The crush of him being away hit me last night when I passed his empty room. Only a month to go! Sigh....I love that kid!

My friend Christy surprised me with Herman, the German (Amish) Friendship cake. Herman is a sour dough cake, which requires tender love and care over ten days before being divided into 4 parts. One part you keep and bake yourself, the other 3 you pass on to friends with a set of 10 day instructions, which culminate in thier subdivision and passing on of Herman. In other words, Herman is a chain letter in cake form. The crux of Herman is yeast. Herman hails back to the days when yeast was grown by the baker and the recipe was passed between friends for frugality purposes.

Herman Batter

I unfortunately can't share this recipe with most of my friends and family, so I entrust you now, to use the information below and start Herman in my honour in your country.

"Billy No Mates
Cake"

retitled (by me!) "International Friends Cake!"

Ingredients
1 Cup plain flour
1 Cup caster sugar
1 Cup plain natural (live) yoghurt
Half Cup milk
1 small sachet fast-action dried yeast (breadmaker yeast)

Put all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

Mix to a smooth batter-like consistency.

If the mixture is too thick to run off the spoon,
add a little more milk and re-mix.

Set aside for 24 hours, the mixture will be frothy and bubbly, smelling of alcholol/fermentation

Stir-- the froth will collapse, but remain bubbly.

This is your starter batter for International friend cake...now...Herman the German!

Measure out 1/2 pt (1.2 cups) and start day 10 on the instructions.... http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com/

It is reported to be a very good cake, so give it a go! I'll let you know my personal verdict in a few days when my Herman is complete.

Finally, we went to Brighton after Neil picked me up from Heathrow and took a long walk with the dogs. Delilah enjoyed rolling around in oyster shells, and Samson smiled the entire walk through. They were two tired puppies when we got home.

Delilah loving the sea

Samson, Me, and Delilah with Neil (taking photo)

Samson after a great day in Brighton

Delilah after Brighton

Til next time....

6th March 2012

Happy Birthday, Michael! He turned 10 yesterday and he sure has grown up fast. I remember when he was born, looking at him and wondering 'Who will this person be?'. I have been delighted to watch him become a happy, independent, funny, and bright boy.

He didn't have a party with his friends this year, but he got some very exciting gifts, such as a JD Bugg Scooter, Lego Batcave, Batwing, and Superman and Lex Luther sets, plus other exciting gifts. He went to McDonalds for lunch and I made him a Dr. Who cake.

On Saturday, we went to Brighton for the Annual Saltdean Pasteboard and Plastics Boardgame meetup. I was looking for a picture for it and found this blog post, which amusingly has some pictures of Neil. However, it is from 2010!

http://kevinandgames.blogspot.com/2010/11/saltdean-pasteboard-and-plastic-13.html

The day was a resounding success from a fundraising perspective for the Scouts, and for us; as we had the chance to play Norenberc and Glory to Rome, which is one of my all time favorite games.

I pinched this photo from Little Metal Dog, so if you want some more info on the game, check out their review of the game here: http://littlemetaldog.com/2011/04/06/ch-check-it-out-glory-to-rome-review/

We were able to take off for a whole day of gloriously selfish gaming because our puppy sitting co-op was put into use. We met a local couple who also have two young basset hounds and now we are minding each others puppies for the odd day out and holiday. Samson and Delilah seemed to have an excellent time with Bella and Bertie. I think they both look quite tired in this shot!

(Left to right: Samson, Delilah, Bertie and Bella)

Tonight, Neil is in London playing Glory to Rome with some of his work colleagues. Every Tuesday evening they play a few games after work and it has been quite a success. In fact, they seem to enjoy it so much that for Neil's birthday they MADE a game for him. That is pretty special.

I am taking driving lessons. I have been driving for over 20 years, but there are different styles of driving and I need to learn a technique that undoes most of what I learned in the US. It is hard going, but I am making progress. The hardest part for me is learning the signs. Some don't seem to be obvious. --for example, if you are on a ramp entering a motorway (interstate) and you see a giant red X sign, would you think 'oops! this must be the wrong way?!?!?'...because, that is what I thought. However, it means.....Don't stop. Yeah...the big X means 'don't stop'....I don't think that is intuitive. Also, a round sign, with a red border showing a car and a bicycle. I would think...'Oh, that must mean only cars and bicycles', but it means 'NO cars and bicycles'. I personally would put a SLASH through things not allowed. But hey, I didn't make the rules, I just gotta learn them!

Parting thoughts, we are going to see Les Miserables in a few weeks as part of Michael's Birthday gift. (He has watched Les Miserables about 15 times in the past 2 months on Dvd. He loves it.).

The dogs are enjoying their walks to school and they are learning to follow commands such as ''Easy' (don't pull), 'Wait' (wait for me or wait at a street crossing). They are getting calmer with people and I am feeling more confident that they won't jump on everyone that walks within easy paw range.

Til next time.