Home to roost

This is Blog #3 for the night.  I'm on a roll now.

I thought this was an interesting sequence of pictures.  This is a view that you see when you are driving out of our complex in SC.  During the day, there are no birds in the trees but at dusk, they all start returning.  Over the course of about an hour, literally thousands of birds return (home, I'm thinking) for the night.  Stephen said it reminded him of when he was a child and had to be home when the streetlights came on.

It's hard to tell in the picture but these really are birds, not flowers and I'm not kidding when I say thousands of birds.

What's for Dinner

Last night we went to Perkins and I had potato pancakes.  Usually, they are quite tasty but I was disappointed.  I told Stephen that my mother made the best potato pancakes and I was never able to duplicate them. 
Zosia, I'm going to dedicate this blog to you because I know that you absolutely adored Mom's potato pancakes.
While I was at work, Stephen downloaded a recipe and guess what we had for dinner?

Don't look Zosia, but Stephen is using the wrong side of the grater.  He's shredding the potato instead of grating it!!!

With egg and flour added.  Doesn't look too appealing.

Zosia, this doesn't look right.

So time to do another batch.  Peel more potatoes.

Use the grater 

Add an egg and a sprinkle of flour

Umm umm good

Stephen says that his mother's potato pancakes are better.

Spring in South Carolina

Wow, it's been a long time since our last post.  Now that Stephen is back in the US, maybe our lives are less interesting ... or maybe we're just not big-time bloggers and we haven't taken the time to record any thoughts.  Don't be surprised if you see some Paris blogs in the future.  These are blogs that I have thought about but never got around to actually writing.  What is it that they say about "good intentions?
We were expecting to stay in the UK until June but in January, it was decided that Stephen was needed elsewhere and it was time to pack up everything and return to the US.  It's too bad because there were a few side trips that we were hoping to take over the next few months.  However, having said that, it's great to be home for good.  Not sure how much travel Stephen is still going to experience but since January, he's already been to China and India.


I decided to write about Spring in SC because this has been a lonnnnnnng winter and maybe if I write about Spring, it actually might come to Wisconsin.  I was fortunate enough to be able to go south for the last week of February.  Here are my Spring photos: 


Front of the house

 Down the street

In the back yard

Just to show you the difference between SC and WI, here's what my forsythia looks like in WI

And here's what my Pampas grass looks like in WI

Dusk on the golf course

Turtles coming out to play

Gecko or some sort of lizard

 
And birds frolicking

And finally, one more photo of February in SC

 

Weather woes

Since we seem to be on a weather theme, here is our latest weather blog.

Blast, blast, blast.

Today is Monday, December 20.  We should have been back in the US on Dec 17.  We arrived at the airport in good time only to discover that our United flight never left Chicago so therefore there was no plane for us.  Stephen is signed up for United bulletins and we should have received something to say that the flight was cancelled.  Not sure what happened there but it was the start of our travel woes.  We were subsequently rescheduled for a Saturday Continental flight heading to Newark.  No point crying over spilt milk so we spent the night at a nearby Holiday Inn.
While waiting at the gate, it started to snow at Heathrow.  But being hardy Canadian travelers, we thought: "just a little snow, what's the big deal".

We boarded our flight, buckled up, doors closed, flight attendants seated, and heaved a sigh of relief.  Yes, we're on our way.  Two and a half hours later, we were walking off the plane with all our belongings... supposedly just for 20 minutes to stretch our legs while waiting for clearance from the tower.  This was 1:30 pm.  Apparently, authorities had closed the airport until at leat 4 pm.  More information would be available then. 

At 7 pm, the cancellation notice for our flight was finally made.  We were given a sheet of paper with a phone number and told that we were responsible for making new arrangements. Eventually, the earliest flight we were able to get was for Dec 24.   In the meantime, we had to leave the gate area and follow the agent back through customs to reclaim our luggage.  By this time every other airline had already cancelled. 

All local hotels were booked solid.  We enlisted Mike and Suzie's help to give us the names of some hotels near Paddington station.  Road conditions were abyssmal so buses were not running.  We had already missed the last train to Cheltenham.  Stephen called for a driver and he made arrangements for us to be picked up at 10:30 am the following morning.

What to do now? Look for a comfortable spot in the airport. 

We weren't the only ones looking for a comfortable spot.

Eventually, we tried to sleep.  Stephen is in the picture below, to the left of the post.

You would think that they might have dimmed the lights a little.  This was 3 am.

It's strange to listen to the TV reports today and hear them saying that the airport is doing everything to make stranded travelers comfortable, including handing out blankets and food.  Until about 1 am, there were regular announcements saying that the airport was closed and we had to leave the terminal.  I think there would have been a riot if security tried to enforce that.  By the way, we did not get any blankets or food where we were.

Finally, around 4 am, I was just sitting and people watching while Stephen tried to rest and I noticed a man walking through the crowds with a sign.  I thought to myself - "wouldn't it be nice if he was our driver looking for us".  Imagine my surprise when I saw Stephen's name on his sign.

Anyway, we were back in Cheltenham around 6 am.  The driver had decided to come and rescue us and we were both very grateful.

On Sunday, we tried again to reschedule our flight and this time, we managed a flight through Newark on the 23rd.

Of course, this all depends on the weather and how Heathrow copes with it.

But hope springs eternal.  My neighbour is taking the turkey out of the freezer and our Christmas day plans have not changed.

Merry Christmas to all.

Weather lesson

Stephen started talking about weather in our last blog so it seems appropriate that I continue the theme.  I've been trying to post this ever since I arrived in the UK (Dec 8) but I've had difficulty with the computer. This may be a couple of weeks old, but I thought I would go ahead and publish it.

I was fortunate on my current trip to the UK to arrive on one of the coldest nights in Midland history.  Why do I say "fortunate"?  Because of the unique weather situation, I was able to witness an incredible winter wonderland as I took my bus trip from London to Cheltenham.

Here are some photos of the English countryside, most of which were taken through the bus window:

It looks as if there has been a snowfall, but in reality, it's a "hoar frost".  Here's where the weather lesson comes into play.  I referred to the internet for a proper definition of this phenomenon.

The definition from Cambridge advanced dictionary is as follows:

"a white layer of pieces of ice-like needles which forms on objects outside when it is very cold."

  

That definition seemed somewhat simple so I went to a more tecnical source (Arctic Climatology and Meterology)  and came up with this:

Hoar Frost: A deposit of interlocking ice chrystals (hoar chrystal) formed by direct sublimation on objects, usually  those of small diameter freely exposed to the air, such as tree branches, plant stems and leaf edges, wires, poles, etc., which surface is sufficiently cooled, mostly by nocturnal radiation, to cause the direct sumblimation of the water vapor contained in the ambient air.

Well, maybe that's a little too complex.  Bottom line: hoar frost = lots of kodak moments. (see web photos below)

None of my photos were as good as the ones above, but here's one more anyway.

 
 

Weather

Seems like at this time of year, weather is a popular topic for blogs...especially with the onset of winter in the northern Hemisphere. Diane and the team in Prince Edward Island won the "First Snowfall" award. Nicole of course gets to talk about Addy and snow...sort of her coming out winter, building the fond memories we all have of winter as children...before the realities of work, driving etc. took over. For most Canadian children winter means snow angels, snow men, Christmas coming soon, tobogganing, hockey and the possibility of snow days off school. Whats not to like?

Growing up in Ottawa we had lots of winter. Mom being Irish, did not ever really ever get to appreciate winter. For her it was cold weather, bad driving conditions, worry about everyone out in the storm. She was happiest when we were all inside and safe. Double happy if were all in our pyjamas, thereby removing the risk we were thinking of going out.  I think what bothered her the most was the closed windows. She hated seeing the storm windows going up in fall. Our house was always the first to take off the double windows and put up the screens. I can remember washing down the screens in early April, shivering to death as the water out of the hose was barely above freezing. While Mom did not like winter, she suffered mostly in silence. Daddy was different. There was little of anything he did in silence. On snowy evenings he had a habit of coming in the back door of the house, stamping the snow off his feet and bellowing out his favorite winter epitaph "BLAST, BLAST, BLAST".  While we were used to it, if we had friends or visitors in the house, it could be a bit shocking. I can recall on a few occasions getting a look from Mom as she saw Dad's car drive up that told me to get to the back door and don't let him give out his usual snowstorm greeting.

To this day, Diane and I still use "Blast Blast Blast" as an euphemism for winter storms.

After returning from the US after American Thanksgiving, I arrived home to my apartment in Cheltenham to snow. If you are following any newscasts from Europe or Great Britain these days you have read headlines such  as "BRITS STRUGGLE WITH DEVASTATING STORMS"  or "Snow causes transport disruption across England". 

Here is a link if you are interested : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11895468

This weekend I was scheduled to go to Susie's. However the forecast is for snow tonight, freezing temperatures overnight and tomorrow, and then fog tomorrow. We spoke last night, and based on the forecast, and Mike struggling with a cold, we decided to cancel.

Here is my apartment parking lot "covered in snow".

Snow at 6 Chester Court

 I had a visitor last week, a colleague and friend  from Kohler who was coming to the UK to look at some of the processes we use here. We worked together in Asia.  He is an engineer, on his way to India and Thailand. I invited him to stay with me, and, as he had not visited the UK before, I got a car and did a bit of sightseeing. My favorite place to take newcomers is Bourton on the Water, about 20 minutes away, and very pretty.



Bourton on the Water in Winter



As usual, I thought I could capture a more artistic shot, the mill, the water, the snow, the red berries.

My artistic photo

I actually do not mind winter. Genya will say that is because  for the last five years I have not really had to deal with winter. I would  always be home for Christmas, but then we would go to South Carolina after Christmas day, and then in early January I would head back to Asia. I normally do not return until April .  Perhaps, memories of winter may be more endearing that real winter..  .  But when we were in Hilton Head last month, we were on the beach, and Genya reminded me that winter was coming. So, what was my reaction?  See below.

Stephen jumping for joy at the thought of winter...

Peter in South Carolina

Peter finally came to visit us in South Carolina. While Minneapolis was getting the worst November snowstorm in nearly two decades, he was enjoying the warm (72F) and sunny weather in Hilton Head. He arrived late on Thursday night and left Sunday evening...we had a busy weekend..

Playing golf on Hampton Hall golf course..(Peter won )

Peter and a deer on the golf course

On Saturday morning, Peter went for a jog around our community here in Sun City. He plotted out a 5.5 mile run and set out . Some scenic views of his run...

Saw an alligator ( ..OK..a baby alligator...)

Bob and Margaret from Tobermory arrived on Saturday, so on Sunday, Bob and Peter and I all went golfing. Here is a picture of Bob and Peter. (Peter won)

Sunday night, getting ready to go to the airport.