Ah, another rough day, just like every other rough day. It’s getting boring, to be honest. I look around and wonder when this will feel like home. I’ve got no clue. I’m recycling myself.
I do have new photos of recycling, Cornwall style.
Yeah, baby, recycle it all!
Recycle it in the rain, in a Brythonic Celtic language. Woot!
It’s good to get excited about the little things … right? Eventually, it’ll all be sorted out.
Tags: rubbish
You know how when you build something big out of LEGOs — like, say, a life sized Queen Amidala — and haven’t we all been there — you know how you need a giggle-de-boople-plex of LEGOs? (That is a technical term for “lots”.) Well, apparently I need a giggle-de-boople-plex of photos of LEGOs to tell you about LEGOLAND Windsor. I’ve cut, cut, cut, but there’s still lots. So, get a cup of coffee, sit back, and let your fingers scroll away.
Not a joke: when I told my son we were moving to England he said “Great! Now we can go to LEGOLAND.” Seriously. In our first weeks here, we booked tickets and an overnight stay at the as-yet-unbuilt LEGOLAND resort hotel, which ended up opening just a week or two before our trip to LEGOLAND:
The new hotel is adjacent to the park, is completely devoted to the LEGO theme, and a stay at the hotel gets you early entry into and a late stay before leaving the park. We chose the “Kingdom” theme for our room — because I am a princess, duh — and it was pretty amazing. Open the door to a family room and find a ‘treasure hunt’ puzzle to solve, which then opens a locked safe filled with LEGOs for the kids to keep.
The kids get a bunk bed, with roll-out trundle on the bottom — sleeps three.
Kids get their own entertainment area, and parents can keep out.
Next, down a small hall, the bathroom, which is also done up in LEGO theme.
And then the parent area. Very comfy.
Outside the room, the hall on this floor has peep-holes overlooking the LEGO pit in the lobby.
You can play here all day long. The wall to the back holds guest creations and there’s a daily build competition. There are also games and shows in the large play area and stage.
Parents can sit next to the play area and order from the bar. Boo-ya!
Breakfast and dinner are buffet-style and plentiful in the Brick restaurant. Book ahead for dinner, it gets crowded.
Even the main hotel bathrooms are themed.
Oh yes I did take a picture of the toilets. Did you think I wouldn’t? The only downside to the hotel was the waterpark — it wasn’t open during our visit. Lame. Apparently not everything was quite working when we arrived.
Now, the park itself. (For a serious breakdown of the whole park, check out wikipedia or this guide on squidoo.) Everywhere you go, everything you see, is LEGO.
We made fantastic use of our half hour early park entry, and dashed over to the Kingdom area of the park for a ride on the only real roller-coaster ride in the whole park, The Dragon.
No lines, no waiting.
Depending on your age, or the age of your kids, you’ll recognize these as the original Knights. LEGO has moved on to Bionicle and Heroes, but it was nostalgic to see these old warhorses.
This is the main water ride at the park, the Viking River Splash. The dragons are super-awesome and I want them in my living room. As a ride though? Eh. It was more fun after when we could shoot water cannons at the riders going past. Actually, I preferred the kiddie water ride Fairy Tale Brook.
The LEGO figures were clever and fun, and the leaf-shaped boats didn’t pretend to do anything but float around softly. The most disappointing ride for me was the Atlantis Submarine Voyage. It was interesting:
Underwater Poseidon made of LEGO
But really you’re just sitting in a bathtub with glass panels to one side, going in a circle above water.
LEGO awesomeness: 4 out of 5. Ride awesomeness: about a 1.5
Miniland is full marks for awesome. We visited both days of our stay, and saw new things each time. Day one was a bit rainy.
Day two (view from the Sky Ride) was bright and sunny.
With two days to play with, we could try out all the rides — like LEGO boating, driving, flying, laser-shooting (kids have their LEGO drivers licenses, now) –
(I’ll admit it. I just like this guy’s face. Is he blowing you up in to the air? Is he blowing away? I don’t know.)
Catch the pirate show — it was crowded on sunny day two! –
But my absolute, hands-down, most favoritest thing ever was STAR WARS MINILAND (dum dum dum!)
The force made my hand unsteady and the pic out of focus. The Vader was life sized. I came up to his sternum. I want him to guard the front door to my house.
I took another giggle-de-boople-plex of photos just in Star Wars Miniland. I would have gone through the complex multiple times. I would have eaten there. I would have slept there. I would be there now. I will show you one photo, and one only. I am usually very careful with my language around my children, but this one made me curse out loud:
“It’s the mother-f*cking Millenium Falcon blasting out of mother-f*cking Mos Eisley space port! I mean … kids, cover your ears.”
Note the fathers in the background. They shoved their kids to the side in their stampede to get photos of the Mos Eisley cantina back there. It. Was. Amazing. Star Wars LEGOS, from Clone Wars all the way through Jedi. I’m sorry, I need to catch my breath.
…
Are you feeling like old bony up there? Had enough of LEGOs? Of course that’s not possible, but I can’t do this all day, so let’s wrap up.
LEGOLAND Windsor was an amazing weekend out. If you can swing it, staying over at the resort hotel is absolutely worth it for the convenience, the entertainment, the LEGO theme activities, and the food. (I assume the water park would be cool, too, but I’m trying not to be bitter about that.) Food in the park is overpriced — as in any amusement park — but there is wine, beer, and well-enough made espresso drinks everywhere. The LEGO stores in the park carry some classic hard-to-find items, as well as the largest (only?) collection of those new pink LEGO sets I’ve ever seen. If your expectations for roller-coaster rides were built in the US, dial them down and avoid disappointment — just admire the whimsical and artistic LEGO everywhere and enjoy the day.
I know I should be writing about our fabulous early term-break trip to LEGOLAND Windsor, and tying up the loose ends of previous days out to get ready for our upcoming excursions. But I can’t stop thinking about trousers.
The lack of them, more precisely. I’ve tried to describe this trend but I don’t think my words can do it justice. Probably because I am too squeamish to use all the words necessary. Like “naked butt hanging out” and “that does not look like a good place to get frostbite” and “a thong does not count as underwear”.
On the way to school this morning, as we passed attentive parents and children in cute, tidy uniforms walking or skipping or scooting along to school, I kept seeing women who were not wearing trousers. Tops, yes. Tights, yes. Shoes, yes. Something covering up the whole posterior area, much less the, um, anterior? Nothing. Like this, but with — I kid you not — a shorter jacket:
From Would You Wear Leggings as Pants?
Keep in mind, this is at 8am on a Monday morning during the school run, not after hours outside a club. And not celebrities acting out their personalities on the world (as found in “Tights aren’t Pants = Fashion No No“, or “wearing tights as pants“), but regular people — teens, college students, young professionals, mothers. Oh. My.
As long ago as 2010 the fashion police made a ruling: Leggins are not pants, and tights are not leggings. There is even a website devoted to destroying this trend — you can read their manifesto.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call for the destruction of a trend. Walk around naked if you like. Whatever. (But I am getting some dark tinted sunglasses for summer, I promise you.) However, coming to England, expecting to find Mary Poppins or at least graceful icons like Duchess Kate, and instead finding bare bottoms in see-through tights …. this is going to take some getting used to.
I’ve written before about the new-to-this-expat excitement of a local veg box scheme. (See tag: veg*) I love the concept of local organic foods, grown within a small radius of my home, supporting local growers and small business — with the convenience of having someone else pick interesting vegetables and drop them off on my doorstep every week. We did all right with our original box scheme company, but now I’m playing the field. Right now we’re trying out Ocado. Ocado is an online-only grocery store which also provides organic veg boxes, with either one-offs or weekly delivery. So along with my delivered veg, I can get milk, or wine, or toilet paper — very convenient. Oh, and even some pretty flowers:
I used to have groceries delivered back in the States, but gave that up when the delivery fees skyrocketed. ($13 to drop milk at my house? Sorry, Safeway.) Here grocery delivery seems much more the norm. Most places deliver for a nominal fee or for free. I was happy with our occasional Waitrose delivery, but found the need to schedule deliveries a week or more in advance a bit cumbersome. Ocado is hitting all my happy buttons, with next-day and even same-day delivery, and I can put together a shopping list and even order everything via an app on my phone. Easy!
Of course, the proof is in the box:
All interesting (fennel, this week! and look at that celeriac!), all fresh, some local — yet some items from as far away as Spain, and the veg looks suspiciously sanitized. I miss opening a veg box and having the earthy, intense aroma of Cotswold soil surround me. But I welcome being able to eat everything in the box, instead of picking off bugs and cutting off brown bits. Is the Ocado veg box my winner? I still need to check out some other places — Riverford and Able&Cole are next on the list — the veg box saga continues.
*Yeah, that’s right. I’m using “tags” and “categories” now. Because I am Mrs Fancy Pants of the Fancy Pants League of Fancy. Enjoy!
Tags: veg
I’m huddling in my sun room watching rain pour over the roof. The fire is going. The cats are curled nose to nose on the footstool. The children shivered in their jackets on the way to school this morning and asked me if there was a hurricane warning today. The other mums at school all rolled their eyes and reminded me this was typical English weather. I’m once again missing home, and dreaming of sunny days on the Bay or ‘down the shore’. Insert deep sigh here.
Best thing for this weather is to bake something warm, so here’s a quick and easy pumpkin bread recipe. This version keeps well and while it’s good warm from the oven it’s even better the next day.
First combine your dry ingredients:
3 1/2 c flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger to taste (half to a whole teaspoon each is good)
In a separate bowl, combine your wet ingredients:
15 oz pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar (most recipes call for more sugar than this: I like to use less. If you want sweeter bread, add another cup of sugar)
Combine the two: make a well in your dry ingredients, pour in the wet, and then stir together.
I like to laugh gleefully at this point. Like a mad scientist or an evil genius. No reason, it’s just fun. MWA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAAAA! Mix, pumpkin, MIX!!!
Laugh at the mess you made, because it is delicious. BWA-HA-HAAA!
You could make two full-sized loaves with this recipe, but I made one full-size and two smaller. I separated the batter into three sections, leaving the largest loaf alone for a simple pumpkin bread. To the second I added 3/4 cups of dried fruits. To the third I added the dried fruits, and 1/2 cup of pecans. Fill your loaf pans about 2/3rd full and bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes, then put on a rack to cool.
And then …
In a true spirit of British-American co-operation, I’m having mine with some clotted cream.
(Take that, horrible weather. Pumpkin will defeat you.)
Tags: pumpkin
I don’t have a bead on St. George’s Day. There’s no special pancake breakfast, no setting crap on fire, no shopping sales, no special stoneware from Emma Bridgewater. (Wait, I lie, there is a special mug.) Yet my kids got to pay a pound each today to wear red and white clothes to school, and the red and white flags of St. George — and of England — were carried joyfully all over the playground. Apparently I should have worn a red rose in my button hole today. I hope going to the gym and having my face turn bright red while doing sit ups will count instead.
Wikipedia has a lot to say about St. George, and my go-to cultural source, that cool school in Kent, has a page on his legend as well.
Of course, I find the dragon the sympathetic character in the story. I like modern retellings which have the dragon and George end up as friends, and the princess runs off and saves herself. Happy St. George’s Day, everyone, and many happily ever afters to you.
Not really shipwrecked. Sorry, because that would have been a really cool story. I’m thinking of those ‘shipwrecked’ casserole recipes, you know the ones? Where you look in dismay at all the random cans in your cupboards and vegetables in your baskets and leftover meats in your fridge and think: “Right, this can be a meal.” Like you’ve been castaway in your kitchen and just have to eat whatever is at hand. Please don’t tell me I’m the only one. I used to make a shipwreck dish a couple of times each winter back home, when we were snowed in and running low on groceries and the power went out and I could plug the crock pot in to the generator. No? Just me? Fine, be that way.
Anyway, as I try to finish up my week of posting about Skye, I’m getting that shipwrecked feeling. I have too many elements that don’t necessarily make sense together … but I’ve got to wrap this up somehow … so you’re getting a casserole post made up of all the bits left sitting around. Just pretend it is snowing outside and we’re cozy next to the fire eating out of bowls we washed in the snow. I’ll make some hot chocolate for later.
A quick tour through the Clan Donald centre on the Isle of Skye. If you take the ferry over from Mallaig, you’ll land in walking distance of the centre, which is well worth a visit — and worth stopping right then, rather than driving all the way back down again later. (what we did. blurg.). The gardens are extensive — above is a sweet otter in the water garden — Armadale Castle is preserved as a picturesque ruin, with commanding views over the water
And the Museum of the Isles is a great introduction to local and clan history, with a slightly annoying but understandable dosing of Clan Donald pride and sense of superiority.
I took a photo inside before realizing photography is not allowed. You’re welcome. There’s also a pretty good restaurant at the centre, with the usual fish and chip selection but also local dishes like a venison casserole and a huge selection of whisky.
Speaking of whisky, I couldn’t come to Skye without visiting the Talisker Distillery in Carbost. Despite how early in the season we visited, the distillery was packed and in a shocking lack of foresight I had *not* pre-booked tours — so we didn’t get to go behind the scenes. Children over 8 are allowed on the tour, youngers can view the exhibits on display or walk around outside. I was slightly surprised to see so many bus loads of clearly drunken tourists. Not my favorite scene, to be honest. If we have the chance to go back, I’d book an early morning tour a few days ahead.
About half way up the coast of the Waternish peninsula is Stein, home to several boutique artisans and the oldest operating inn on Skye — the eponymic Stein Inn, where we had good food in a great atmosphere. I recommend checking the specials on the board by the bar. If the weather is nice, there are picnic tables outside with a view that cannot be beat of the harbor and loch.
You can walk down to the water — which is so clear, it seems like blue liquid air.
On the other side of Dunvegan loch, if you’re driving to the Glendal Toy Museum, you might miss this marker commemorating the land leaguers and the ‘three martyrs’ from Glendale who helped bring about land reforms and the end to the inhumane “clearances” on the island. “Clearances” makes it sound like cleaning out old deadwood or brush, right? No, these were people being ‘cleared’ from the land by clan chiefs turned into rapacious large landholders who were more interested in raising sheep than respecting traditional social bonds or basic tenets of morality or human kindness. Read a book about it. It’s a horrifying history.
We were sad to find the Borrerraig Piping Centre closed during our visit. Sadly, the owner/operators recently experienced a death in the family, and it wasn’t known when the Centre would re-open. We got a sense of the precarious preservation of some of these cultural sites — visit them quick, before the more elderly preservationists pass away with no-one to take up their work.
Finally, one of my absolute favorite things about our stay on Skye was simply taking our time. Staying in one place gave us a chance to experience sunrise
and sunset
and sunrise
and sunset
And even — more than once — a rainbow
I’m convinced now that putting time in the itinerary to simply rest and staying in holiday cottages is the way to travel with kids.
Well, hope you enjoyed your shipwrecked last post about Skye. Time to say goodbye to our cozy cottage and look forward to whatever comes next.
Tags: skye
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