Traditional tastes.

Toad in a hole, bangers and mash, liver and onions, fish and chips you name it I have suddenly had to learn how to cook it! Lucky for Fred the traditional yorkshire batter was wrapped round a plump sausage! Fred sighed with relief as he passed judgement on this traditional English dish. Thank goodness we were not in France!! The last 3 weeks have been spent cooking and caring and trying to enjoy the opportunity to revive an interest in cooking. It was a pleasure to shop at the local butcher, and greengrocer and strange to find Spar on the corner looking sort of out of place amidst stone walls and English urban townhouses. Strawberries are bountiful at the moment and also cherries, raspberries and blueberries. Delicious! Now it is time to rest in London and recharge batteries. Ready, set, cook they say on the cookery programmes that have become very watchable now.

Christies Care challenge

Have you ever wondered what you are doing in a strange place surrounded by the unknown and thinking how did you ever decide to come to this place at this time in your life? Well all these thoughts raced through my head as I looked round a lecture room filled with hoists, chairlifts, wheelchairs, rotating stands, commodes and an assortment of beds made up with ladders and handles swinging round above the pillows. What had I let myself in for? The challenge was to try to get through lectures, tests, practicals and a whole lot of new experiences never imagined before. That was the Christies challenge but thankfully I made it through to the end and have been offered a job with Christies as a self-employed carer. Poor Fred had very little attention paid to him as the time was filled with work and studies. He sat on the window sill with a field faintly behind him - we hardly left the building! This has been catch-up time for blogging before going to Sheffield for my first client.

kings and castles

Well I guess you can't go to England without seeing a castle or two or more. We saw some lovely castles from deck of the ferry as we sailed across to Falmouth. Then there was a little castle at St Maws and a very old remains of a castle at Foye and lots of crumbling walls of stone everywhere. The narrow roads were very challenging especially when traffic came racing round the other way. Our GPS nickname 'whaffie' always had the upper hand and so the journey from Cornwall to Saxmunden was made with few re directing instructions. Most of the countryside is beautiful and green at the moment and the wild flowers are lovely.

Daisy daisy - finding your roots

Well here we are on English soil and trying to work out time and distance after leaving South Africa. The days are so much longer and the sun shining till 10 at night it takes some getting used to. Fred has found his feet and is enjoying being let out of a stuffy suitcase. We have had a fun time with family and with my aunt and uncle from California. Our trip to Cornwall was such a lot of fun and Norma, my aunt, and I did a lot of walking. She put me to shame as we walked up hills and down steep cliff paths. The scenery was amazing and the farm cottages we stayed in were lovely. After 4 days of relaxing we went along the coast to a few other B and B's to get back to Saxmunden where the Christies trainin challenge would begin. A night in a local pub watching England play football against USA was entertaining especially when the americans began to cheer for their side. Thank goodness it was a draw.

Banana-rama

Imagine being surrounded by bananas? It must be a chimps idea of heaven; for us it was a memorable visit to Kim and Brian and the banana farm near Malalane. It really is a panoramma of bananas as the house and garden are in the centre of the banana plantation. The views are quite spectacular and our walks through the plantation, with 5 dogs in tow, were a highlight of the day. A trip to the Kruger was also rewarded with close encounters of the rhino kind! We nearly made front bumper contact with the rear end of a rhino round the corner of the road. The time flew by and soon we had to head home to pack and get ready for jet setting to the UK. Fred found his perch in the banana box somewhat uncomfortable and hopes for better transportation to London town.

ticket to ride

Collecting your airline ticket, in its shiny red travel wallet, is indeed a defining moment. I have 'a ticket to ride' and the flight path is direct to London - volcanoes permitting!! As soon as I got home I scratched out my Eye Witness guide book to Britain and leafed through the pages with renewed excitement. The date of 2000 written on the cover was not in the least bit daunting. This is after all the British Isles we are talking about so what could have changed in terms of historical sites and country villages. Imagine if the London Underground decided to change all its names to fit in with the cosmopolitan society living there today. Heaven forbid that should happen as I already have a mental image of yours truly riding round the cirle line for several hours and getting out at the stop I started at!! Well 'no worries' as they say, I will find a friendly 'bobby' to guide me out. As the dates flash past on my calender the reality of the coming adventure sets in and I find myself turning to Fred to pinpoint planning and strategic thinking.

Introducing Fred

Now that my blog is up and running I thought I should introduce my travelling companion - Fred. Fred has been my long suffering pin cushion sitting beside my machine for many years. I am not sure how he came to be part of my household but inspite of feeling pinned down on a daily basis he has stuck with me. Fred lives on my sewing table or in my sewing basket and is always part of the next creative activity I embark on. He has seen the midnight oil burn on a number of occasions and even witnessed an all night sewing session to get a gazebo cover complete for a party the following day. So here is Fred at home.