Our Quiet Holiday

It's been a quiet week in Ipswich. (Sorry, Mr. Keillor.)

We've been spending our holidays indoors. We hardly leave the house. I've been working from home, but Margo's off, and Sarah's off school. We did visit some friends, and get out for some meals, but mostly we're at home.

Margo's been feeling unwell, with a cold she's only now recovering from. I think it's one of those situations where bugs go around and a few end up inside you, just waiting on the sidelines until you have a chance to rest, and then they pounce. I've managed to avoid it for a week, but just picked it up a few days ago. And Sarah never wants to go anywhere, so it's been easy to stay at home.

Another contributor is that train service is rubbish over the holidays. This is unique to the UK and is much lamented here. Apparently the rest of Europe not only runs at normal schedule; some run extra trains, as you'd expect when people are traveling a lot. But not here. Our regional train operator doesn't even run trains to London until after the holidays because of engineering work at Liverpool Street station. They have a replacement bus service from Colchester. So I've put off any trips to London for fun.

I don't think we've written about Christmas crackers yet. They come out for work parties and other gatherings over Christmas. We made some at home. They are paper tubes with ribbons at both ends. At the Christmas celebration, you take your cracker and hand one end to the person sitting opposite the table from you, and you pull it apart quickly. There's a "bang" from a rigged thing inside the cracker. That's the crack. Then inside will be a little present - usually just some plastic trinket - and a piece of paper with a joke or fortune or such, and a bit of really thin paper that unfolds to become a paper crown that you put on your head.

But honestly, we're in the same boat as nearly everyone else, sitting around at home and ... watching television. It's a tradition. The Queen gives an annual message. This year's was about the importance of solid families.

Some of the year's best programming is reserved for the holidays. Many are in the form of specials from series that may or may not have been running earlier in the year. So we enjoyed the Doctor Who special "Voyage of the Damned" (which didn't really live up to the hype). But I also caught a special from Catherine Tate and really enjoyed the special of Extras. We've also been watching some of the James Bond films on ITV.

I watched some of the more adult specials on my computer. The BBC's much-anticipated iPlayer service is now available, even for Macs. It allows one to watch selected programmes from the past seven days. I was impressed with its performance. I expected perhaps some buffering or occasional interruptions, but playback is immediate and smooth.

So on some days, when I'm working and Margo is busy on her computer, we guiltily let Sarah watch lots of childrens' television. We console ourselves a bit because the childrens' programming is excellent here, and there are no adverts with the first few channels.

Margo's busy on her computer with two projects. One is her application for the University of British Columbia. We're also starting to think and plan about our move. It's a lot to take on - we'll have about a week or two between the time Margo leaves her job in Essex and the time Sarah and Margo start school. That's a short runway to get things in order: bank accounts, finding an apartment, getting a car, setting up car and house accounts, getting Sarah enrolled, getting our stuff moved from Portland storage, the rest of the house furnishing, and finishing all our Canadian applications for driver licensing, health insurance, retirement, and so forth. But it's also the start of the end of our time living as Europeans, which is bittersweet.

Which brings me to Margo's other project - our next holiday, in February, to Bavaria. She's been busy making reservations for trains and hotels. We'll have a night in Paris, a few in Munich, two in Prague, a night in Vienna, and back through Munich and Paris. We're only planning one more major holiday - Barcelona in the spring - and that's it for Europe for us, though we're hoping to fit in a few more weekend trips within the UK.

Tonight we'll ring in the New Year at home with a nice meal and drinks. It's unlikely we'll even stay up late. Then it's back to work for me on Wednesday and Thursday for Margo.

In the Bleak Midwinter / Christmas in England

Enduring the Darkest Days of the Year

As I write this, we have just turned the corner on the seasons, with the shortest day of the year having taken place last Saturday. Here in Suffolk, we are just a bit north of the Latitude in Vancouver, BC. At this time of year, the sun doesn't rise until about 8am and sets about 4pm - on cloudy days it can feel quite dark throughout the whole of the day. All of us leave the house in darkness and return in the dark as well. It is a good time for sitting on the sofa in our warm house and reading, watching television, playing games etc. I have noticed that I am cooking more soups, stews, roasts and pastas as the days grow darker and colder.

I have enjoyed watching the change of seasons and the differences in colour and light this year. After a grey and rainy summer, we have had a really lovely autumn. As I drive down the A12 to work every morning there is one point in the route where I crest a hill and have a gorgeous view across the valley of a very pastoral landscape - cultivated fields and pastures and woods, with old church towers scattered here and there. In the spring and early summer the view is golden, as much of the land is planted in rapeseed (canola) and when it blooms the landscape is filled with squares of bright yellow flowers separated by ancient hedgerows.

In the autumn the fields are brown where they have been turned over and gold where the stubble of wheat and barley remain after the harvest. The sky is often a lovely sharp, bright blue, all of this punctuated by the red and gold of the turning leaves.

As we have drifted into winter, the fields are covered in a silver frost and the trees and towers are wreathed in the early morning mists, transforming the landscape so that it appears soft and grey and dreamlike. As the rural areas of the country have, at least from a distance, changed little over the years, it is not hard to imagine that I am seeing the countryside as it has appeared for centuries, even has I hurtle though it on a modern motorway in a vehicle traveling at 70mph!

Christmas in England

You may not be aware that during the Cromwell years in England, the traditional feasts and merrymaking of Christmastime were outlawed. Once Oliver Cromwell was ousted and disposed of, an effort was made to reinstate some of the old customs, in part because it was felt that an annual period of feasting and celebration would pacify the working / peasant class and leave them less likely to revolt.

The other big influences on modern celebration of the holidays are the Victorian Christmas customs as celebrated by the royal family (who popularised the decorated Christmas tree) and as described by Charles Dickens as in A Christmas Carol.

What I have noticed most of all is that Christmas appears to be a time for eating lots of pig in many guises. As far as I can tell, the traditional turkey is merely a means of conveying more pork into the belly. As evidence, I offer the following:

The turkey is stuffed with ground pork, lightened with breadcrumbs and flavoured with any combination of chestnuts, dried fruit, herbs and spices. Alongside the turkey, a traditional side dish is chipolatas (skinny pork sausages) wrapped in bacon. Then stuffing balls, also wrapped in bacon, may be served. Appetizers may have included sausage rolls or miniature pork pies. I rest my case.

A British Christmas dinner is not complete without bread sauce - a sort of milky, nutmeggy sauce thickened with bread crumbs. One restaurant critic has likened it in appearance and texture to cat sick and I do not disagree. Also served are brussel sprouts, roasted parsnip, and roasted potatoes; these are parboiled and shaken up a bit to roughen up the flesh, then roasted in goose fat with herbs and spices until crispy outside and steaming and fluffy inside. That bit actually sounds quite good and I am making some tonight to serve with a beef and mushroom stew. Goose fat is sold in tins at the grocery store. The main course is followed by cheese (always including Stilton) and port.

Dessert consists of any or all of the following: more cheese, Christmas Pudding with hard sauce or brandy butter or brandy cream, Yule Log, Mince Pies, Christmas Cake (an iced fruit cake). I bought a couple of puddings this year - Christmas pudding because really, I felt we had to give it a go (although Mike and Sarah will probably not like it that much filled as it is with spice and dried fruit - though I will endeavor to set the brandy alight when I serve the pudding and that should be crowd pleaser), and a butterscotch and pecan pudding. I have also been hoovering my way through some packets of mince pies with brandy (in the pies, not separately, although now I think of it, a spot of brandy isn't a bad idea really!)

Because it is just the three of us, and because my refrigerator is merely dorm-size, and because a turkey will not actually fit in my small oven, we will not be having a traditional British Christmas dinner this year. Instead we will have lasagna with salad and garlic bread and THEN Christmas Pudding.

As for the rest of the week, we will be joining in the great British tradition of eating lots of rich foods and watching the holiday specials on the telly. I will enjoy my time away from the office and Sarah will enjoy whinging that she has nothing to do - this in spite of the loads of gifts received from her birthday and Christmas. We will also be going to the cinema a few times to see the new movies that we have not had the opportunity to see so far.

Finally, I am still trying to make arrangements for the three of us to go with friends to see a Pantomime - a uniquely British holiday tradition, usually involving some grown men dressed as women and vamping it up in a very loose version of Cinderella or Snow White or Aladdin etc. The British seem to find men in dresses hilarious and do not consider crossdressing in this context un-masculine or indicative of an alternative sexual preference. No doubt some academic sort has written about this in excruciating detail, so I won't natter on.

Anyway - our Christmas wishes to all of our friends and family - as we enjoy our fairly non-traditional day I hope that your holiday, however you celebrate it, is merry (and includes some tasty food and drink as well!).

Love,
Margo

Sarah's Birthday Party

Sarah's birthday is Tuesday, but we had her party for her and her friends today.

Children's birthday parties in the UK tend to follow a pattern. You don't need to invite people to your house. Instead, you make a reservation for two hours at a warehouse-like building on the edge of town. The inside is stuffed with bouncy castles and platforms and games and looks something like this.



And for a set fee per head, the staff take care of everything for you.

You get a set of invitations, which must be distributed at least a month in advance. The invitations include RSVP forms so you know who will be attending.

On the big day, you arrive and find a table with your child's name on it. As other parents arrive with their children (and many leave shortly after to return two hours later), presents are deposited.



The presents aren't opened on site; always later at home.

As kids arrive, they disappear into the play area. You try to find them. They never stay in one area for more than a few seconds. They swarm from structure to structure. Following one is like trying to follow one bird in a large flock.

After a while, your party's food availability is announced over loudspeakers, and the kids all go off to a room for squash (fruit drinks) and a choice of hamburgers and chips, or chicken bites and chips, followed by ice cream. A birthday cake is brought in.



But as soon as the candles are blown out, the cake is whisked away, to be cut into pieces by staff and individually wrapped to be taken home.

I was impressed by Sarah's group of friends. Margo and I were the only adults in the room and the kids were very well behaved. We didn't have to do any policing.

Afterwards the kids roam and romp about some more. Margo took advantage of this time to prepare the goodie bags that kids take home.



Then the parents return and one by one the kids are taken home until you are left with a birthday child who doesn't want to go home but clearly needs to.

London at Night

Tonight after work I captured some of the sights of London at night in Christmastime. Almost all were taken with a little folding tripod to steady the camera. Some of the buildings and attractions are lit specially at Christmastime and the colours are intoxicating. These are some of my favourites.



This is from the lounge at the top of the Tate Modern. (I get to be in one of my own pictures!) It's one of my favourite views, and it doesn't hurt to have a drink at the same time. Tonight: hot mulled wine.

Writing

Last night Sarah opened up a box of Christmas cards that Margo had purchased earlier. Without any help, she went ahead and wrote letters to thirteen of her school mates. I watched her write one; it was at least three whole sentences. Last year she was hardly writing. I was very impressed and proud of her.

Margo's Work X-Mas Party

On the 7th December we bad our Annual Christmas do at work. We convened at a hotel (Located a bit outside of town so that we could avoid clients) and had a Christmas Dinner as some drinks and dancing following. Most of us rented rooms for the evening so that we could enjoy the night without worrying about getting home after a few drinks.


I thought that you might enjoy seeing the folks I work with and a photo of me in my party clothes...



Me with Melissa, Paula and Margaret at the beginning of the party.



Me in my new party dress.



My line manager, Andy, perusing the menu options



Waiting for the appetizers to arrive



Linda, a recent arrival from Romania, actually looks good in the obligatory silly hat



Laura, also from Romania, manages to look pretty good too.



Melissa, a Social Work Support Worker



Paula, another SWSW


We were up until past 3:00 am and a bit worse for wear in the morning - these Brits are a bit more dedicated to the concept of an excessive evening of food and drink than is normal in the US - at least at my workplaces anyway. And, I am TOO OLD for this anymore -it takes far longer to recover than the actual party.

Cheers,
Margo

Christmas Portrait

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Once again it's time for our family portrait. Annie Liebovitz was busy so we had to do it ourselves. It's just as well ... I wasn't looking forward to a milk bath.

This was the best of dozens of shots. It's hard to get all three of us with decent smiles. Most were blurred. The light was awful. We had another day of rubbish weather, cold and raining most of the day. But, we only have so many weekend days. I made some adjustments afterwards to make it brighter and warmer.

Our Christmas lights were cropped out of view, but the tree on the wall was drawn and coloured by Sarah from an outline by Margo.

Christmas Farm Visit

Margo and Sarah went to a Christmas do at Jimmy's Farm. I didn't go because I'm too cool for things like that.



Sarah had a hunch this wasn't the real Santa since he looked and sounded a lot like Jimmy.

Bad Train Day

I really like riding the train to London. It's still exotic enough to be interesting.

But. It's amazing how little it takes to slow or stop the trains. Today was especially bad.

This morning we'd just come inside the M25 when the train slowed down, coming to a stop at one of the smaller stations in outer London. After about 20 minutes the senior conductor told us over the intercoms about the situation. A fire alarm had been sounded at the switching station in London Liverpool Street. So the area had to be evacuated. With no one watching the switches, that meant red lights for all the East Anglia trains out of London. In the end, we arrived 45 minutes late - the worst morning delay I've had yet.

Mid-morning Margo called me asking if I'd heard of the train delays. She was concerned because tonight she has a Christmas party with her work team and didn't want to miss it in case I couldn't get back in time to pick up Sarah after school. I thought she was talking about the morning delay, but checking the site of One Railway, I saw it was a new delay: strong winds blew a tree onto power lines.

Sure enough, there were delays and cancellations through mid-afternoon. I left the office an hour early, and I mostly avoided delays, though I did hear a rumour of a potential third delay: a suicide on the line. You might be taken aback at that, but suicides and other fatalities on the line are not that uncommon - perhaps one a month. And when that happens, investigators are called in and trains get backed up for a while.

Despite situations like today, the trains are mostly run right on time. Railways keep regular metrics of on-time services, and these are generally in percentages of the high 80s to low 90s. And when problems do occur, they're generally remedied within an hour or two. But it is often quite frustrating.

Christmas Fayre in Bury St. Edmunds

Today we drove to nearby Bury St. Edmunds to see their Christmas Fayre market. It was much more fun than last weekend's trip to Lowestoft.

We'd hardly arrived, and Margo was ensconced in a Body Shop store, when I stepped outside to wait and saw something unusual. I whipped out our camera and got a few snaps of some of the running Santas.



It seems every time we visit Bury St. Edmunds, the weather is rubbish. Today was no exception.



Sarah had her umbrella, Margo had my umbrella, and I had none. The life of an umbrella in Margo's care is a short, unhappy one. I don't think her umbrellas are lost so much as they flee.

We made our way indoors to a large hall to see some arts and crafts.



Then we went outside to take in the stalls. There were over forty stalls from France alone, selling wines, cheeses and sausages. Margo got us a few.



There were also lots of foods being made freshly, including bratwurst and sausages, fried potato dishes, fried donuts, and Gluwhein mulled wine.



There was also a music stage; when we passed we were serenaded with opera selections performed by the Suffolk Opera.

There were of course a few rides. One of the rides Sarah enjoyed was the carousel.



We'd planned to eat in a pub at the end of our visit. Margo had been telling me about a seasonal winter ale brewed by the Old Cannon Brewery (I might not have come otherwise!). Unfortunately, children were not allowed inside. So naturally, I downed a hasty pint of their winter ale ("St. Edmund's Head") while they waited outside. No, I'm only kidding; they started walking and I caught up with them on their way to our fallback pub, The Grapes, a Greene King pub, being appropriate as the Greene King brewery is also in Bury St. Edmunds.

Whilst waiting for our food, Sarah had us pulling faces.





And then we went home and had naps.

Winter Sun

We had a rare sunny day today. Well, until mid-afternoon. Not a cloud in the sky.

I brought our camera with me when I went for my Saturday morning coffee-and-library-and-shopping trip. The lighting was fantastic. It was one of those days when you could point your camera at any brick wall and have an image where people go, "Wow, look at that brick wall." My walk normally includes Alexandra Park and the waterfront, and today I made an extra trip to Christchurch Park. Of all the shots I took, I thought these four were marginally interesting.