Wrapping Up

It is hard to believe that we're heading off on outreach this Saturday. First up to bat is spending 10 days at a holiday camp (think spring break vacation bible school) in Chelmsford, Essex. There's talk about going to Liverpool, Whales or Blackpool after that before we head off on Kenya Airways to Tanzania. Thus, since our time on the Oval is coming to an end, here's a melange of photos to help you get a feeling for what life has been like here.

Mary, Roz, me, Christine, and Ester getting ready for a night on the high street, featuring sweet and sour chicken and shrimp crackers.
Roz's parents came up from Cornwall and made us--from scratch--authentic Cornish pasties and chips. They, my friends, were fantastic, and the origins behind pasties are ingenious!
My friend Allyson and I wandered into the forest (off-leash dog park) behind the buildings here and found the old orphanage cemetery. This is my favorite grave (and photo) from our time there.
We searched high and low in the forest to find the key to Narnia and Hogwarts--without our GPS units--and unfortunately came up empty handed.
And of course, here's Henry again, this time not shy, but very proud of his accomplishments.
And another street sign showing that their ideal dog isn't a Labrador, but a terrier. And we all know that even terriers produce steaming poo.

Happy Easter!

We had a 4:30 wake-up call this morning to bundle up and head out to the farm fields past the hospital and school down our lane to watch the sun rise. It was absolutely fantastic, even though the clouds weren't amazing, because it was a fitting and memorable way to celebrate Jesus rising from the dead (of night) and returning again as the light of the world (day light). Yeay!

This is approximately at 5:07am on our way out to the lane.

Pretty awesome, eh? This is the Oval during the sunrise at about 5:09am. This was the most impressive part of the sky.
I have this fancy camera that my brother gave me and sometimes I just can't be bothered to figure out how to adjust the settings. Thus this picture and the one below are a little wonky, albeit pretty cool.

A house off in the distance as we walked to the field.
The outer limits of Harpenden at about 5:15am. Turns out a fox trotted across this field moments after I took the picture and once again, despite smelling the fox (smell: skunk), I am yet to see one. A great English farm house just outside Harpenden proper.
Some Frost action on our way back from hanging out in the field. (I just realized I didn't take any photos of us in the field).

We finished our morning with Caribou Coffee (thanks to my friends from back home for sending it!) and typical English bacon sandwiches, which actually are thin cuts of ham fried up. Quite fantastic and quite Easterly!


And now you'll notice the weather has changed once again from yesterday for the snow is actually sticking to the ground right now.
It's wicked awesome to see British, Brazilian, and Egyptian friends tromping around in the snow and throwing snowballs during such a bizarre Easter storm. Snow brings so many people together.

Out Like a Lion

As I write this the sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in the sky. However, that's the fun of English weather, for we're in the midst of a lovely Easter storm of snow, hail, sleet, rain, one confirmed report of a bolt of lightening, and sunshine. This is by far one of the silliest days of weather that I've experienced.

Even though the English are obsessed about the weather, it's a little different than what I'm used to. Back home, obsessions culminate with owning a weather radio, constantly refreshing the NORAD radar on your computer screen at work, tuning into KARE 11 unable to bear the news until the weather comes on (and in some cases unable to bear the weather report until the regularly scheduled program returns to the air), buying weather calendars and comparing the averages with the daily highs and lows, planning your drive home around when the snow is expected to hit, and sitting on your front steps as a severe thunderstorm looms out west.

The obsession with weather here culminates in conversation. When people talk about the weather here, it's as though they're talking about their good, old friend Weather and when it's nasty outside and Weather isn't doing well, well, neither are they. Weather seems to dictate people's attitudes much more here than back home.

Here are a few shots of the action:



On days like today, there's nothing better to do than to sit around drinking coffee and doing some crafts. Here's an embroidery project I stitched up on an old, accidentally felted sweater I found that fits like a, er, sweater.

Spring is in the air

I'm really lucky to be here, to experience an English springtime, for it has been perpetually spring since January 5th, when I arrived here:
"Gumdrop Bush House" a house along my path to High Street at the corner of Ambrose Lane and Hollybush Lane. Since the streets are so twisty here, Gumdrop Bush House helped prevent me from getting lost in the early days of not knowing which way was what around here. Perpetually green.
A flat on the Oval with some creative gardening techniques (daffodils in old red wellies).
A lovely window box down Tennyson Road that I've been admiring for weeks!
Yet another flowering tree doing what it knows best.

Some lovely non-flowering plants at eye level down the hill from their owner's house.And of course, what would spring time be without pansies? There are right outside the St. Albans police station--excellent gardening, bobbies!

And, spring wouldn't be spring without the migration of birds. I've seen green woodpeckers, blue tits, European robins and dozens of other birds I don't recognize! It's been great seeing new things right along side old, familiar things.

Happy spring, everyone!

All Work & No Play

Most days we spend 2 hours each afternoon doing work around the base. Some people clean the classroom, some people help out in the bed & breakfast, some people cook dinner and some people get to have fun:


This week we've been hauling out old, musty, moldy, rat-eaten furniture to destroy and put in the "skip." We each take all our pent-up frustrations and anger and smash each piece to our liking. It really is a creative process.
Clearly, smashing furniture is very therapeutic, judging by the quality and quantity of the items in the skip.
And of course, we had to take the obligatory Furniture Destructor trading card photos.


And just in case we start a band together, we've taken a few (accidental) album cover shots
In all seriousness, the best part is that we've found over 2 pounds in the cushions and have spent it all on taffy and chocolate in the gift shop, as any rational adult would do.

Signs

I've been enjoying the variety of street signs that appear throughout Harpenden and had a chance to take a picture of a few this morning. They're funny both because back in America, we probably wouldn't bother to post a sign or write something just a little differently to raise awareness of, well, whatever it is drivers need to be aware of:

A Nation Obsessed With Sweet Corn

When I first arrived here and had a tuna fish and corn sandwich for the first time, I thought "oh that's a creative idea," but it turns out there is no creativity in that. It is just what the English people do. They put corn on and in everything and insist on calling it sweet corn instead of corn. Farm friends, isn't all corn that humans eat technically sweet? English friends, feel free to shorten it to just "corn." Also, feel free to move on from canned corn. I never thought I'd say this, but there's a whole world of corn out there waiting to be eaten.

I've seen sweet corn available as a pizza topping, a can of Green Giant sweet corn littering the streets, eaten sweet corn in tuna hot dish, enjoyed it in cold pasta salads, and now have enjoyed it at a fast food restaurant. Perhaps the U.S. and the U.K. really are two peas in a pod. ;o)

Exhibit A: sweet corn as an optional veg at Subway to make your sandwich your way.


Exhibit B: a British recipe for American Corn Chowder, featuring sweet corn.
Ingredients
* 100 g streaky bacon, diced
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 stick celery, sliced
* 1 green pepper, diced
* 2 medium potatoes, cubed
* ½ tsp paprika
* 1 stock cube made up to 600ml with boiling water
* 1 bay leaf
* 450 ml semi skimmed milk
* 2 tbsp cornflour
* 225 g sweetcorn kernels
* Freshly ground black pepper
* Chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Method

1. Cook the diced pieces of bacon in a large saucepan over a medium heat until the fat runs.
2. Add the onion, celery and green pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes until all the vegetables have softened.
3. Add the cubed potatoes and paprika, stir well then pour in the stock.
4. Add the bay leaf and then slowly bring to a gentle simmer.
5. Cover and cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender, then add the milk mixed with the cornflour.
6. Add the sweetcorn and then simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the soup thickens.
7. Season and sprinkle with chopped, fresh parsley to serve.

Speaking of vegetables, it is definitely spring time here and I have a feeling a lot of English farmers and gardeners are getting inspired to do some planting with some great trees and bulbs like these to encourage them.