Remember months ago when I was "ranting" about the long hours of daylight that we were having? Remember how I said that it was getting dark at midnight and by 3am it was daylight out again? Well...............just the very opposite is about to start! Already when I wake at 5:30am, it is still dark outside. And by about 8pm, it's dark outside. This probably seems very normal to those of you that live in the lower part of the states, but to us, that means that very soon it'll be dark until very late into the day and only daylight for a few short hours.
To add, it's about time for it to start getting cold. Real cold...........not that "cold" we are use to in Texas. This is the kind of cold that I am told we won't want to leave the house and we'll want the warmest clothes and bedding we can find to keep warm. And just bare in mind.........there is no lovely central heating and vents to circulate the warm, heated air about the house, to whatever desired temperature you'd like! No, we have radiators on the walls in each room. You turn them on, turn them up and you put a fan in front of them to circulate the warmth coming off of them, about the room! Oh..............how you have NO idea how much I am not looking forward to winter here!
And just when you thought that "well that's really not that bad", add in the ice and snow that we are bound to get! Then add a top the fact that we live down in a valley and there are hills on the road way, in both directions! Oh but wait................we have bins on the side of the road, at the bottom of both hills for "grit" so that you can shovel it about and get up the hill in a car. Oh...........how I am looking forward to winter!
I'll be sure to get some pictures of it.........especially of us............well actually Jeff.........shoveling snow! ;) But these pictures will not be for your viewing pleasure.............no, no! These pictures will serve the purpose of reminding us, when we return home.............where we have been and what we have done. They will serve the purpose of reminding me when the August blazing sun of Texas is coming down and it's so hot and humid that a person can barely stand it.............that in the winter of Scotland, not only is it snowy and icy, and cold.......but it's dark..........most of the day, for a period of time!
On a positive note...............the summer's here are fabulous...........minus the rain of course! I love the rain...........just not quite so much! But never really getting above 75 is super nice!
So I still ponder one big question........................how on earth do they play golf in this country when it's always raining in the summer time and cold and dark in the winter time! The world may never know!
Monday, 14 September 2009
Saturday, 5 September 2009
My Random Thought While Cleaning
East of Tyler, Texas on Highway 31, somewhere between Tyler and Kilgore, Texas there is a restaurant that sits just off the highway. The only thing really around it is a quick stop store and a beer store. From the outside it looks like a long metal building that looks a little "rustic". When you walk inside you instantly smell the aroma of a smokehouse. It's called Country Tavern and if you are from Tyler or Kilgore you are certain to know of it and probably have been there. If you've never been there and ever find yourself that way...........it's a must stop! They have THE best ribs you can get in a restaurant. Now I am not talking about your home cooked smoked ribs. So don't send me a comment or email about how your dad, grandpa or brother or even yourself make the best ribs in 7 counties! I'm talking the kind of ribs you get in a restaurant. These are like home cooked and they are fabulous!
Now I haven't been to Country Tavern in some time but use to it was an annual tradition at one of my previous employers for the whole office to go there the day before Thanksgiving and have ribs and beer. It was our annual treat and since our work "family" was just as much part of our daily lives as our home family........we celebrated Thanksgiving each year at this place on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving. It was something we looked forward to all year. And yes, the ribs were THAT good. And if you've ever been there then your memory of the ribs is probably making you drool right now, so wipe the drool off you chin before it drips on your keyboard! And if you live near by, then visit soon and have some ribs for me!
One year when we went for our annual tradition, we arrived to find that the place had changed hands and been remodeled. Now you can't imagine the horror that we felt because typically, at least in Texas, if a place changes hands and is remodeled then that usually means the food is not going to be the same and therefore the best ribs in East Texas would be no more. Thankfully.........we were pleased to find that while they did have new ribs.......they also carried the "old recipe". So no fear, as far as I know, you can still get those fab ribs!
So aside from just the shock of thinking the food would not be the same, I have one very fond memory of the place that day that will probably stick to my mind forever......like super glue. At some point, especially when drinking beer, a person must excuse themselves to use the "washroom". I remember walking into the newly remodeled restroom and being totally amazed at the new "porcelain gods" they had. They were pure porcelain potties that were black! Wow I thought...........and maybe it was the beer.........but there were several of us that just kept saying things like "have you seen the bathrooms............those toilets?" Laugh......but I am telling you........it was a REALLY nice bathroom!
Okay......there is a point to this story........I swear! See personally I think the whole reason I was so impressed is because I hadn't really seen a toilet that was any other color than white in many, many years! It's just not that common, at least anywhere down South to see a toilet any other color than white. So imagine my surprise when I arrived at our new home in Scotland to find that the toilets pretty much match the wall color. And no, the walls aren't white and no they are not black either! In one bathroom the walls are a green color...........as is the toilet. Not avocado green like the 70's fridgerators and ovens! More like a sage green! And another bathroom has kind of a tan color wall with a touch of pink in it............as does the toilet!
These pictures really don't do them justice, but you get the idea!
Okay so before you go on thinking that this house was built some 50 years ago and these are the original toilets, bear in mind this house is just a little over 10 years old. And I am thinking that here it is common to find colored toilets and that its ones desire to match it to the wall color........or maybe match the wall color to the toilet?!?! At any rate, its really quiet clever to make it all blend. Cause lets face it, the toilet is not the focal point of a bathroom or the fashionable seat that people want to look at. Unless of course its at Country Tavern! LOL Now let it also be known.........that white walls and white toilets are not a bad thing either. Personally I love the black "porcelain god" I seen at Country Tavern and would love to have one in a bathroom one day in my own home.
So before you send me more emails or comments about how your house or your grandma's house has colored toilets in it.........just bare in mind that I am talking a Southern home, not a up North because I have seen them up there, and not a home that is generations old.........so no plantation homes in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama and not your home that has been passed down from generation to generation. But if you have a home that has been built in the 90's or since........and you have colored toilets............and you live in the South...........feel free to email or comment. I'm not knocking it, by no means, I just prefer white or black. Like I said, I find it very clever. It's just very rare to me! And don't write me and tell me that you have a black toilet either because then I'll just be highly jealous!
So there you have it................these are the things I think about when I am cleaning and there is no music for me to sing to while I clean!
And YES my mind has so many levels of complex that one could never get through them all! ;)
Now I haven't been to Country Tavern in some time but use to it was an annual tradition at one of my previous employers for the whole office to go there the day before Thanksgiving and have ribs and beer. It was our annual treat and since our work "family" was just as much part of our daily lives as our home family........we celebrated Thanksgiving each year at this place on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving. It was something we looked forward to all year. And yes, the ribs were THAT good. And if you've ever been there then your memory of the ribs is probably making you drool right now, so wipe the drool off you chin before it drips on your keyboard! And if you live near by, then visit soon and have some ribs for me!
One year when we went for our annual tradition, we arrived to find that the place had changed hands and been remodeled. Now you can't imagine the horror that we felt because typically, at least in Texas, if a place changes hands and is remodeled then that usually means the food is not going to be the same and therefore the best ribs in East Texas would be no more. Thankfully.........we were pleased to find that while they did have new ribs.......they also carried the "old recipe". So no fear, as far as I know, you can still get those fab ribs!
So aside from just the shock of thinking the food would not be the same, I have one very fond memory of the place that day that will probably stick to my mind forever......like super glue. At some point, especially when drinking beer, a person must excuse themselves to use the "washroom". I remember walking into the newly remodeled restroom and being totally amazed at the new "porcelain gods" they had. They were pure porcelain potties that were black! Wow I thought...........and maybe it was the beer.........but there were several of us that just kept saying things like "have you seen the bathrooms............those toilets?" Laugh......but I am telling you........it was a REALLY nice bathroom!
Okay......there is a point to this story........I swear! See personally I think the whole reason I was so impressed is because I hadn't really seen a toilet that was any other color than white in many, many years! It's just not that common, at least anywhere down South to see a toilet any other color than white. So imagine my surprise when I arrived at our new home in Scotland to find that the toilets pretty much match the wall color. And no, the walls aren't white and no they are not black either! In one bathroom the walls are a green color...........as is the toilet. Not avocado green like the 70's fridgerators and ovens! More like a sage green! And another bathroom has kind of a tan color wall with a touch of pink in it............as does the toilet!
These pictures really don't do them justice, but you get the idea!Okay so before you go on thinking that this house was built some 50 years ago and these are the original toilets, bear in mind this house is just a little over 10 years old. And I am thinking that here it is common to find colored toilets and that its ones desire to match it to the wall color........or maybe match the wall color to the toilet?!?! At any rate, its really quiet clever to make it all blend. Cause lets face it, the toilet is not the focal point of a bathroom or the fashionable seat that people want to look at. Unless of course its at Country Tavern! LOL Now let it also be known.........that white walls and white toilets are not a bad thing either. Personally I love the black "porcelain god" I seen at Country Tavern and would love to have one in a bathroom one day in my own home.
So before you send me more emails or comments about how your house or your grandma's house has colored toilets in it.........just bare in mind that I am talking a Southern home, not a up North because I have seen them up there, and not a home that is generations old.........so no plantation homes in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama and not your home that has been passed down from generation to generation. But if you have a home that has been built in the 90's or since........and you have colored toilets............and you live in the South...........feel free to email or comment. I'm not knocking it, by no means, I just prefer white or black. Like I said, I find it very clever. It's just very rare to me! And don't write me and tell me that you have a black toilet either because then I'll just be highly jealous!
So there you have it................these are the things I think about when I am cleaning and there is no music for me to sing to while I clean!
And YES my mind has so many levels of complex that one could never get through them all! ;)
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Learning to drive in the UK
To me, nothing is more terrifying than roundabouts! Even more terrifying is when you are in a city that not only has roundabouts but also has intersections. What the crap? Could they not make up their minds?
Okay so those of you that don't know what a roundabout is.........well its the European version of an intersection, only there are no lights (except occasionally for pedestrians to have the right of way to cross the street) and its a round circle in the middle of the road and you go around it until you get to the street you want to turn off onto and then you signal to do so. And there are all these rules like...........you have to be in the right hand lane if you are going to stay in the roundabout for longer than the second exit. You also have to turn on your blinker to the right, indicating you are going to get into the roundabout at least until the second exit and then you have to turn your blinker on to the left when you are ready to get out of the roundabout. And the only time its acceptable to not indicate the blinker to the right is when you are taking the first exit (which is essentially a left hand turn). Its crazy! Of course mind that you are also on the left hand side of the road. So roundabouts are the thing that terrifies me the most about driving here.
The only thing worst than that is when you are in the roundabout and the car next to you is so fascinated by our left hand GMC car that they aren't paying attention and almost hit you. As if the lanes aren't narrow enough here......we have that to add. SIGH! If only you knew how much anxiety I get when I think of having to drive into Aberdeen city centre.
But I keep thinking that the more I drive the more use to it I will get.
I will say though that they exercise lane discipline far better than we do in America. For instance they are strict about their passing lane. If you have a dual carriage way (meaning two lanes headed in the same direction) then you keep to the left unless you are passing and then you get into the right hand lane, pass and then move back over to the left. I know we are SUPPOSE to do that in Texas now.............(of course being on the right hand side of the road we are to keep to the right and pass in the left), but I think as a whole we are still not use to doing it that way and lots of people tend to stay in that left hand lane aka the fast lane!
Today I had to take Jeff to the heliport, which is in North Aberdeen, and we live South of Aberdeen. So that meant I had to drive back through Aberdeen by myself. I did okay but sure was a little stressed about the drive by myself.
So here's hoping that I adjust to driving here before we move! LOL
Okay so those of you that don't know what a roundabout is.........well its the European version of an intersection, only there are no lights (except occasionally for pedestrians to have the right of way to cross the street) and its a round circle in the middle of the road and you go around it until you get to the street you want to turn off onto and then you signal to do so. And there are all these rules like...........you have to be in the right hand lane if you are going to stay in the roundabout for longer than the second exit. You also have to turn on your blinker to the right, indicating you are going to get into the roundabout at least until the second exit and then you have to turn your blinker on to the left when you are ready to get out of the roundabout. And the only time its acceptable to not indicate the blinker to the right is when you are taking the first exit (which is essentially a left hand turn). Its crazy! Of course mind that you are also on the left hand side of the road. So roundabouts are the thing that terrifies me the most about driving here.
The only thing worst than that is when you are in the roundabout and the car next to you is so fascinated by our left hand GMC car that they aren't paying attention and almost hit you. As if the lanes aren't narrow enough here......we have that to add. SIGH! If only you knew how much anxiety I get when I think of having to drive into Aberdeen city centre.
But I keep thinking that the more I drive the more use to it I will get.
I will say though that they exercise lane discipline far better than we do in America. For instance they are strict about their passing lane. If you have a dual carriage way (meaning two lanes headed in the same direction) then you keep to the left unless you are passing and then you get into the right hand lane, pass and then move back over to the left. I know we are SUPPOSE to do that in Texas now.............(of course being on the right hand side of the road we are to keep to the right and pass in the left), but I think as a whole we are still not use to doing it that way and lots of people tend to stay in that left hand lane aka the fast lane!
Today I had to take Jeff to the heliport, which is in North Aberdeen, and we live South of Aberdeen. So that meant I had to drive back through Aberdeen by myself. I did okay but sure was a little stressed about the drive by myself.
So here's hoping that I adjust to driving here before we move! LOL
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