In a newspaper article last week it was reported that the British Toilet Association has given out their "Loo of the Year" awards in their national competition. Proud recipients of four-star ratings were the Yeovil Bus Station and the Yeovil Recreation Ground. There was a photo of the toilet cleaners from one of the winning locations! (Does the U.S. have such a competition?? I don't think I have ever seen anything about it in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram......)
Also, in the same paper there was an article intitled "Keeping the Youngsters Kitted Out". It was about a football club donating football kit to children in Kenya.
I looked up the word "kit" , and one of the many meanings , which is mainly British, is "gear".
On another note, we did get to go to the British Museum in London this past week-end. More to follow about that tomorrow.....
Monday, January 21, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
More New Words
I don't go very many days here in England without learning new words!
1. You may think that you know what "braces" are, but have you ever heard that men's suspenders are called "braces" here?
2. Sunday morning on the radio, someone was talking about making a dessert using "Hundreds and Thousands". We had no idea what he was talking about, so I had to ask at church----they are sprinkles like we use on children's cupcakes, etc.! (Maybe that name is used in the U.S., too???)
3. The word "nick" is commonly used for the word "steal", but our housekeepers used it in a slightly different way this week. They were complaining about some of the other housekeepers being lazy and not doing all of their work---they said that the other housekeepers "nick their time".
(Yes, we do have housekeepers that come by every day, but they do not do much to "keep house". They do take the trash away every day and bring clean linens/towels every week. Occasionally they will vacuum or dust the edges of tables, but I mostly do my own cleaning. I think that the housekeepers' main job is cleaning vacated rooms and apartments to get them ready for the next occupants.)
4. There is also a term for someone who does not do his share of the work. He is called a "lead swinger". The term comes from old sailing days, when a sailor was given the job of occasionally dropping a lead depth marker out into the water. That was his only job, so the other sailors did not think he did much work----and they called him the "lead swinger". The term broadened into a common term for a lazy person.
This has nothing to do with new words, but on the way back from the London airport last week, our GPS decided to confuse us. We ended up on some neighborhood streets rather than the main road to Yeovil. We came up to an old bridge with a permanent sign beside it that said "Warning---Weak Bridge". There was lots of traffic, so there was nothing to do but drive over the "weak bridge". In fact, we had to do a u-turn and cross it again! Evidently no one else was worried about it!!
1. You may think that you know what "braces" are, but have you ever heard that men's suspenders are called "braces" here?
2. Sunday morning on the radio, someone was talking about making a dessert using "Hundreds and Thousands". We had no idea what he was talking about, so I had to ask at church----they are sprinkles like we use on children's cupcakes, etc.! (Maybe that name is used in the U.S., too???)
3. The word "nick" is commonly used for the word "steal", but our housekeepers used it in a slightly different way this week. They were complaining about some of the other housekeepers being lazy and not doing all of their work---they said that the other housekeepers "nick their time".
(Yes, we do have housekeepers that come by every day, but they do not do much to "keep house". They do take the trash away every day and bring clean linens/towels every week. Occasionally they will vacuum or dust the edges of tables, but I mostly do my own cleaning. I think that the housekeepers' main job is cleaning vacated rooms and apartments to get them ready for the next occupants.)
4. There is also a term for someone who does not do his share of the work. He is called a "lead swinger". The term comes from old sailing days, when a sailor was given the job of occasionally dropping a lead depth marker out into the water. That was his only job, so the other sailors did not think he did much work----and they called him the "lead swinger". The term broadened into a common term for a lazy person.
This has nothing to do with new words, but on the way back from the London airport last week, our GPS decided to confuse us. We ended up on some neighborhood streets rather than the main road to Yeovil. We came up to an old bridge with a permanent sign beside it that said "Warning---Weak Bridge". There was lots of traffic, so there was nothing to do but drive over the "weak bridge". In fact, we had to do a u-turn and cross it again! Evidently no one else was worried about it!!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Winter Views from our Window
Now that the trees are bare, we have a different view from our upstairs bedroom window....now we can see houses and buildings! You will notice different kinds of grass in the different yards and fields----some must be a type of winter grass.
In the first picture, look for Ted and Eric-----the donkeys.
These next pictures are the backyards ("gardens") of our apartment and the apartments on each side of us.
First, our backyard....
The next one looks quite different from a few weeks ago. A family with a little girl used to live here, and the backyard was covered with toys. There was a sandbox, a little swimming pool, 2 slides, assorted riding toys, etc. The family sold their apartment to the hotel that owns ours, so the backyard has really been cleaned up. I wish I has a "before" picture!
A retired couple owns the apartment on the other side of us. They have recently built a house in France, where one of their daughters lives. They plan to spend 6 months every year in France and six months here. In the middle of their patio is a fountain made of stones. (They must have chosen a low-maintenance yard because they will be gone so much.)
In the first picture, look for Ted and Eric-----the donkeys.
These next pictures are the backyards ("gardens") of our apartment and the apartments on each side of us.
First, our backyard....
The next one looks quite different from a few weeks ago. A family with a little girl used to live here, and the backyard was covered with toys. There was a sandbox, a little swimming pool, 2 slides, assorted riding toys, etc. The family sold their apartment to the hotel that owns ours, so the backyard has really been cleaned up. I wish I has a "before" picture!
A retired couple owns the apartment on the other side of us. They have recently built a house in France, where one of their daughters lives. They plan to spend 6 months every year in France and six months here. In the middle of their patio is a fountain made of stones. (They must have chosen a low-maintenance yard because they will be gone so much.)
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Long Sutton
Ron has been reading a library book about the village of Long Sutton (population about 800), which is not too far from Martock. So Saturday when we were driving around, we went there.
The most interesting part of the town was the church, which was built in 1490, not as old as some of the churches we have visited, but very old by U.S. standards! There was an earlier church, from the 9th century, on the site before the current one was built. The current one was built of local stones with trim made of Hamstone. (The Hamstone is the yellow-looking stone quarried from Ham Hill near Martock.) These are pictures of the church.
The figures in the following photo are holding different tools and items representing the jobs and interests of the local people.
The church and the church school are at one end of the village green and there is an old hotel at the other end. The village green has lime trees in each of the four corners and a chestnut tree in the middle.
The town has always been an agricultural town. One of the main crops was "woad". (That one was new to me!) The woad plant is a source of blue dye. In fact, it was the only source for blue dye in Europe until the end of the 16th century, when indigo was brought in from the Far East. Politicians of that time tried to protect the woad industry by calling indigo "evil". Woad production is making a resurrgence, as it is biodegradable and is being used for ink for inkjet printers. Extracts from the woad plant are thought to have some medicinal and cancer preventative qualities.
The most interesting part of the town was the church, which was built in 1490, not as old as some of the churches we have visited, but very old by U.S. standards! There was an earlier church, from the 9th century, on the site before the current one was built. The current one was built of local stones with trim made of Hamstone. (The Hamstone is the yellow-looking stone quarried from Ham Hill near Martock.) These are pictures of the church.
The figures in the following photo are holding different tools and items representing the jobs and interests of the local people.
The church and the church school are at one end of the village green and there is an old hotel at the other end. The village green has lime trees in each of the four corners and a chestnut tree in the middle.
The town has always been an agricultural town. One of the main crops was "woad". (That one was new to me!) The woad plant is a source of blue dye. In fact, it was the only source for blue dye in Europe until the end of the 16th century, when indigo was brought in from the Far East. Politicians of that time tried to protect the woad industry by calling indigo "evil". Woad production is making a resurrgence, as it is biodegradable and is being used for ink for inkjet printers. Extracts from the woad plant are thought to have some medicinal and cancer preventative qualities.
Monday, January 14, 2008
"Heavy" Rain in England
As always, there has been rainy weather in England in the last week.
Last Thursday/Friday there was rain off and on here in the Yeovil area, but at Bristol (an hour's north of here and where we go to church), there was rain and some snow. Because of the saturated ground, the rain last Friday caused there to be some street flooding in low places and lots of water standing in fields. We took these pictures of fields on Saturday.
Yesterday was mostly sunny, but I heard a weather forecaster last night saying that there was "very heavy rain driving its way toward southwest England" and that we could expect more flooding problems because of the possibility of getting "up to one inch of rain"! Does that sound like "very heavy" rainfall in Texas???
This morning there is very strong wind and what we would call "sprinkles".
Last Thursday/Friday there was rain off and on here in the Yeovil area, but at Bristol (an hour's north of here and where we go to church), there was rain and some snow. Because of the saturated ground, the rain last Friday caused there to be some street flooding in low places and lots of water standing in fields. We took these pictures of fields on Saturday.
Yesterday was mostly sunny, but I heard a weather forecaster last night saying that there was "very heavy rain driving its way toward southwest England" and that we could expect more flooding problems because of the possibility of getting "up to one inch of rain"! Does that sound like "very heavy" rainfall in Texas???
This morning there is very strong wind and what we would call "sprinkles".
Our Friendspeak Friends
During the Christmas holidays Ron and I got to see our "other children", our current Friendspeak students that we read with every Sunday afternoon when we are at home. (For those of you who do not know about Friendspeak, it is the domestic branch of Let's Start Talking. We help UTA foreign students with conversational English through reading from the New Testament.)
We got to go out to eat with Andy and Leslie, their son Nathan, and Leslie's father, who was visiting from Korea. We were so happy to get to see all of them! We did not have a camera, so I have written to Leslie to send a current picture of them that I can post.
It did not work out that we could visit with our other students while Ron was home (he left for England a week earlier than I did), but I got to see them before I left the States.
This is Eunice and Stephen (from Taiwan) with their baby girl, Kathryn, who is 7 months old. It was really fun getting to see Kathryn, as I had not seen her since May, when she was only a day old and still at the hospital! She is beautiful! Stephen completed his Master's Degree this past summer and has a job in Dallas. I am so glad that they are staying in Texas, as least for a few years!
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This is Jasmine, also from Taiwan. It was so good to get to see her, too!! I really miss our weekly visits. She is working on her PhD in biomedical engineering..JPG)
Ron and I look forward to our return to Texas and getting to see our friends every week!
Thanks to Jasmine for having her camera with her and sending me these pictures!!
We got to go out to eat with Andy and Leslie, their son Nathan, and Leslie's father, who was visiting from Korea. We were so happy to get to see all of them! We did not have a camera, so I have written to Leslie to send a current picture of them that I can post.
It did not work out that we could visit with our other students while Ron was home (he left for England a week earlier than I did), but I got to see them before I left the States.
This is Eunice and Stephen (from Taiwan) with their baby girl, Kathryn, who is 7 months old. It was really fun getting to see Kathryn, as I had not seen her since May, when she was only a day old and still at the hospital! She is beautiful! Stephen completed his Master's Degree this past summer and has a job in Dallas. I am so glad that they are staying in Texas, as least for a few years!
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This is Jasmine, also from Taiwan. It was so good to get to see her, too!! I really miss our weekly visits. She is working on her PhD in biomedical engineering.
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Ron and I look forward to our return to Texas and getting to see our friends every week!
Thanks to Jasmine for having her camera with her and sending me these pictures!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Christmas 2007
Ron and I are back in England, and I am back to the world of blogging!
Ron and I both had a really good time being home for the Christmas holidays and getting to spend time with family and friends. For some reason we did not use the camera too much while at home, and we did not ever get a family picture either at Arlington or at Gunter. We will have to do better the next time our family is all together! But in the mean time, I will post a few pictures of the kids----and apologize ahead of time that some of the pictures are not the best!
First for our children and their spouses..... The first photo is of Julie with Collin, her youngest. (Josh is in the background.) Next is Julie's husband Matt with Collin and Lauren. Then there is a photo of Lauren and Katelyn with the fancy dolls that their great grandmother, G.G., gave them and a photo of Lauren and Katelyn learning about the world. Collin is also in that picture.
Next is Jon with his wife Cindy.
Next is Josh, who is putting together a tractor for Collin.
This is Brody, son of Staci and first grandbaby of my sister Joan, and my grandson, Collin. They were both born the summer of 2006. Aren't they cute together!
Here are Collin, Lauren, Brody,and Katelyn under the Christmas tree at my house.
At Gunter Collin got to play with his other cousin, Braden (Ron's brother's grandson). Braden was also born the summer of 2006! They are enjoying the tractors from their Aunt Debbie. (Can you tell that Collin liked Braden's blanket??)
The next photos show Alex and Ashley, who are Braden's big brother and sister.
It was such fun watching all of the children at Christmas!
Ron and I both had a really good time being home for the Christmas holidays and getting to spend time with family and friends. For some reason we did not use the camera too much while at home, and we did not ever get a family picture either at Arlington or at Gunter. We will have to do better the next time our family is all together! But in the mean time, I will post a few pictures of the kids----and apologize ahead of time that some of the pictures are not the best!
First for our children and their spouses..... The first photo is of Julie with Collin, her youngest. (Josh is in the background.) Next is Julie's husband Matt with Collin and Lauren. Then there is a photo of Lauren and Katelyn with the fancy dolls that their great grandmother, G.G., gave them and a photo of Lauren and Katelyn learning about the world. Collin is also in that picture.
Next is Jon with his wife Cindy.
Next is Josh, who is putting together a tractor for Collin.
This is Brody, son of Staci and first grandbaby of my sister Joan, and my grandson, Collin. They were both born the summer of 2006. Aren't they cute together!
Here are Collin, Lauren, Brody,and Katelyn under the Christmas tree at my house.
At Gunter Collin got to play with his other cousin, Braden (Ron's brother's grandson). Braden was also born the summer of 2006! They are enjoying the tractors from their Aunt Debbie. (Can you tell that Collin liked Braden's blanket??)
The next photos show Alex and Ashley, who are Braden's big brother and sister.
It was such fun watching all of the children at Christmas!
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