Jun 16, 2007

What the world eats.....

www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html

I thought this was really interesting...to see how much average families, from different countries spend per week on food. I wonder what our picture would look like. I don't think ours would look too unhealthy, but it would be quite expensive I think.....

Saturday stuff...

What have you all been up to today?

I got up and drove over to get Laurie from his birthday sleepover.....Chris came with and then the three of us headed to the mall...the boys needed new runners and Laurie needed a few bits of clothing too.....there isn't much choice at SP mall but he did ok...we hda lunch at the mall before heading home....I got a bowl of salad from Mr Sub....lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, black olives, green pepper, turkey and a sprinkling of cheese.....it was really tasty but the lady that served me could NOT believe that I didn't want dressing on it! I rarely have dressing on my salad...at home I will sometimes have a little Thai red chilli sauce but more often than not I won't bother.....to me there is enough flavour in salad to not need to smother it in oil.

We ran into safeway for a few things - including the All Bran and Dried Apricots that my Mom asked me to get for when she arrives...we'll go shopping properly once she is here, but we have the two most important things for when she first arrives :)

We drove home and found Lloyd still hard at work on the climbing frame!

I caught up with some blogging then went out for my run which ended up being a cycle ride in the rain.......(you can read all about that on my other blog 'Running To Mickey'if you want....)

I came back from my cycle ride and made a cup of tea which we drank sat in the back of my truck over by the climbing frame - and had some cookies with it....crumbled some up for the chickens who were quick to notice we had FOOD!!!

After that I came in and had a bath....then Lloyd came in with Sam and Sam decided he wanted to actually get IN the bath with me...so bang goes my quiet relaxing bath lol!

Now dinner is in the oven...or at least the chicken is...we're having pita bread stuffed with chicken and salad....

After that I THINK we are planning on watching 'You, Me and Dupree'.......

The boys seem very tired and grouchy......so I am hoping they decide to go to bed early - otherwise they might get SENT to bed early ;) often they will just choose to thankfully!

I'm glad its rained a little today because I can't be bothered to water my vegetable garden!!!!!

Sharon you Brit you!!!!!

What is the one thing you miss most about England (other than family)

What is your favourite thing from the Brit import shop?


What do I miss about England? Marks and Spencers food section.....and the seaside...and Original Lucozade!

My favourte thing from the Import store? When I got here I tend to buy a Toffee Crisp for me...cadburys fudge for Lloyd, polos for the girls...fruit pastilles for Laurie, buttons for Sam and a Lion Bar for Chris...

I sometimes buy Parma Violets too.

And I ALWAYS buy a Crosse and Blackwell Chicken Chausseur mix.

I often buy the children some Hula Hoops to take to school too......

I wish they sold original Lucozade :(

Kathy's question.....

What is your favorite book and why?


I have to be able to pick more than one ok????? ;)

So I will pick one for each genre.....or each of my moods :)

Mitch Albom's 'Tuesdays With Morrie'.......a wonderful tale of the days Mitch spent with his old tutor who was dying.....full of wonderful advice about life.......its a book that really effects you! All of Alboms books will leave a lasting effect on you. I introduced my Nephew to them all recently...he read them all within days.

'Runners Worlds complete book of Running for Women' a new favourite....and my Runners Bible as it is full of advice and tips.....

Jane Green 'Jemima J' - chick lit at its best!

Lori Lansens 'The Girls' - a breathtaking novel about two sisters joined at the head.......they are about to turn thirty and know they don't have long to live....so they take turns to right their autobiography. The writing is so amazing that you forget frequently that this is a novel! It just seems so real.

Sara Ban Breathnach - Simple Abundance.....the way I try to live!

Crosby - Gifts From my Front Porch.

I could go on and on.....I love books. I love to read.

Louise's question....

A few months a go you were developing your photography into a business taking family photos etc....I probably missed a post but are you still doing this or did you decide to go down a different route?


Yep you missed some posts (how dare you!!!!! lol)

I really didn't enjoy the photography stuff......once it was work it just wasn't fun any more...and I was pretty crap at it most of the time......it just wasn't the kind of photography I really love to take.....I did meet some lovely people though (and one I NEVER want to meet again!!!!)

I still get asked to take pictures though......I had someone email me this last week asking if I'd take her family pictures because she liked them last year.....

I like scenic pictures....taking pictures of nature...flowers......but I like taking them to blog....for fun.......I just lost interest in doing anything else......I don't have the patience for portraits and weddings etc.......I am a very unsociable person really :) Can't you tell that by my blog?????? I have very few people I choose to spend time with.......I like my own time and I like being with my family.....there are few exceptions ;)

Michelles question....

Michelle 'Craftybanshee' asked:
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? In the same house? In Canada or elsewhere?


I think with everything that has happened in the last few weeks (Lloyds work, my work etc etc) I think we will still be living in this house in 5 years time.......I don't think much will have changed.....hopefully I will have a nice bathroom by then...maybe even the new master bedroom......I can dream about the swimming pool........but I can see that happening as much as I can see a Ferrari happening lol! sigh!

I hope the children are all still healthy and happy....I hope we all are....

Maybe we will have horses by then....I don't know....

I really don't think we will have moved anywhere else by then.....but who knows.....

Lloyd has a two year contract where he is now....and his business is growing so fast now that I can't see us moving in 5 years - probably in 10....but who knows......

Lloyds looking at buying land in New Brunswick...but more for investment than to live there......

Sam will be in school then and I'm not sure what I will be doing.....I'll wait and see how teaching preschool goes I guess...maybe stick with that little job for two days a week....

I don't plan that far ahead though...I don't mind change at all...I don't mind moving here there or wherever......I kind of take it as it comes ;)

I'm guessing we will still be here in 5 years...but I really don't know......no idea :) I'm happy right now and life seems to just happen so I'll just ride along and see what happens!

Susans crazy question!!!!!

If you count every single book and magazine in your house, including the kids' books, how many do you have??



Are you serious???? You really want me to count them all???? You crazy hormonal woman you!!!!! ;)

Just in the house? Because we have boxes of magazines in the workshop and boxes of books in there too.......the basement has several boxes too and the cupboards down there have some in too.....my closet has a box of magazines...the cupboard in the bathroom is full of them.....my drawers have some in...all the childrens bedrooms have books and magazines.......so um I don't think I can count all of those....BUT I will count the books on the shelves on the main floor (but please remember Carmel (Born2Buy) has a sack full of my books too which I keep meaning to go and pick up from her....

Ok let me count.......

212 books in this room....and two binders filled with homeschooling magazines......haven't looked in the drawers though...thats the book cases...

194 in the family room/ sitting room plus a big basket filled with magazines..

There are 4 books beside my bed...Lloyd probably has some in the drawers beside his bed...I also have several magazines in the drawers by my bed.....the kids have lots of books (the ones counted above are all mine - and about 6 of Lloyds)

I don't have as many as JQ!! Sadly I gave away many of my books befroe I left the UK....something I have regretted ever since!

Diannes question:

Are you still planning on moving to North/South Carolina in the next year or two? You mentioned it after your trip to Florida this year.


You know, we have so many ideas of places we want to move...things we want to do...I don't know how many will happen....Lloyd would LOVE to move to NC...so would I really.......we think about NC and we think about Oregon......

Basically we would love to live somewhere warmer......somewhere with seasons....here its just Summer and Winter really.....and in summer we love it here so much we don't want to move...then in Winter we desperately want to move somewhere warmer.....

At the moment Lloyd is looking at property in New Brunswick.....it's still so cheap over there and he figures even if we never move over there it would be a good investment......

I think ideally we would both love to live in the US......but we need to get organized and get our citizenship here first......and at the moment Lloyds career is going so well here that it would be crazy to leave.....so he said maybe we should look at a 10 year plan.......so we are getting the house up to scratch...investing in this place so that if we end up staying we have a lovely home to live in...but if we decide to move we can make a lot of money on it.....

Who knows.....we think about going to places like Japan for a year or two but I don't think that will really happen...but we're open to change.....open to moving......I don't think we will be going anywhere for the next couple of years at least though......

I just hate how busy Alberta is now.....Edmonton and Sherwood Park....well Sherwood Park especially is just so so busy everywhere...line ups for everything...when we first came here it had such a community feel and the festivals etc were wonderful......now its just overcrowded and they aren't prepared for it.....two weeks ago we went to the farmers market and couldn't get a parking space! Its insane - there was NOWHERE to park without driving so far it didn't seem worth it.....its just not the same place it used to be.......

I love the little community we live in.....I love our life here at home....but I still have to go into the city for things every few days or so...and its just not a place I want to be....so we often look at mls in different places and look up little towns here there and everywhere and consider our options....

My favourite childhood memory...

Tanya (Mommaspaz) asked me what my favourite childhood memory was....

I can't think of just one though.....I had a great childhood....I grew up in a country village in the South West of England where everyone knew everyone else....my best friend lived across the fence from my garden (yard) and Lloyd lived across the fence next to her.....

I remember packing a picnic and putting it in my saddle bag and going off cycling for the day - I just had to be back before dark (and yes several times I remember being late and having my Dad driving around to find us!

I remember playing out in the garden on a blanket with my playpeople (playmobil!) and with my Amanda Jane doll or sarah my big 'baby' doll.....

Many many summer evenings when we would drive to the beach.....

Sitting in front of the real fire watching the 'fairies' dancing in the flames...making toast on the fire on Sunday afternoons.......making Tiffin for my Dad on Saturday afternoons while he was at a soccer match....my Mom would listen for the scores on the radio/tv to find out if Dad would be in a good mood or bad mood depending on whether his team had lost or not! The tiffin would be to cheer him up if he'd lost...or to celebrate if he'd won!

Playing 'pong' on the old black and white tv in the dinding room...pong was soooo cool back then!

Playing 'shops' when I was a preschooler with tins from the cupboards in the kitchen.....going to a keepfit class with my Mom....pancake races at preschool....

But I think if I had to pick one main memory from my childhood, it would probably revolve around the swimming pool.......the company my Dad worked for had an outdoor swimming pool for employees to use......I LOVED it......when I was so young that my parents would have to take me, my parents couldn't swim...so when they told me to get out as it was time to go home....I would swim to the middle of the pool and refuse to get out...knowing they couldn't do anything about it ;)

The filter was like an octopus thing that floated around in the pool and it was named George!

Then when I was old enough to go just with friends, a group of us would go and we would play 'Miss World'....walking around the side of the pool and commentating etc....(we normally had the whole pool to ourselves) it was so much fun! The pool wasn't heated and so afterwards we would warm up with hot chocolate from the social club beside the pool or we'd walk tot he chip shop and buy a portion of chips (fries) to share......I would beg to go to the pool almost every night in summer..and I have always always had a thing about outdoor pools....theres something special about the sounds of splashing and shouting and laughing from an outdoor pool.......one day I will have one here!

Its funny but I can still hear the sounds of those days...even the sound 'George' made......I can smell it all and see it all and hear it all so clearly.....

I have several photographs of being there with different friends! In fact Louise (who reads my blog) used to come with me sometimes and I have pictures of her and Julie in the pool still...I will have to find them and blog them! I will add some later! Louise - do you remember going to the pool there? Playing 'Miss World' going down the slide into the water etc etc.....?

Not long after I left home, they filled in the pool and no longer have it...I was so lucky to have it through my teen years!
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