The Southern Belle chillin' in Jolly Ole England

Well, boys and girls, since Phil didn't know what to write, not being an Englishman in a foreign country any longer, I thought I'd give a little of a Yanks perspective on y'all's neck of the woods! One thing I have to say, right off the bat, is that your weather lives up to every crappy thing I've heard and then some! We were told that the weather had been lovely... until the day before we arrived. Figures! We were greeted by a warm house, for which I was extremely grateful, and bedding was easily found since we were knackered from a longer trip than we expected.

(For those of you back home, 'knackered' means really tired. Don't worry, I'm just tryin' to speak the language here so the natives will understand me.)

The house looked a little sad from having tenants and the garden out back was in horrendous condition due to COMPLETE neglect for 18 months. The house looks like people live here again but the garden is still a jungle. I'm waiting for nice weather, which I've heard may be sometime in April or so... Hope Phil doesn't mind tending it in the cold. I'm sure I have something pressing indoors that needs my undivided attention, at least until the sun comes out!

Speaking of undivided attention, I have continued with my purse, uh, lady's handbag, idea with a new twist. Still using the cigar boxes, but with wine labels that I've had for years and maps of London, the Underground, better known here as the Tube, photos of familiar London sites tweaked on Picasa ( a Photoshop-type program from Google, check it out, I love it) and probably do some other European cities, as well. I've decided that since they're one-of-a-kind works of art, they must be named. The Tube bag is named" Mind the Gap" (Londoners will get this one),"Califonia Dreamin'" is naturally California wines, "Parlez-vous vin francais?" French wines, "In Vino Veritas"for the Italian wines since Italian is still the closest language to Latin, and with those names you should kinda get the idea.

We haven't been sightseeing (Did I mention the weather?) but we have had family and friends over to visit. Phil's sister Jacqui and brother-in-law, Richard accompanied Master Alfie Jake Goddard on his European debut. Alfie was born in August and was a trooper to travel all this way to meet his adoring fans. In honor of my fellow American, I slapped together some good ole cornbread dressing, injected a turkey and made a sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving dinner. I brought the Cajun injector (that would be like a big syringe) with me from the States and all I can say is thank the Lord for the internet! Did you know that you can make a halfway decent cornbread with DRIED POLENTA? There was even a recipe for injector liquid! Who knew it was only butter, lemon juice and chicken stock? Anyway, it was a great feast with loved ones so it was a nice way to begin the time here.

We also threw a party for the neighbors here on Foxwood Road. Between the food that I made, the back-up food that Phil bought in case we didn't have enough, 14 bottles of wine, several cans of beer, and the 16 or 17 people that we had in and out, Phil has decided that he likes having parties...so I'm going to show the Brits what we eat on New Years Day to start things off in the right direction, as well as help us revive from the previous night's festivities.

We share an evening with fanily tomorrow, then head for Lewes (that's pronouced Lewis) to visit a couple that Phil's known since his days at Cambridge, home Friday to go down to the pub with some of the neighbors, then Saturday morning, bright and early, we're headed to Leeds about 200 miles north of here. It's a couple of hours on the train, I think and it's supposed to be very pretty.

Do me a favor, would ya? Pray for a little sunshine over here? I'd greatly appriciate it and so would my dormant camera!