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Archive for September, 2012

Southport Air show

Posted in Liverpool, tagged , , , , , , on September 11, 2012| 4 Comments »

I know I owe a post on the house.  And of the adventure retrieving the car.  I just can’t 1) Jinx the house by posting about it or 2) Actually relive the experience of getting the car.  I want to wait on the restaurant review of Kasbah, for a time I can return and get good pictures.  I’ve never done a restaurant review for the blog before – I’m not sure how to go about it.  Should I inform the owner or get permission? I’m just unsure of the protocol, being a complete novice.

So this post will be about our trip to Southport to see Rachael and Ross (yes, they are, and yes, we’ve heard the jokes already).  Rachael writes the lovely blog Tales from the Village and is one of my favorite people in the whole world.  And I think she rather likes this guy she’s with.  See?

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DH (this morning it was the worst of the interpretations of the acronym) managed to leave our lovely bottles of alcoholic housewarming presents on the counter *and* to put us an hour or more behind schedule (I hate, hate, hate being late). I subsequently almost got us hit by a bus by trying to turn into oncoming traffic – it was my first time driving the car  – but we managed to make the trip relatively unscathed. They have a lovely old Victorian home just block from the seaside.

Rachael and Ross served us a delicious lunch of burritos (I had two!) and ooh, a fresh avocado or two were in the mix somewhere.  It was scrumptious, and one of the things I already miss. I *will* get a dwarf avocado tree.  Someday.

It also happened to be the day of the Southport Air Show, which I hadn’t known in advance but which turned out to be a nice way to spend the day.  We walked down to the shore and took pictures of the planes, Ross actually squeed when he saw the Lancaster. That would be this one:

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We saw the Lancaster, its escorts (a Spitfire and a Hawker, I think), and a few biplanes.

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I was IN LOVE with this wing-walker, and got a lot of amazing shots.
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DS1 was impressed (ok, bored) by the show, but he absolutely loved Ross’s aviator helmet getup.
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All of the lovely children played well together, and there were only a few injuries of note. We count this as a win.  Our three boys, their three boys, and one pre-teen daughter made things VERY interesting, to say the least. Not bad in a house full of wired children!

Rachael and I snuck off to the quiet little attic room and had a long chat without children, save for the ones who occasionally snuck up to check on where their moms were.  That’s a safety check, don’t you know?

I can’t wait to go see them again. ❤

***Edited for gross spelling errors and typos.  Also, not editing for the ingrained habit of double spacing after a period.  It would take me all day long.

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Irish Sea Tall Ships Regatta

Posted in Liverpool, tagged , , , , on September 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

One morning, while Jay was working and the boys and I were doing our best to stay out of tiny little apartment home, we walked down to Albert Dock, where they are doing a demonstration of the tall ships.  We’ve been to the tall ships festivals in Boston, in Virginia, and in California.  This is a smaller and much more modest festival, but still lovely.

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Our favorite ship at Tall Ships was the Kathleen & May.  It is an old three masted schooner, which is parked at Albert dock year round.  We were allowed to go on board and take pictures.  Turns out, the caretakers, Cindy and Jeff, were some of the most lovely people I’ve ever met.  Took the boys and I under their wings, brought out biscuits for the boys, and sat and chatted with me because Cindy spent a year or two in California.  She sat with me and reminisced. As soon as I have a kitchen again, I will bake her muffins and go deliver them, and invite her to the house for tea.

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The regatta was small, but a worthwhile walkaround.  The boys had fun, and there were plenty of hot donut and ice cream carts to distract them (and that they pestered me about).

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Mathew Street, latte, and heathens.

Posted in Liverpool, tagged , , , , on September 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Many adventures this week, which I meant to blog about as they occurred and of course failed to do. I will have a series of posts this week.  I am trying to space them out so as not to bore you.  Upcoming posts will include: Tall Ships Regatta, A restaurant review (Kasbah), a summary of the housing situation and the story of Getting The Car.

One day, the boys and I went to explore some parts of the city that we hadn’t yet done.  Beatles fest was last week, which we avoided due to the (drunken) crowds.  The boys and I decided to cruise down Mathew Street and see some of the venues in which the Beatles played.  See?

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The boys were rather unimpressed with Mathew Street.  It wasn’t too exciting, to tell the truth.  I’ve been to Mathew Street in the evening, with friends, and it was much more fun. 😉

After strolling there for a while, we found a Caffe Nero, which had been recommended to me by several people.  Now, we live upstairs from a Starbucks, and just a quarter of a block from a Caffe Nero.  I have gone to Starbucks most mornings, probably because it is easiest and closest, and also because I know it.  That will not be happening again.  Seriously delicious Latte.  See?

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It beat my previous favorite Latte, at Coffee Beans and Tea Leaf, hands down.  The yumminess was sublime.  Skinny Hazelnut, extra froth is my favorite, by the way.  In case anyone wants to bring me one, ever.

This is the look of children, who two seconds after the photo is shot will upend the table, break a cup, do other things that I will not mention here in case their future girlfriends read it, and then spend the afternoons in their beds as a result:

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You don’t want to be a child of mine who misbehaves in public.

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