Ticket to ride

Except you don't even need a ticket to ride this kind of bus, you just have to register. The Girl and Boy proudly took their places aboard the school bus at 8 o'clock this morning (the Girl so determined not to miss it that she'd got up at half past six in readiness). It felt such a quintessentially American experience, waving them off.

And that's the last I saw of them until the bus dropped them back on the front lawn at 4.30pm. Everything seemed to have gone without a hitch, and they waved a cheery 'See ya tomorrow!' to the friendly bus driver.

Dropping the Man off at work we ran into another of the English WAGs out here and she and I and her small incredibly well-behaved baby went out for a coffee. She's been in Albany for a few months, so it was useful to get her perspective on things.

Later I called in on Ten Thousand Villages, a fair-trade craft shop, to buy a packet of coffee. Fair-trade goods don't seem to have the same high profile here as they do back in England, and I chatted for a while about this with the young woman behind the counter.

We then moved on to more general topics, such as the weather. It was pouring with rain, and she warned that there'll be lots more rain in the next couple of months. With admirable positivity, she was not down-hearted by this prospect but looked forward to cosy times indoors making bread and soup for friends. If the weather in England is still as bad as when we left I imagine you're all a bit fed up of soup by now.

It's not too late to enter yesterday's quiz - but hurry! I've a feeling someone's about to sniff out the answer.