Souped up

We've just been making spinach soup from the Moosewood Cookbook, which is pretty much the bible of American vegetarian cookery. The soup was good, but required way too many pans. It was a bit like a Gary Rhodes recipe in that respect - did you ever watch his TV show? We once saw an episode in which he made baked beans, from scratch. It took three days and he used every single utensil in his kitchen. We had a good laugh watching that while we waited for our Sainsbury's ready-meal to cook, I can tell you.

Earlier today we took the Boy (the Girl was elsewhere on a playdate) to the Albany Institute of Art & History. 'This is the boringest place I've ever been to!' he declared, although he later conceded that the Egyptian mummies, kids' art activity and train items in the gift shop weren't so bad. The galleries actually contain many interesting exhibits, but overall the feel of the place is rather formal and stuffy so we could understand the Boy's initial reaction.

We've had snow today, the lightest of light coverings - but just enough for the Girl to have a snowball fight with her friend.Whahoo!

Gift oh dears

Our mailbox gets filled with unsolicited catalogues each day, now the countdown to Christmas has begun. So many tempting gift possibilities to choose from: a rechargeable electric wine opener (removes up to 80 corks with one full charge); a marshmallow-firing machine gun; a motion-activated liquid soap dispenser; the 'Mangroomer' do-it-yourself electric back hair shaver; a 40" 3D illuminated angel for the front yard - with animated wing motion.

I wonder if sales in these and many (many, many) other must-have items will suffer in these tougher economic times? You've gotta hope so, really, haven't you.

Little angels

We were at home again today, letting yesterday's enormous dinner settle. The kids overdosed on computer-time (Club Penguin and Build-a-Bear) all morning. In the afternoon the entire Exile family came over for Anglo-American refreshments - chocolate brownies washed down with Tetley tea.

The Man adds... Several neighbours have used the spare time afforded by the Thanksgiving holiday to install "snow poles" - 6 foot tall fluorescent sticks, intended to indicate their property boundaries even after the plows have created huge banks of snow alongside the road. A chilling reminder of what's to come.

Meanwhile, in the mail today we received school reports about two pupils, oddly enough with the same names as our kids, who sound positively angelic. It would be nice to meet them some time.

Stuffed!

'What do vegetarians eat at Thanksgiving?' everyone asks:

For the adults: Butternut squash filled with a nut, cheese, sage, bread and onion stuffing served with a side order of beetroot and carrot sauteed in butter, garlic and orange juice, plus asparagus bundles tied with leek.

For the Girl: baked beans and (NOT on) toast.

For the Boy: Shredded Wheat, without milk.

Oh, and ok, the kids also had some nuts and fruit and stuff.

In the afternoon we went on a 'candy trail' down at Five Rivers, a Thanksgiving tradition (as of today) which involved a 'candy fairy' keeping one step ahead of the rest of the party as we rounded the lake. The Girl quickly sussed what was going on, she's never been one for suspending her disbelief - if there are strings she'll always delight in pointing them out.

Now be thankful

With the Girl still sounding like she's been downing handfuls of gravel, we opted to spend the day at home. The kids have been playing, computering, drawing, reading, stitching, karate kicking, 'street performing' and, as I write, organising a fete (like mother, like children). I've been joining in with some of the above, plus doing some last-chance-before-it-snows yard work and planning a special Thanksgiving menu for tomorrow (just for the Man and me, as naturally the children won't want to deviate from their usual ultra-restricted diets).

Given the holiday that's upon us (over here, at least) maybe this is an opportunity to reflect on what we're thankful for. Not counting the goes-without-saying big items (family, friends, health, end of the Bush administration etc etc), what makes you grateful?

As for me? Well, your Comments, obviously...

That Friday feeling

I was up before dawn in order to take the car in for a major service. I wanted to be there first thing to be sure of getting the car back in time for events in the afternoon. The service place is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so I sat out the three hours in the waiting room, which was no hardship really - coffee on tap, I'd brought a book to read and I've learnt by now to block out the common public-space sound of two TVs playing simultaneously but tuned to different channels.

The car was good to go in plenty of time, so I was about to head home to pick up our neighbour. We'd invited her to be the kids' special guest at the annual "Grandfriends' Day" at school, actual grandparents being inconveniently far away. But then I got a call from school - the Girl was feeling poorly, would I come and collect her?

She's really just got a bad cold, but with a throat so hoarse that singing for Grandfriends wouldn't have been much fun. We went home, the neighbour popped round for a cup of tea instead, and meanwhile the Boy got to write a story with the headteacher who was his stand-in Grandfriend for the afternoon.

The kids are now off school for a while for the Thanksgiving holiday, so it feels oddly like we've just fast-forwarded to Friday.

The long and the short of it

I was on school chauffeuring duty again this morning, accompanying the Girl's class to a stage production of Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, by Judy Blume. There was a short Q&A session after the performance, during which one of the actors revealed she comes originally from Cambridge, England. I nearly called out 'Oo! I come from there too!', but managed to resist.

I took my carload of kids back to school then drove over to do another veg chopping session. Lots of lettuce this week, much of it expensive organic stuff. Asparagus, too. And pre-prepared fruit salad items. Does this indicate that the recession is beginning to bite and people are foregoing the luxury end of the fresh food market?

Somehow the conversation round the chopping table turned to swimwear. American men are surprisingly prudish when it comes to trunks. The Speedo style is definitely out, and down-to-the-knees baggy shorts are the accepted norm, even for tiny boys. It amazes me that little boys here manage to learn to swim at all, actually. Dragging all that extra cloth around must be like swimming in a pleated skirt.

Here's a photo the Man took yesterday at Five Rivers - we may not have real snow just yet, but the ice looks nice.

Cannon and Mall

The Man writes..."enough of the 'cute kids' videos!" I hear you cry. What happened to the traditional "Little Englander" whingeing? Well, I aim to please...

Things have got(ten) real dear here lately. I used to think $3.49 was a lot for an unexceptional small white loaf when I mentally divided all the prices by 2. Now with the decline of the pound I have to divide by 1.5, so I reject bread as far too expensive. Petrol is cheap again though, and sitting in the car in the evening with the engine running is becoming an attractive alternative to heating the home.

Money is expensive as well! Even at one of the city's giant indoor Malls you are charged $2 for using an ATM. Supermarkets charge less for "cashback", but limit the withdrawal to only $50.

Somewhat surprised this morning to find next door's front garden covered in snow! Unless there was some really freaky weather overnight, I have to conclude that the rumbling sounds we heard yesterday evening was a snow cannon. Which is novel. It does look very pretty - maybe I'll ask to borrow it as it's rather disappointing that we've had less snow than England so far this season.

In from the cold

Lots of people have told us it's going to be a severe and snowy winter this year - though I'm not quite sure how they know. But at any rate, it has really been getting cold in the last few days - today we were into the low 20Fs, and with wind chill it felt even colder.

So a friend's birthday party at a cinema seemed like a pretty good idea, one way and another. I accompanied the kids and we saw Madagascar 2 - not destined to become a timeless classic, I suspect, but good fun for a Saturday afternoon movie.

The cinema is in one of the malls, and the shopping area and car parks were heaving. I can't imagine what the place must be like on a pre-'holidays' weekend when we're not all supposed to be in the grip of a global recession. Though maybe everyone else was just there to keep warm, too.

Try, try, trying again

No school today, but still we all found ourselves there this morning for 'Family Conferences' - a sort of verbal report session with class teachers. We heard positive things about both children, so that was reassuring.

I then spent much of the rest of the day having to listen to 'hilarious' jokes about bodily functions. Sigh. Paragons in the classrooom they may be...

The Girl discovered tonight what happens if you accidentally drop a tissue into your bath then lie back with your hair in the water. Not pretty, I can tell you.

Now please indulge us while we post a "look at our cute kids!" video.

Gee quiz

Given that my life recently has been so uneventful I've had to start making stuff up (see yesterday's moose), I was pleased today to be invited up to Saratoga Springs for lunch with my British (except that she's also American) friend there. She served a delicious aubergine (eggplant) soup, followed by an equally delicious slice of chocolate brownie disguised as cake. Then we did some crafty cutting and sticking, making cards, which was fun.

While in the area I took the opportunity to pop into Saratoga's excellently named and well-stocked toy shop G. Willikers.

Does anyone know the origins of the phrase Gee Willikers?

Natural selection

I've just got back from the annual Friends of Five Rivers gathering, held at the nature centre. There was a nominally formal meeting, followed by a talk from a local naturalist on Flora and Fauna of the Northeast. If I can manage to remember even a fraction of what he told us I'll consider myself quite well-informed. There were 200 slides for a start (out of the bloke's collection of 10,000 - we got off lightly), accompanied by a light-hearted commentary and running name-that-wildlife competition.

Five Rivers has just been awarded a certificate by an Albany alternative newsheet - "Metroland Best Park (Nature), 2008". This is rather more respectable than the award in 1997 - "Metroland Best Venue for Outdoor Fun" (actually a different three letter word at the end there, but I don't want this blog to get hit by random browsers in search of such diversions). Anyway, oo er, missus. Strangely that certificate never made it onto the wall...

Myself, I wouldn't risk doing that sort of thing outdoors round here. Just look what I ran into on my way back to the car tonight!

Many happy re-runs

I learnt today that it is the 25th anniversary of my favourite film, Local Hero, which critic Mark Kermode rightly describes here as being 'genuinely timeless'. I've seen it many times. If you haven't yet you really should.

Would anyone else like to make a movie recommendation?

Man alive

Well, I don't know. I'd expected more of a response than that to yesterday's video.

Here's a photo of us with Ri-chan in happier times, before the Man concussed himself and was unable to remember which country he was in or the names of his children.

(Nahh. He was fine. But he did have a headache for the rest of the day.)

This morning I took our guest out for a bit of Great Outdoors (Five Rivers) and a bit of History and Culture (NY State Museum). Then we met up with the Man for lunch before all going our separate ways. As ever, we've enjoyed having a visitor.

The temperature has dropped over the last couple of days, and we even had a few brief snow flurries at lunchtime. I've started looking at skiing brochures.

He's been framed

It's a knockout at the playpark! This clip was sent in by Ri-chan of Bristol. Ouch! What a plank!

Party 'til you drop

As often seems to happen at the weekend, we've been at the mercy of our kids' social diaries today. The Girl needed collecting from a sleepover in time to shovel down some lunch before we all headed off to drop the Boy and me at a swimming party. The Man then had a little time to spend with his daughter before he dropped her with other friends who would taxi her to a home-spa party some miles away, while he returned to pick us up from the pool. Phew! Good parties, both, though.

This evening, for a change, we have some grown-up company! Coming all the way from England no less, just to see us! (and to attend a conference in Albany, to be truthful). The Man told him to bring his thickest winter jackets, but it is 69F out this evening - disturbingly warm, really, for mid-November.

Cough up

So today I finally gave in and went to see a doctor. I haven't seen one here before on my own account, so of course I had to go through the whole 'Who's your insurance provider?' routine, with four pages of forms to fill out mostly making sure I'd pay up. As a child of the NHS I find that so off-putting, it almost feels as if they're frisking you for your wallet before they'll deign to ask what's wrong with you.

Anyway. Apparently I have strep throat, which my research tells me is not identical to tonsillitis (though the same research doesn't tell me how it's different). I'm now on antibiotics and should be feeling fine again very soon. Hooray.

This seems like a good opportunity to invite 'Doctor, doctor' jokes, should you wish to share them.

Fielding a suggestion

Another day feeling sorry for myself whenever I've tried to swallow. Ho hum.

I re-read Helen Fielding's Cause Celeb today. It's our next book group read - my suggestion. It was written before Bridget Jones' Diary and is thematically a bit more substantial, being about famine and celebrity fundraising, yet still pretty funny - somehow Fielding pulls that off, and I admire her for it (she fails completely to pull off terrorism-comedy in her Olivia Joules book, that one's awful). I don't know what American readers in the book group (ie everyone else) will make of it - it's riddled with British references which will be completely lost on them. We shall see...

Realty check

I spent most of today in bed with a throat infection. Darn it!

The Man snapped this recently somewhere in Massachussets. So there you go.

A walk in the woods

The Man writes...here is a view of Mount Greylock. I was part of an Anglo-American team that conquered this mighty 3491 foot peak on Sunday.

Note there are lots of trees.


Here is a typical view on the 2 hour ascent. Trees of course. At the risk of showing my ignorance, why is it that a 3000 foot peak here is covered in trees, right up to the very summit (where in this case the trees have been conveniently felled to make a large car park) whereas a similar peak in the UK would be almost completely bare? Is it because all the trees in Britain have been cleared? Is it the latitude? Soil? Wind?

The 2000 mile long Appalachian Trail passes over the summit, and the views are supposed to encompass five states. However, on this Veterans Day, or Remembrance Day in the UK, it is appropriate to highlight the summit's most prominent feature: the 90 foot Veterans War Memorial Tower.

Dumpster dining

Today I helped chop fruit and veg for 'Food Not Bombs', a loose affiliation of peaceful types who set out to feed people (rather than bombing them, I guess). I've been introduced to the Albany wing by Exile #2. The produce in question came from a supermarket, and it was all stuff that would otherwise have been thrown out. We chopped enough apples, bananas, lettuce, pepper, squash etc to feed at least thirty people. Some of it was a bit bruised, but otherwise perfectly good.

It certainly gave me pause. A single day's 'waste' from one supermarket turned into so many healthy meals.

I also thought it could make a great consciousness-raising cooking reality show - every week present different celebrity chefs with a large quantity of very ripe veggies and challenge them to prepare a gourmet dinner for homeless people. Anyone out there friends with Jamie Oliver?

Another thing that happened today - I was the victim of a drive-by salvationist. Well, a walk-by one, anyway. A plain-clothes minister somehow got me in conversation outside Target, and before I knew what was happening he had me politely reciting a Bible text. 'There you go!' he said, looking very pleased with himself, 'Now you're saved!'

I'm sure there are some of you reading this who can confirm my hunch that there should be a bit more to it than that. I got on with buying sewing machine needles in JoAnne's, feeling none the holier.

Location, location, location

Recently I've been doing a counted cross-stitch embroidery. This is more occupational therapy than creative expression - it's really just stitching-by-numbers - but at least it's the sort of undemanding thing you can get on with while playing Monopoly with the Boy. Which is what I was doing this morning.

It's been another one of those days when blogs intersect. The Man set off first thing with the Exile and other work-related friends to hike up Mount Greylock, the highest mountain in Massachusetts. Here's the view from the top.

That just left me and the Boy, since the Girl was away at her sleepover.

Our Monopoly set is actually 'Albany in a Box', which becomes more fun as I grow more familiar with the area. The Boy and I competed fiercely for my favourite landmark, Nipper (even though it's the equivalent of Whitechapel on the London board), but when the Boy decided to buy the much more prestigious Historic Cherry Hill (the equivalent of Piccadilly, amazingly) I told him he was welcome to it.

We eventually collected the Girl, and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with the Exile's abandoned family. A good time was had by all.

Playdates and Ping-pong

A busy day of playdates for both children, then this evening we took the Girl over to a friend's for a sleepover and were invited to stay for a party. The hosts and all the other guests were Indian, and we were lucky enough to share in a vast sub-continental vegetarian feast. The Man was then soundly beaten at table-tennis by someone significantly older than himself, who could also do headstands.

The Boy was reluctant to be taken home, but once here crawled eagerly into bed. I think I'll soon do the same.

The topic of conversation

I drove the kids into school and went to assembly, where we learnt some fun facts about bubblegum. Then, in our hippy way, we sang 'We Shall Overcome' in honour of the election result.

Had coffee (which rolled into lunch) with Exile #2 and we talked about all sorts of things including Jane Austen, vegetable gardening and the election. Later on I went and picked up the kids and took them for a playdate with the friends with the crazy dog. Dog still crazy. It tried to eat our shoes. Talked about the election.

And tonight I've been at my book group meeting discussing 'The Double Bind' by Chris Bohjalian (a cheery tale of homelessness and mental illness), and detouring off onto the achievements of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. And also the election.

I must have drunk a bit too much wine as when I came home I nearly went to the wrong house.

Bone of contention

Barack Obama is getting straight down to work, even though there's another couple of months to go before he is sworn in. Today he has started appointing officers, and of course there are a few pressing issues to be thinking about: how to shore up the failing economy, how to deal with America's ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, what to do about healthcare... And the biggest question of all, judging by the media interest here today: what sort of puppy to get for the kids. If you can be bothered, this is quite representative of the discussion.

An issue that rather slipped under the radar during all the post-election excitement was that of the votes against gay marriage in three states, most notably in California where same-sex marriage has been legal since May. I feel very sad that just as America is taking a giant step away from age-old prejudices by electing an African-American President, it is taking two steps in the other direction when it comes to recognising the rights of gay people.

Why on earth does anyone think that two gay people getting married is going to damage 'family values' or the institution of marriage? If it brings any couple happiness to get married and make that public commitment to one another because they love each other, then doesn't that simply add to the greater happiness of the world? How is that a bad thing?

The times they are a-changing

Many words have been written and spoken today about what last night's election result means for America and for the rest of the world, so I won't add too many of my own - except to say I hope Obama turns out to be a great President. Even just a fairly good one would be a nice change.

Meanwhile life goes on. It has been strangely warm all day. I took a walk at Five Rivers, and went and got my hair cut. I'd have talked elections with the hairdresser only it's a very cheap place I go to and conversation isn't part of the service. The Boy tells me my hair looks 'terrible', but he always says that.

Our clocks went back at the weekend (a week later than the UK). I haven't got round to changing most of ours though - intentionally, as it has made it easier to get the kids (well, the Boy at least) to bed at a decent time. But since everyone else is on Daylight Saving Time I guess I'll have to give in soon and admit the truth.

They think it's all over...

...it is now. America has elected Obama. Thank goodness - it has been an anxious day.

Not having a vote here has been very frustrating. But at least I managed to get into a polling station, and the kids got right into a polling booth - a friendly, civic-minded neighbour took them in with her and her own children (five pairs of legs visible beneath the curtain) to show them the voting machine and 'democracy in action'.

It has been a long, long journey to this moment. I'll leave it to the pundits to over-use the word 'historic' - though for once they are right.

The Final Countdown

The Man writes...a few days after we arrived in America I watched a televised debate between the Democratic presidential candidates. (In fact, the first such debate was in April 2007). Tomorrow the process finally ends. What shall we think and talk about instead?

It's been fascinating if occasionally rather baffling to the outsider. Back in February, Mitt Romney warned: "If the United States does not change course we could become the France of the 21st century." What did he mean? In his final debate McCain commented: "If you like that [Obama's health care plan], you'll love Canada and England."

At the start John McCain was seemingly better liked by independents and Democrats than by many in his own party, but he has put all his efforts into trying to please the core Republican vote. It could still turn out to be the right policy. According to the "RealClearPolitics" website, a quarter of the electoral college votes are still in the "Toss-Up" category.

The presidential election has essentially passed New York by - Obama is ahead here by an average of 30% so campaigning is pointless - but some Democrats I know are literally sleepless with tension.

American Girl

There was a party at the local town hall today to celebrate the birthday of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America. The Girl attended with the rest of her little Brownie troop for games, songs, cake and bingo. And ceremonies. Honouring the flag. Pledging allegiance. Singing about the land of the free and the home of the brave.

This is all quite startling when you're not used to it - and we are not used to it at all because of the kids going to a progressive school where, as you know by now, assembly tends to be a light-hearted affair consisting of a chorus of Puff the Magic Dragon followed by some fun facts about giraffes. There's not a stars and stripes to be seen.


The Boy has come up with a little picture quiz for you to start the week. Name that plant...

Fairy Who?

Fairy Hugh! - star of the now annual Hallowe'en Panto at our formerly-British friend's house. The Americans still didn't really get it (oh no they didn't!) but give them a few more years and they'll surely come round to this unique cross-dressing cultural treasure-trove.

Or perhaps not.

For some reason this year's mini-panto had a bit of an election theme (spot 'Josie Sixpack', the Sarah Palin lookalike, lurking in the background of the photo). Hmm. Speaking of elections, I have to retract my fulsome praise for Arnie from a couple of days back - he's been on the stump supporting 'drill-baby-drill' McCain again. People are so contradictory and confusing sometimes.