Another Year Wiser

I had a wonderful birthday last week!  It began when I got home from work Thursday night (after midnight) and found a beautiful vase of flowers on my mantle - a very nice surprise after a long 4pm - Midnight shift at work. 

On Friday, I took "the girls" for a walk in the park and then V and I went into Manchester for the evening.  First up was a stop at the cycle shop for some proper cycling shorts.  I've never owned or used cycling shorts and am anxious to try them out.  Perhaps some nice weather will coincide with a day off work soon.  This was followed by drinks and then a visit to an authentic Chinese Szechuan restaurant in Chinatown.  We walked in and saw we were the only non-Asians in the place, which we took as a good sign.  The menu had such things on it as duck's tongue, pork lung, pig's tripe, pig's ear, thousand year eggs, cow stomach, pig stomach - well, you get the picture.  I'm certain they were all very tasty dishes, but we played it safe with dumplings, ribs, pork, chicken, and noodles.  I also had some delicious hot and sour soup (which likely had an element of risk with it). 

All in all, a great birthday!

Drinks in the pub















Dinner in Chinatown

Chinatown

Eyam - The Plague Village

The weather in the Peak District has been lovely!  I had the day off work on Sunday and took advantage of it.  V and I went to the village of Eyam to have a walk around and visit some of the historical sites.  From Wikipedia, "The village is best known for being the "plague village" that chose to isolate itself when the plague was discovered there in August 1665, rather than let the infection spread."  The history here is fascinating, and I encourage you to read about it on Wikipedia.  One thing we noticed was that it seemed more women than men survived the plague.  Doesn't surprise me at all! 

A Rainy Day at the Sea

We took a drive over to the Irish Sea today to let the dogs have a run on the beach.  Unfortunately, the beautiful weather we had on Saturday didn't last and we were hit with wind and rain.  Nevertheless, the girls had fun.

Stop one was at Fleetwood Beach - dog friendly from 1 Sep - 31 May.

Mari started off strong...

...but soon gave up and sat down in protest.  She does quite well for being 16 years old!

Lovely Lulu, still battling health issues.  She really enjoyed the day though. 

Unlike any other dog I've known, Lulu does not like to get dirty or wet.  She carefully picks her path to avoid mud and water.  So, it was quite surprising when she jumped into the sea after a bird.  She didn't realise she was jumping into the water - and she quickly jumped back out!

After leaving Fleetwood, we detoured through Blackpool.  Blackpool is one of those places you can say you've seen, but have no desire to ever return.  Think Gatlinburg meets Las Vegas meets the wrong side of the street in Atlantic City.

In other news - I'm actively car shopping.  Hope to have something soon.

Pre-Brekkie Walk

Nothing like a morning walk in the woods before breakfast.  And nothing like seeing Lulu, who has been doing poorly, have a spring in her step. 

We took a walk in Gnat Hole Woods, just a mile from my house.  It was a bit of a gray morning, but the bitter chill that has hung around for so long seems to be disappearing.  The little lambs are out and daffodils are blooming - perhaps Spring has finally arrived!

In other news, my car is ready to pick up today.  Turns out a bolt came off of the water pump and punched a hole in the oil pump or something.  It also damaged the timing belt and some other gear or crankshaft.  I'm not much of a mechanic - I just know that a number of parts needed replaced and that I was lucky the bolt didn't do more damage.  The other good news was that I had just recently had the water pump replaced at another garage in town, so it was under guarantee.  The other garage went and picked up my car, took it to their shop and fixed it.  They also paid the bill incurred at the first garage.  Something tells me it's time for a new car.  I've had this one for 6 years now and it's closing in on 90,000 miles.  And now that I'm living in the hills, I need something that does better in the snow.

On to the pictures..

Lulu has been feeling poorly.  At one point, we didn't think she'd make it through the night, but she has managed to bounce back just a bit and seems to be enjoying some short walks again.  She still has a big lump (tumor?) in her throat but every test comes back negative. It was so nice to see her with a bit of a spring in her step this morning. 

Mari is 16 years old and lives in her own world.  She managed to go her own way this morning, sending me up a hill and into a field to find her and guide her back down to the path.  Of course, we also have to help her find the back garden - she's just that special! 

Once Mari and I worked our way back down the hill, we saw the rest of the mob heading back down the path.

Annabel got to enjoy some time off lead today - this doesn't happen too often as she can be a bit unpredictable, especially if a Border Collie is in the area.

Oil Shortage

Happy Anniversary to me!  Six years ago today I arrived in the UK and I can honestly say, the place feels like home.  In fact, just a couple of days ago I realised there have been changes I was unaware of.  It all started with a random series of events that saved the engine in my car from seizing. 

A last minute decision to stop at Tesco's one night, a visit with a friend, a dog walk...  All of this led to the discovery of a noticeable oil spill where I had parked my car.  It was more than a few drops and cause for concern.  This resulted in a car swap with V late that night.  I used her car to get to work Saturday morning and she took my car to a garage that was willing to put it up on the racks (with no appointment) and take a look at it.  Turns out, had my car been driven another 2 miles or so, the engine would have seized.  With the car running, oil was coming out as quickly as they could pour it in.  Three mechanics came out to tell V it was the worst oil leak they've ever seen and that the car was not to be driven.  Her and her dear old mum had to call a taxi to get home. 

A week later, my car is still at the garage and is due to be looked at on Monday.  In the meantime, I'm in a hire car.  I wanted a small to mid-sized car, but they only had one car available, a Chevrolet Epica. The Epica is essentially the same thing as a Chevy Malibu.  In the US, a Malibu is considered a mid-size car; here it's classed as a large car.  This is where I realised I've changed.  A few years ago, driving a mid-sized American car would have felt normal.  Now it feels very uncomfortable; it's like driving a boat!  I'm hoping the garage can fix my car quickly so that I can dock the Epica in the harbour soon.

So, what else have I been doing over the past 3 months?

A bit of a walking in February.  The pictures are a bit deceiving.  One might think it was a beautiful walk on a beautiful day.  That's only half true.  It was a beautiful day, but the walk itself wasn't so enjoyable.  There was so much mud that walking was not only a chore, it was quite treacherous - resulting in several falls and a bit of cursing.

I had a great time at the Crufts Dog Show in March. Really liked watching the flyball.  Click the link to see a video of the session we attended.

And a bit of snow put the country at a standstill for a few days.  In fact, it's been 2 weeks since we had snow and it's not all melted yet!  These pictures were taken on my way to and from work one day.  It takes me an hour to get to work - but just look at the scenery!

Payday!

Oh what a feeling!  For the first time in 18 months, it was payday.  Needless to say, the difference in pay between the public sector and banking is quite noticeable.  So is the sense of purpose, and that's what's important to me.  Rather than walking around the office and seeing the stock price, delinquency rates, and sales figures, I see signs that say, "Saving lives, caring for you".  Instead of attending a seminar on the latest in payment protection insurance, I attended a learning session on CPR and how to use an AED (automated external defibrillator).  I feel like I'm doing something that matters, and you can't find that in a payslip.

The weather has been a bit odd lately.  Friday we had a snowstorm, yesterday we had a thunderstorm.  Depending on where you lived, Friday's snowstorm may have dumped 8 - 12 inches of snow, or you may have ended up with rain or freezing rain.  I left work just as the snow was starting to hit.  The motorways were busy and I wanted to get home quickly, so I took a new route that led me over a mountain pass.  It turns out the road I was on is a road that is notorious for bad weather and is closed more than any other road in the area.  I now know why.  It was snowing, blowing, drifting, and had some very steep uphill climbs (which my car does not like to do when there is snow on the road). It was a white-knuckle, harrowing experience that left me stressed, frightened, and drained.  Never again!

I spent the weekend shoveling snow, cleaning, doing laundry and running errands.  I also managed to squeeze in some back-garden bird watching.  I don't get to do this during the week, as it's dark when I leave for work, and it's dark when I get home.

A couple of photos from last weekend.  The robins in the UK are so much prettier than those in the US

Some photos from today.  I've got some new visitors - long-tailed tits.  There were quite a few of them flitting around today.  As a good friend said, "they must've tweeted each other that there was food" available.  I have to admit to the "tweet" reference going right past me until she asked if I "got it".

Long-tailed tit

Blue tit and coal tit (or great tit - I'm not quite sure, but think it's a coal tit)

Readjusting

My poor little blog has been neglected the past couple of weeks as I readjust to the working life.  I'm two weeks in on the new job and things are moving along quickly.  As a bit of background, I'm working for an ambulance service.  England is rolling out a new national number for people to call when they need help and it is less urgent than dialling 999 (for those in the US, that's the equivalent of 911).  I've joined the NHS as we're ramping up for our go-live date in March.  Needless to say, it's very busy; a bit like being thrown into the lake and learning to swim.  For me, that's good.  It makes for a quick learning curve and keeps me challenged.

I really miss dogsitting and taking my daily walks with "the girls".  I had a wander round the park with them last weekend, and today I took a short walk to the market (just me, no girls today).  Other than that, I've been working and using my free time to do things like laundry and cleaning. 

I also miss watching the birds in my back garden.  I received a fabulous bird feeder for Christmas and it's been a hit with the wildlife!  I had my first bird within 10 minutes of filling the feeders with seed. So far, it's been mostly robins, great tits, blue tits, and the occasional pigeon and crow.  I'm hoping to attract some finches as well.  We've just had a good snowfall the last couple of days which has definitely increased the bird traffic!

I've been taking a few pictures through the kitchen window, and was lucky to get this robin mid-flight

A couple of great tits feeding (yes, I hear you snickering - there's just no other way to say it)

Here are a few random pictures from my most recent walks.  Excuse the quality, they were taken with the camera on my phone (with dogs in tow and gloves on). 

Manor Park - How often do you see a bow in a tree?

Took a wrong turn on the way home and found this

No matter how many times I see these 3-wheeled cars, I can't help but smile.

It's Time To Go To Work!

My gap year, which actually lasted a year and a half, is officially over.  Before I go to bed (early) this evening, I'll be packing a lunch for tomorrow and setting the alarm clock for 6.00am.  It's time to go to work! 

A Few Holiday Snaps

Here are a few photos of the holiday season. I tried to post these a week ago from Ohio, but working without my laptop was proving to be a challenge.  For one reason or another, the pictures wouldn't post.

Castleton - one of my favourite places in the UK.  The High St was beautifully decorated for the holidays.  We had such a lovely evening walking around looking at the lights and window displays,  and stopping in the shops.  

This is a house in Wooster, Ohio.  Three levels, three trees.  It was gorgeous!  The picture is a bit dark, as I had no tripod.

And finally, this may be the biggest Santa in Orrville, or in the whole of Wayne County!  From around the corner, you can see the top of his hat poking up above the house.  That's my nephew Ben standing next to him.  He was trying to figure out how to sit on Santa's lap.

Let it Snow!

Look what I woke up to today!  We had a bit of snow last night and the hilltops were glistening this morning.  Of course, the passes over the hills were closed due to weather - a sign of things to come.  It's not a very welcome sign either, as I will be travelling the Woodhead Pass every day to get to work.  If it closes, the journey to work will increase by about 15 miles each way, but that's a small price to pay when you're living in such a beautiful place!  I also realised my house, at the top of a very steep hill, is not where I'm going to want to be when the weather turns bad (unless of course I plan on travelling by sledge).

I know that I've posted pictures very similar to these already - but I never tire of the views here.  And now that we've got a bit of snow on the hills, I just couldn't resist some new pictures.

The view from in front of my house, looking towards Bleaklow

Looking north, over Glossop

Looking east over Glossop, towards Bleaklow and the Snake Pass

Out on one of my daily walks, in the fields behind my house