Some Stamford Treasures

NOW I've found my new favourite place, Stamford. This is the prettiest town we have come across yet, though there is plenty of competition! Stamford is picturesque with a river, bridges, old old old houses, cricket in the green, water lilies (think Monet) cobbled roads, Wisteria strewn walls, stunning gardens, vibrant shopping and of course it's own beautiful churches. However to be fair, most towns whether large or small have a beautiful church or at least ruins from a church.

Walking up a street we passed ASK Italian and spied through the huge windows someone tucking into a lunch that looked too good to pass up. It was a little chilly outside so it was nice to step inside to a sunny and warm interior.  We were whisked to a table up by the kitchen and before long our Butterfly King Prawns were sizzling away in front of us.  We also ordered a rocket salad, with parmesan and balsamic, and olives. These were some of the best prawns we have had in a long time and that's saying something when we have come from the land of King Prawns (Australia).  They came in a small sizzling hot cast iron pan which had been drizzled with olive oil and then had rounds of baguette placed in the bottom that had turned crispy by the time they were ready to eat. I succumbed to the bread, it was too much for my will power. We finished our lunch with a well made macchiato each, just the right way to end our meal.
We have since returned to ASK Italian and had the prawns again pre a dinner of pasta for Number One and a beautiful chicken salad for me. We were not disappointed the second time or the third time we went back. I think this restaurant is definitely a favourite for nice clean tastes, great atmosphere and excellent service.

Finding the Wildwood

There are so many beautiful villages within a one hour drive of us that I am not sure we will ever get to see them all.  However we recently repeated a great experience by heading to Oakham for lunch.  The first time we had been was a Saturday and the town was alive with markets, people and loads of great little shops to explore. However, that is not the case on a Sunday! Only a couple of shops open, no markets, no people but we did find the Wildwood Kitchen which we had spied on our previous visit.  This looked like a great place to stop for lunch and we were right. After striking up conversation with the people on the next table we were reassured that this was a good decision, their meals looked good and they gave them the thumbs up.

There was pasta, pizza, burgers and more on the menu. We were both after something tasty so both ended up having burgers; a lamb and chorizo one for my man and a deconstructed portobello mushroom and haloumi one for me.  There was no fuss when I asked for the burger less the bun and I think I got some extra salad as well. I am amused that in the UK we have only found Haloumi deep fried. In Australia we eat it grilled (on the Barbie) or pan fried (with no fat). Here's an opportunity to reduce some fat on the plate!
We sat at a table in the front window of the restaurant which gave me sun on my back, a view of the cooking in the wood fired oven plus a chance to people watch on the pavement outside. Service was great, attentive and quick. We just had sparkling water with lunch but if we'd chosen a wine, beer or spirit then it was all on offer. There were a good range of people in Wildwood Kitchen that afternoon, including couples and families and the place seemed to cater well for everyone. Our meals were tasty, affordable and we would definitely stop here again.  This would be a great place to take friends.

Roastit Bubbly Jocks

Sometimes if feels like we know nothing about anything in this new land that we have come to. That is especially true when it comes to cafes and restaurants. To start with they are often hidden behind unassuming doors and shop fronts, tucked away where you have to pop your head around the door to take a look. It's too cold to sit outdoors in Glasgow and there's not much space so very few places have outdoor seating to identify them.
Anyway.... we happened to walk past Roastit Bubbly Jocks around 3pm on Sunday after walking around car yards for hours and having nothing to eat.  Something caught our eye, this little place had an inviting look about it. Best decision we made all day!
We just needed a tasty morsel to get us through to dinner (we were going out with friends and family) so we ordered a starter each. I had a twice baked goat's cheese souffle which was divine. Light and fluffy with enough substance to satisfy me. The big man had a plate of smoked salmon with bread and was very happy with his choice.  But, the thing that caught my attention, apart from the fabulous roasts served up at the next table, was the gin menu on the wall.  I'm partial to a gin, especially on a hot summer's day and apparently the weather we had been experiencing in Glasgow is equivalent to a hot day in Glaswegian terms; there have been women walking around in strappy tops while I wear my down jacket zipped up to my chin!   Anyway, back to the gin. We decided it was Gin Oclock somewhere in the world and that we would have a wee drop with our starters.  I had a Millers with strawberries and he had Caorrans with apple slices. Oh yes! We had made great choices.  That little gin added some rays of sunshine to our day and we happily celebrated our afternoon nibbles.
Roastit Bubbly Jocks will see us again.  Next time I shall reserve space for the Roast Beef.  The atmosphere is congenial, the furniture is well used, the service was excellent and the staff had a great sense of humour.  We loved it, we'll be back.

Rooky Travel Mistakes

When you pack up your life in 3 suitcases you are bound to make some mistakes. I think I can safely say I could have brought one suitcase of the things I have actually ended up using regularly and then I could have brought 2 more suitcases of things I needed and didn't bring.

Lesson 1. Check that your airpoint status doesn't drop down the week before you fly leaving you with less free luggage allowance than you had planned on.

Lesson 2. Don't ditch the walking shoes at the airport due to overweight bags  Should have ditched the swimming togs! Walking shoes should rank higher on the "to take" list than good shoes, especially when you wont have a car.

Lesson 3. Pack a capsule wardrobe rather than all those things that you love and can't bear to part with. There ARE shops here - lots of them! I brought lots of things I love but nothing goes with anything else or it simply isn't warm enough.

Lesson 4. Make sure you change/ delete your old telephone number at your bank. It's hard to receive notification texts from your bank when you have thrown away your old SIM card. (There goes the rubbish truck....)

Lesson 5. Don't expect banks or insurance companies to believe that you could possibly be a respectable, responsible citizen. You are starting again with no credit rating, no credit card. Make sure you bring your country of origin credit card with you because sometimes you just need a credit card to make bookings etc. 

Lesson 6. Find the nearest laundrette, motels don't exist in the UK. Hotels don't have laundry, fridge, or cooking facilities. Bring patience and a good book.

Lesson 7. Don't bother with chargers etc for all your techy stuff if you haven't bothered to pack an adapter. It's much easier to buy a charger wherever you end up OR an adapter before you leave

Lesson 8. They sell handbags worldwide. I admit, 5 handbags was excessive especially since I have already brought another one that is becoming a new favourite.

Lesson 9. Make sure that you really don't want an excuse to buy another set of knives. The ONLY household item I packed was my Global kitchen knives. I have had far too many years using substandard knives so wanted to keep my good ones.  However, I have found the most beautiful hand crafted knives and if I hadn't brought my Global ones I could have had a set of these.......

Lesson 10. Pack a couple of tiny things from home. You will miss home, your people, your things, so little reminders help.  I packed some photos to put straight up on the wall, a farewell drawing from one of my granddaughters and a little ceramic NZ fern in it's flax kit. Being able to whip these things out easily wherever I was was great and gave me a little reminder of the people and things I love.

And lastly, ALWAYS take a computer with you if you are moving.  Managing life on an ipad has been difficult especially as it was nearly full to the max and didn't have some functionality that I was expecting it to have. As we speak my ipad is in its last death throes. I am so thankful for my brand new MacBook Pro!

Winter Wonderland in Connecticut

Christmas 2014 we were in Connecticut with my youngest son and his family for Christmas.  The four of them live in an historic 3 story, 5 bedroom house in a street of beautiful old homes in an old part of the state.  The house is made to keep you warm with central heating, a log fire, double insulated windows and good insulation. Inside you are toasty warm. Outside it's a different matter.....
On Christmas Eve and we found ourselves sitting in front of the fire, having just got home from an evening of extended family hospitality that involved a house FULL of children and adults, some serious present exchanges and a big shared meal.  The snow had fallen (and melted again), the rain had come and the cold was... well, very cold!

I loved my first cold Christmas. Because I'm a Kiwi of course I've had cold Christmases before but they are not "on purpose" cold Christmases, they are "surprise!" cold Christmases in the middle of what should be summer. Thankfully we brought great jackets for our journey that we would never ever wear in Brisbane. We have rugged up with hat, scarf and gloves as well. It's cold out there! But the snow is amazing, it turns the world outside into something really beautiful, until the cars drive through it!
Holidays are time to do different things and while it is not a long holiday period for the kids, they did get nearly 2 weeks at home with us. We were mostly confined to indoors so we played games, read stories, rolled play dough, completed puzzles, wrote, read, french knitting (not so successful), stitching (one stuffed felt owl pillow complete!), and baked so much food.
It's great to find that my son has become a house husband and is also a good organiser and cook.  He has taught himself to make new, interesting dishes incorporating Spanish and Mexican flavours and to use local ingredients.  What a thrill when he pulled out and refer to the little cookbook that I made for him before he left home. I was requested to make some Scottish shortbread just like his grandma used to make (yes family, I did put Grandma's special markings on them) and a Kiwi pavlova (sorry Aussies, we made it first). Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without those.
There has been wood chopping, carol singing at church, a new closet made, interior house painting, walks around the park, a visit to the New Britain Gallery of American Arts, the Aquarium, the State Capitol,  a castle, a train museum, a plane museum and to the movies.

In the yard we watched the chickens (9 of them) with interest. They were still laying despite the cold and apparently are bred for winter conditions.  They really didn't like walking in the snow though.  An update on the chickens is that mid Feb with the temp at -11C and snow so high you cant see over it around the streets, the chickens are laying more eggs than ever!!
We loved our wintery Christmas, it was great to be with the family and we look forward to our next Christmas together.

Home Sweet Home - Day One

I knew that travelling would be disruptive to my life but I just never knew how much.  Maybe it's just because I'm not 21 anymore but I am SO pleased to be in my own home and not living in a tiny hotel room and out of suitcases.

We searched high and low for a place to live and finally when we were beginning to despair,  the right one came along! Patience...... This place popped up on the internet and we got to view it straight away, were deemed to be ok by the owners (?) and last weekend we moved in (See below). Well, we moved our 3 suitcases and lots of shopping bags. Furnished places are hard to find so we ended up getting a place just with the white goods and we have to get the rest.  We have a table and 4 chairs and a bed, oh yes, AND we have 2 bedside tables purchased after a harrowing trip to Ikea in Milton Keynes.

Milton Keynes is an hour and 5 mins away from where we now live. I thought we could take a simple drive there, whizz into Ikea, get our goods and then out again.  But no! We arrived at Milton Keynes to find that EVERYONE wanted to shop this weekend as it is a holiday weekend.  There were literally thousands of people there.  Now, I thought Ikea in Brisbane was big but I haven't seen anything like the Milton Keynes store....  We were starving because the UK sadly lacks places to stop for a bite to eat (cafes are rare when you are on the road ), so we decided to eat at Ikea.  Well, the wait for that was 30 mins. The food filled us up thankfully and left us ready, I thought,  to embark on the Ikea never ending journey.  We got to the chair section at which point instead of liking my selection, the other person in the relationship decided he liked something else.  Something VERY SIMILAR to what we had had in Australia.  Now, my idea is that we are somewhere different so we should take the opportunity to do something different.  I had been sweating over catalogues and magazines and had a fairly clear idea of the design direction we should be taking.  Alas this was not to be. So we left Ikea without seating but with bedside tables, which are built and functioning very well. Lesson = never take husband to Ikea again!!

On arriving back at our new house we were hungry for our dinner and looking forward to cooking our first meal.  I turned on the new induction cooktop but alas, we could not make it work..... turns out our new ceramic cookwear does not work on induction cooktops  - another lesson learnt.  No problem we thought, we'll head down to the local pub (our village has 2 pubs, a cafe, and a general store).  We walked down  (2 minutes) and then discovered that neither pub does meals on a Saturday night! We looked at each other laughed, ordered a drink, walked back up the hill to home and made a dinner of cheese and tomato on toast.  Day One complete so we fell into our new bed and the next morning we both agreed that it is one of the best beds we have slept in.

These photos are of the grounds and the beautiful big home where we live. 

Mulling it Over in Scotland

Starting life in a new country highlights differences in culture, food, systems, governing bodies, language and oceans. We are now sorted with bank accounts but because we have no credit history here in the UK we can't be considered reliable enough to have a credit card. We gained our Nino (aTFN in Australia and an IRD number in New Zealand) so that we can work.  We speak the same language (English) but a different one because we choose to call things different names, or use brand names as descriptors or speak with such a broad accent that understanding is challenging. We have phones but no one to call.
I'm not sure how to describe myself here in the UK because I am a Kiwi (and proud of it) but I have lived in Australia for so long that my life experiences are often referencing Australiana.  It's all a bit tricky to explain what makes me tick.  So, the commonplace has become uncommon and the world has slighlty shifted on its axis.  Same, same but different.

But you know what?  As long as I remember that I chose this adventure and that the differences are just that, then things are fine. I'm learning each day. My listening skills are being put into play tuning my ear into the local accent, the other night in the taxi I was completely lost when the driver was trying to communicate, and when a car salesman called I had to ask him 3 times to repeat himself and in the end had to admit that I could not understand him at all!!!

And the weather in Scotland? Well, it's a bit like New Zealand, summer and winter in one day.  In fact this afternoon as I write, the cousins are sitting outside on the deck in the sunshine having a coffee while I am inside in my jeans and merino jersey! The sun is lovely though. I am thankful for the down jacket I brought in Brisbane and never wore there, for my shoes that I brought in Perth but never wore in Brisbane and for my NZ merino clothing that just about makes things the right temperature for me. 

We have traveled to Oban, Mull, Iona and Staffa.  It was a slighlty, haphazardly organised tour but we got there in the end.  Yesterday started with brilliant sunshine, the flatest bit of ocean I've seen in years (not usual) and the best car, bus, train, boat rides. Our trip took us from Oban across to Craignure on Mull by boat, onto a bus and westward passing Glens, Bens and Lochs on the way (valleys, mountains and lakes). We also saw red deer, otters, and sea eagles and we traveled on a single carriageway road (woohoo that was exciting when the big truck was heading straight for us and didn't slow down before sneaking into the passing area - phew!).  Arriving at Fionnphort we transferred to a smallish boat and were whisked out to sea (about 35mins) to the island of Staffa.  What a privilege to go to this amazing island so small that you can't find it on most maps.  When we approached it was unclear how we would get close as the waves were crashing all around it.  But with some superior boating skills in use, the guys navigated their way into the little jetty. We were able to climb to the top of the island and then scramble down again and walk around the rocks to Fingal's Cave which had massive oceans waves rushing in and out; the noise and energy of the waves was fantastic.  This was the cave that inspired Mendelsson to write The Hedribes Overture, Fingal's Cave.  The drama of the music definitely reflects the dramatic island, this You Tube clip gives a good video of what it is like on Staffa. 

After a couple of hours we were taken off to the island and headed back towards the Isle of Iona.  On our way we stopped and saw Puffins floating in the sea, getting ready to head for land for nesting.  These creatures are tiny, I was busy looking out for big penguin-like birds but they are more the size of a sparrow! We also stopped mid ocean and watched a pod of Bottle Nosed dolphins who  followed the boat for a while when we took off again.
Iona was stunning.  It was mid afternoon, the sun was shining, there was no wind and the island was seen in the best light.  Tiny cottages dot the village area, beautiful little craft shops abound (I brought an exquiste woven blanket and He-who-cares-about-me brought me a beautiful little ceramic cathedral), the ruins of a nunnery were waiting to be walked through and then the Priory was waiting to be explored.  Our Historical Scotland card has already paid for itself allowing us free access to the site. Stunning.  Afterwards we found a little hotel and got ourselves a nice drink to have while we sat in the sun overlooking a paddock of black faced sheep and sweeping views of the bay.  Along the pathway was the hotel's superbly organised and planted organic garden and in the distance we could see the boat that would take us back to Fionnfort.
Eventually we headed back to the  wharf, onto the boat to Fionnphort, bus back to Craignure and boat back to Oban. It was dinnertime when we arrived back so we ordered ourselves Haddock and chips,  and sat at the waterfront to eat them.
Our day ended at midnight back in Glasgow after a very cold train ride from Oban. Tired but satisified with our brilliant day, we both slept soundly!!