Hope everyone had a super Thanksgiving.
It's been a whole month since we have blogged and two months since we arrived - we can hardly believe it! It has gone by so quickly. So far no one is homesick - well maybe Liam, but he misses living in Toronto and our dog, OD, who is staying with Great-Gramma Bernice and Grampa Ross.
We've been settling in to real life in the UK now that Mark has finally started to work. 'Finally' because there was une petite miscommunication at the agency as to when Mark was available for work. He got a 4-day gig at one school - the Barlow - a Roman Catholic high school (of all things) which he enjoyed. His first day was ridiculously terrible as he was covering for a teacher who had already been away for 2 weeks (swearing, sending kids to the office - really nothing new for Mark), but the other days were much better and only one broken beaker (a science beaker, not a nose;)). Upon receiving his schedule on the last day there he was like - What's 'RE'? - wait for it - Religion! Of all people to teach religion :) He has worked at another school minutes from Old Trafford - the stadium where Manchester United play. Hopefully he will catch a glimpse of Michael Owen for me one of these times.
We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with some of our English friends at our UK home with turkey and all the works. We really wanted to do it up proper since last year's Thanksgiving really sucked with Gemma being sick - read: pre-stuffed, frozen turkey from a box - actually, quite tasty.
It wasn't easy getting all the ingredients - I had to buy a pumpkin and actually carve it, cook it and puree it for my pie - tasted awesome - and it was the first bite of pumpkin pie for our English guests who also all enjoyed it. I had done that once before to get the full culinary experience, but I definitely prefer to just buy a can of plain pumpkin. We also couldn't find molasses and settled for black treacle, which did the job. The butcher was surprised when I requested a turkey. He said they didn't start taking orders until November and I thought we were screwed, but he had misheard that I wanted one in October (not December). I couldn't get a fresh one, but we got a freshly frozen turkey and it was delish! We also figured out our English oven for roasting- it's a 2-door with a grill on top and a fan assisted oven on the bottom. The fan is supposed to reduce cooking time, but we haven't found that to be true yet. We tested the oven with roast beef before we cooked the bird. We also just place the meat directly on the oven tray with an oven pan beneath it. It's a lot messier than using a roasting dish.
It was a true Thanksgiving with WAY too much food for 5 adults, a pre-schooler and a baby - 11.5lb turkey, stuffing, turnip (called swede here), mashed potatos, green beans, carrots, 2 salads, cranberry sauce, homemade apple and pumpkin pies (including the crust) and a small birthday cake for Liam. Our guests thought we were expecting the entire village to come over. We brought our A-games to the table. We thought Gemma was going to love seeing all that yummy food all at once, but she had a tongue-biting incident which took her out. She made a quick comeback and really got into her leftovers though. She loves turkey, gravy and pie and is not opposed to getting a little messy. Dawn's brocolli-bacon-cheese salad recipe was also a hit with the Brits.
We realized that English people don't seem to have tea and coffee with their dessert (which they call pudding), but after when dinner (which they call tea) is all over. Why wouldn't you have tea, at the end of 'tea'? We're still learning the ways of the UK. We let it go even though it was Canadian Thanksgiving :) It was a true Thanksgiving with a triptofan buzz and tons of leftovers that we shared with Andy. We enjoyed making all the food ourselves, but it will be nice when we are back in Canada next year and we can go to someone else's house and just bring a salad.
Liam is now a big boy and turned a whopping 3 years old on 14th October (how dates are written in the UK)! We had a small family party with balloons of his favourite characters - Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Tank Engine. Gemma also got an In the Night Garden balloon. Liam helped make his chocolate cake, but Mum decorated it with fancy icing and handmade Lightning, Thomas and Roary the Racing Car icing characters - yes, I was up 'till midnight! During the day, Liam enjoyed a Messy Play session at the Children's Centre and his birthday song video from his cousin Ella over Facebook. Gotta love that webternet.
Liam's cooking group has come to an end with great success. He made pizza, muffins and berry-filled flapjacks (like oat bars) and received a certificate at the end. He is always looking to help out in the kitchen. Whether it's measuring, plopping eggs in a bowl or mixing - he's up for it. He actually helped make the stuffing and the apple pie for Thanksgiving!
Afgter a successful free trial day, we signed Liam up for 6 weeks of Little Kickers football training. The kit (uniform) cost 16 quid and the 6 weeks cost 34 quid. Not bad. He loves it and there are usually only 5 boys in the class. At the free day there were a few girls, but way more boys and Mark commented that there would be more girls if we were in Canada. Speaking of which, Little Kickers is an international franchise and there is one located in Toronto at Avenue and Eglinton, just minutes from our old house - we had no idea, and yes, we feel rather silly.
It seems kids here, at least in Derbyshire, can't do city run recreational activity at the Leisure Centre until they reach age 4. Not even swimming lessons! This is crazy to us since even Gemma has already had swimming lessons in Toronto. Thank goodness for Messy Play.
Liam and Dad found a new way to use all the crab apples on the ground - crab apple hockey. Someone walking by thought they were playing golf - Uh, no.
Some mums have been asking if Liam would be going to Nursery (pre-school) since he's 3. Apparently, beginning the term following when kids turn 3, they get 3hrs a day at Nursery for free. A week after we learned this, a mum at our cooking group just happened to tell me that the New Mills Nursery in town was having an Open Day for new children and parents to check things out. So we all went - Liam had a great time playing in the sand pit and meeting the teachers. We filled out the application on the Wednesday and received acceptance by post on Saturday! We couldn't believe how fast it all happened! Day Cares in Canada should take note - read: 2yr waiting lists and ridiculous fees. Liam will begin his afternoon Nursery class in mid-January - for FREE! How exciting!
Gemma is developing quickly now - in the past month she has started to pull herself up to standing, just started to climb up the stairs and is now officially cruising (walking while holding onto furniture)! She had been working on the stairs for a while and was struggling because she was too short to get her knee up the step:) Once she did one stair all by herself, she was determined to keep going and climbed the entire staircase in one go! She's also still working on more teeth - poor thing! Plus we'll be out of infant Tylenol soon.
We found a great indoor play gym in New Mills called Jungle Monkey that also has a cafe with yummy food and drinks for all ages. It's seriously awesome - I've never been to a place like this in Toronto or Guelph, so I'm not sure if there is one. Our friends Ben and Charlie came for a visit with their mum Erin and Nana Jenny and we all went for an afternoon. Ben and Liam had a fun time together, Charlie had a great nap and Gemma was doing really well until she had a cucumber incident and threw up all over mummy - hey, it happens.
Mark bought a new bike! It's a hybrid (road/mountain) and is perfect for this landscape. He even may bring it back to Canada upping his bike count to 3. He has officially joined the Goyt Valley Striders running club and bought a head lamp as the runs are in the dark on trails (he didn't bring his from home). The first run was pretty epic - they ran up a crazy fell int he dark for almost 2hrs (Mark didn't have his head lamp yet!). Usually the runs aren't so hardcore, but it had been a nice day and the group wanted to take advantage of the conditions. They meet Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but people are not obligated to go to each run. The group meets in the neighbouring village, Whaley Bridge, and carpools to the run location together. Mark was happy to get in one of the many Land Rovers driven in the area.
I'm really enjoying being off with the kids and am embracing domestic bliss. It's so nice now that Gemma is on a good healthy run to be able to go to playgroups, have fun outside and do normal things like make dinner, er... tea. New Mills is a far cry from Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto, but there are, in fact, some similarities - everyone walks here! There are so many mums pushing prams into town and you can get all your basics right in New Mills. Now, there's no Grazie (our old fave local Italian restaurant), but there is a really good Indian place in town we got delivery from.
We had a lovely visit with Grampa Jim and Grandma Anne who are visiting relatives nearby in Matlock for 2 weeks. We went for a walk along the Sett Valley Trail to the Torrs and walked over to the Pack Horse for a pub dinner. Mark used his head lamp on the walk home in the dark. They went with Liam and Mark to Little Kickers the next day to see Liams big kicks. It was great to visit with family from home.
Weather has been surprisingly sunny for the most part, except for a couple of days of hail! One time Liam, Mum and Gemma were walking to the car and took cover under the Tesco walkway cover (usually used for rain) and the other time we were at home and took some photos and video! English people keep warning us about the winter here and how it gets cold and it snows - we're like - WE'RE CANADIAN, we think we'll be alright. Don't you think we live in igloos anyway? We're really curious to find out exactly what kind of winter England has in store for us - Bring It.
After 5 whole days of hard work, it's already half-term for Mark. Half term is like March Break but in October. We are heading off to Scotland for 2 nights in Edinburgh by train - 4hrs. Bring on the hagis (for Mark)!
We'll try to update the blog more often to avoid writing novels like this, but we've got two kids in diapers, Liam is being potty trained and is moving towards no naps and Gemma is transitioning from 2 naps to 1 - nuff said.
Happy Winter Everyone!
(We've heard Ontario had its first snowfall already.)
The Nicholson Family
Photos: facebook
Things We've Noticed:
1. It seems like every toddler is on a leash here! Just because the harness/leash contraptions are only 12 quid at Boots doesn't mean you should buy one!
2. The UK seems to be becoming more "American". There are coffee chains all over the place (including Starbucks) and so many people drive everywhere. Trains are still busy, but there are are just too many people in such a small country for everyone to have a car. The roads are narrow as it is without a row of parked cars on each side.
Things We've Gotten Used To:
1. Walking on the left side of the pavement (sidewalk) whilst people pass.
2. The coins: except for the 1p and the 2 pounds, the sizes don't match the Canadian sizes at all so searching for change has taken a little longer than it should (yes, I've been the annoying person in line searching through change):
1p = penny (1c)
2p = a thin looney (1$) but copper
5p = dime (10c)
10p = quarter (25c)
20p = nickle (5c) but with 7 flat edges
1pound = nickle but thicker and bronze
2pounds = twooney (2$) and is even silver and bronze but in reverse
4. Unfortunately - Seeing GINORMOUS spiders (sorry Mom: really big beasties). They are so SO big! Even Mark doesn't like 'em.
What You May Not Know:
1. It's very common to have a very small under the counter fridge in the kitchen (like using a bar fridge as the main fridge) and to have a washer and dryer in the kitchen or garage (see below).
2. There are no basements in England (at least none that we've come across).
Thank goodness our house has a second "American" fridge in a separate laundry room. We still miss our brand new full-size steam washer and dryer in Guelph though:)
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