happy fall!

I took this picture to show how much the leaves are changing here; it's the same shot that I previously posted- the view from my window. 

We've been enjoying the fall here, the weather's been quite nice this week; it's been hard to stay inside and work on applications. I've been eating pumpkin butter on toast and plan to bake a pumpkin spice bread; there's so much good fall food!

Tomorrow's Halloween! We aren't exactly prepared, but if we were to dress up, I'd like to wear Erin's hotdog costume, and Ray could be a hotdog vendor, maybe even Ignatius J. Reilly. Or else, I'd like to dress up as a Turkey. (I'm not sure what that would make Ray. . .) And maybe I can do that for Thanksgiving. 

tidbits.

Tuesday I got a heart-warming and belly-filling package from home! This means, along with all sorts of treats, reading material and delights for the house, we now have maple syrup. We've been on a quest for the stuff for a few weeks and now that we have some, I see a morning of french toast and bacon in our future. Yum!


In other notes, I won a very good game of Fantasy Football this weekend. 


And, we've been living in our house here for one month now! 

(A canal near our house and the ducks that hang out there.) 

Jellyfish Magazine

Check out the new Fall issue of Jellyfish Magazine! They published a poem of mine in this issue as well as other writings by up-and-coming poets in the States!

Jellyfish Magazine

early morning frost.

saturday.

While Ray was in Leeds for a music conference, I went out walking in downtown Huddersfield. They were hanging the Christmas lights and decorations (I think there will also be an ice skating rink on the way!) and everyone was looking very bundled on a cold and misty Saturday. 


I passed an owl rescuer who had about seven owls in cages in the Plaza. He said they are only kept in cages when brought to town, usually they are allowed to roam. I think he was selling them, or else just accepting donations to go towards his care of the debilitated owls. And I actually hadn't thought about it at the time, but now, of course, I'm thinking of Hedwig. 

(Ray and I + one pet owl?)

Along the way I stopped at Caffé Nero for a hot chocolate.

Vegetables and herbs to roast with chicken for dinner. Yum!

chocolate chip cookies; good with a cuppa!

I baked chocolate chip cookies this afternoon for the second time this week. Kind of crazy, I know, but we devoured the first batch, so I made another batch! I got the recipe from smittenkitchen.com; an excellent food blog with plenty of tasty recipes. (I used the recipe titled "our favorite chocolate chip cookies."

(Tasty Treats.)

Yesterday I went to an arcade in town; a kind of shopping plaza. In case, like me, you hear arcade and think of a game arcade, hear's a picture of the Cleveland Arcade (thanks to Wikipedia).

The arcade I visited is much smaller than this one pictured, but it was a really neat place. I found an art supplies store, a used bookstore, a vintage clothing store, and a nice cookware store on the top of which is a place where you can sit for tea and biscuits!

I have been drinking quite a bit of tea here. There's plenty of it and it's very good. A cup of tea is often called a "cuppa." 

Nice, isn't it?

One more language tidbit: a common greeting here is "Heya!" and of course, "Cheers!"

Ray and I ended the day with a visit to the Asian Market; the Dong Dong Market on Beast Market Road. Next maybe I'll find the Beast Market?

Cheers for now!

I've got a bit of catching up to do.

I thought it would be a good idea to (very briefly) review the past few weeks:


Ray and I set out to Huddersfield, UK on September 21st. We arrived here on the 22nd and stayed with friends, Ben & Jen, until we found ourselves a nice little terraced house to rent. Ray has started class and has been teaching, and I've been settling in, working on writing, exploring and researching MFA programs. I've also been trying quite a few new recipes (more on that later). 

This is the view from my room. 

One thing that has intrigued me since I've been here is the now overturned assumption that we use the English language in the same way. There is an obvious similarity in language, but it's tweaked just a bit. For example they often use "s" where we use "z;" apologise, cosy. Cookies are often called "Digestive Biscuits" because it was once thought that the sodium bicarbonate (or baking soda) aided in digestion. Pieces of fruit in jam or in orange juice are called "bits," so if looking for pulp-free orange juice, "No Bits" is the one you want. These are fun to come across, and I find the subtle differences in the use of language quite fascinating. (There will be more on this. . .)

Our indoor herbs.

We have chives, thyme and rosemary. 

I love house plants. 

my blog

Hello!

It's my first day blogging and I think it will help me keep in touch with folks back home as I spend time in England as well as be a good place to share pictures and paintings, writings and recipes and other neat stuff we find in life. Enjoy!