My first permit

This is the documentation load for a smallish project Grading Permit Application. Permitting seems to have a life of its own here, there is a lot of red tape, and a lot of paperwork.
Just so you get an idea: 5 projects, each needing a grading permit. Then there are about 5 different departments that all need individualised packets of information about the project, who all need to sign off that their little corner of the world was ok with the permit application being approved - so, a cover sheet, a checklist of what we need to consider giving them, a copy of the grading permit application signed by the client, a copy of any relevant reports, legal decisions, and atleast 1 full sized sets of drawings (15-20 pages, one department required 3 full sized sets). It took three hours to compile, and I don't know how many hours to get all the information together. I can theoretically see the point, but am surprised they're not trying to go paperless.

Attention all thieves...

It is tax time in the US, which means we are downloading documents to try and help us understand the system. This is a genuine paragraph in a genuine IRS document called "Tax Guide 2014 For Individuals", which is 288 pages long, with small print. I don't know the history of why or how they decided to put this in, but Al Capone was done in by his tax returns, right?

Creative Mama

I had a complete creative genius moment, we finally managed to work out how Mr 5 could stick posters on his wall. Cork boards are expensive here, and we don't own the paintwork...We were high-fiving all over the bedroom after accomplishing this one!
(Poster stuck to cardboard with sticky tape, kitchen twine tied to cardboard, proper hook in wall, cardboard mounted like a frame)
Sometimes, I surprise even myself.

We are in the wrong place...

So, super big snow falling about 3 hours away, but sort of magically missing Annapolis. Combination of the Chesapeake Bay and being just that little lower on the globe, we agreed. I long for a snow storm that dumps a couple of feet. Just not the sort of snow storm that cuts out power and floods places...
My idea of fun, is eating pasta and baked beans and what ever is in the fridge for a couple of days, and watching Disney movies in the basement with the gas fire on - after spending the morning sliding down a slope and eating chocolate. Oh, and I can't forget, the cup of hot tea (the kids are pretty keen on hot chocolate too).  (my idea of fun has changed significantly in the last five years...)
We got some wussy little dusting, probably about 1inch, that melted in the afternoon sun. We took some friends to our local slope, and the sleds worked just fine, happily.
Here is a picture of the car with the moustache that we saw on the way home.

Guess Where!

Where was this photo taken?
a) Dan Murphys
b) Supermarket
c) Chemist/Pharmacy.

This well appointed and reasonably priced bottle shop is up the back of our local chemist....Most chemists here seem to be sort of like a mini-supermarket, with vitamins, DVD's, health and beauty, some food, passport photos, and alcohol. The ones we went to in New York were practically open 24/7, sold milk, fresh fruit and veggies, and had a deli section.
Another chemist chain store recently announced they had decided to stop selling CIGARETTES (I think this local one still sells them)! Up the back, there is a counter, and a little bit of space for filling scripts, where the chemist works (think, about 2 containers worth of space).
Due to the vagaries of the health system, you could call around to different places, and possibly get your tablets cheap at one specific pharmacy (rather than the price being set by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). You nominate your chemist, and the Dr sends the scripts straight there. We have nominated the chemist closest to the children's Dr, which has turned out very convenient for them. I'm tempted to ring around for my script needs, as I am paying about $6-7 per day for one script.
I think this diversification of products sold might be an extension of taking advantage of laws allowing chemists to be open later than supermarkets? or something. Not really sure, but the cigarettes and alcohol have me scratching my head.

The Reuben

The Reuben is a toasted sandwich, consisting of corned beef, cheese, sauerkraut, and some sort of dressing, I can't remember what was used here. On Rye bread, with a dill pickle 'spear' laid on top. Served with chips - unhappily, not the fried variety, but literally a packet of potato chips laid on the plate beside the sandwich. The upside of that is, you can take the chips away to give to your hubby for afternoon tea.
Its origins seem to be lost in the mists of time (or at least, there seem to be numerous stories about how it got its name and contents), but it does have more or less standard fillings, in menus.
There seems to be a really strong history in the U.S with the idea of a deli as an eating place. It is sort of like a pub, but not with alcohol, and sort of like a cafe, but less of a place for a special morning tea - you order and sometimes eat at the counter? The closest thing I can think of in Australia is those old Greek cafes with the really good milkshakes, and there are regulars who go and order the same sandwich everyday. There is certainly a good deal more variety of cheeses, cold meats, and pickled stuff available than what is usual in Australia, except like what you might find in the big fruit and veggie stores that have a supermarket section as well? I'm thinking Leisure Coast Fruit and Veggies in Wollongong as an example, for those who know it. Most of the stories of the origins of the Reuben start in a deli.
Some Reubens are obviously better than others, and I think this was one of the better ones. I really enjoyed it!

Ice Skating

Having spent a child hood at least 5 hours from the nearest ice skating rink, wishing that I could learn how to ice skate, we found out that Quiet Waters, the big park about 10mins drive away, turns their pond into an ice skating rink during Winter! (Of course, now I'm an adult, working, not able to drive, caring for two kids, I can't rush off and enroll in a learners class...but maybe I can live vicariously through my boys?!)
We made a play date with a friend down the road for after school, and went ice skating earlier this week. First time for the boys. I was nervous about reactions to falling down, but Mr 5 was really determined to learn, and Mr Indescribable took our lead in laughing when he fell over... (Lucky....)
We hope to go again.
I must say, if we were weighing up reasons to stay and reasons to come home, this would be a significant player on the staying side.

Navy Basketball

Well, I don't approve of the school giving out free tickets to sports games as a reward, because it puts parents in an awkward position if it isn't convenient to take the child. Having said that, we got the basketball ticket through his participation in the school read-a-thon, and thought, that might be a nice father-son thing to do. Father-son mainly because I still don't have a license here. Bleugh.
The picture doesn't really have much basketball going on, but I hope you can sort of imagine it. Nearly empty stadium, nosebleed seats, $1 hot dogs, small kids playing up the back, navy band and dancers for half time (I assume the dancers and band aren't actually Navy employees, just local schools helping out!) etc.
They ended up leaving at half time (about 8pm), but it was by all accounts, a really nice family night out, and we hope to try it again one Saturday afternoon with the whole family!

I still have the touch!

Some Thomas was given for Christmas gifts, so interest in the tracks has been high recently. Today I was commissioned to build a 'big track', using 'all the bits of track'. I just wanted to record that I still have the touch. In fact, I think my big tracks are getting better. I should credit my husband's instincts for buying small extra pieces, like the signals in the middle, and the rail/road crossing that the baby is playing with, that make tracks interesting, without creating storage issues.
Here is another track from before Christmas - not that I'm boasting or anything... This one had the request of putting lots of bridges over the top for the trains to go under - and from memory, the demand to use both the three way pieces nearly did me in.

Fruit Mince Pies - third go

Third try at fruit mince pies, and I think this is significantly better! We made a whole heap of the little veggie pastie sort of shapes, and the pastry is still fragile, but workable. the finished product is very tasty! And we still have two and a half jars left... so lots more room for experimentation, or for finding the right baking tray!

Great Mountain of Snow

I'm sure there is a method to ploughing snow, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve making a pile so large that there is still a pile more than a week after the last snow...

Teapot!

With some of my birthday money, I bought this teapot. It is the same as the white one I have at home, only RED! It has taken me this long to get confident with oz enough to be able to picture the size of the teapot (and therefore buy one over the internet). It is well worth the wait. The mat from mum may get more use now!

Note to self

When fixing pants, don't try to be smart and put a dark coloured bobbin vs the correct coloured thread... Especially when the tension isn't right, so half of the stitch with the dark coloured thread shows through!

Wassail

It occurred to me that I hadn't looked up Wassail, so I set out to do so, and got overwhelmed in the world of Wiki, never a good place to be really, keeping in mind at the end that wiki is not always accurate in information...
But it appears there is wassailing - some sort of ceremony of wishing good health to an apple tree with mulled cider, to ensure good harvest (and therefore more cider!), done at old twelth night - 17th Jan.
There is also caroling wassailing - singing Christmas Carols in exchange for treats/presumably including something to drink, which used to be done as a gift exchange between the wealthy and the poor as a non-begging charitable gift giving exercise.
Wassail the drink, mulled cider, appears to accompany orchard wassailing, which apparently still occurs in big apple growing areas in Britain today!
The wassail I had when we went caroling was based on cranberries, and must be a local (Ocean Spray...) adaptation.

Making coffee

I don't drink coffee, but I have enjoyed learning the new skill of putting on some drip coffee in my part of the office. I get in at 8am, usually about 30 mins before most other people, so the coffee is just ready when they get in! It is remarkably simple really, very much like putting tea in a teapot.
The way people go on about coffee, I thought it would be something complicated, but probably the difference comes in the beans - how they're roasted and ground, rather than how I spoon the grounds into the filter. I'm thinking this is a transferable skill into French Press (or plunger) coffee, for when I get back to mother's group!
Drip coffee is very work friendly - no standing around, distracting people who sit near the kitchen while your coffee gets fluffed, or worse, heading out of the office for half an hour to the favourite barista. Just quietly get up, pull out the jug, and refil cup (and therefore environmentally friendly too!). I think Australian employers should consider it.
At the right of the photo is the powdered 'milk' they put in things here - it is dairy and gluten free... you can get it with caramel or vanilla or seasonal flavourings (read, spices). When simple milk won't do!

Different Apple Cider!

In what must be fascinating news for the teetotalers out there, I found two more varieties of Angry Orchard Cider... A seasonal variety with cinnamon added, which was closer to non alcoholic, non sparkling apple cider, and the 'crisp apple' variety, both of which are lovely.

Christmas cake

One of the things that got dropped in our disorganised Christmas was the Christmas cake... I was going to make it on the evening of the 24th, but realised that our planned substitution of baking dishes (large corning ware instead of 10" round tin, anyone?) wasn't going to work. So we ordered a 10" pan on Amazon :) and I made the Christmas cake now, as a practise for next year (and to feed to our family biblestudy, who are coming to our place this week).
While being a fair bit more complicated than most things I have cooked, and full of substitutions, it turned out surprisingly well, although we have yet to taste it.

First proper snow for Annapolis

The forecast was 1-3 inches. I reckon we got the full three. Our school bus had an accident (before reaching our stop), so we had our own little personal 'snow day' with another family nearby, and went sledding down a handy slope. The thing with kids is, you don't need some special huge ski run, just a clear slope, that doesn't end in a freezing creek or 30 ft drop. Friends and some halloween chocolate bars is bonus.
the other thing about Mr 5, is that he enjoys sledding, but I truly think his heart is in shovelling. The little plastic shovels we got them for Christmas (thanks to an aunt and uncle) got a real workout, starting with a rather enthusiastic shovel from our place to the slope (if anyone had an issue about how we left the pristine sidewalk, they could just follow the digging back to our place...).

Big meal

Every so often, there is a meal...
This night, we had meat pies and sausage rolls bought from The English Pork Pie Shop in Buffalo, and our neighbour also dropped in some marinated venison. The venison looked like liver - not very inviting at all, but was surprisingly tasty (marinade, I guess!), and tender. It did not taste like beef, pork or chicken (perhaps a touch like turkey!!).
The meat pies were awesome. The sausage rolls were pork based, which was surprising, but no less tasty. We also had a Cornish pasty, which looked like pastry around pork and potato, which was good, but not what I expected (I think what I expected was a vegetable turnover, so possibly the expectations were a bit out).
I am feeling encouraged to have a go at a sausage roll one of these days (we found big squares of puff pastry in the freezer aisle of Trader Joes)

Snow!!

We got up to a light dusting of snow the morning after visiting Niagra Falls, and thankfully, it was enough that the sleds worked without us pulling them down the hill. We have learned that the kids can only really concentrate on sledding for about half an hour, then they need hot chocolate and a break.

The next day there was a fresh fall in the morning (see photo above), and the sledding got so fast that we put a parent at the bottom of the hill to ensure the kids didn't end up in the ditch (with icy water/ice in it). After initially feeling a touch frightened, the baby was very enthusiastic, which shows how much a year changes things. Mr 5 was the perfect age, and really enjoyed himself, but we both got the impression he would have been happier with a pile of snow to shovel with his Christmas snow shovel. 

Very happy that we got some snow - promise (hopefully) of a winter that will come further south!

British Chippy

There is this company, recommended to me by an English man, called The English Pork Pie Company - and it turns out their shop is in Buffalo, NY, which was on the way home from Niagra Falls. They have a shed in an industrial unit, and they make and ship pies and cornish pasties, and a a fair few other things British to Canada and USA. They recently opened a shop front in their unit (called British Chippy - Proper Fish and Chips) and they sell a few of their hot pies, as well as fish and chips. We got fish and chips as well as a really nice chicken and mushroom pie for dinner, and ordered a whole heap of pies and sausage rolls to take home for later.
The fish and chips was specifically battered Cod with some chips, a huge serving of cod. It was reasonably expensive, and I'm not sure why, seeing as cod is available in the US for not very much, but it might be the cost of actually paying decent wages for labour (the wife of the husband and wife team works the cash register). I wouldn't recommend it as a cheap takeaway, however, it was a nice stop, and I do miss fish and chips.
Buffalo looks like it was really set up for manufacturing - right on Lake Erie (other end of lake from Detroit), very industrialised, with confusing but flowing road systems where you could end up somewhere wrong very fast. We suspect it is on the edge of what is termed the 'rust belt' in USA (Detroit's population fell by 25% since 2000. In the city, there has been a 60% drop from the 1950s. I think it is officially broke now, I assume mostly from the collapse of manufacturing industries).

Niagra Falls

After a day to recover, we sallied forth and travelled for four hours, to view Niagra Falls in the winter time. We wore all our snow pants and snow boots and beanies and jackets, and walked around in swirling snow, and froze in cold spray, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We walked one way and then got a trolley bus ride back, which greatly impressed the children. The building works to upgrade the facilities, including a concrete pour, a little digger and all sorts of construction also were admired!

Our Cabin

Our cabin is nothing special (by this, I mean, not 5 stars with pristine linen and chocolates on your pillow), but it has a fire pit, and a grassy hill that we discovered you could use a sled on, if mum or dad pulls...We have investigated a tree house in the woods up the hill, which turned out to be a hunting platform complete with some empty shell casings, and we think there are tappings for maple syrup on what must be maple trees (can't tell, although hubby says the leaves look like the Canadian flag). There is also a little shallow creek at the end of our drive that we investigated, and more exciting, a dam with ice on it (so you can throw rocks on the ice and they'll sit there!).It is near where Hammond Lake and Tioga Lake join, so we went for a drive and looked at the dam wall and stuff.
We have had two picnic dinners at the table near the fire so far, with roasting of marshmallows afterwards.
It is decorated in extreme 'bear' theme - we have not counted, but there are bears everywhere - statues, pictures, lamp stands, chopping boards, linen, crockery, curtains, etc etc. Personally, I find it a touch over-bearing (pun intended), but I assume the owner must like bears. When there are not bears, there is a 'woodsy' theme - unfinished pine, rustic furniture, and a whole bit of vine, brought inside and cable tied to a column and along the ceiling.  Not so sure about why.