Catch Up
It has been ages since I last wrote an entry, so there is quite a lot to catch up on, but I will keep it as short as possible.
We had a couple of friends visit us from England at the beginning of December, Tim and Darrell. It was extremely cold, and I think by the time they left they were looking forward to the mild, in comparison, climate back in England. It also snowed while they were here, which was really nice. We took them to the beach in the Lake Forest area, and it was a bit strange to be walking on snow instead of sand there. In keeping with the weather, we also took them to an ice hockey match, which was really fun, even though our team lost. They had tickets for the Bears v Packers game on the Sunday, Tim being a Bears fan and Darrell a Packers fan. We dropped them at the station so they could take themselves there, and then we met them later for a quick tour of the city, a few drinks at the top of the Hancock Tower for the awesome view, and a meal. They also did the obligatory shopping while they were here, buying so much that packing to go home was a serious challenge!
We had much more snow over the following week or so, with a total of around 8” being dropped in the space of a few days. It looked stunning, but made for some very wet walks with Reggie, as although they quickly clear the roads, the paths are a very different matter. It seems that it is down to each home-owner to clear the section of path outside their own property, but it apparently is not a legal requirement, and since walking is such a rarity here, not everyone bothers to do it. You can be walking along, and the path will be clear in some parts and covered over in others. So I was either having to trudge through 8” deep snow, or choose my route according to where the snow was cleared. Either way, I was getting very annoyed with those lazy ignorant people! It hung around for a couple of weeks, and we were starting to forget what grass looked like! Then it started to get mild so by Christmas time it was starting to melt, and it is all gone now. It has looked much more like an English winter out there recently, with grey skies and some rain.
We hosted a Christmas party here in early December. We had got Tim to bring over some supplies for it, so we were able to serve mulled wine, home-made mince pies, and Christmas pudding, all of which were previously unheard of here. They seemed to all go down well though. Also Todd had bought some Christmas crackers from a British online company, and that was a novelty for everyone as well. So was really fun to show the locals some British Christmas stuff.
For Christmas Day, we went to Hazel and Michael’s house. Hazel is originally from New Zealand, and lived in the UK for several years, and Michael is American, but also lived in the UK for several years. Michael’s parents were there, as was Hazel’s brother, so was quite an international affair. Hazel put on quite a spread, with roast ham, and roast lamb, both of which were delicious. We had a second Christmas pudding delivered by Tim, so took that, along with some brandy sauce. Hazel had also made the most delicious Christmas cake, the proper fruit kind with marzipan and royal icing. That is pretty unheard of here, they do not do fruit cakes normally. It was fantastic, and I still have a huge chunk of it that I brought home and am trying to eat sparingly to make it last as long as possible! So we had a fabulous day with them, they really made us feel part of the family.
Other than that, pretty much everything else we have been doing is all wedding stuff, so I will write a separate entry about all that.
We had a couple of friends visit us from England at the beginning of December, Tim and Darrell. It was extremely cold, and I think by the time they left they were looking forward to the mild, in comparison, climate back in England. It also snowed while they were here, which was really nice. We took them to the beach in the Lake Forest area, and it was a bit strange to be walking on snow instead of sand there. In keeping with the weather, we also took them to an ice hockey match, which was really fun, even though our team lost. They had tickets for the Bears v Packers game on the Sunday, Tim being a Bears fan and Darrell a Packers fan. We dropped them at the station so they could take themselves there, and then we met them later for a quick tour of the city, a few drinks at the top of the Hancock Tower for the awesome view, and a meal. They also did the obligatory shopping while they were here, buying so much that packing to go home was a serious challenge!
We had much more snow over the following week or so, with a total of around 8” being dropped in the space of a few days. It looked stunning, but made for some very wet walks with Reggie, as although they quickly clear the roads, the paths are a very different matter. It seems that it is down to each home-owner to clear the section of path outside their own property, but it apparently is not a legal requirement, and since walking is such a rarity here, not everyone bothers to do it. You can be walking along, and the path will be clear in some parts and covered over in others. So I was either having to trudge through 8” deep snow, or choose my route according to where the snow was cleared. Either way, I was getting very annoyed with those lazy ignorant people! It hung around for a couple of weeks, and we were starting to forget what grass looked like! Then it started to get mild so by Christmas time it was starting to melt, and it is all gone now. It has looked much more like an English winter out there recently, with grey skies and some rain.
We hosted a Christmas party here in early December. We had got Tim to bring over some supplies for it, so we were able to serve mulled wine, home-made mince pies, and Christmas pudding, all of which were previously unheard of here. They seemed to all go down well though. Also Todd had bought some Christmas crackers from a British online company, and that was a novelty for everyone as well. So was really fun to show the locals some British Christmas stuff.
For Christmas Day, we went to Hazel and Michael’s house. Hazel is originally from New Zealand, and lived in the UK for several years, and Michael is American, but also lived in the UK for several years. Michael’s parents were there, as was Hazel’s brother, so was quite an international affair. Hazel put on quite a spread, with roast ham, and roast lamb, both of which were delicious. We had a second Christmas pudding delivered by Tim, so took that, along with some brandy sauce. Hazel had also made the most delicious Christmas cake, the proper fruit kind with marzipan and royal icing. That is pretty unheard of here, they do not do fruit cakes normally. It was fantastic, and I still have a huge chunk of it that I brought home and am trying to eat sparingly to make it last as long as possible! So we had a fabulous day with them, they really made us feel part of the family.
Other than that, pretty much everything else we have been doing is all wedding stuff, so I will write a separate entry about all that.
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