A rather eggs-travigant week ...!

Happy Easter everyone!  How many chocolate eggs have you scoffed already? 

Sadly we are Easter egg-less on this house as you can't really buy them here.  They have the gold wrapped Lindt bunnies, hideous bright yellow marshmallow things in the shape of chicks called Peeps (although these now come in a variety of colours .. blue, purple, pink ... and interestingly now in rabbit shapes so not sure that still works?  Anyway, still bleugh) and you can get the sugar coated mini eggs ... some even say Cadbury's on the packet ... but they are just not the same. Outrageous! By the way, that reminds me.  I read in the news this week that Cadbury's were no longer calling them 'Easter eggs' and they are now just 'chocolate eggs' in case any non religious folks are offended ... whaaaaat? for God's sake! (oops, sorry). 

The last couple of months have gone by in a bit of a blur,  and so it was nice last week to have a few days at the beach in Florida to recharge the batteries and try and regain some sense of calm and tranquility (even if that did mean getting on another plane!).  Luckily, thanks to the Mystery Shop programme that Mr B gets to participate in, we were able to do it in style at the Ritz-Carlton resorts in Sarasota and Naples.  The only down side to that of course, is that whilst 2 nights accommodation at each is refunded upon checkout, sadly the astronomical cost of the food and drink consumed is not, and as we also added an extra night at each it was hardly a cheap week away, but it was really nice to be completely spoiled for a few days :)

   

Despite a couple of days of iffy weather at the beginning of the week, the rest of the week was beautiful and we were able to enjoy the cool white sands and sparkling blue ocean, with little else to do but soak up the sun, listen to the waves crashing onto the beach and watch the Pelicans diving for fish, and of course the spectacular sunsets each evening.  Absolute bliss!

                           ... Sunset from Naples beach

Think this is the closest Mr B will ever get to being a surfer .... 

We were really lucky to see dolphins on more than one occasion, including a close encounter with an especially inquisitive one who came really close to the shore to have a better look!  Amazingly, we also saw a couple of turtles making their way up the beach in between all the sunbeds and umbrellas (probably on their way to pick up a pizza but as they weren't wearing their bandanas I have no clue which two they were :D).  They didn't seem at all bothered by the excited crowds they attracted and plodded on past regardless.  So cute!

            ... Donatello? Leonardo? Michelangelo? 

     

All good things must come to an end though, and this morning I woke up to find myself back at home, knee deep in laundry and sandy flip flops... ugh ... and not a glass slipper in sight.  Sigh.  Still, on the plus side it is still sunny, 85 degrees (with no Florida humidity... yay!) and cacti are bursting into bloom all over the place.  So, I decided that as the laundry would still be there tomorrow (and the next day ... and the day after that,  thanks to that magical basket that mysteriously fills itself up again as soon as it is emptied), Mr B and I should ease ourselves back in gently and head off to look at the spring flowers at the Desert Botanical Gardens instead.  

Good decision as it turned out.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  I will try and remember to post some photos next week as we actually remembered to take the 'proper' camera with us today and I haven't had time to download from the SD card yet. 

In the meantime, I hope you all have a very Happy Easter weekend and enjoy those eggs! *sniff*

TTFN

Bev X

Not all Plane sailing ...!

So we said our goodbyes to Mum last week and everything went as smoothly as these things ever can.  My nephew Simon read a lovely poem and my great niece Holly, who is only 11, read a lovely tribute to her Great Nan which she had written herself! Bless her.  She did really well.

                         cousins and 2nd cousins - what a handsome lot!

Whist it was obviously a sad occasion,  I was inclined to view it more as a celebration of Mum's life and a chance to reflect on all the happy times we had shared together.  I am glad that she is finally at peace now and wherever she is, hope that she is reunited with Dad and my brother Paul :)

After what seemed like mere hours ... didn't we just get here? ... all too soon it was time to head back across the pond again, but we certainly made the most of our week, cramming in as much time with friends and family as possible as well managing to tick off nearly all the experiences from our collective list of 'Things we have missed about the UK'.  They included:

1. A trip to the pub - we met up with Eldest and had a great meal at The Sportsman in Goddards Green complete with roaring log fire. Mr B predictably went for the fish & chips, the boys opted for steak and  I chose one of my favourites (and which I rarely ever cooked at home as none of the boys would entertain it *tuts*),  liver, bacon and mash with onion gravy ... Mmmmm, I can still taste it now.  Delish!

2. A walk down Lindfield High Street to see the carpets of crocuses that appear every spring.  Sadly we were out by a couple of weeks for the crocuses I think, but there were plenty of cheery daffodils, pansies in window boxes, bright red camellias and the odd magnolia tree just starting to bloom.  Beautiful!

3. A curry at the local Indian - have only seen one Indian restaurant in Scottsdale and haven't been brave enough to try it yet, so as it was 12 months since I ate my last one this was high on my list!

4. A walk along Brighton seafront - I have to say I was a little disappointed.  Everywhere looked greyer than I had remembered (apart from the beach huts which were thankfully still the same) and was either covered in seagull crap or rubbish.  We also seemed to have timed our walk with the start of some charity dog waking event as we were suddenly surrounded by people with dogs of all shapes & sizes sporting orange bows ... not to mention pink tutus, socks, woolly jumpers and bandanas.  Still, I suppose at least they were actually walking.  If it were in Scottsdale they would all be being pushed round in a buggy tucked in with a blanket! (I kid you not people).

                                                               Brrr!

5. A Chinese takeaway - I know that Chinese restaurants abound in Scottsdale, however, it doesn't taste the same somehow.  Everything seems to be much sweeter for some reason? Or maybe it's just me.  It was made even more perfect because we ate it with some of our best friends whom we have missed dearly :D

6. Friends.  Ethan got to go for a sleepover at his best friend Charlie's (who he also introduced to the rank Bean Boozled challenge. If you missed last week's episode, you can read all about that there) and we got to spend some time (although not nearly enough) with some of our best friends.  Apologies to all those that we didn't get chance to catch up with this time, but we did pretty well I think given the circumstances.

7. Chocolate.  We pretty much cleaned out Sainsburys of Cadbury's ... OMG! how I have missed chocolate buttons! ... also Kinder eggs, which Ethan bought for each of his friends at school as bizarrely they are banned over here (as clearly they deem American kids too stupid to know the difference between chocolate and plastic.  On the other hand, having tried some of the chocolate here maybe that is not as far fetched as it sounds ...)

8. And finally, another item from Youngest's list ... breakfast at Bill's!  Mr B was working in the Brighton office the day before we left so Ethan and I made the most of our last day and managed to tick this one off the list as well :)

                                    Now that's what I call I full English!

After a 5am start on Wednesday morning we set off for the airport and the long trek back 'home'.  Oh well, at least we will be able to go in the Priority Pass lounge when we get to the airport  (in my opinion one of the best benefits that comes with the American Express Platinum card) and get some breakfast and a much needed coffee.  It was then that Mr B (who works in ... where is it again?.... oh yes, Travel) announced that he had left his card at home *facepalm* and whilst I could have signed him in as a guest, it wasn't really worth the £30 charge for just under an hour.  Idiot (or I think I called him something along those lines).  

Our return route was British Airways to LA and then LA to Phoenix via American.  Groan.  The BA leg couldn't have gone smoother and it was our first experience in one of the new A380 double deckers.  We had paid the extra for BA's World Traveller Plus and it was well worth it.  Plenty of leg room, comfy seats and even the food was edible, in fact I would even go so far as to say it was bordering on nice!  A pleasant surprise.  The flight left bang on time and after watching four movies (Suffragette and Burnt were both OK, the Minnions mildly amusing and the hidden gem, Hector, which I thought was terrific) and the first episode of some TV drama called Unforgotten  (which I immediately wished I had watched first and followed with the remaining episodes as I was completely gripped!), we arrived in LA.  That's when it all started to go downhill.  

We arrived in the Immigration hall to hideous queues ... ugh ... and whilst Mr B now has Global Entry which means he can skip all the lines and whizz through a fast track lane, he gallantly waited in line with us as Ethan and I are still waiting for our appt to do photos and fingerprints and so ours is not yet complete.  Mind you I think he was soon regretting that decision as after being told to join a queue for those with ESTA's and Visas and finally reaching the 'self service kiosk' we then discovered that this didn't work with the type of visas we had, only basic travel visas, and so we were then directed to join another long line to wait for one of the immigration officers, where we had gone in the first place.  Grrrrr!   

After clearing immigration and collecting our bags we then joined another long line to recheck them in for our connecting flight.  Never mind, at least as we had a three hour layover in LAX there was no rush.  Deep breath and count to 10.  It was then that we noticed that our connecting flight to PHX was running an hour an a half late.  *sigh*.  Well at least we could go to the lounge and sit in comfort with a drink.  Oh wait.  Never mind.  Well at least Ethan and I could go to the lounge and sit in comfort with a drink!  Luckily, after explaining dozy's memory failure and smiling sweetly at the lovely chap on reception he let us all in.  By this time we were all beginning to feel a little tired and so after settling EJ (who was by now in severe wifi withdrawal) in a chair with plug and wifi password, Mr B and I found the bar for a much needed drink and a packet of cardboard pretzels.  Some while later, after watching a Captain Birdseye lookalike honking up greenies and spitting them into the waste paper basket at regular intervals *gags*, I could take no more and we wearily made our way to the gate, heaving a sigh of relief as we saw that the information board read "Boarding will begin in 10 ... 9 ... 8 minutes".  It counted down to 0 just as the gate doors swung open ... perfect ... and throngs of disembarking passengers meandered their way through!  What?!  Well, clearly we will not be boarding any time soon.  Grrr!   Another half a hour or so passed and finally we were allowed to get on.  Once all passengers were on board we sat patiently ... well except for the 3 screaming babies and a cranky toddler ... wondering why we weren't going anywhere.  Suddenly an announcement from a clearly pissed off pilot:

"Ladies and gentlemen, apologies for the delay, however it appears that some one (you could so tell he wanted to say wassock) has overfilled one of the fuel tanks by 300 gallons and so we are now just waiting for it to be siphoned out again. Thank you for your patience and we shou be on our way in about 20 - 30 minutes."

Oh for God's sake!  Don't bother to thank me as I actually don't have any patience left due to the fact that I have now been up for 23 hours and just want to get home to bed!  What moron did that?! And further more how can you possibly over fuel a plane?! 

Fast forward 45 minutes ...

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been advised that it will take another 30 minutes (which means at least 45) to complete the offloading of excess fuel from the tank, after which time we should be able to get on our way."   Cue synchronised moaning from passengers.  Sensing the rumblings of a passenger uprising, one of the crew members hurriedly handed us all a credit card sized biscuit ... yum.  

... was so tempted to amend the title in the wrapper and hand it back 

A disgruntled 30 something man in a black baseball cap in front of me asked the indifferent crew member whether he could at least have some water?  10 minutes later they appeared pushing a cart loaded up with bottles of water, pausing tantalisingly close before moving past.  

"Erm ...hello? It was over here!" Black Cap shouted.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait sir, as we'll be starting from the front of the aircraft"

"Oh great, what like another 20 minutes?!  Jesus!"

Oh dear,  Trouble a't'mill!  It didn't get him anywhere though as they just breezed past and carried on up the front.  Black Cap was spot on though, as we were finally handed warm water in a plastic cup - no ice - about 20 minutes later. 

Finally, three and a half hours later than scheduled, we were on our way and we walked through our front door a mere 26 hours after we had got up!  

As unbelievable as it may seem though and a mere 3 days later, this morning we are all on a plane again heading off for a few days in Sarasota and then Naples, Florida, for Spring Break (which we had arranged some months previously.  Another stupid o'clock pick up (4.30am this time!) and a chaotic Sky Harbor airport, but after a very efficient and hassle free boarding process, we took off bang on time and are now about half way there.  Great job South West!  Much to our surprise, Ethan was also seemingly unpeterbed by South West's policy of 'no seat allocations' and after I explained that we may not all get seats together, exclaimed,  "What, you mean I don't have to sit with you two?" and promptly plonked himself into a spare aisle seat next to some other couple at the front of the plane as we filed on. Lol!   I can't believe how much he has grown in confidence in the last 12 months!

Looks like we are coming in to land now so I will sign off for this week.  Look out Florida - the Barlows have arrived!

TTFN

Bev x

Completely Bean Boozled... !

So this week we are back in good old Blighty, albeit for the sad occasion of Mum's funeral on Monday, but I am trying not to think about that for the time being.

Having gone to America on holiday every year for at least the past 20, it felt very strange to be doing it the other way round.  Of course this time, after a long and uncomfortable night flight (how on earth anyone can sleep squashed like sardines in a tin is beyond me) at least we weren't going back to two weeks of junk mail and a fridge containing nothing more exciting than half a pint of rancid milk, a jar of tomato purée and an onion (why is there always an onion left?).  One of our lovely friends was waiting at the airport to meet us with a big bag of Cadbury's for Ethan, a bunch of pink roses for me and a football magazine (proper football that is!) for Mr B!  Thanks Ju, what a star!

We were safely delivered to our other lovely friends, Jane & Sal, who are kindly putting us all up this week, and within minutes of waking through the door had a steaming hot mug of tea in my hands ... bliss! In an effort to minimise the dreaded jet lag, our target was to stay awake until at least 9pm and as we struggled to keep our eyes open after dinner, Ethan suggested we all play the 'Bean Bloozled' game that he had brought with him and was desperate to try.  I can't think why!  

Basically, the game consists of spinning a wheel and then selecting the corresponding coloured jelly bean, which could be either a fruity treat or its foul evil twin! For example, it could be Lime or ... lawn clippings.  Juicy Pear or ... booger (yes, it's an American game).  Peach or ... Vomit.  Nice.  You get the idea.  Obviously there was no way of knowing which one you were getting until it was in your mouth.  After agreeing to the one and only rule of 'no spitting out' (WHY?! I am still asking myself!), we gingerly began the first round (if only ginger was the worst we would have to endure).  Round one resulted in a Tutti-Frutti or Stinky Socks gamble for me and also Sal, and there's no prizes for guessing which one we both ended up with .... Ewwwww!  Jane managed to luck out with a lime (cow!) whilst Ethan got Baby Wipes.  Luck was also on Mr B's side when he got Liquorice over its evil twin Skunk Spray.  Round two:  Sal was not so lucky avoiding the Skunk Spray this time, followed by Ethan's toothpaste selection.  Mr B once again manage to swerve the nasty Rotten Egg with a Buttered Pocorn selection whilst Jane & I hit rock bottom when we selected Dog Food whilst hoping for Chocolate Pudding!  Ugh!  Disgusting. Rank. Vile.  All of those and more.  Despite downing a whole bottle of water, half a bar of dairy milk and cleaning my teeth, there was no getting rid of the taste and I finally gave up and went to bed smelling like I had just eaten half a can of Pedigree Chum.  Never, EVER, again!  

After the last 12 months in Arizona constantly being asked if I was glad to escape the fog of London, whilst rolling my eyes and tutting at the ridiculousness of such a stereotype, I flung open the curtains the next morning to be greeted by .... Oh.  Fog.  Great.  As it happened we did have to head off to London that morning to meet with family and deal with some administration, and so did have to chuckle at the irony however it soon lifted to reveal blue skies and sunshine.  As we drove back in the afternoon it was so nice to see lots of cheery daffodils and the beginnings of the early crocuses on the roadside and we stopped in Lindfield (the epitome of a typical English village I have always thought) for a walk.  I definitely think you view everything with a fresh pair of eyes when you have been away for a long time and notice things that you always took for granted before.  

Later that evening, we met up with son No. 1 and crossed another thing off the 'things I have missed' list - dinner and a pint at the local pub, complete with roaring fire.  And as if that wasn't enough, there was liver, bacon & mash with onion gravy on the menu!  It was soooo good!  After rounding off the evening with an episode of Gogglebox the only thing left on my list was 'go for a curry' and tonight ladies and gents, I can happily confirm that this can now also be checked off the list (chicken jalfrezi, mushroom rice, onion bhaji and naan bread washed down with a large bottle of Kingfisher in case you're interested!).

Whilst I am most definitely not looking forward to Monday's sad goodbye, for now I am cramming in as much Blighty as I can manage!  Now all I have to do is work out how I am going to get my own body weight in Cadbury's, two jars of Coleman's Mustard, four packets of tea bags and a jar of instant coffee into the suitcase .... wonder if Mr B would notice if I left his clothes behind?

TTFN

Bev x

The early bird catches the worm ...!

Hello again and welcome back!

This week I have mostly been reminiscing and recalling fond memories of Mum, who sadly passed away last Monday.  I did have to smile when I realised the date.  If there was one anniversary date you would want to pick so that family and friends would only have to be sad once every four years, it would be 29th Feb.   Nice one Mum!

Born and bred a true 'Northerner' in the 1920s, she had been brought up by her grandmother, who by all accounts was a formidable Victorian lady, (and a strict Methodist to boot) or as Mum would say 'a real tartar'!  However she spoke of her fondly and was grateful for skills she had taught her, many of which she passed on to my sister and I (although not quite sure when I will be donkey stoning a front step or blacking a grate any time soon).   We could however both make cakes and pastry from scratch when we were quite small girls - a far more useful skill - and to this day we both still love to bake.  I can remember standing on a little stool in the kitchen as a very small child with a mixing bowl and wooden spoon beating butter and sugar for a sponge cake and rolling out pastry for jam tarts.   It was  usually all grey and unappetising looking by the time my sweaty little mitts had finished with it (probably from the number of times I had rolled it off the table onto the floor) and can remember insisting that my special efforts be reserved for Dad when he got home from work,  who of course always pretended that they were the best jam tarts he had ever eaten and then suspiciously, had to attend to something urgent in the kitchen.  Lol.  We can also both knit, sew and mend (but only if my life depended on it as I have to confess I have always been more the 'just chuck it away and buy another one' type, much to her dismay!  Let's face it, who has time to darn a sock?!  Well, me probably, but that's beside the point).  

Mum was also very fond of quoting funny old proverbs and sayings (something else handed down from her Granny) which used to have me completely confused as a small child ... "you'll be laughing on the other side of your face in a minute young lady!" .... how is that even possible? ... or "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" ... ewwww! Why would I even went to?!  As I got older of course and understood the meaning of these expressions, I realised that many of them offered quite wise advice (although some were just plain daft in my opinion).  

There are too many to mention them all, but these are just some of those I remember her using most frequently and which I often myself using today (much to Ethan's amusement).

• 'You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear' - you can't make something nice out of something bad (or ugly!).  I remember overhearing her say this once when gossiping about a common acquaintance over tea with one of her friends!  *coughs*
• 'Don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar' - don't risk the overall success of a project by trying to scrimp on the details (a ha'p'orth was a half penny worth).  I often think of this when I am trying to justify buying the most expensive fabric for curtains or want some extravegant designer paint for the walls, Lol.
• 'If a job's worth doing its worth doing well' - if you are going to do something, make sure you do it properly.  She used to quote this one at me regularly after inspecting my bedroom tidying efforts!
• 'A stitch in time saves nine' - better to act on a problem right away rather than leave it until it becomes much worse and takes longer to resolve.  I didn't understand this one for ages until I learnt the lesson quite literally.  As a teenager, one of my favourite items of clothing was a long 'gypsy skirt' which was basically large circles of gathered fabric sewn together in tiers (what? It was the 70s, what can I say?)  I must have caught a few stitches of the middle tier on something and a small hole appeared.  Mum kept nagging me to get it mended before it got worse ... "a stitch in time saves nine!" ... what?? ...but as mending was not on the 'top 10 list of cool things for a 15 year old to do' (nor is it on the 54 yr old's version for that matter, see above), her advice fell on deaf ears (probably all that listening to T-Rex and Sweet in my bedroom).  One night a short while later, whilst strutting my stuff in said gypsy skirt at the local Scout Group Disco (probably to the latest Status Quo number or something equally cool), one of my 'helpful' friends remarked "oh hang on ... you've got a loose thread..." and before I could stop her had managed to unravel the whole seam causing the bottom two tiers to fall off, rendering my beloved maxi into a scraggy mini and worst of all, exposing my lily white legs to a packed parish hall full of spotty teenagers!  Needless to say, I spent the next day trying to stitch it all back on, whilst mum looked on smugly.  It was never the same again and soon relegated to the rag bag ... *sniff*
• 'People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones' - don't criticise others for a fault you might possess yourself
• 'A watched pot never boils' -  don't stand over something that will take a while to finish as it will seem to take for ever.  Not sure I ever learned this lesson. This is especially true whilst waiting for IOS updates to download ...!
• 'Too many cooks spoil the broth' - too many people trying to lead or give opinions can become confusing and spoil the end result.  Very true.  I experienced this way too many times at work. 
• 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' - it's better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing.  Again, took me years to understand this one.
• 'A place for everything and everyone in its place' - everything should have a set place and be returned to it when you have finished using it so you can find it again next time  (she used to say this a LOT as I recall as I was quite an untidy child and was always wailing that I couldn't find something for other! Usually closely followed, when she then found it straight away,  by the equally irritating ... "God gave us eyes to see with but oh how we do squint!"
• 'Ne'er cast a clout till May is out' - which means don't cast off your warm winter clothing before the month of May is ended (this may have just been a Northern saying as Winters could be long and severe with bitter winds).  As soon as March arrived and the first bit of warm sunshine appeared, I would be in such a hurry to put away my drab winter woollies I had lived in for what felt like months, (that's because usually it WAS months),  and get my summer togs out again and every time she would send me back upstairs to get changed or at the very least make me wear some hideous scratchy cardigan and a hideous coat (which I would invariably hide in the bus shelter on my way into town and then collect it on the way back :).  Hmmm, not sure how applicable this one is to living in Arizona where this year's February temperatures were in the 80s for all but a handful of days! Don't think I'll be needing that vest here ...
• All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy - obviously I try and live by this one religiously :) 

And finally, the one I have tried to abide by the most and am forever quoting to my boys when they are getting frustrated by not being able to achieve something at the first pass ...  If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again! (usually met by tuts and eye rolling).

Thanks for accompanying me on my trip down memory lane and maybe you have even learned something too!

TTFN
Bev x