Fancy That

Before we moved home there was talk of a fancy dress film party.

Jerry and Jules came up with this brilliant costume  - guess the movie.

Jennie and I would have gone dressed as a Beaver and a Fox.

An Old Draft Gets A Second Chance

I found an old draft entry of pictures from London that were never posted.  Pictures of the Gherkin, the architecture, bricks with golden sunlight, green vines that soften the exterior of a city building.

 

This is Liverpool Street Station.  Funny how the pictures that once seemed like throw-aways now actually resonate with me.  I remember this day - we were heading home from a long afternoon on Brick Lane and had nothing to eat for dinner so I popped into the M&S for a quick shop before getting on the Tube.  I like how the candy looks more in focus than I do.  I especially like the bottom photo.  It has just the right amount of blur to capture the feeling of everyone scurrying around.

Catching Up

The best thing about being home has been catching up with friends.  This week included lunch with Jessica at our favorite chinese bbq joint.  The place has zero ambiance and it sits in an ugly little strip mall but it has great pulled port and chicken sandwiches, cole slaw, and fries.

Also back on the weekly rotation is NPPS!  (Which reminds me, the cheese shop people are very happy I'm back.  I'm sure they all breathed a sigh of relief that their cash cow was back in the states)  Once we get into position at Denise's house it's as if I never left.  Cheese, wine, kids arguing about bed time, Pete running out for more wine, and Downton Abbey.

Our newest member has grown a lot since we last saw her as a puppy in April.  Check out the difference between HERE and here.  She is a sweetheart despite the demon eyes below.

Quiz Night in Newburyport

Last night we decided to try the local quiz...and it was fun!  Christin joined us and we named our team - of course - Weak Sauce.  

I'm sure in the summer months we'll appreciate how chilly it stays in this back room.

 Christin was our guide for quiz rules since it was managed a little differently than the Victoria.  There were 4 rounds with bonus questions in between.  In each round there are 4 questions and you have to assign points to your answers based on confidence.  So for instance in the first round you can assign either 1,3,5,or 7 points to each question and you can't duplicate value in the same round.  After every question you write your answer on a slip of paper while they play a song - then you bring it to the quiz master for scoring.  

 This was a bonus round - name the cult movie.  We got 8 out of 10.

The Quiz master was not as good as our old pal Chris, but I'm sure we will warm up to him.

As for the level of difficulty?  Much easier than the UK for us.

Julie Kavner won an Emmy award for her voiceover work in what series that began in 1989?

In 1925, Hershey perfected the chocolate bar with peanuts with what candy?

What 1989 film starring John Cusack was the directorial debut for Cameron Crowe?

What actor is slated to reprice his role of Dale Cooper in the reboot of Twin Peaks?

On Feb 4, 2015 what company announced that they would buy Office Depot?

What 1962 Ken Kesey novel was made in to an award winning movie in 1975?

Where are the Mirabell Gardens and Mozart's birthplace?

George and Jeb Bush were the first brothers governing states at the same time since this set of brothers.

In 2007 Colorado lawmakers made this singer's Rocky Mountain High their state song.

50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson is the daughter of what two famous celebrities?

Bonus Questions:

What is the first word of the preamble to the constitution?

What movie was based on the  1945 Philip Van Doren Stern short story "The Greatest Gift"?

 There were at least 12 teams and I didn't get all the team names but I'm sure once we go a few times we'll get to know our enemies….I mean competition.

As you can see, Christin and I took our quizzing very seriously as we negotiated answers.

 How did we do?  We were 5th out of 12 - - not bad for first timers.  We were happy with the showing and we vow to improve on that standing next week!!

Quiz Answers:

Julie Kavner won an Emmy award for her voiceover work in what series that began in 1989?  The Simpsons

In 1925, Hershey perfected the chocolate bar with peanuts with what candy?   

Mr. Goodbar

What 1989 film starring John Cusack was the directorial debut for Cameron Crowe?  

Say Anything...

What actor is slated to reprice his role of Dale Cooper in the reboot of Twin Peaks?  

Kyle Maclachlan

On Feb 4, 2015 what company announced that they would buy Office Depot?  

Staples

What 1962 Ken Kesey novel was made in to an award winning movie in 1975?  

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Where are the Mirabell Gardens and Mozart's birthplace?  

Saltzburg Austria

George and Jeb Bush were the first brothers governing states at the same time since this set of brothers. 

The Rockefellers

In 2007 Colorado lawmakers made this singer's Rocky Mountain High their state song.

John Denver

50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson is the daughter of what two famous celebrities?

Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith

What is the first word of the preamble to the constitution?

We  (Did everyone start singing the schoolhouse rock song as soon as they read this question?)

What movie was based on the  1945 Philip Van Doren Stern short story "The Greatest Gift"?

It's a Wonderful Life

A Tale of Two Oscars…The Atwood Tale

Before Bill and I moved to the UK we always watched the Oscars with neighbor Laura so this year I was happy to resurrect that tradition.  We watched in front of a roaring fire at her place with our steak and blue cheese salads from the tavern and a bottle of wine.  

We especially love the red carpet action.   Lady Ga Ga arrived in red rubber gloves in case she needed to wash dishes while she was there.

 Neil Patrick Harris is always good…although I thought he was a little subdued last night.  The opening song was fine…but nothing special.  And I could have done without Jack Black's input.  Although it's interesting to recall that NPH and Jack Black were two of the few celebrities that visited our old pub the Duke of Kendal! Remember their pictures on the wall?  Maybe they came up with this number over a pint at the sing along?  Anyway, the Oscars are usually good for a few laughs but I felt like the jokes were a little flat last night.  Anyone else??

Laura and I didn't dress for the red carpet but we still looked good.

 Mickey was on edge waiting for Best Cat in a Motion Picture.  We told him this would be the big finale.

 We even had movie theater style popcorn!

 I was very happy that Patricia Arquette won - she was fantastic in Boyhood.  I love that she isn't skinny and over primped. During one of the pre-show interviews her hair was disheveled as if she just cleaned out her basement.  Maybe she could borrow Lady Gaga's rubber gloves….

Overall I was happy with every single win for Grand Budapest Hotel - - loved that movie.  And although I really liked Birdman I was sorry that Boyhood didn't take home more little gold men.   The best part of the night was the salad, the popcorn and the company.  And award for Best Cat in a Motion Picture goes to…..

A tale of two Oscar parties

In Boxford, Zoe, Bret, Trudi and Bill held an impromptu Oscar party.

It centered around pizza, beer, angel food cake with strawberries, ice cream and whipped cream.

Zoe is insane about the Oscars. (Actually, Bret messed her hair up to look insane.  She, like the rest of our Boxford contingent,  is only casually interested in the Oscars.)

 But Zoe was very interested in the Angel food cake with whipped cream, ice cream and strawberries.

 Trudi hits the sauce again.  It isn't an Oscar celebration until Trudi tips one back.

(Mom has only tasted beer once in her life and hated it.  She yelled at me because she said my empty bottle had a little drop of beer.  It was nice to drag Zoe and Bret into our little play acting game.)

 Back in Newburyport, Laura and Jen continued the tradition of their annual Oscar party.  Mickey was not interested in the show.  He should have come to Boxford where the rest of us were equally disinterested.

More to come about the Newburyport Oscar soirée in tomorrow's blog.

Noelle Comes to Town

Our shut-in life was thankfully interrupted today by a visit from Noelle.

Our favorite Jersey girl came by to catch up on life.  It is always fun to watch Noelle and Jen together.  One of the things they share in common is the big, loud, contagious laugh.

Didi and Christin are also in the big, loud, contagious laugh club.  I'd like to have a laugh-off.  A Laugh-Olympics to determine the champion of laughs.  (Not to be confused with the Laff-A-Lympics, the Saturday morning cartoons that featured Scooby Doo and others) 

I asked Jen if there were any pictures of me, as I seem to be taking all the photos of the girls today.  She uploaded this one of me looking like Larry Bird's ugly brother.  Noelle looks cute so I'll take it for the team and leave it.

Noelle is stoic, while Jen strikes 'The Pose'.

They both look like they have to pee and are telepathically yelling at me to take the damn picture.

I had them both look different ways.  Seemingly simple instructions that took painfully long to execute.  Jules and Anne Maria would have nailed it on the first take.

Acting challenge no. 1.

Pretend you just found out that Alexander, Noelle's youngest son, has a crush on Jen.

Acting challenge no. 2.

I forget...

Oooo... Noelle would have scored big in the Laugh Olympics.

Jen was explaining how she doesn't like to pose without smiling due to a misaligned chin or lips or some other nonsense.  Noelle is chuffed at solving the problem with a simple DIY face lift.

Thanks for the visit, Noelle.

REposting the UNposted

In real life, Bill and I worked and then made a fire, got pizza, watched Netflix, smoked a cigar (him) and went to bed.  Friday night is still pizza night and we love the down time after a long week.

But in the blog world, we wanted to give you something a little more interesting.  Below is a post I did 2 years ago in the early days of our UK adventure but I made the mistake of putting the name of the museum in the post. This was actually one of my favorite museums from our whole time in London!  Anyway, they then commented on the blog about copyright laws saying that is why people are not allowed to take pictures etc so I took the post down. But our public should not be denied!!  Here is the post with the name removed. Let's see if we get yelled at this time. 

____________________

We spent Saturday afternoon at an undisclosed museum location in London.  Starting in the 1800's they show how packaging evolves and reflects the history of England.  The Royals are obviously big players in marketing here - both to market products (see below - Edward VII for Lorne Whisky) as well as the subject of marketing with all the commemorative mugs, tins , etc for the jubilees or when they get married.  (Note from Jen in 2015:  now that I have collected about 40 antique royal mugs I can say that their marketing worked.)

We were told up front that there should be no photography in the museum so while I read all the little write ups for each decade, Bill entertained himself taking covert photos.  Hopefully no one from the museum reads our blog.  

(Note from Jen in 2015:  well, we know that they DID read our blog…do you think that person enjoyed it so much that they are still reading it?  We shall see….)

Lots of WWII propaganda.  Bill liked the many items ridiculing Hitler and I liked the VE mugs.

We took this shot for Trudie - she really likes the Dionne Quintuplets and has an illustration of them in her bathroom.  I remember writing a book report about them in junior high which made me go google them right now.  I found out several disturbing facts about how the girls were displayed daily through a 1-way mirror making"Quintland" Canada's biggest tourist attraction at that time (like a zoo!) and their father supposedly molested all of them!  That last piece didn't make it into my book report.

Cereal Killer

One of the differences between the US and the UK is the abundance.  We don't just have something - we have a LOT of it.  This is most obvious at the super market. I remember when I first went food shopping in Windsor I was amazed at the lack of choice...because they only had 5 or 6 brands and styles to choose from instead of 40.  For example - cereal.  I think Bill ate Frosties ever day for 2.5 years because that was the only sugary cereal there was.  There were a few other cereals (Wheatabix, Speical K, Cheerios, Rice Krispies) but when you want your cereal to really be a breakfast candy, Frosties is it.

In America, I can get half a day's worth of Fitbit steps just walking down the cereal aisle.  It's obscene how many choices there are.  Bill had a bonanza when we got back.  I sent this photo to Jerry and Jules so they could see a typical American cereal aisle.  

 Shopping with Bill is always fun.  He loves to put strange items in the basket to see if I'll notice.  

Since this pic isn't really enough for it's own post I'll throw it in here…a couple weeks ago there was a low full moon over Joppa Flats.  That's Plum Island across the river.  This is one of my absolute favorite spots in Newburyport and it's so close to our house - I'm glad I can walk by it every day.

 It wouldn't be a February blog post without a reference to snow and ice.  This is when Bill was working on those ice dams the other day.  He was trying to cut off that GIANT icicle until I yelled out the window that it was hanging off an outside cable that may or may not be our internet.  The icicle lives to see another day.