Little Miss and her Violin

Well... we are considering violin lessons again for Little Miss. We have interviewed a teacher and he seems wonderful... but I think we might have to wait until January to start lessons as the budget is a bit tight right now.

Here is Little Miss at her lesson last week, when we interviewed the violin teacher. Sorry she is not smiling - she was concentrating too hard on holding the bow and violin correctly! She absolutely loved the lesson.

What's different over here? Part 1

How is life in the UK different to life in Canada?

This question is something I'll try to make related posts to on a regular basis, starting with this one. But there are so many places to start..

I think I'll start by spilling the beans. Those would be baked beans. They are good to have anywhere, with almost anything. When you go to KFC, "would you like chips or baked beans with that?" I'm serious!

The first month I was here (over a year ago!), I stayed at a Bed & Breakfast establishment. The breakfast in the morning was an egg, an oozing with grease lump of fried potato (I think it was supposed to be a hash brown), steamed mushrooms, a slice of back bacon, a link of sausage, baked beans and toast, with an orange juice on the side.

So, what's different over here? They really like baked beans.

The Big Mr.

Gate to Salisbury Cathedral

I found this gate so fascinating.... there are huge wooden doors under it, which can close and be locked. It even looks like there could have been a portculis at one point! In reading a bit about the city, it appears they wanted to seperate/ segregate the business section of the city from the religious section. Absolutely fascinating!

Salisbury Cathedral

On the Moor in Devon

At the beach in West Wittering pt2

And the sand is also apparently good for burying your victims! LOL

At the beach in West Wittering

West Wittering has gorgeous beaches!!! The sand is so fine, it is like dust. PERFECT for making castles, etc.

Our latest Freecycle find!

A new bouncy chair for baby! It has carry handles, which you can see folded on either side of the chair, so it is easy to move the chair about (when baby is not in it!). It can either be stationary, or it can be put into "rocking mode", and baby can rock him/herself while interacting with the family. Too cool!

Little Miss comes in "second" today!

Little Miss was the "second girl" today to cross the finish line in the "12 O'Clock Race". There are prizes for "first girl" and "first boy" in each age category - so 2nd girl is a very good finish indeed!

Mr Man trys out a racing bike today!

Mr Man tried out a racing bike / road bike at the cycling club today for the first time. He did very well on it. The road bikes handle much differently than the mountain bikes do. He is looking forward to riding on the circuit with the "big kids" one day soon.

Monkey Hamster pt1

Monkey Hamster pt2

Our New "Family Member" ;)

Today the children got a new pet - a Hamster!

We went to the pet store today and we picked out a friendly looking fellow - hopefully he remains so! It does appear to be a "he".... although it can be a bit hard to tell when they are young. And the children have named him - Soft Monkey. Or just Monkey for short ;) LOL Perhaps the name will change - who knows! I'll also be posting a slideshow showing the children getting Monkey's house ready and their excitement watching him explore his new home.