Home Grown Veg

Back a few months ago, I posted that I wanted to get back into gardening, and perhaps attempt to grow some veggies in this new climate.  No telling how things would fare - would it be too hot / too cold for the veg we're used to growing?  Would our plethora of backyard critters (so far: rabbits, groundhog, possums, racoons, chipmunks, deer, squirrels, mice etc) take a liking to potatoes and herbs ('erbs)?  Nothing for it but to give it a go!

So I invested in a few large pots and lots of bags of soil, and after various visits to the local markets and garden centres, I had a bunch of seeds and seedlings ready to start a fledgling veggie garden.

The potatoes and peas / sugar snaps went in first, and they were off like a shot.  Within a few weeks, the potato plants have grown like Jack's beanstalk and are now huge and flowering, and the pea pods are plumping up nicely.

We also have a herb ('erb) tub, a once-tiny-now-huge-pot of mint, 2 tubs of strawberries (a little slow to get started but just starting to show some flowers now), some carrots (never been able to grown them in the past, so will be interested to see how they fare here), as well as onions, rocket, and lots of catmint and lemongrass (a new favourite for the cats), and some sunflowers and lavender (for cheeriness).  I'm also taking advantage of the warmer climes and trying a couple of bell pepper plants and some chillis as well.

 

So far, so good.  They were all planted towards the end of April (a little early, I was told, as there's still a chance of a late frost), but so far the weather has only got warmer and more humid, with temperatures in the 70s and 80s, and fairly regular thunderstorms.  And so far, no critters have taken a chomp at anything...

I'm hoping we'll be able to enjoy some home-grown veg along with our regular BBQ'd feasts during the summer months!

No Rest for the Wicked...

At the beginning of May I started work again.  My first paid employment in the USA!  I'm working part-time, a few days a week, doing web-based research.  Although it's only been a couple of weeks so far, it seems to be going well.  Each research subject is different, which keeps it interesting, and I'm enjoying the fact-finding and "digging" side of things, which seems to appeal to my natural nosiness and annoying need to find out everything possible about a subject.

The tax situation for my pay took a little figuring out - it's a good job that hubby is an accountant and has access to overseas tax advisors because it sounds really complicated.  But I'm still earning a bit of pocket money, doing something useful, and experiencing the workplace in a different culture. 

So far, so good - very relaxed and friendly, "summer casual" dress-code (although I still can't bring myself to wear shorts and flip-flops to the office yet, which is de rigeur for almost everyone else), earphones for music, and being able to go home at the end of the day with no stresses.

The only downside is being 100% deskbound, and I can already feel the tell-tale aches in my shoulders and neck, and tired eyes from the constant air-conditioning and screen-work.  Just need to take more care to take regular stretch breaks and keep up the yoga practise!

But all-in-all, I think I've found a nice gentle introduction to working life in the USA :-)

Ephrata Cloister

 

Last weekend we took advantage of another lovely spring day to visit Ephrata Cloister.  The sun was shining, the blossom on the trees was beautiful, the bees were buzzing, and everything seemed to be green and finally coming "alive" after a long winter.

 

The cloister was one of America's earliest religious communities, founded in 1732 by German settlers, led by Conrad Beissel, seeking to take advantage of the "religious freedom" that was newly available in America.  The community consisted of celibate Brothers and Sisters, and a group of married families ("householders") who helped to support the cloister life.  At its peak, the cloister was home to almost 300 members working and worshipping there.

Despite the lovely weather on the day we visited, the cloister wasn't at all busy, and we took an organised tour of the key buildings with a very knowledgeable guide who explained a little more about the life of the Brothers and Sisters.  They lived and worshipped in some of the buildings that exist today.  The largest was the Saron (Sister's House) - a half-timbered building constructed in 1743 over 4 floors. The Saal next door was the householders' worship place.  The Brothers' House unfortunately no longer exists. 

The life of the brothers and sisters was highly regimented, with only 6 hours of sleep each night, broken by midnight prayers, (and sleeping on wooden boards with a nice wooden "pillow").  They were allowed one small (vegetarian) meal per day, and long hours of physical work (farming, candle making, baking, paper making, printing etc) were combined with 5 or 6 periods of prayer as well as time for "private contemplation" which included musical composition, singing, weaving, and beautiful calligraphy work called Frakturschriften (creating hand-illuminated books and inscriptions, copies of which can be found in the Museum Store).  These past-times were considered to be a discipline for both the body and soul.

We were free to explore the large grounds of the cloister, which backed onto the Cocalico river. The river was part of the reason that Beissel settled in this area, and once the community grew, it was the location of local baptisms. Today, a mother duck and all her little ducklings (lots of them!) were going for a paddle. 

Nearby in the, as yet empty, vegetable garden, another duck was guarding her cosy looking, but well-camouflaged, nest.

We continued to explore some of the outbuildings, including the bakery, physician's house, printing office and carpenter's house. 

The cloister community eventually began to decline with the death of the founder, Conrad Beissel in 1768.  The last celibate member died in 1813, but the remaining householders formed the German Seventh Day Baptism Church and continued to live and worship at the cloister until the 1930s.  The village outside the cloister gradually grew, becoming a regional centre of commerce, until the borough of Ephrata was created in the late 1890s.  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquired the cloister site in 1941 and restored and renovated some of the buildings that are seen today. 

Driving Me Potty - The Test

So I finally took my Pennsylvania driving test last week.  I'd booked it online about 6 weeks ago, and then promptly tried to forget all about it until a few days beforehand.

Hubby tried to calm my nerves by telling me it was really easy (he did his before Christmas) and all I needed to worry about was the parallel parking (which was allegedly in a huge space big enough for pick-ups anyway) and stopping properly at all the stop signs...


So the night before the test, I spent half an hour with varying degrees of success trying to parallel park round his car in the driveway.  I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've actually parallel-parked a car since taking my driving test over 20 years ago.  (I prefer to drive around until I can find a space I can park in easily.)  My posh rear-view parking camera confused things, so I stopped looking at it.  Eventually I gave up trying to over-think things, and hoped that things would just go alright "on the night".

So at my allotted time I drove down to PennDot's local Driving Licence Center / Centre. I registered nervously at the front desk with all my paperwork, and was given instructions to drive myself round the back of the building and to wait in the parking bay marked for driving tests.  I'd got there early (as advised to), so I had a good 15 minutes to really wind up the nerves, particularly whilst looking at a coned off area in front of me that appeared to be set up for parallel parking...

Eventually a lady exited the building and sauntered on over to the car with her computer tablet.  She checked my paperwork again, and then asked me to demonstrate my lights, hazards, indicators, windscreen wipers and brakes...  That done, she got in the car and pointed at the coned area ahead, explaining that the parallel park would be first, and then we'd go for a little drive afterwards.  Under the terms of the test, I would have 3 attempts at the parallel park.  Close-up, the coned area looked teeny tiny, and not at all as large or as long as hubby had made out...  Nerves nearly got the better of me, but on the third attempt I parked successfully, and with a sigh of relief (me), and some jottings on the tablet (her), she asked me to drive ahead to the junction.  (Me remembering to stop properly at the stop sign).

Then to turn left. 

Then to turn right. 

Then to turn right again. 

And again.

Then left. 

Wait.  What?  We're back where we started?!  That was barely 4 minutes driving!  I think I passed one other car, and no traffic lights - just side roads in an estate of offices.

She advised me that I had passed the test (one slight caution for not using my indicators whilst parallel parking) and would I please now return to the desk for my photo licence.  And out she got and sauntered away again.

So that was my driving test in Pennsylvania.  Quite scary when you think about it - not exactly thorough, is it, especially compared to a UK driving test?  But I've passed.  Which means Hubby can stop nagging me about the insurance discounts we're missing out on, and I can stop worrying about having to take my driving test again!

Kitchen Kettle Village and a spring-time drive

Yesterday we drove out east and visited a place called Kitchen Kettle Village.  It's about 15 miles away along the Old Philadelphia Pike, in a place called Intercourse (stop sniggering).  Intercourse itself is a small town, founded back in 1754, and was originally called Cross Keys.  We didn't have time to look around the town itself, but will definitely come back to do so, as it seemed to be a hub of Amish activity - lots to see of interest.

Kitchen Kettle Village is a small shopping area filled with lots of small local shops selling good food and local crafts and gifts.  We purchased some lovely goodies, including hand-made fudge (we watched it being made), several baked cookies, a pottery sugar bowl, some locally made jams and dressings, and a framed print of a typical Amish farmstead.  There was plenty to see and admire, including some beautiful quilts and lots of old-style country stores.  They were also offering buggy rides through the countryside, in authentic amish horse-drawn buggies - a little touristy, but maybe something to do in the future (when it's a little warmer?).

Having out-shopped ourselves, we took a scenic drive home through the back roads, slowing down every so often for the buggies, and just to admire the views in the spring sunshine!

 

 

Lovely day out - and the fudge was just too good to resist when we got home!

Bead Embroidery WIP

Ever since I attended a bead embroidery class a few months ago and made a beaded pendant (my new favourite thing), I've been fascinated with the process of bead embroidery, and the possibilities it opens up in terms of shapes and creations.

All my beaded shapes so far have been created on canvas, and whilst I've been able to create some cool shapes and cute figures (imho - see some examples here), I've been a little limited by the canvas squares / pixel designs and the size of beads I'm able to use.  All of a sudden, the ability to embroider free-form shapes, or simply to add more detail to my existing designs, opens up all sorts of possibilities.

But the possibility of freedom in creativity is also a little unnerving, so for a few weeks now, I've been playing around with different designs, trying to come up with "the one" that I think will make a good bead embroidery pattern.  Then this week I finally got fed up with procrastinating, and settled on a design to try out.  Going with the mindset that it was simply to try things out - no pressure to make it perfect - this is a learning process and I'll see how things go along the way...

Since it's spring, and daffodils are pretty prevalent, even in the suburbs of Lancaster, I went with a daffodil design.  And I already had some yellow and orange beads too.  Although obviously it wouldn't hurt to buy a few more... you know, just in case...

So I did a bit of sketching, settled on a design and traced it out, chose some beads, and - eeeek! - put needle to felt...

So far so good - let's see how this pans out...

Portsmouth Dockyards

During our recent trip back to the UK, we also took in Portsmouth's Dockyards and the historic ships.  It's been quite a while since I last did that, so it was good to re-visit and see what's changed.  There is so much to see, from the historic ships themselves, to harbour boat tours and then the recently developed Gunwharf Quays shops and restaurants.

Portsmouth is the UK's only island city, located on Portsea Island (not a lot of people know that).  It has been a significant naval port for centuries (since at least 1200, when it was used primarily for attacks against France!), although the earliest settlements date back to Roman times, and is home to the famous historic ships above, as well as being a major dockyard for the Royal Navy.  At its height, the dockyard was the largest industrial site in the world.

During our visit, we took in both the Mary Rose and the Warrior, viewed HMS Victory from the dock (sadly it's currently undergoing repairs and it's masts have been removed so it looks a little "stunted"), and took a boat tour of the harbour itself, taking advantage of the beautiful weather whilst we could.

HMS Victory - the oldest commissioned warship;
Nelson's flagship which saw battle at Trafalgar in 1805

The Mary Rose is a tudor ship - she was Henry VIII's war ship built in 1510.  She sank in the Solent in 1545, during an engagement with a French invasion fleet just two kilometres from the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour.  The wreckage was rediscovered in 1971, eventually being raised in 1982 (a huge endeavour at the time, which I remember from my childhood).  Since that time, considerable work has been carried out to conserve what remains of the wreckage and the thousands of unique finds from the ship and the crew.  The conservation work is now in its final stages, and the wreckage is uniquely displayed in a specially built museum.  Eventually, the black venting tunnels will be removed so that you will get a full unobstructed view of the remaining wreckage.  Amazing to think that this ship is now over 450 years old...

A huge number of artefacts have also been recovered that give a real insight into life on board the ship.

 

Reconstruction of one of the brick ovens on board on the ship

 

Peppermill and pepper corns

 

Oil and vinegar bottles

 

Next up was HMS Warrior - the world's first iron-hulled warship, launched in 1860.  She was built to counter French developments in naval shipbuilding, and when launched, she was the largest, fastest and most powerful warship in the world, combining sail and steam, wood and iron, to present the greatest advance in ship design for centuries.  Basically, she kept the peace by deterring the enemy.  The contrast with HMS Victory, launched one hundred years earlier, is quite striking. 

 

 

 

It was really interesting to see the huge contrasts between the sail masts and the steam engines on board, the cutlasses and the rifles, and the shells and the cannon balls.

Six hundred men lived on board, divided into 34 messes, each with up to 18 men squashed into the space between two guns. They crammed around the mess table at mealtimes and at night slung their hammocks above.

 

Boiler room - 10 boilers, each with 4 furnaces

 

Finally, we took a boat tour around Portsmouth harbour itself, seeing the sights of Portsmouth from a slightly different angle:

Looking across to Portsdown Hill

The old and the new - HMS Victory sandwiched between two modern warships

Portsmouth Docks and the Spinaker Tower

The mouth of Portsmouth Harbour

 

Two iconic old pubs in Old Portsmouth - the Still & West, and the Spice Island Inn

All in all, a very interesting day out, made even better by the lovely weather!