In The Garden...

We had some regular visitors in moms garden that kept us amused as we ate breakfast each morning, this little thrush is beautiful and quite bold there was also a cheeky fat robin that I didn't manage to get a decent shot of.

 And then there were the two squirrels who provided hours of entertainment

 They were forever trying to steal the birds fat balls and bags of nuts, it was funny watching them eventually pull down the bag then make off with it along the fence.

I often think of setting up a bird feeder or table in our yard but I worry about the crows, we have a lot of crows around here and they are BIG and nasty, I really don't want to encourage them.

Ice Decorations

I have been wanting to do this since I first saw it a couple of years ago but we don't get the weather for it here. When we were in the UK it was the coldest December on record, perfect for ice decoration making. We raided moms baking draw and got out muffin tins and silicon cake tins and filled them with coloured water, leaves and ribbon then left them over night.

 The wreath was pretty but would have looked better with red berries I think, the orange bits are Chinese lanterns.

 The smaller muffin tin sized decorations we tied to the tree at the front of the house, my mom was making rude comments until a lady came past and started raving on about how great they are and asked if she could take photos too!

This was a odd one, the blue water was trapped inside the ice but was still liquid, it did freeze solid the next night.

New Years Eve

We spent New Years at Di's and had a lot of silly fun. Di and Rob are music lovers and have loads of vinyl, Ebi-kun has never really seen record before so Rob gave him a lesson of how it all works, at least now he can grasp the concept of a broken record.

Di's friend Sarah came round with her two little ones, her eldest is like a whirlwind and talks sixty to the dozen, I think this was possibly one of the quieter moments, it was cute all three playing together.

 Last time we visited we played 'Rock Band' (I hope I have got that right!) so Ebi-kun decided we had to play again whether anyone else wanted to or not - obviously daddy-ebi was enjoying it just as much as the little drummer boy.

 Once the kids were in bed we had cheese fondue for dinner, it turned into a surreal 70's night with Di donning 'the catsuit' which used to be my grans

 and the rest of us dressed in odd clothes and wigs

 I love this picture of the guys, Daddy-ebi looks ridiculous with a tache. It was a good night in, we had planned to go to the pub in pairs but I am glad we didn't bother, too much to drink and playing games was a much better idea.

He's behind yooooooooou.......

(December 28th)

Panto 101

I think pantomimes as I know them, are primarily a British thing and when you try to explain what a panto is to someone who has never experienced one you always get a lot of strange looks, so for all you lovely readers who have never been to a UK style panto, here is a breakdown of the panto 'rules'.....

They are always put on around Christmas time and for me Christmas would not be Christmas in the UK if I didn't go to the panto. 

The stories are always well known fairytales such as Jack and The Beanstalk, Cinderella, Puss In Boots and in this case Aladdin.

The leading male character is ALWAYS played by a young woman, here is Aladdin himself herself.

 The leading woman is ALWAYS played by a man - usually a middle aged, over weight man at that, ridiculous over the top outfits are a MUST. Here is the stunning Widow Twanky...

 Audience participation is compulsory, lots of shouting and warning the characters when the baddie comes, there is usually a song where everyone has to get up and sing and join in some daft dance and the cast end up in the audience somewhere along the way.

 At some point a member or two of the audience will end up on stage and there is usually a messy scene within the play, although they are not necessarily done at the same time. It was at this show, the guy in the middle was an audience member, there was lots of mess and a silly chase, Widow Twanky and Wishy-Washy fell over and Widow Twanky lost her wig which just made the whole thing even funnier.

Now, I bet you are thinking that this is a play for kids, well you are wrong, a well scripted panto has lots of innuendos and adult humour too so when the kids aren't laughing, the parents are. It is also fully acceptable for the actors to ad-lib, especially if they manage to make the other actors laugh. Widow Twanky was obviously the queen of ad lib and had every actor snickering at some point, never mind the audience.

Most of the bigger theatres have 'famous' actors in the cast, I hadn't heard of any of the cast but these two were from some kids TV programme apparently.

We had primed Ebi-kun with the lines 'He's behind you', 'Ohhh no it isn't' and 'ohhhh yes it is' so it didn't take him long to get into the swing of it. The show we went to see was at the Lyceum in Crewe and it was brilliant, we all came out with sore throats from the shouting, Wishy-Washy stole the show, he was amazing and Widow Twanky played a star role too. A big thank you to mom for getting the tickets we really enjoyed it!

Boxing day...

(December 26th)

Traditionally, Boxing day has been my favourite day of the Christmas season, when we lived at the cottage it was an open house day, friends and family would come round, there would be much drinking, eating, chatting, games and silliness. This year was a much quieter affair. It started with my mom doing a taxi run to take middle brother Daniel to the airport - he was flying out to Spain to meet his ex and then onto the Dominican Republic with her, that is where she is from. They have a very on-off relationship so heaven knows what it is right now! Then it was onto Bury to pick up my other brothers kids and bring them back for a few days. 

The kids had more presents to open, it was like Christmas mark II, we had kept some of Ebi-kuns presents so that he would have some to open too. Later in the day my step brother and his family arrived so it was pretty much a full house. Ebi-kun's older cousin D doesn't handle crowds well, it seems to stress him out and he gets upset and loud, Ebi-kun wasn't really sure what to make of it all. Once everyone had left and the little ones were in bed D calmed down, he spent a age playing quietly with his lego, like a different child.

 M got lots of Peppa Pig toys, I can't see the attraction myself! It was good for Ebi-kun to have time with his cousins, before now it has only ever been a couple of hours here and there, we do get to see them on ichat but it is not the same as actually playing with them.

 The 27th we played some games indoors then took the kids to the Wacky Warehouse so that they could blow off some steam, it was a good choice, it wasn't busy and the kids wore themselves out. Tom and I made it our mission to get a photo of all three of them together in the balls.... we failed! This is the best shot I got and M had run off.

 I think actually Tom was enjoying it in there more than the kids! The drive over to the Wacky Warehouse is only about 10 minutes but Daddy-ebi was driving - the first time to use my moms car, with 3 kids in the back, snowy roads and 7 roundabouts to contend with, each way (we don't really have roundabouts in Japan). The kids behaved themselves in the car and we made it there and back with only one near miss and Daddy-ebi had a large, well deserved beer as soon as he got back :o)

Christmas day

We have a tradition when it comes to opening presents, all the presents are put under the tree then the youngest person goes and picks a present, we read the label and then give the present to the correct person, everyone watches as they open their gift, when they have finished the next youngest person picks a present and so on. Sometimes this system lasts all day or it has even me known to last two days.

Ebi-kun got a complete outfit including a sword, shield and helmet but not a bow and arrow.

 Christmas dinner was lovely, not sure if my mom is sleeping or praying on this picture.

 Ebi-kun loved the Christmas pudding and resorted to licking the plate (allowed on Christmas day ;o) )

 Which thanks to Tom it ended up on his face

 Since the only thing missing from Ebi-kuns outfit was a bow and arrow, Daniel went rummaging in the garden and made one out of a garden cane, so Ebi-kun suddenly decided that Uncle Daniel was alright after all - kids are so fickle!

Christmas night ended with a lot of drunken adults playing quiz night, badly I should add!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at home, final presents getting wrapped and the house was filled will the lovely smell of roasting turkey because mom decided to cook it the day before this year. My brother Daniel arrived and spent most of the time tormenting Ebi-kun and there was some family hoo-haa in the evening when my other brother turned up with his two kids who were supposed to be staying with their mom for Christmas day, that all got sorted and Ebi-kun got to play with his cousins for a while. Since Daniel was flying out to Spain on Boxing Day we decided that the kids could open his presents whilst he was still there.

 Dressing up costumes were a big hit, here is M shouting 'I'm a flying fairy' whilst jumping up and down.

 and here is all three of them, Ebi-kun is the knight (no surprises there), his helmet is modelled out of a one of those bags used for keeping food cool.

 What do you get if you cross a fairy and a pirate?  

this......

 We ordered a Chinese takeaway for dinner and filled our boots then spent the evening getting drunk and reminising about the good old days, it is very rare these days that all of us are in the same country at the same time, let alone in the same house and we can't even remember when we were all together for Christmas last.

4am Ebi-kun woke up with a bit of a nose bleed and suddenly spied that santa had been and that his stocking was filled, we managed to convince him it was too early to actually get up and to go back to sleep. My brothers should be grateful since they were sleeping on the sofas downstairs. We ended up getting up about 7.30am Christmas day.....

Playdate at Hairy Scary's house

(December 23rd)
My uncle is known as Hairy Scary or Hairy Scary Uncle Gra to give him his full title, due to the fact that he has a big beard and he likes to torment and scare the kids - the kids love it! 

He is also a fab cook, an added bonus of spending the day there. My cousin bought her two kids over to play, the boys played together really well,  I'm not sure what they are scheming about here....

They played the usual things that little boys play, trains, cars, building marble runs and of course running after each other screaming at the top of their voices, this is the point where the adults called for a quiet time and they both sat together and watched TV.

Little C was poorly so she was a grumpy little mite poor thing but she did play for a little bit and it looks like the bed head hair style runs in the family...

 M asked if he could play the bouncy ball game and all hell broke loose. The game rules are that the kids stand at the top of the stairs (with uncle Drew as a gate and watchman) and the parents stay at the bottom throwing balls up and the kids throw them back down, there were balls flying everywhere and lots of giggling, a great way to finish off the day, although I am not sure who was more shattered by the end of it.

Dunham Massey

(December 20th)
Mom booked Ebi-kun into a bake and take kitchen experience at Dunham Massey which is a National Trust run hall and deer park. The drive over was beautiful, despite most of the country being at a stand still the roads were fine and the scenery breath taking, the snow was crystallized on the trees and the air icy clear, it was bitterly cold though.

The kids got to wash their hands first and then were introduced to the kitchen servants who told them about the kitchens and helped them put on their aprons and arm protectors.

Then they were all given some pre-prepared dough and they rolled out and cut out cookies, they made one big special one then lots of little ones with the left overs.

Whilst the cookies were in the oven the children were ushered to the butlers pantry where he gave them a lesson on etiquette for when you meet the lady of the house, once they had got the hang of how to bow and curtsy they were taken to the drawing room where they met the lady of the house. There was one little boy, who was really shy to start with but then once he started talking they couldn't shut him up, he was quite amusing.

Once they had all had a chat with the lady they returned to the butlers pantry and he showed them how to make the little boxes to put the cookies in.

It was fun but really cold in there, even in the kitchen where they had the ovens on it was cold. The staff were really funny and stayed in character but unfortunately the rest of the house was closed.

After the baking we went for a walk around the gardens, we spotted 3 little squirrels under a tree and the pond was frozen so all the ducks were getting cold bums! The trees looks lovely but we didn't stay out for long, it had been -18∘C the night before and I think that this was the coldest day. When we left the UK it was declared by the met office that it had been the coldest December on record, probably classes as moderately warm for those who live further north but extremely cold for us! Ebi-kun gave up trying to make snow balls because his hands were frozen so we popped into the stables cafe for a cup of tea and a warm up. Just as we left I spotted this little fellow, he was so fat. like a tennis ball with legs and certainly not camera shy.

We made it!

Yes, we are back. The flight was pretty uneventful, the first flight was delayed because of snow by an hour and a half which was the exact amount of time between our connections, a slight panic and a quick sprint through Munich airport meant that we made it onto the long haul flight, just.

I managed to get a head full of snot the night before we left which made the flight rather unpleasant especially the final landing, I had terrible earache and now know why kids scream their heads off if they have nothing to suck on (I did try sucking a sweetie but it made no difference). Luckily Daddy-ebi picked us up from the airport so I just collapsed in the car and well, pretty much did the same all day today.

Tomorrow is a national holiday so I will have a bit more time to get my head together and sort out the suitcases, then Tuesday I will be back to it, I will re-open the shop, finish off the latest pattern and I have a big custom order to get started on, oh yes.... and there is the BIG news to spill too.

Time to start packing....

wow, doesn't time fly! It is time for me to start gathering all our bits that are scattered around the house and somehow jam it all into the suitcase. Daddy-ebi left a couple of days ago and I deliberately over-packed his case, it was 6kg's over weight and the staff didn't even blink, I had prepared a great speech as why they should let it through too and I didn't need to use it.

We have had a great time, got to see almost everyone and do so many things, now I have to try and get my head back into work mode, we arrive back Saturday and Ebi-kun is back at yochien on Monday, blah, I don't want to think about it lol.

I will have to get back into the bloggy swing of things too, when we first came over it was really hard to turn off the bloggy mode, now it is really hard to get back into it, I am sure once I start going through all the photos I will get inspired again. I also have some big news (for me) that I will share soon....

and a happy new year....

well I hope everyone had a great 2010 and that 2011 will be even better.

We are having a night in with my best mate and her family, cheese fondue and The Logo Game are due to make an appearence so it should be good.

Whatever you are up to, I hope it is a good night and I will be seeing you next year and back into the blogging swing of things soon.

xxx

Phew!

Well we had a great time over Christmas, it is the first time for many years (we can't actually remember when the last one was!) that me and my two brothers have been together for Christmas. There was a lot of drinking and silly stories, Christmas day wasn't too manic since Ebi-kun was the only child, he was made up with all the knight gear he got. Mom did us proud with the Christmas dinner - she proclaims not to cook these days so putting on a full dinner was quite an achievement. Boxing Day (the 26th) mom dropped one of my brothers off at the airport and went with the other to pick up his kids, so Ebi-kun had his cousins to play with for a couple of days. Boxing day turned into Christmas Day mark II since the kids had another set of presents to open.

Yesterday we took the kids to the Wacky Warehouse - a big ball pit place to get them to burn some energy, the weather hasn't been up to much so no outdoor play, it wasn't too busy and after a couple of mad hours they came home rather subdued. Right now, the house is quiet, mom has taken my brother and his kids back to his place and we are just kicking back and relaxing! I am hoping for a good nights sleep, the first night the cousins were here, M went to bed absolutely shattered about 7pm and Papie (my step dad) got absolutely plastered, my mom talked him into going to bed but he managed to wake up M and she then refused to go back to sleep unless she stayed with daddy. The second night she went down fine but woke up in the middle of the night and screamed blue murder, I think the only person she didn't wake up was her dad - who is one of those who sleeps like a log. Hopefully everyone will get a decent nights kip tonight!

I am still having no luck with the photos, so I will write some posts with pics when I get back to Japan.

Daddy-ebi's baggage turned up today so that is one less thing to worry about, the customer service with SAS though is appalling, we flew with them last time and had no problems, can't say the same about it this time!

Right, I think it is time for a wee sherry!

Hurrah!

Daddy-ebi arrived late but safe which is more than I can say for his luggage which is still MIA - last sighted in Germany (he flew via Copenhagen!) Oh well, a good excuse to go and buy some new clothes ;O)

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas and for those who don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a lovely weekend too, see you after the turkey and Christmas pud.....

Oh No!

more snow, we were hoping it would hold off until daddy-ebi arrives tomorrow evening. It looks like the airport is still clear and the main roads are clear, fingers crossed it holds off a bit longer.

We had a lovely day yesterday round at my uncle and aunts, my cousin was there too with her two kids, Max is 3 and Cassie 18 months so the two boys had fun playing together, Cassie was under the weather and spent most of the time clinging to mommy or one of her grandparents. My uncle loves to cook so he put on a good meal as usual, I got up this morning still full!

We haven't got much planned for the next couple of days other than picking daddy-ebi up at the airport, I think some sledging and snowman making is in order. Hope the weather isn't too bad where you are!

A lovely few days

Moms computer really doesn't want to play so I can't upload any pictures grrrr.
We spend the last few days down in Nottingham at Di's house, finally got to meet her little boy in real life, he is such a cutie and a really messy eater lol. Friday we went to Warwick Castle which was great, although the drive over wasn't that great due to the snowy weather. There weren't many other visitors so we pretty much had the place to ourselves, the staff were brilliant all dressed in character and so funny. Luckily Di had won the tickets which was just as well because it is really expensive to go in, I think if you go in the summer when they have the jousting and other events on it is probably worth the money, we had a great time anyway and kept popping back to the great hall to have a warm by the fire.
The next day the girls came, sadly Kerry couldn't make it because her little girl was sick but we started off with afternoon tea, mulled wine and pink fizz before heading into town for a mexican meal. The food was lovely but the service was so slow! Gave us plenty of time to catch up although it must be said that the two non-moms in the group were right wusses drinking apple juice and peppermint tea - what has the world come to?
All in all it was a great few days, it was worth battling the weather to catch up with everyone, I didn't think we would manage it this time with it being so close to Christmas, Di is such a superstar for organising everything and spoiling me rotton whilst we were there.
Most of the UK has ground to a standstill because of the weather, it's not too bad where we are, fingers crossed the snow holds off until daddy-ebi gets here.

It's my birthday tomorrow.....

and this 40% proof tequila, 1% for every year

I am off out for a Mexican meal with the girls

Mexican + tequila + the girls = very messy and very big hangover

see you when I am old and recovered, it may be a while.....

Breakfast With Santa

Still battling the jet-lag! and the computer which seems to be on a permanent go-slow, I'm not sure how well the blogging is going to go whilst we are here, I wanted to put up three pictures for today's post but gave up after waiting forever just for the first one :o(

Anyway, we went to Biddulph Grange to have breakfast with Santa, that is how it was advertised but in reality it was breakfast and Santa comes along later, it could have been organised much better but Ebi-kun enjoyed it. He go to have a chat with Santa and Santa did take his time talking to each of the kids and they got a small present too.

Ebi-kun did say that he didn't think Santa's beard was real! Personally, I thought it was the cushion up the front of the suit that gave it away. Really, you would have thought they could have found a fat bloke to do it. lol.

Biddulph Grange is a house and gardens, now run by the National Trust but when I was a kid the house was a hospital and the gardens pretty much over run. James Bateman who originally built the place set out the gardens as a miniature worlds so you can visit Egypt, China etc and he had appropriate plants growing in each section. As a kid we would climb through the fence and play in the woods, swim in the lake and dare each other to go through the tunnels and old buildings, it was a great place to play. Not long ago someone realised how important the gardens were and the National Trust took over and brought the gardens back to it's former glory. It is worth a visit if you are ever in the area.

jet-lag....

How I hate you!
It was a loooong flight, both flights were delayed, the first for 2.5 hours, oh joy! Ebi-kun managed to sleep for about an hour on the long flight and then completely zonked on the short flight from Frankfurt to Manchester, I had a really hard time waking him up, poor thing. We did however get to ride on one of those buggy carts things at Frankfurt which was fun and much appreciated when I realised what a yomp it was between section C and B.

Ebi-kun has been awake from 1am again, same as yesterday, I have tried to keep him in bed and we have had some amusing conversations...

Ebi-kun: I'm hungry
Me:well your body is confused because of the different time zones
Ebi-kun: I AM NOT CONFUSED I AM HUNGRY!
......
Ebi-kun:actually, I'm not hungry, I am STARVING

so we were up at 5am eating breakfast.

This morning around 2am...

Ebi-kun: mommy, I think that the nights in England are much longer than in Japan
me: agghhhhh go to sleep

4am - I had finally dozed off then there is a whisper in my ear
Ebi-kun:mommy, I want a glass of water
I tried to ignore him but he ended up whisper shouting in my ear agghhhhh

Now it is 6am, we have been up and hour, had breakfast and now watching some rubbish on TV, we have a date with Santa for Breakfast at 10am, I had better fuel myself with more coffee!