Although I have said it many times, the 'What is the biggest difference? question was posed again. "Where are you from?" is followed by a variety of different responses.
My Sunday afternoon was spent swimming and reading. It was bliss. Various people came and went, including Dana! Twice! By the time I came back to the condo, I felt thoroughly refreshed and ready to start the new week.
Someone had been 'grilling' and the smell was rather tantalizing. "Barbecue sounds good", said my husband, when I asked what he would like for dinner. "Do you want me to grill up some burgers?" said I, in response. "Sure", came the answer. "If you don't want barbecue?" Again, the language barrier. When I think of barbecue, I still think of a Sunday afternoon, with burgers and sausages! However, I was happy not to fire up the grill and go and get some brisket, or chicken, or whatever else the 'barbecue' place was offering. We headed out to the 'drive-thru'.
Tornadoes. Tornadoes are one of the answers to the 'What is...?' As we drove along the road, it was hardly possible to see the car in front. Traffic was moving at a crawl. The covered 'drive-thru' did not shelter us from the horizontal rain, and the wind lashed the spear-drops through the window. Most people had decided to eat inside and wait for the storm to pass. We headed home. "Are you going to turn here?" I asked, as we approached the final road that could be taken to lead us back to our house. The visibility had been so bad, Dana had missed the other exits, and it was purely the large, red 'HEB' grocery store sign that alerted me to the exit. The trip that should have taken us no more than thirty minutes, including wait time, on a busy day, had taken us over an hour. The road that we eventually took to get us home was through several 'Creeks' and the dips were already filling with water. Weather warnings were telling us 'Turn around, don't drown', and the main 'road' in our complex was now a shallow river. It appeared that two tornadoes had touched down, both relatively near!
Our barbecue was average, and the portions surprisingly small for this part of the world. "Want me to go out and get you something else?" said my husband. "Go out? In this?" The rain was due to stop, according to his 'weather radar' website, but my eyes, and ears told me a different story. It was Sunday evening, I had done nothing all afternoon, (although I did exert a lot of energy swimming, I suppose,) so the small portion of food was quite sufficient.
Temperatures dropped slightly on Monday morning, and although the rain had stopped, I did not go swimming, as the electricity was still rocketing through the air. Instead, we took off walking to the supermarket to stock up on bagels! The office freezer is used to house bagels! It is only a small freezer, attached to the fridge, so once the dwindling supply has been replenished, there is room for little else! Yes, we eat carbs!
'Let's do take out', is another 'What is .....?' I know things have changed over the past fifteen years, but when I left the coast of Blighty, it was not only not much of an option to go out for dinner during the week, unless it was a special occasion, but 'take away' was generally restricted to the weekend. It is a matter of convenience now. Although willing to prepare dinner when I arrived home on Monday, it was late, and my very caring husband thought it would be so much easier to bring home something prepared, in plastic containers, so that not only did I need not cook, he would be spared the washing up!
Tuesday was an effort! It was a 'half and half' sort of day, (and I do not mean the limpy cream alternative to milk that is used for coffee - at least those who don't mind a bit of fat,) in that it was just on the edge of too cool to swim, but just on the edge of too warm to walk. The dog came with us for the walk, the method of exercise for which we opted, and gave up half way round. Sparks has his own uniqueness, and when he does not want to walk any further, he will lay down. He will lay on his front, then his side and then his back, and 'play dead'. Suffice it to say, I enjoy not the walks with the animal, as we spend most of the time coaxing him back on to his feet. He is going to training school, and after the naughtiest dog got expelled, he took the title! However, I digress! I had planned to make dinner when we got home, but we were invited to an impromptu surprise birthday party. It was Kelly's birthday. Kelly is one of our servers, and her husband had arranged the surprise.
Traffic on Tuesday evening was very bad. Dana and I took the direct route to the restaurant, which was not a good choice! We arrived at the same time as Kelly, but fortunately, she was looking at her phone in her car, and did not see us walk in. Conspicuous in our hats, and with me holding a bouquet, I was sure she would have spotted us. However, we managed to hide in plain sight! We were ushered through to the back, where there were two tables set up. Kelly's son, who works in our office, was sitting with Samantha, Edward and Grant. "Want to sit at the kid's table?" said my daughter. Before we could be introduced to the rest of the people, (about twenty of us in total,) Kelly was duly surprised! Her son appeared not to know most of the people there, and was happy to stay with the children! Two sips of Edward's margarita and I was in the party mood! "Rhyming slang!" I announced, when Grant asked Kelly's son why one of the guests went by two names. "You don't have rhyming slang, so I will tell you how it works!" I could not stop myself. Another 'What is.........?' Tequila! Never having sampled the liquor before moving here, it has become a difference. It has a strange effect on me, and after one sip, my eyes widen. After two, my mouth will not stop moving. After three, nonsense prevails! The person in question introduced himself, before our arrival as, 'AJ'. However, he was introduced to us as Sylvester. "So how does it rhyme?" asked Grant. In order to give me time to think, I explained the concept of Cockney rhyming slang, and how it could be as simple as "Apples and Pears; stairs", or as complex as several different levels. I pontificated. "AJ, far and away. Away and home. Home rhymes with Stalone, and there you have it. Sylvester". The laughter followed the stunned look. "You are making that up. Aren't you?" was responded to with a look of "Who knows?" Dana sat and smiled. My son-in-law further amused everyone on the kid's table with 'the look', he gives his mother-in-law, when he is in despair! I received 'the look' several times, and several times laughter broke out from our corner!
A pitcher of sweet iced tea are two 'What is ....?' I went to Joe on Wednesday morning before going to work, so I arrived later than usual. I then left at 4:30 in the afternoon, so I could prepare for dinner. I swam for thirty minutes, and then hurried up to roll out some pastry for my own version of another 'What is....?' Chicken pot pie is a 'national' comfort food dish, so it would seem, and although the Brits are traditionally known for their pies, and pies in pots, the 'pot' pie seems to be very cultural. With very 'English' puff pastry, made from a very 'English' recipe, I had made the filling earlier, using a rather less than traditional 'English' slant. For example, my mother, and much less my grandmother, would never consider using 'substitutes'. Making 'stew' was a complex issue. Almost as complex and the rhyming slang of AJ's name! Brown the meat, make a roux, etc, etc. I opted for the American way. Cut up the meat, mix with a tin (or can as we say here) of cream of chicken soup, and some frozen veg. Put in crock pot and voila! After I swam, I rolled out the pastry, poured the cooked chicken into a dish, cut the pastry into squares and placed them on top, and put it in the oven. A great 'transatlantic' dish! This was served with the iced tea. The 'What is....?' mentioned at the beginning of the paragraph. I seem to always have a pitcher of iced tea in my fridge. Iced tea? Sorry, we are in the south.....Sweet iced tea! (For a good amount of people who are obsessed with not eating carbs, adding a cup of sugar to a pitcher of iced tea is quite alright!) And when did I start using the word 'pitcher' instead of 'jug'.
Dinner, and dessert (care of a Marks and Spencer recipe book) was a great success. The tea disappeared quickly! There is a slight twist to the tea as well! Everyone enjoys sweet iced tea, but sweeten it even further with 'Robinson's apple and blackcurrant' squash! Another transatlantic explosion!
Up and up went the temperatures on Thursday. Probably the biggest 'What is.....?' as the weather is one of the first thing to which I acclimatised. It is a 'must'.
'What is ......?'. Tacos on a regular basis is probably not the best diet, and I do not generally have them as often as I am offered. Breakfast tacos, lunch tacos, dinner tacos. Special offer on tacos. Tacos are a girl's best friend! Tacos are man's best friend? Diamonds and dogs are second place! After one of the busiest weeks I have experienced, we chose to treat ourselves on Friday night, after work, and went to a 'new' to us restaurant. Fish tacos, brisket tacos, and all sorts of others were on offer, but I chose the trio, two of one and one of the other, and Dana had two meat and one fish, which we took home, as the wait for a table was nearly an hour. We assumed the popularity was because the food was so good. The food was good, but it was expensive, and I pondered on how young the clientele were, and how my parents would often muse on the fact that they considered our choices of restaurant to be expensive, but we considered it to be worth it. My kids do not think twice about paying more that.n we would for a meal. Progress? However, this is not a 'soap box' day, so I shall cease!
I was left to my own devices on Saturday, as Samantha was landscaping her garden. I spent the afternoon by the pool, swimming and reading, and reading and swimming, and not a soul did I meet! 'What is....?' Sitting by the pool!
Breakfast was nice on Sunday. A group of four ladies, dressed rather femininely, took up residence on the table behind us. One spent a long time designing her breakfast. She wore a blue dress with white polka dots, and a white jacket. Completely dissimilar to mine in all ways apart from the navy dress with white polka dots, and a white cardigan. "A woman after my own heart", said I when Dana, smiling, commented on her changing items on the menu. I do it all the time! After breakfast, I contemplated another 'What is....?' I approached the ladies and told them how beautiful they looked. I then said to the lady who designed her breakfast, "And blue with white polka dots, and a white jacket...absolutely classic!" She looked at me, saw my outfit, and laughed heartily. They seemed thrilled at my having stopped to talk. I told them to have a blessed day, and went to go on my way. Dana asked "Who was designing their breakfast?" Three ladies pointed to the fourth, and the fourth raised her hand. "She", he continued, pointing to me, "said that you were a woman after her own heart". I pointed to my dress, and she pointed to hers, and laughter was heard again!
"Did you check the mail yesterday?" Dana asked as we came home on Sunday. I told him that I did, and that the postman had not taken my 'outgoing'. "Did you put the flag up?" he asked, and then explained that the mailman knows there is outgoing mail if the 'flag' is up. This was an actual 'What is....?' that is not! Strangely enough, in the seventeen years that Dana has lived here, he has not noticed that our mailbox does not have a flag. In fact, it merely has a flap! It is like a box with a lid! I told him that it was one of my biggest disappointments (and this goes to show how easily I am disappointed, but at the same time, how easily I would be pleased) as my 'mailbox' was not traditional. I was quite excited (and this is the easily pleased bit) when I moved out here, and thought that instead of retrieving my post from the mat, as I had been used to doing for over forty years, I would now go to the box, pull down the opening, and put the flag down. "Would you like me to get a new mail box?" he asked. What a guy! I smiled and thanked him. He did not need to do that. After all, it was only a mailbox.
The rain poured when we got home, but I went for a walk to the top of the hill and back. I am hoping that there is less wet weather this afternoon, and that I can continue the facade of being a lady of leisure, by implementing an item on the list of the 'What is....?' criteria!
Next week is going to be slightly different. Appointments altered, appointments made, and celebrations of an English variety. Am I going home? Not yet. What is it all about? I suppose it could be said, "'What is.....'it?" Stay tuned for .......... another story!
No comments:
Post a Comment