Seek the Peak fundraising page for Heather McManamay

Seek the Peak fundraising page for Heather McManamay

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Dinner For The Family.

Tonight I fixed the Tater Tot Bake dinner. It was the first time the children had it, and it went over great! {whew!}

Family Display Board.

To go along with all the painting and decorating, I did a major overhaul on Nid's corkboard. Leaving some of his stuff, adding lots of my stuff, a drawing from Caitlin, and our family calendar, it hangs above the dining room table, where we can all enjoy it.

The Walls Match The Decor :)

By decor, I do of course mean the Leicester City Foxes Pennant hanging in the dining room :) (love you honey!)

Painting Is DONE!

Well, almost. We still have to do a built in cabinet in the living room. But I finished the touch ups in the living room, and the whole dining room is done. Took us about 5 hours. Nid did the ceiling first, and then started rolling the walls he could reach without a ladder. I started all the trim work I could do without a ladder. Then he did the upper roller work with the ladder, and I finished up with the upper trim work. It looks fantastic! I am so glad to be done with it all! Yea! And as an added bonus, while we were painting we listened to Keith Urban's concert from the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT on the 8th of May, 2009.

Cooking.

So, tonight I cooked my first meal for Nid. I have ventured into the kitchen in the past only to bake. Kind of. No Bake Oatmeal Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies from scratch, and Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of Betty Crocker. Very basic, very simple, but a little bit of home and a nice treat for us and the children.

The other week, I had Dad send me my recipes of things that I have cooked in the past, and I found all the ingredients (not always easy here in the U.K.). I waited until the children were away for two reasons. One was that I wasn't sure the standard recipe would be enough for four, and that would be bad. Two, because I wanted to make sure that the temperature conversions and everything came out right. Some of the measurements here are not the same as back home. I bought ingredients for two meals. Tonight we had Tater Tot Bake, which is ground beef and onion, tater tots, cream of mushroom soup, milk, and shredded cheese. It came out really well! I served it with sweet corn on the side. Tomorrow we are having Chicken Broccoli Divan, which is just about as it sounds ;)

I am actually looking forward to cooking once or twice a week from here on out! In theory :)

Painting Soon.

Well, the children leave tomorrow for Wales, so that means we have to paint the dining room. It was okay when it was... "when they leave, we'll get to it," but now that they are leaving, I am reminded once again HOW MUCH I HATE TO PAINT! The only blessing will be that we can move all the furniture out this time, and just get it done. No tripping over chairs and climbing over sofas. We can just get it done. This is me giving myself a pep-talk, if you hadn't noticed... Ah well, I'll post more once it's done.

Decorating

Well, now that the paint has been on the walls for a few weeks, and plans to paint the dining room have been made, we've hung the first of our together items on the wall. This is a wooden plaque that I had made for Nid for a wedding gift. It is the first thing you see when you come in the front door.

Jaffa Cakes

Last week Nid brought me home a little treat from the corner shop. Jaffa Cakes. Here is what they look like:

They are quite nice. When I was getting ready to throw the box out, I noticed this on the end of the box:

You do not get packaging like this in the States...
It totally cracked me up!

Support A Great Cause.... And My Sister!

On July 24-25 2009, my sister will be traveling from Virginia to New Hampshire to participate in the 9th annual Seek-The-Peak event to raise money for the Mount Washington Observatory, and she is looking for sponsors for her walk.

When you go to the main Seek-The-Peak website, click on "Support A Hiker" on the left side of the page (orange button). Her name is Heather McManamay, and she and I would greatly appreciate your support for this worthy cause. Donations can be made in any amount, and are fully tax-deductable.

What is Seek the Peak?
It is the annual summer fund raiser for the non-profit Mount Washington Observatory, where hikers from across the region and beyond hit the trail in support of the "Obs". Hikers solicit contributions from friends, family and coworkers beforehand, hike the mountain on the day of the event and celebrate at our awards party, with great food, music, fun and prizes.

Now in its ninth year, Seek the Peak is a great way to get out and experience the White Mountains of New Hampshire, while helping the Mount Washington Observatory along the way.

It is a private, non-profit weather station that does research and hosts educational programs.

It is the home of the world's worst weather, recording a 231 mph wind gust in 1934. MWO sits atop the highest peak on the east coast at 6,288 feet.

Thank you so much for your time and support of this cause.