Snowed Again - 15cm So Far - Still Coming

Ever since last night thick snow flakes have been falling.  It's said UK hasn't seen so much snow in 30 years. Today most schools are shut and up to 40% people are off work. We saw cars keep slipping on the snowy road, looking dangerous. It's better staying at home in this kind of days... unless you are a doctor - we saw one trying to get to work on her skis on TV.

Guildford Castle ground is locked, but we managed to take some photos from outside of the gates.

Inspired by the children in their laundry basket skiing down the hill, Brad was trying skiing with his sneakers.

My mini snow man:

Zoe & Us

How cosy do we look with baby Zoe?

 

A New Pair of Merell - Sign of Luck?

I have been looking for a new pair of bush walking shoes for a while and couldn't find any until today. The pair of Merell in the photo is £39.99 - discounted from its original £64.99. I saved £25!

This is not the end of the story. On boxing day we went to the same shop and saw this same design Merell, but they only had size 4, which was one size smaller for me.

Today, on the 2nd day of New Year, we went to the same shop again and there they were, size 5, just waiting for me! These same shoes are £64.99 in another 2 shoe shops 50 meters down the road.

Is it a sign of luck for the New Year? Very much I believe. The right size shoes and £25 discount! I love 2010!

Where to Send Our Kids to School

"...the students learn at their own pace in a supportive environment. The school is run democratically, with the students having as much say in how the school is run as the staff. Decisions are made by voting in a weekly school meeting, where matters ranging from what colour the new carpets should be, to the employment of new staff. The school offers a full range of subjects, and attendance to lessons is negotiated, not compulsory. The school also educates students on a larger range than most schools, and gives students choice in what they can learn. Their interests form a large part of what is offered in the curriculum..."

That is a description to Sands School, an independent school which provides alternative education to kids aging 11-18. It sounds ideal to me and I would very much like my future children to go to that kind of school.

Pity there is only one in the UK at the moment. Not sure if there is any similar ones in other countries.

It's time to have a revolution for traditional education for kids, I reckon.

The Nanny State

Both in Australia & here in the UK people talk about living in a nanny state where rules and laws are brought in for the `protection' of the public.

I can't see yet which country is more of a nanny state as they both seem pretty bad, but have different standards.

The most odd thing in the UK though is that you cannot have a power point or a switch in a bathroom so that you don't electrocute yourself! So you either have a pull cord to turn the light on and where the switch is recessed in the ceiling, or you have the switch outside the bathroom. If you want to blow dry your hair in front of the bathroom mirror - then get a long extension cord!

On the flip side, In the UK I see lots of playgrounds with jungle gyms and even long flying foxes - these were banned years ago and would never be allowed in Australia for the safety of the kiddies.

Looks like both sides of the ocean have their own nanny rules.

Posted via email from The World of Brad and Ying

Salmon Fish

Salmon is one of the few things that are cheaper in the UK than in Australia. The average price is £8.8 per kg. Normally a piece of salmon steak for £2.50 is good enough to feed both of us. Today while doing our normal weekly food shopping, we noticed that they were selling whole salmon fish for half price! That means only £4.4 per kg. The deal is too good to miss, we didn't hesitate and bought a whole salmon straight away. Here it is:

 

The whole fish is 2.1 kg and cost us about £9.50 - that's about 20 Australia dollars.

After quickly watching a Youtube video of how to chop salmon, Brad dissembled the fish into several pieces - 12 decent salmon steaks plus the head and some other small cuts! That will give us at least 8 meals! What a bargain! We love salmon.

 

 

The Difference a Day Makes

High street Guildford on Christmas Day then Boxing Day.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from The World of Brad and Ying

German Style Christmas Market

Evidently German Style Christmas Markets are very popular in the UK and Europe. One weekend of mid December, we visited one in Winchester , 45 minutes drive from Guildford. The market was set in the Inner Close of the magnificent 1000 years old Gothic Style Cathedral of Winchester and was made of over 90 beautiful wooden chalets selling all sorts of nice gifts and foods.

Despite of the rain and cold, people were in high spirit and the air was filled with the aroma of gluhwein and roasted chestnuts. We certainly had a great time exploring the gifts and the different European foods.

 

We are planning to explore some more Christmas markets next year, maybe the Hyde Park one, the Leeds one and the Lincoln Christmas market...

Christmas Lunch

Very untraditional, we had Oxtail Stew for Christmas lunch this year. We found a recipe on the Internet and simply followed it. Despite the length of time it took to cook, it was a quite easy recipe. And above all, it was very tasty! Here is photo of our lunch table:

It may not look that appealing, but the taste was a 1000 times better than how it looks. The sweet potatoes and parsnips were melt inside the stew and only the potatoes and the oxtail survived the 3.5 hours oven "torture".

For desert, we are going to have Belgian Chocolate Pudding. Too full to have it now, we can only show you the packaging (can't open it yet).

Happy Christmas!

P.S.: Guildford felt like a ghost town today as there were hardly anyone on the streets. The ever crowded High Steet was deserted - giving us a great opportunity to look around properly without having to concentrating dodging people.

Our Shared Basement Cat - Tommy

Tommy is a shared cat in our neibourghhood. His other names are "Jack", "Shadow" and more... He used to belong to some students living around the corner, but was left alone when those students moved out. He was called Jack by those students and also by the lady across the road who often feeds him.

"Shadow" is another affectionate name given by the people living in this neighborhood as Tommy simply loves chasing people and walks with them like a shadow as far as possible.

We didn't know Tommy's other names when we discovered him not long after we moved in. He always walks up to us as soon as he spots us, with his tail up high in the air, he says hello. He enjoys a good rub and returns with "purrrrr".

Tommy doesn't belong to anyone now; he is a shared cat in our neibourghhood. Lots of his admirers (including Brad) feeds him and he sleeps with the lady and her family across the road in cold nights.

Tommy likes to sit on our car where the engine is straight after Brad pulls in from a trip. He sits there until the engine goes cold. I'm tempted to buy a big superman coat for Tommy as his Christmas present - mainly to keep him warm in such cold days. But Brad doesn't think he'll appreciate it. Maybe we'll just feed him some chicken instead..