Local food

I had Long Island Oysters as a starter this evening. Very nice.

Sightseeing

I still havent found the beach. Tried this morning but as my gps doesnt have a category for beach I had to rely on my map reading and that didnt work, unsurprisingly. I was close, I kept seeing glimpses of water in between the beautiful houses I drove past. But no actual beech.

So I went to Norwalk where I by chance spotted that there was a boat trip to a near by island at a couple of times a day (Sheffield Island). We barely made a large enough group but that was probably for the best as it made it a very peaceful trip. The island has an old light house on it, very quaint. It was incredibly restful to lie in the shade under a tree looking out over the water. I chatted a little to the others on the trip, two hungarians (I said my one word in hungarian: bor) and a british family with one nice child and one suuuper whingy crying child that luckily fell asleep after an hour or so.

On the way to and from the island we got to see some fantastic sea front villas that made me green with house envy. Apart from the cleaning and gardening and them being very large and dark at night.

Flowers

I left the garden completely full of roses, the climber is more apricot than green at the moment and the other roses have gone mental this year. Lovely. Wonder if they will all be done when I get back in two weeks... Am hoping the lavender out the front will have started flowring, taking over from the purple alliums that are so pretty now.

Living spaces

Two days in I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of admin required for a move. And I have plenty of help so dont even want to think of what it could be like. I spend a good hour by the scanner yesterday and now have a US and UK bank account set up - linked so I can pass money from one to the other for free. God bless HSBC.

I went on a house hunting trip this morning with a very nice Realtor and have found a great place! Its a bit pricey but I am thinking with all the work that needs to be done I will probably only have time for work and sleep so living well will be important. Its about 10-15 min walk from the office and 5-1o min walk to train station. And 5 min drive to the golf course...

Two bed, two bathrooms, washer /dryer in unit and a little balcony. Am now haggling on the start date and trying to get all the paper work done while I am here. I am looking forward to seeing our stuff in there though... The two bedrooms are lovely so have decided both double beds are coming along! The living / dining room is less spacious than we have today so need to have a think about what we bring. Something to discuss with JD when I get back.

Its sunny today so I am thinking its time I tried to find the beach. Shouldnt be a long drive and if I get lost I have gps. As I started the day with a swim in the part indoor part outdoor pool and then breakfast in room while I worked a little I am thinking an ice cream on the beach would make a great lunch.

Moving!

Ok, so we are moving to the US. Its very exciting but a bit stressful.

I am in Stamford this week to meet the team and check out the place. Staying in a nice hotel and work has been fine so far, its day 1 so we will see how rest of visit goes! For some reason I have two double beds in the hotel room, which is nice but a bit unnecessary.

Planning for move is full flow, I have a project plan that I am making more detailed as I find out more. And we have gone through a lot of the house to identify stuff to charity shop. And I have been talking to lots of people about moving, bank accounts, getting car etc etc. I will update as we go along!

conf call no-shows a plenty. Why do I bother.

Asparagus

Please admire the asparagus baby plants in the front of the picture on the right, looking like small pine trees. We bought 3 asparagus babyplants from Wilkos and planted in a pot to see if it would work. Behind the mini pines are the monster potatoe plants JD has planted and you can also see the brussel sprout plants that JD is hoping will bring fruit in time for Christmas.

I have decided to adopt the asparagus plants to Heidi when we move to the US as the are not going to be edible til in two years time. And as she is super reliable I am sure will will be able to restrain herself from nibbling already next year and be patient for the 2011 crop.

Oh, we also have about 20 self seeded tomato plants scattered around the pots. This is after we gave away about 30 plants - tomatoes are insane. And I had to add a photo of the roses just coming out! Summer is here, my garden will soon smell lovely of roses and honeysuckle.

Eurovision bbq

We had a great time! I was France, Heidi was Germany and others came as Sweden, Turkey, Greece, Ireland and Spain. As I like the Norwegian entry I was pleased with the winner, the others quite liked the gyrating hips of the Greek man so they were a bit disappointed.

Busy week

We have had a busy week. JD started his new job on Thursday, I got a job offer and accepted it and I went to a great Eurovision/Birthday bbq. On top of which I have voted (well it will be counted once its posted over to Sweden) and done a bunch of admin to try and prepare for a move. I suspect we will have a busy few months ahead.

Love May

1) Asparagus season in full flow. Get two packs for £3 today at Waitrose. And they are from the county next to us, so quite local.

2) Eurovision - we are having a bbq and I am going as France. Semi finals next week is a must watch as that is where the main horror performances turn up.

Addiction

I have an unhealthy relationship with some authors and series. Right now I am trying to extract myself from Kim Harrison's series about the witch Rachel and the Hollows. The latest book should have been sent to me today as I have pre-ordered it but Amazon just emailed and said unfortunately it wont come until 15-23rd May. I am quite unhappy.

I have tried filling the gap with the latest Sookie book by Charlaine Harris, and while it was great the Sookie books are a bit thin so I finish them in one sitting normally....

Luckly EL has just been here (with J and kids, so full house) and left me some new books. I am thinking I should probably not start them until Sunday when I am back from visiting Jo and Chris as otherwise I might become a really unsociable guest who just want to sit in the garden reading. Or I could just start them the second I get home tonight and see if I get hooked. Again.