Wednesday Afternoon
What I have done so far today:
- Been to the grocery store for necessities.
- Tossed the ingredients for another loaf of bread into the bread machine. This one is an experiment. I substituted a cup of light wheat flour for a cup of bread flour in the recipe.. My thinking is that it will probably not rise as high?
- Walked on the treadmill for 10 minutes non-stop. This does not sound like much but this is a manual treadmill which is hard work. I am delighted I can do 10 minutes non-stop! No pauses for drinking water or catching my breath!
- Watched “Cracker” while I did this. I can’t wait to get the next disk!
When I got back from the grocery store, I brought all the bags in and put them at the bottom of the stairs. I knew Fred had already been down the stairs at least once because he had left mail clipped to the outside of the mail box to be picked up. I left the groceries on the stairs and went off to gingerly back my car through the gates and in front of Fred’s car without getting bogged down into a snow drift or hitting either Fred’s or Melanie’s car. When I got back, Fred was starting up the stairs with two bags of groceries, and he had taken the heaviest bags, too. So, I know so far he has done his legs exercises, walked around the table a couple of times and been up and down the stairs twice!
I got a schedule from J. for the next book club meeting for February. Two things pleased me. First, it is at the library which means I can walk there and secondly, the book chosen was the one I suggested which is Brick Lane by Monica Ali. I bought it at the airport coming back from England and although it is not a mystery or science fiction {these are the genres I usually read} I was fascinated by it. It is the story of an Indian girl who is sent to England from India to an arranged marriage with a man much older than she is. I found myself being reminded of my situation many years ago which was similar in that I moved from England to a country in which I knew no one except my husband!
Of course, the protagonist of this book has a much more difficult situation than I had because at least I did speak the language—sort of! English and American English have many differences besides the different pronunciation but pronunciation was the first problem especially since we were living in the South. Right after we moved, I called my seven-year old son into the house and asked him to go to the shop on the corner and get me two tom-ah-toes and he could get himself some sweeties with the change. He went outside to his friends and said, “I gotta go to the store and get some tom-A-toes and I can buy some candy with the change!” He spent the whole of the second grade year beating up any kid who said, “You talk funny! ” Once I remember he and a few friends were crawling under the house looking for something and I said, “Do you want a torch?” They boys looked at me blankly until N. said, “She means a flashlight!” I can see how children learn a foreign language more easily than adults. And, to go back to the book, when the heroine had children, this is what happened to them, too. They learned to speak English by total immersion at school.
Well, time to check on the bread which is beeping. Perhaps I should say the bread machine! LOL
Until later…
The differences in language is part of the fun I had with Jason, that crazy Brit. We poked fun at each other for the different words we used all the time. I sort of liked it. 🙂 (See? he wasn’t ALL bad)
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I put my breadmaker away and haven’t used it in a long time. Don’t know as I remember how, even. Where do you get your recipes??
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Oh, I can just smell that bread. Think tomorrow there will be a good bread smell wafting around inside our house as the snow wafts around outside. They are calling this one an Alberta Clipper. The last one was a Nor’Easter and another Nor’Easter is coming Sunday. ENOUGH ALREADY!
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You probably should say “bread machine.” I’ve made lots of loaves of bread in my life, but none of them beeped! HAHAHAHAHA! That sounds like an interesting book. Maybe I’ll check it out for my Reading Circle.
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Either it is the bread machine beeping, or you make talented bread. 🙂 Good for you on the manual treadmill, and very good for Fred on hauling the groceries up the stairs.
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I don’t care, I love the British terms for things and I use them as much as I can and I have since I have been in high school. I just don’t have the accent to go with it. Damn. But then I think I would rather have the Irish brogue or an Aussie accent. lol I am fickle too, I guess. But an Anglophile ever the less.
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you are doing wonderful to walk on a manual treadmill without a break for 10 mins…. wheeeee, I could never do it!…. I love to hear anyone with an accent speak…. 🙂
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You are so well read- I am curious if you have read a book by an author from New Zealand named Keri Hulme called The Bone People. It is a wonderful book, not an easy read and not a happy book, but a beautiful and fascinating story. It bumped NZ to the top of my list of places to visit.
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I have read this book, i found it interesting, not my usal book at all.
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he does not want me taking it anymore so we can start a family
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I agree about children learning the language faster. Lizzie has a friend from vietnam, he moved here when he was 8. He has a pretty good grasp of the language by now, but I’m not sure his mother does, he usually speaks vietnamese to her, or a mix of both, which is really interesting to listen to. 🙂
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Was it Sir Winston that said “Two peoples, separated by a common language? 🙂 – – – –
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Dear Patrisha, I am betting your bread, with the wheat flour added, will come out just fine! I used to bake bread regularly many years ago — always made wheat or wheat with rye & they did just fine! Thanks for renewing but see my entry today — I did also this morning! We got 2 years now!! Love,Anna
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Thanks for reminding me of things! Carrie started first grade at a British school and the kids teased her about being “that American girl.” We moved back stateside when she was in fourth grade and here they called her “that British girl.” The teasing stopped both times when I went to do volunteer work in her classrooms. I loved all the kids. So glad Fred was up to carrying those groceries for you!
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the bread will not raise as high and be heavier because there is not as much gluten in ww flour.
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Your move here was very, very brave! I am from, what some people consider the south, and I understand what you mean. Now whenever I talk to my family, in the south, I get a giggle out of some of the things they say. I used to talk that way too, and often slip back when I talk to them often. Take care, and have a wonderful weekend.
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