Over the river.......

.....and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go....."

Despite living in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, we have spent the week partying it up and talking about the Mayflower!  We started last Saturday at a dinner with our friends Tom and Linda Bartlett.  Tom is American but lives in England with his British wife Linda and their two teenage children.  A few of the other guests were ex-patriates and it was interesting to hear their perspective on living in the UK.

 One of the tables at the Bartlett feast!

Linda, one of my new British friends

The Teen Table

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, the parents of my class surprised me with presents, cards and flowers.  Colleagues also brought gifts.  I feel so grateful to have landed in such a welcoming and kind community!   I led a school-wide assembly to talk about the origins of Thanksgiving and how Americans celebrate today.  Then all of the classes participated in Thanksgiving activities.

 Turkey making

 Indian corn project

 Trying pumpkin pie

 Measuring out the Mayflower

Classic art from the four year olds in Reception

 Lots of handprint turkeys and Indian corn art!  The older students even created an outline of the Mayflower using exact dimensions.  My mom, "the Amazing Nana", made enough pumpkin pie for my entire class and all the staff of Bliss to try!

The local paper came and took photos.  Here's a link to the article:   Chronicle Article

And this past Saturday we hosted our own Thanksgiving.  It was fun to share the holiday with new friends!

 Sarah, Av and Jacqui hang out on the couch with me before the big feast.

 Teens take over the kitchen!  It was fun to watch Abbie's friends try pumpkin pie for the first time!

 The Nana and Adrian prepare the turkey.  Adrian is looking like a character out of "Texas Chainsaw" with the electric carving knife.

 Tim, Sarah and Av

 Beaver Cottage is a little small, but everyone was happy to make the most of it!

 Adrian, The Nana, Gillian and Tony.  Tony was a Fulbright exchange teacher to Maine in the early 80's.  He and Gillian, and their two sons, lived up near Gardiner.

Celebrating with Melissa and Dave.  Melissa works with my as my teaching assistant - I couldn't run my life without her!  When I count my blessings I count her twice!

We had a wonderful dinner!  And, naturally, we are still eating left overs!

At my Bliss assembly I shared this song by Mary Chapin Carpenter.  Beautiful lyrics and some lovely images.......

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Oh when the Saints......

...come marching in, oh when the Saints come marching in....."  

Last Friday night I found myself singing at the top of my lungs, cheering on the local rugby team - the Northampton Saints.  Darren & Clare Ball, along with their three sons, were our hosts for the evening and they tried in vain to explain the rules of the game.  I don't think we ever really understood, but we had a fantastic time!

This is my favorite play.  I forget what it's called (even though the boys told me about a million times) but it involves lifting the player up into the air to catch the ball.  Then they drop him like a stone and keep playing!

 The Nana, Abbie and some rugby fans!

 More of my favorite sports fans.

 Hanging out before the game.

The rugby match was a very family-friendly atmosphere.  For about an hour before the game a very social but orderly crowd chatted outside the stadium, enjoying food and the games that were set up for children.  They had a giant slide and a bounce castle, and Bernie the mascot dog was visiting with everyone.

 Trying on the Saints colors (or "colours", depending on which side of the ocean you're from!

 Sono un gnome

 With Bernie, the Saints mascot.

 Waving the rugby flag!

 At this point in the game I believe there were at least three medics on the field.  And they were STILL playing.  "Just hand me back my arm and I'll get back to the game"   "A mere flesh wound!"

 This is a "scrum".....I think.  It's the part of the game where they push each other until someone gets trampled and someone else takes the ball.

This is Ben, one of the assistant coaches of the Saints.  Part of his job is to go to schools and teach children rugby.  He was working with my students and he has the patience of........well, a saint.

Despite our lack of knowledge of the nuances of rugby we had a fantastic time.  To find out more about The Saints you can click on here:   Saints Home Page

Remembrance Day

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.
 Dwight D. Eisenhower

                                                  

It is Remembrance Day here in the UK and Veteran's Day back home.  The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month......marking the end of the First World War...and this year there is an extra eleven as we are in the year 2011.

While poppies are sometimes sold in the US, here in the UK almost everyone has been wearing a poppy for the past month. On Friday all of the students at Bliss Charity wore red clothes instead of their regular uniforms to observe the day.  And we had a school-wide assembly and participated in a national two-minute silence at 11:00am. During the assembly the headteacher played a video that contained the lyrics to a song that my son Ian had me listen to years ago.  Here's the version by Boston's Dropkick Murphys that Ian shared with me......it makes me cry every time.....



Most towns and villages here have a monument to the sons and daughters who served in the British Armed Forces.  Many of these stone crosses were begun as WWI monuments and have sadly needed to serve continuous duty to include the names of those from other wars.

The Nether Heyford war memorial sits right outside our house.  On Sunday a parade of villagers started at Bliss Charity school, marched up to the church for a remembrance service and then back down to the memorial for a wreath laying ceremony.  It seemed as though the whole village had turned out to participate in this tradition of acknowledgement and respect.

The Nana made poppies to decorate our windows.  They looked great and it was a nice touch since our house was right at the memorial.

In 1950 my dad, Neal Bertolone, dropped out of high school and joined the army.  Months later he found himself in Korea.  His Army unit of 125 young men were some of the first soldiers to arrive.  When this "police action" ended in 1953 only five of them returned home.  And the 38th Parallel was the same as it was in 1949.

My dad never spoke of his experiences in Korea.  And the questions that I have now are 23 years too late.  So today I remember my dad and all the other soldiers whose lives are forever effected by stories they would rather forget.

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Penny for the Guy

 Abbie, The Nana and I participate in Bonfire Night

"Remember, remember the Fifth of November......." 

 This weekend we headed up to York to celebrate Bonfire Night with our friends Ann & Adrian Bradley and their family.  Guy Fawkes - a name that lives on in British History as the villain in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 - is burned in effigy atop a huge bonfire and fireworks fill the air.

Since the British actually celebrate all weekend long, the drive up to York Friday night was spectacular - we kept seeing huge bonfires and fireworks off into the distance.  Saturday's bonfire was one of the largest I've ever seen.  There were two scarecrow-ish Guys with pillowcase faces lounging at the top of the pile in old, wooden lawn chairs.  As the fire burned higher and they burst into flames I looked around at the crowd of people.

 I didn't see any V masks!

But I did see loads of multi-colored, light up mohawk wigs and spinners!  And the fireworks were impressive!  Some of the best I've ever seen.  Rock music was blaring from outside speakers and food was being sold from tents.  Abbie had a candied apple and I bought some "bonfire toffee".  Yum!

For years my brother Mike has had a bonfire at his farm every October.  He burns the brush that he's cleared all summer, and usually there's a pretty good sized pile.  Everyone stands around with a beverage, and tells incredibly bad jokes.  In fact, we tell the same bad jokes year after year. It's gotten so that the past few years we only tell the punchlines.  Everyone still laughs.   So, next year I might need to add a Guy Fawkes effigy to the top of the pile, and maybe we'll set off some sparklers!

To learn more about Guy Fawkes and his plan to blow up Parliament click here:  Guy Fawkes