Spring is springing

Hi there,

Well today has so far been a day of frantically trying to get back in touch with everyone in the UK who I've been meaning to email for ages. I feel very industrious and not a little square-eyed! I've also put photos of our recent visitors and outings etc on Flickr for everyone so feel free to browse through those.

As regards my previous post, I realised I hadn't filled everyone in on the saga of the parking fine. I have to say I am still utterly ashamed of myself. I don't even know when and where you can and cannot park on my own street!!!! Si and Sara hired a car to get them back to nyc and I went to collect it with them. First though, I took them on a walk through Ithaca on a circuitous route that took us past a) firemen practising their fire-putting-out skills at a burnt out shell of a building, b) past blokes with big machinery carrying trucks sawing huge branches of trees, which nearly blinded us with sawdust and deafened us with noise c) across a massive freeway with a lethal sort of pedestrian crossing that appeared to rely upon people noticing we wanted to cross 6 lanes of traffic and d) through what I can only describe as the closest thing to a " 'hood" Ithaca has got. It's kind of near Fall creek (I think), but maybe further toward route 13(?) which runs out of town. Anyway, we were asked by a "youf" whether we had a cigarette as we passed her sitting on her veranda. I said "no". Resisting the urge to add either "shouldn't you be in school young lady" or "please don't shoot me." Of course I'm exaggerating (always the drama queen). It's just that as the Eddy street snob (wot wot) I hadn't come across some of the other bits of Ithaca before that and it didn't feel as comfortable as other parts of town. (Though I should say that it's nowhere near as rough as some bits of our beloved Newcastle, and not a chav in sight. ) Anyhow, after this wonderful cultural perambulation around Ithaca''s most scenic elements we gradually dragged our aching limbs towards the car hire place. Honestly I swear I didn't know that it was going to be that much of a hike to get there. We were knackered. So anyway, we get the car. Si does much better at driving round Ithaca than me and (despite the a few cases of "Simon, they drive on the right here," "no, Simon the other right") we manage to fill the car up and get back to the house fine. Then we park on the street near the house (along with all the other cars which also line the street on both sides). As I get out I notice a fire-hydrant, don't think anything of it. We don't tend to get them in the UK so I barely register what they are over here. I also find I have to be careful that my car door doesn't hit the metal post outside the door.

As it turns out, had I bothered to look up, I would have seen a nice clear sign at the top of said post that said in big letters and with arrows for idiots "No Parking Any Time." None of us noticed however, and we all went inside. Later, when Si got from the chapterhouse pub, having had a post work beer with Einar, he found he had 2 parking fines totalling about $87! They'd done him twice over! Once for parking next to a fire hydrant and once for parking in a prohibited zone (prohibited, of course, because it was next to the fire hydrant....) Bless him, Si had bought me some flowers to say thanks for having us; but by the time he got to me I'm not sure whether he wouldn't rather have thwacked me over the head with them! (Believe me Si, in your shoes I'd have beaten me to a pulp with those carnations). So there you go. Future guests be warned I do not know where you can and cannot park in Ithaca. I can barely understand road signs. I am in fact a menace!

Still, despite all this we enjoyed the company of all our guests even if they can't say the same! :)

In other news, I have also discovered that it can be hard in Ithaca to get a rounded opinion of the place. Local publications which recommend eateries etc are relentlessly positive about EVERYTHING. While this is understandable, it can be quite hard for example to find which are the good places to eat and the not so good. It can also be hard to find a good hierarchy of which trails are good and which not so good. Einar and I ended up trying a hike somewhere called Connecticut hill recently, that was mentioned in a book I bought. But when we got there it felt so lonely and barren that we got so disheartened we came away and went somewhere we've already been to but know we like! I think we're going to start tapping Einar's colleagues for honest advice on restaurants and trails, so that we know which ones are best to go to. Same with local wineries and wine trails, We can't see them all, so it's be great to be able to make an educated choice; instead of having to choose between descriptions and reviews that say "it's all great, all the time, no exceptions."

What else do I feel like telling you all today....hmmm.....Let's see. Well much as I hate to say it Einar and I are very house preoccupied at the moment. There's going to be so much to do. It's all very exciting! As those of you who I have been emailing will already know, Einar has turned into a home depot addict. He just likes to go there and stroke the 2 by 4 and gaze longingly at drill bits. I end up looking at kitchen worktops and cabinets and we usually leave in some heated discussion about whether or not we should have ceramic tiles on the floor or laminate wood strips. Descisions decisions! Can't wait to get into the house and get started. Oh, and we both hope furture guests are ok subsisting largely on bbq food. We're definitely buying a new bbq and are hoping that if the kitchen is too terrible to manage in (though it looks workable) or if we get too excited and start ripping things out early...(don't look so shocked you can all help. It'll be "fun", Dad, I know how much you live DIY so we'll think of something especially challenging for you,)....then we can still cook using the bbq. Shouldn't think this will happen. But I have a suspicion that leaving a young enthusiastic bouncy Einar alone with tools in his new house may be risky. It's equivalent to leaving a small child alone with a bag of m&ms and asking them not no touch it until you get back. Or leaving your new puppy alone in your sitting room with a variety of feather-filled cushions and chewable valuables. I worry that if I leave the Norwegian in the house alone with any kind of implement, particularly a hammer shaped one, then I would only have myself to blame if I returned to find him standing gleeful and victorious over a pile of rubble that used to be a kitchen.

Right, that's it. I'm getting that blogged out sensation once again so I think it's time to say bye-bye for now. Stand by as I'm sure that there will be more Ithaca news and views on the way in the near future.

Bye!
L x

P.S Tried Hershey's chocolate yesterday. Don't bother. Nowhere NEAR as good as the wonder food that is Dairy Milk, or even, dare I say it, Galaxy.....mmmmm Dairy Milk......... Peanut butter wrapped in a chocolate shell or slathered underneath a chocolate layer on top of a biscuit however, now that's a keeper.