An update of my plans

I know it's been a while since I last blogged, but the truth must come out sometime.

After much deliberation, I have decided to stay in the UK. This was a very hard decision to make, but it was one which I felt was a very wise one. I had completely and utterly ran out of money and literally could not afford to stay in the States, even with my job at blockbuster.

This is not the end however, in the next few months I will be working my butt off in order to raise enough money to return to America for one last round before I go to university in September. I will be back to see everyone and my visit will include a trip to the East coast as well as some other states I haven't visited in a while.

I know I will have let some of you down by choosing this, and for that I really am sorry. But I stick to my decision and deeply look forward to seeing you again before the summer.

September 29th - October 29th: Another month in pics and vids.

WARNING!!!!
This video contains footage of me dancing and looking like a total loon. I wanted to include it because it's incredibly funny and it will be useful as future blackmail to someone who wishes to use it that way.

Have a good one guys!

STAR WARS IN CONCERT!

Ok so yesterday me and my friend Valerie went to see "Star Wars in concert" at the Key Arena. This concept is completely new to some people so I will explain.



Anthony Daniels (who as we ALL know, played C3P0 in all six Star Wars movies, though in my opinion there's only THREE Star Wars movies) hosts the event. And takes us through the entire storyline of Star Wars, starting from the innocent young boy Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace, to the crush of the empire at the end of Return of the Jedi. After he does a small bit of narration, there is a very well edited and constructed video clip with clips from the movies that show what he has just narrated. This is accompanied (sp?) by the popular theme music composed my John Williams and played by The Star Wars Orchestra (Obviously a group of pretty talented musicians)



Around the arena was the Star Wars exhibit featuring real life costumes and props from the movies, along with concept art for darth vader and other members of the sith like darth maul. It was so crowded me and Valerie could hardly get in let alone take some pics, but we got there in the end.



It was BLOODY brilliant and dare I say it, slightly emotional. We all know John Williams is a genius, but to hear his music in such crisp, clear sound was pretty choking. The final piece of music which was the original theme did actually make me cry, the way that piece finishes on that last crescendo chord really did get me. STAR WARS FOREVER!



The video was fantastically edited, and it really did remind me why I fell in love with the Star Wars franchise. I am going to buy the movies when I get back, I have to. Obviously I bought some merchandise (You only live once I though to myself) but even with my boba fett T-shirt and Star Wars coffee mug, I will never forget this experience. It was amazing. I am a true Star Wars fan to the end.

And I HAVE to end with this. "May the force be with you, always."

New Roommate!

Well I have some exciting news regarding my apartment.....


I have a new roommate!

Millie the cat moved in today. She is Susie's cat but I am "renting" her for my visit here. Things have definitely brightened up since she has moved in. I now have something to come home to, which is always very rewarding. She loves sitting in her cat tower overlooking her domiscile with an air of slight snootiness.



Millie is settling in very well to her new place and both of us are benefitting from the change. Things aren't so boring anymore and at least I have someone to talk to on a regular basis! I was starting to go crazy talking to myself all day.

Some borrowed amusement.

So I wanted to blog something today but nothing has happened worthy of blogging recently. So I nicked this quiz thing off my sister's blog. Time for some rubbish, ah well, it filled the time.

10 years ago... October 1999. That would make me eight and starting year 4. I don't remember much about it, but I know that was the year we had Mrs Corrigan as our school teacher. Despite the fact I hardly ever talk about her, she was one of my favourite teachers. We read the BFG by Roald Dahl in school and they was she read it out loud made it come to life completely. That's why the BFG is my favourite book to this day.

5 years ago... October 2004. Mmmmmm, unfortunately, I can't remember anything about that. :(

1 year ago... I had just dropped out of the Mikado after it proved to be too much and instead struggling desperately to get my History work on trade unions and Nazi Germany done before I dropped it in November.

Yesterday... Played some Pokemon, got my entire team up to level 30 FINALLY. Gonna beat Maylene after my comp time!

Today... Got up at 6 and died because it was so freezing in my house. My heating doesnt work and everyday I wake up I'm a snowcone. Had a quick breakfast and made a plan with my friend to see a movie tomorrow. Going to play some pokemon and call up my supposed place of work to see what the hell is going on with my application later.

Tomorrow... Saturday...Going to see "Surrogate" - A thriller starring Bruce Willis. It's very much like "I, Robot" apparently and meet a friend for lunch in Everett.

5 snacks I enjoy... Popcorn, pringles, chicken nuggets, taquitos and ritz crackers.

5 bands that i know the lyrics of MOST of their songs... Definitely ABBA, ummmm I can't really think of anything else.

5 things I would do with $100,000,000... Buy a house for me, buy a house for my sister, make sure my parents had enough to keep them going, give a whole bunch to charity, and then go on a shopping splurge. (Had to copy Jules' answer on this)

5 locations I'd like to run away to...Susie's first farm at Sedro Woolley, The Seychelles, Kyoto, Peak District.....ermmm that's all I can think of.

5 bad habits I have... Worrying incessantly, belching like a man, singing very loudly to every song on the radio, Giving up too easily (But that's changing), beating up furniture, eating out of boredom. (Ok, so there's six there, but I don't care)

5 things I like doing... Playing the guitar, Video games, learning something new, Writing, Eating.

5 TV shows I like... House, Bones, CSI, Family Guy, Manswers.

5 movies I like... Jurassic Park, Die Hard, Spongebob, Miss Congeniality, The Mummy.

5 famous people I'd like to meet... Hugh Laurie, Melina Kanakaredes, Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard and Gary Sinise.

5 biggest joys at the moment... Pokemon, reading about philosophy and psychology, hot chocolate, Shark shaped chicken nuggets and Lily Allen's latest album.

August 29th - September 29th: Another month in pics and vids

Three down, nine more to go and LOVING it!

Movie Recommendation:- "9"

I went to see a very good movie today.



It's called "9" and it's movie that Tim Burton had quite heavy influence in developing. Danny Elfman is also to credit for composing the music. Normally with this duo, it is hard to go wrong.

And once again in my opinion they did not disappoint.

9 is a completely CG movie, as a matter of fact, it's the 4th CG movie ever made to receive a PG13 rating ahead of Beowulf, Final fantasy - spirits within and Kaena: the prophecy. It is also the second animated film released by Focus Features after Coraline (Which, we all know, was bloody brilliant too!)



So basic plot overview for you people without giving anything away.

"When 9 first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world where all humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they'll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them." - Written by Focus Features

I LOVED it. It explored basic human fears and tendencies, such as the pursuit of discovery how far we can go with machinery and technology before it gets too much out of our hands and brings about total world destruction. The voice actors were brilliant, using the talents of actors such as Elijah Wood, John C Reilly and Christopher Plummer. The art and specil effects are completely unrivalled, using the cutting edge of digital graphics and high definition imaging to create a crisp clear image. The move was not too long, running at 79 minutes long and it even seemed to invoke my own personal feelings and opinions about the issues it was bringing forward.

Overall, a most enjoyable experience and one I would throroughly recommend.

All moved in!

Welcome to a guided tour of my humble abode in my latest vlog. I have been in here for three days now and even though it is INCREDIBLY lonely in here, it's really nice to have your own space and cook your own meals.



I tell you, this trip is really turning me into a smart, well centered individual, I have learnt so much over here.

By the way, with my new diggs, it is now impossible to access the internet normally, I have ride in to Snohomish everyday and use the computers in the library, therefore I cannot stay in touch as much I want to, just to let you know.

And also....it breaks my heart to tell you this....but there might not be a monthly slideshow this month. :(

Some overdue funniness.

Just a little quickie today before I head off for a snack but I thought I would share this little tantalising piece of humor with you.

We went to buy some stuff for my new apartment today (Which I am moving into tonight) and we passed a business that was currently up for sale. The realtor was "Mark Shite"

Now I'm sorry, but how could you NOT laugh at something like that? I was in hysterics for ages. He should have a son called Jack.

Lolz, fun times :)

Something beautiful and at the same time, very painful to watch.

I saw something amazing today.

I saw a birth.

From start to finish.

Even better than that, I caught it on video.


I dare you not to wince as you watch it.

An unexpected miracle

While stacking the firewood today I stopped inside to grab my breath and a cup of tea, but stepping outside I noticed a tiny bundle of joy in the process of being sprawled out on the pasture! Being home alone, I was completely terrified, I wasn't sure what to do or even if there was something that needed to be done. I called Susie and she said not to panic, just stay there and let it happen, if Irene (the mom) needed any help she would let me know. So I stayed and watched the fireworks.



This video is a collection of three separate vids I took whilst looking after it, the focus is a bit off on most occasions but it's still worth a watch.

Welcome to the world baby boy!

An update of my plans here.

As quite a few people are aware, I have been hitting problems here and sometime struggle to remain positive in the current situation I am in.

BUT that's not going to stop me. I am going to keep going and change the situation here. This is just a stumbling block and I am determined to succeed and stay here until June. It's gonna happen.

Just thought I would let you all know. I'm gonna do this!

Introducing Zeph's baby girl!

we had a baby in the night two days ago and I want you to meet her!

A VERY AMAZING THING, SERIOUSLY!

So I was job hunting in Snohomish yesterday, and popped down to 1st street which is the antique district to see if I could find some kind of small cafe that had vacancies. Instead I found a little cute shop called "Everything Tea"

It was very aptly named. It sold teapots and mugs and just about every loose tea you could imagine, but as I explored the very back of the shop I noticed something that made my heart hammer.


TEA! Yes, REAL tea ladies and gentlemen, not just bog standard British tea, but YORKSHIRE tea and PG tips!

This has to be the best discovery ever made since sliced bread, no more crappy American Lipton for me!



Today's been a good day.

Happy 19th Birthday Jenny Baby!

Today marks the day of my best friend's birthday. She is now 19 and I can honestly say that it is killing me not being able to celebrate her birthday with her.


For all of you that do not know how much Jennifer Rebecca Ingram has changed my life, this is a music video dedicated to her, complete with pictures and short video clips, this video contains pictures from the first time she came to my house in 2000, to the most recent social function we had, the leavers ball in June 2009. This video only shows a small slice of how much Jenn's fun loving, optimistic and outstanding generosity has changed my life and made me really see life in a completely different way.

Jenn, from that first awkward day of meeting you in town to this present day, I am so proud to be one of your friends, and feel completely blessed to know you. Have a fantastic birthday and please accept my most profound apologies that I can't celebrate it with you.

I love you babe!

EDIT: Stupid youtube wouldn't let me upload the music which was the friends theme tune so I had to pick some shitty teen punk song from their selection, sorry :(

Two down, ten more to go...

Here is my latest monthly vid for July 29th - August 29th.

Happy birthday Mom!

RESULTS!

Well the day has finally come, and I must say I was terrified. When I got back from farmy work I had a nervous last meal of brownies and milk.

And what quickly ensued was a pensive wait at the laptop, waiting for the email from Mr donajgrodzki with my results attached.

AND THEN THEY FINALLY CAME!

So yeh, my results are here! And School is finally over, that's it. It stops now. It sucks. I want to go back to Schooooooooooooooool! But anyway, it's still really good fun to have my results. I'm proud of myself and everyone.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Glasses!

Today me, Mollie and Caleb went back to Lynnwood to collect my eyeglasses from the opticians. I was very excited. In my opinion I don't think they look that bad.

Now I can honestly say I am a geek, the glasses complete the package!

In loving memory of Scamp: January 1998 - August 2009.

It is with a lot of tears and a heavy heart that I write this post.

On the 11th of August, 2009, Scamp lost her battle with Mast Cell Cancer. She was afflicted with a terrible infection that her suppressed immune system could not fight off. She has left this world and transcended into a place with no pain and no suffering.

Scamp was not a "dog" or a "pet" to me, she was, and always will be, my best friend. She knew exactly what to do when I'd had a rough day at school, she would put her paw on me and lick my arm and even though she could not directly talk to me she communicated her feeling and thoughts. We connected, we fit, best buddies.

She gave me the time of my life, I will never forget trying to hold her still in the car when we picked her up from the home, or coming home from a trip to Alton Towers and discovering all the kitchen furniture had been shredded. Who can forget her cheekily sneaking apples of the neighbor's tree and scoffing them before we could notice or her "mad dog" sprints through the house?

Every moment spent with her was pure gold, she made my childhood. She became a local celebrity at my primary school whenever mom had to pick me up, everyone who met her just loved her, she was one of those dogs that would not hurt a soul.

She truly was one of a kind.

I never got a chance to say goodbye to her before she was taken into the vets to help alleviate her suffering, and though that kills me I take comfort in knowing that the moments we shared together will never, EVER be forgotten.

Rest in piece Scamp, my beautiful, beautiful friend.

Today's events.

Well today was definitely a very productive day, we got some serious things done.

Today me, Mollie and Caleb went down to Lynnwood to get my eyes checked and also to apply for my own social security number which would mean I could get a job and open a bank account in the United States. I was very excited to finally get a sight test after everyone told me I needed glasses.

After my sight test the eye doctor told me that I was far sighted and had an astygmatism in one of my eyes (Meaning that the eye is shaped weirdly) this accounts for my appalling night vision apparently. She said that glasses would be the best route.

So I then spent ages going through frames and trying them on in the mirror, making sure that I got the right ones and wouldn't look too much like a dork, after finally settling for a pair of blue frames, I paid at the counter, and was told to collect them within 10 working days.

After that we were feeling kinda hungry, so we went to alderwood mall to have something to eat at the food court. While Mollie went to get the pizza, I sat with Caleb at the table and was the victim of many people pointing and giving me funny looks, they must have thought he was my baby. Weird.

Apres avoir mange we drove to the social security office with all of my needed paperwork and waited in line for an hour. The queue was HUGE, but finally my ticket number was called and I mentioned how nervous I was as I'd never applied before, but the lady typed in my passport number and said I did have a social security number after all.

Apparently, mom signed me up for one when I was 5 (Thanks mom, it would have saved me SO much time to already know that) and all I had to do was update my contact information and that was it.

So I'm now legally entitled to work in the US, finally!

Anyway I'm totally beat from today's events so I must depart.

Please support my best friend in her time of need.

I have been keeping this from you for quite some time now, but my dog Scamp is in a lot of trouble. On July 30th 2009 Scamp was diagnosed with terminal mass cell cancer. She is undergoing chemotherapy but even so, this is Scamp's last stand. I will never see my dog again. You have no idea how painful it is knowing I have to live with that.

Please keep up to date with her last few months of life as she fights to live with such a malignant disease. For more information, go to her blog page:

http://scamp-theblogdog.blogspot.com



It's so much easier blogging about it rather than talking about it. It's too painful otherwise.

Thankyou.

The Blue Angels

Well today was the last day of seafair. Unfortunately, I missed all of it partly because I completely forgot and also I had no time to go there anyway. The last day is celebrated by an amazing performance by "The blue angels" a group of six fighter planes from the US Navy. They do amazing stunts over Lake Washington for about 45 mins.

Well me and Denise and her friend from Vancouver (Lisa) travelled down there in the car and after hours of finding an appropriate place to watch them from we found a little neighborhood that looked out over the lake.



The show was AWESOME, seriously, it was the best stunt airshow thing I have ever seen, and the planes were gorgeous.



All in all, a jolly good show!

In appreciation of Strongbow

We were out shopping today and GUESS WHAT WE FOUND!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, Strongbow in all it's beautiful appley glory.



Honestly, today has been one of the best days ever, (minus me being sick and puking everywhere this morning.)

The beauty of the P-Patch.

Well as you know, I am currently on vacation with Denise.

Today we went to a "Pot luck" at Denise's P patch (Allotment) which basically is an evening where all members of the P patch and their families are invited to bring a food dish and then we all have a communal meal.



It is absolutely GORGEOUS there, there were so many flowers and vegetables and plants over there. What makes it so special is knowing that no chemicals of any kinds are used on them, and they taste SO much better for it.

A VERY EXCITING THING. HONESTLY

Well I have a gift for people.

I've written a song, my first ever REAL song.

....

Wanna hear it?

Ok then.


There is a really weird gap towards the end where I screwed up and had to re-record a bit of it, so apologies for that.

Introducing the first of 12 monthly slideshows....

This is a collection of all the pictures and vids I have taken this month, put together in one neat package for all of you to enjoy.

so ENJOY!

Seattle reaches the record books with the highest temperature for Seattle in its history.

Today was a COOKER. Honestly, it was just obscenely hot. In fact, the news channels over here are completely raving, saying that Seattle has broken its all time highest temperature record.

Today it was 102 degrees, that's 40 degrees celcius.

YEOWCH!

And if that wasn't bad enough, instead of staying inside and keeping cool, I was outside working all day on the fence line, I've taken three showers and nearly fainted twice, drank a ridiculous amount of water and just sweated it out again. Great.

The heat is wreaking havoc EVERYWHERE in Seattle, with the state capital, Olympia, reaching 104. There have been forest fires, power shortages, worries about the water supply and freak lightning storms everywhere.

You think it's hot and sunny over there? Try this place on for size, through the night it's still going to be in the upper 80s, which means no sleep for me at all.

HOORAY!

In loving memory of my Ipod.

Today I did something rather stupid, in fact, it was so dumb I wish I could turn the clock back just a few minutes to prevent it ever happening.

It was THAT stupid...

I put my Ipod in the washing machine.


Not on purpose I should add, I just didn't check my pockets and ended up washing away a good oh...150 quid.

It does not work, and I've lost all my music. I was planning on upgrading anyway, but how am I going to get all my songs on it? There's no point. I have to look forward to a bleak year with no music.

It will be sorely missed.

New song and a birthday greeting!

Hi!
I know a lot of my blog has been videos, this week I simply have not had the time to sit down and write anything about what I've been up to.

We have been putting up fences around the entirety of Susie's property. This may not sound like much, but it's the most work you will ever have to do.

Seriously.

Anyway, today is Julia Hedges's birthday! She is 21, gosh, it's nearly time to start thinking about a pension you old timer!


And another song I recorded yesterday for you all.


Have a great day Jules!

Song time!

Just did some recording today while Susie and Rex went to collect the chickens from the second pasture.



This song is dedicated to my very best friend Jennifer Rebecca Ingram. It's our song Jenn!

I miss you....

:(

Carnival time!

Well halfway through driving to the second pasture today I got a call from Lloyd asking if we wanted to go to the carnival in Harvey field tonight. I of course leapt at the chance, when we finally got over there it was TINY.

Seriously.

I'm talking about 6 rides max.

Ah well, there was one ride called the sizzler that just span round and round and round. Me and Lloyd's wife Mollie decided to go on it, cos it looked so fun.

It was fun actually.

The next awww moment we had with Caleb was when Lloyd took him on the carousel, he seemed to enjoy it, even though he got slightly frustrated at the fact that it clearly was not a real horse. But it seemed to suffice.


After that we went back to Lloyd's and Mollie's where we played in the yard for a while until it was bed time. Caleb kept passing me the ball and then squealing with glee when I threw it away again.

He's so darn cute.

Go Caleb go!

Well today was a very slow day. As a consequence, I spent most of my day like this.


But at around lunchtime Lloyd's wife Mollie stopped by with their son Caleb. Caleb loves the machines and wondering around the shop, where he discovered the ladder. It was as if he had been climbing ladders for years, he instantly approached it and started climbing it.


It was very impressive


And he seemed to really have a lot of fun doing it

Working with Marie

Well today was a hard job and a half. We've been working on the babies trying to get them halterbroke in time for the fair. Marie seems to be doing a good job with me but she is incredibly stubborn.

I finally got the chance to pet on Marie and brush her. She was reluctant at first but when I started singing to her she calmed down.


Susie also attempted to take Veronica for a walk with moderate success.

Second Vlog is now up and running!

Hi guys!
Here is the latest blog that I recorded this morning for you. It introduces two of the cows, Sprite and Shannon, and also gives you a good look at the babies.

Have fun and enjoy your summer!

Cows, how I adore thee.....

Today after work we went back to the cows and I was able to pet on some.






It was really good fun.

I'm very excited because we're looking into me volunteering at a local wildlife center that looks after bobcats, eagles and deer. If it pans out it's gonna be SO awesome!

Feeling hot hot hot!

Today we had another day off from work at the lot. And I was under the impression that it would just be a simple move of the cows from Sedro Woolley to Granite Falls. Today was just BOILING and we had the luck of having yet another lie in. I stayed in bed until 8!

I had another gourmet breakfast of eggs, sausage patties and plain yoghurt with chopped strawberries . We took a while to get going to Woolley, it's like an hour and half drive. The drive was very pleasantly scenic, we passed a red truck with a huge stars and stripes flag staying "Support our troops, we're winning! Political correctness will end the world before we do"

riiiiight.....

When we arrived at the old farm, the heat was already pretty high. Luckily I was adequately armed with a baseball cap and shades. I was under the impression that all we were doing was moving the four remaining cows in the old farm to the second pasture in granite falls. This was actually a completely different story as Rex was expecting us to load the two pickups completely full of all of the remaining stuff left in the chicken house and the barn, and the sixteen foot fence panels enclosing the cows.

I wasn't feeling well at the time and the heat definitely didn't help. This was really strenuous work, we were lifting really heavy stuff COVERED in dust and dead spiders. I had to take frequent breaks just so I could stop fainting and pathetically keeling over. You should have seen me, sitting on a muddy stacking box, munching on an apple, wearing a baseball cap and a flannel shirt.

I could not have looked any more farmery if I tried.

Two families came round to look at the house while we were there. Their young children were very interested in me, and goggled at me like I was something in a zoo. But they were still very tolerant of me. By the time we were finished which was four o clock, I was RAVENOUS and ready to eat one of the cows (Just joking) We stopped by burger King on the way and grabbed a burger. Rex who had the trailer attached to his pickup stopped off at McDonalds and we could hear the cows frantically mooing from across the street as we ate. I just thought it was so bad that we were driving through McDonalds and burger king while transporting some rowdy cows.

When we arrived back I changed my sweat drenched clothes into something much more comfortable and we were able to cool off considerably. Because we had eaten fast food so late we had a small dinner of salad and bread, and chillaxed before we had to unload the pickups.

Thankfully this didn't take much time, and we were all done before dark, just in time to observe the four cows we have in our pasture at the minute. Sprite was being such a spoiled brat, headbutting her own baby to get to her share of hay. She's turned into a real piece of work and that must be sorted before the fair else we're gonna have serious attitude problems.

Got back in time for the nightly popsicle ritual and a glass of hershey's hot chocolate and then off to bed.

Happy 4th of July!

Well as you know today is independence day. It has definitely been a rollercoaster of emotions today, from total joyous patriotism to absolute sadness....

We got a chance to sleep in today as the rental lot was closed for the festivities. For a major treat, I got up at 7am :O That is a big deal by the way.


Rex was busy in the kitchen (Which is another big deal too) making his "Sunday morning special on a Saturday morning" as he liked to call it. This was a YUMMY brekkie of hashbrowns, sausage patties and eggs.


And it was goooooood.

We then rushed down to Sedro Woolley to meet my cousin Jake and his wife Stacey with Baby Rex and Roz. We were told that it was gonna be absolutely boiling or as Rex liked to put it "It would bake the balls off a rattlesnake!"

Riiiiiight.

Anyway so we all greased up and were all smelling of tropical mango or that horrible suntan lotion smell, yuck, and we tried to find a good spot to watch the parade, which is the longest 4th of July parade in the United States. The parade itself was awesome, we had lots of trucks and army presentations and church bands and whatnot. Baby Rex seemed to like it which is all that mattered.



We then popped over the street to watch the chainsaw carving competition. I love woodwork anyway but to know that these amazing sculptures had been done with a chainsaw was still something all the same.


Amazing.

Then we all went to Johnny Carinos for lunch. Carinos is an Italian restaurant or as I like to put it an "American Italian restaurant" The food there was ok, but because there was hardly anybody there the service was incredibly disappointing. Normally we would be in and out by an hour at the very most but this took two and a half hours! Honestly, we were not pleased.

Me and Susie headed back to see the herd on the second pasture to check up on them and make plans for tomorrow's move of the cows on the third pasture to the second. Susie went back to the car to get something and that's when I saw it. Something really weird and white was drooping out of Mercy's butt and then it just slipped out. I shouted to Susie saying that Mercy had the runs but when I walked up to inspect it, it was a completely different story. Tiny little baby hooves were poking out of something white and jelly like.

I have very limited experience of cows, but I knew exactly what it was.

Mercy had a miscarriage. Susie explained to me that that made sense because two months ago Mercy was beaten up by all the other cows so badly that she was lame for two weeks. During the beat ups, her baby was probably lost.

It affected me so much, especially when Mercy and her other daughter came really close to it and sniffed it. I cried and cried, even after Susie had buried it. It was one of those harsh reminders of nature, that it isn't always a fairy tale, and the aggressive side of nature can sometimes rear it's ugly head.

The drive back home was a very awkward one, both of us were feeling emotionally drained after consoling the other cows and burying the baby. We were going to go to the demolition derby in Monroe but we couldn't because it was way too hot. So instead we had a quick makeshift dinner (I made my own trademark chicken nugget salad) and drove out to Stanwood to watch the fireworks from a parking lot. They were really pretty, but this got boring after a while so we called it a night and went home. Apparently tomorrow I'm gonna get worked really hard so I should probably head off. Bye for now!

Back to work on the lot

Today was just completely mental!

We got up early so we could get to work on time today, because we have moved it does not take as long as it did to reach Rex's rental lot in Snohomish, so we had a bit more time. I had a quick breakfast of a poached egg on toast with some orange juice and a good cuppa joe which went down like a treat, and we were off.

The scenic drive was a very nice one, we passed a lot of fields and trees dotted with the occasional espresso stand. When we arrived I was immediately set to work cleaning a bunch of tables and chairs that had been returned, I did this with aplomb and quickly returned back to the desk to be given my next task which was (tadaaaaaaa!) Paperwork. Filing.

Bummer...

This took HOURS to do. I had to take several breaks and fell asleep in the filing cabinet a few times. It was incredibly draining and long winded but about four hours later I was finished. I had to gulp down a soda midway through to restore my blood sugar because I was getting so many headrushes from kneeling and bending down again. Honestly, I never want to see another file in my life.

Without mercy Rex sent me back to work cleaning the paint of some airless paint sprayers using a product called "goof off!" Seriously, it STANK. The work was incredibly tedious, Lloyd popped in to scare me with a BB gun that he was gonna spray paint orange so we could take care of the pigeon problem on our roof. Washing the paint sprayer took a very long time and it was no fun at all. Rex would pop in to rattle my cage and bug me whenever he got bored, which was always very entertaining.

When I had finished it was time for lunch. We had a huge conversation about where we were going. It was another one of those conversations where everyone was going "I don't mind" or "I don't care" Finally after what seemed like an age consulting with Rex and Susie we settled on Burger King.

Apres avoir mange Rex had another surprise for me, another dirty paint sprayer! This one didn't take as long but the fumes from the "goof off!" did get too overpowering and at one point I even fell asleep over the machine. I was out for ages until I was woken up unintentionally by Sheila making a comment about me drooling all over the machine. In my wakened state, I just sat around as there was nothing else to do, until Lloyd took me with him to pick up a bobcat skid steer loader. We were in a MASSIVE truck that was really noisy. The drive out there was really nice, me and Lloyd had a chat about what is so different over here and I said the cars, the cereal and the people. It's so true, Britain simply doesn't do cereal like they do over here.

We then returned home and had a gourmet meal of hotdogs AGAIN. Honestly, I love hotdogs but they can get repetitive over three days.....



We went back to check on the shade structure and see if it was being put to good use or not. We also wanted to refasten the panels with proper clips instead of just plain old wire. The cows seemed to be doing fine with the structure. With some of them even trying to eat the tarp on top.


Yummy.

When we returned home there was nothing we could do except grab a popsicle and go to bed. We discussed what we would do tomorrow. Independance day. Gonna be good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE! (And other events)

As I hope some of you are aware, it is Joe's 18th birthday today. So I went outside and grabbed my camera to record him a special message.


Originally we had plans to go to Rex's rental lot but I was woken up at half past six only to be told that Frankie had been sick another three times during the night and now he had the runs, so I had to stay at home to look after the poor guy while everyone else went to work. Obviously, because it was my fault that Frankie was sick in the first place, I agreed to stay.

Therefore the day SNAILED on. There wasn't really anything to do, except forage around for food and watching A&E on TV. They had a marathon of "Cold case files" going, documentaries that take you through former cases that have hit dead ends. I had an amazing lunch of chips and salsa and beef flavored noodles, before switching to TNT which had a marathon of one of my fave shows, "Bones". Frankie had perked up considerably since his little episode, and did not show anymore signs of illness. I took Susie's guitar out on the porch and strummed in the sun singing away while the cows looked over the fence in curiousity. It's so peaceful and beautiful here.

I flitted inbetween cold case files and bones for quite a while, until I discovered the Matrix. I haven't seen it in so long! But I cracked up during the Kung Fu practise scene as it reminded me of this video.

HILARIOUS!

Susie and Rex finally came home and we decided on hotdogs for dinner but we had to rush because Susie rubbed her hands together and smiled, which is scary because when she's got that look in her eye you know you've got a lot of work to do. I did. We drove out to the second pasture with five sixteen feet wire panels. We built a shade structure as we were told that tomorrow was going to be 92 degrees and in that field the cows would just bake. Once again, this was VERY hard work. The panels were incredibly heavy and all we had to secure them were pieces of wire. The cows were very interested with what we were doing but unfortunately we were working against the clock to get it done. It stayed light for a bit but when it got dark, it got DARK.

I was SO tremendously out of shape and couldn't lift anything. Right now I'm complete chicken shit, so I've got a long struggle before I can be as big and buff as Susie. I felt terrible and constantly worried that I let her down, but she reassured me, saying that this was a completely different lifestyle to mine at home and I'll get it eventually.

When we got back, it was about 11, we ate a quick snack of strawberries. Susie put some whipped cream on hers but I settled for chocolate sauce. YUM! After today I am totally beat so I bid thee goodnight.

Let's talk about Tuna

I just want to take this time to talk about tuna. Mainly because yesterday's trip to the supermarket got me thinking.

Did you know that unless we do something immediately, tuna will be extinct by 2012?

That's three years.

in three years, no tuna.

Doesn't that scare you a bit?

Blue-fin tuna stocks are in massive trouble, and now as a result we have to switch to other species of tuna to fill the demand for it it worldwide. Albacore and skipjack are now being used in place of bluefin, but we could endanger their stocks if you we continue to do this.

To do your part, simply STOP eating tuna. Until tuna stocks show some kind of recovery, people need to stop eating it. The demand for them will go down, meaning less will be caught, meaning their population might start to come back a little. It is quite frankly astonishing how close we are to an extinction and yet we choose not to do anything about it.

Do your part, DON'T EAT TUNA!

For more information go to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1170113/Tuna-wiped-2012-overfishing-stopped-say-environmental-groups.html

Or http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/mediterranean/about/marine/bluefin_tuna/

Cows, poisonings and barbecues. ..OH MY!

It's all been go today, honestly. I've had no time to put my feet up all day, except now. CRAZY!

Susie is a really early riser so to try and make a good first impression I get up at 6 and I am reading to go by 6.30. I was very proud of myself. I thought I'd done a really good job. I had an amazingly rewarding breakfast of two waffles, eggs and sausages and practically a jug of tea to get me really raring to go. We were planning on going to the supermarket first thing but Susie wanted to check her debit card statements, so she tried to log on to the internet. It turned out that their phone and internet service provider, Verizon, did not receive a payment from them and therefore with no notice cut their phoneline and cancelled their internet. Charming. It took AGES to sort it out, seriously.

I vaccuumed the entire house to get rid of all the dog hair in preparation for our guests this evening, unfortunately, I did it with too much gusto and vaccuumed up one of my socks, thinking naively it wouldn't be a problem, I continued, only to find out that it had jammed and overheated the entire cleaner. I enlisted Susie's help in a dramatic rescue mission to free the sock of its hairy dusty prison. We were successful.

I then got really excited, cos we had to go out and feed the cowies for the first time since I've been here. I have missed them so much, as soon as they saw hay they were galloping across the field to eat. They are SO CUTE. The babies are adorable, they were very curious of me, but as soon as I started singing to them to started to get really intrigued, and some were really brave and wondered up to greet me.

We started to make some preparations for today's barbecue early on, so we cut some fruit and veg for some salads. Then we had to go get some stuff from the supermarket, so we hopped in the car to safeway and had a little exploration of the MASSIVE varieties of food they have on offer, honestly, it's crazy how much stuff people have to choose from over here. In some cases the products did make me feel slightly nauseous, the sheer size and horrible fatty nature of them was kinda icky.


This photo made me lol so much, how many classic American stereotypes can you see on this packaging?


So after we bought a freight train's worth of food and groceries we went back home to start making the potato and macaroni salad for today's barbecue. There was a lot of work to be done so we got right on it. I had to peel and slice the boiled eggs while Susie in classic Susie fashion was doing everything else. I do worry about how hard she works sometimes.

As we were cooking, one of Susie's dogs, Frankie, was crying and howling and pathetically loafing around the kitchen area. This is highly unusual behaviour for Frank, and we started to get pretty worried. Susie felt round his tummy area and noticed that it was very tight, she told me to look around places where he might have found something to eat. Then it dawned on me.

Oh crap.

I brought a massive bag of pick and mix sweets from England with me. A HUGE freezer bag full of fizzy cola bottles, apple laces, gummy snakes, licorice wheels, gummy bears, and drumstick lollies. He had eaten the entire bag. He finally puked and the smell was horrible. It STANK of chewy cola bottles, basically, his puke stank of the smell of pick and mix sweets. Poor little guy, his pulse was RACING. Words could not describe how guilty and terrible I felt, I nearly killed Frank, I poisoned him! DEFINITELY not the best thing to do on your second day. He seems to be doing alright though.

We ate a quick lunch before my cousin Jake and his family arrived. He has a wife called Stacy, a daughter called Roz and a baby called Rex, named after my uncle, his dad. I'm REALLY not gifted with small children, so I laid low while he played with all the noisy toys. Greg and Lindsay arrived later and she looked fabulous! I've never met Lindsay before and it's been a good ten years since I saw Greg so to see them was really good. They all seemed very cheerful and happy, and when Rex arrived we went straight to cooking the meat. Rex's dad, Bob, arrived shortly afterwards and we had a chat about Kettering. The food was AMAZING, REAL burgers, REAL hotdogs, REAL company. Lindsay and I had a good chat about my plans and how exciting this trip is gonna be for me. I must say I agree, it's going to be fab.



By the time everyone left, I was completely knackered and ready to call it a night, but I had to get on and blog about today. I chomped down a popsicle and sat down in front of the laptop to talk to you guys. We don't really have a solid plan tomorrow, except that we are going to Rex's rental lot, which means another early rise, so goodnight!