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| Could this be the future? |
Monday, February 7, 2011
A strange case of deja vu.
Another Tate prepares to beat the Americans at their own game........... and this time, he has a very long stick.
Friday, February 4, 2011
One of the twins puts out.....
Proudly announcing the flowering of :
8714 Dtps. Achy Breaky heart 'Mendenhall' x Dtps. City Girl 'Madonna'
Apologies for the amateurish photography, seems these wildlife types know a fair bit about what they are doing or at least have cameras that do.
Neither of these are true about me.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Don't try this at home......
Just thought I'd share a couple of local pass times with you.
See the hut on the snow? That is actually a tent on the ICE. Yup! At about this time of the year the lake freezes and various super hard core fishermen satisfy their angling addiction thus: they cut a hole in the ice, erect said tent over the top and hey presto fishing in the winter. It is rumoured that they make themselves nice and comfortable with cushions, heaters, and yes, Chris, I'm sure, coffee pots! In fact the tents have a moulded plastic base, with chairs attached, joined onto the frame so that it all pops up quite easily. And of course when it's all folded down, the plastic base doubles up as a sled.
our question is: how do they choose the bloke to go out there first to test the ice? Makes you wander how many incredibly gullible people there are in the village: "Go on, mate, it'll be fine, I'll shout you a beer if..ahem, when you get back....."
Here's another doozy of an event that we will gladly let you borrow the car for if you ever fancy going!
It is as it looks - drag racing up a black slope on a ski-doo. In the dark. Anyone can enter, all you need is an automatic cut-off switch on a lanyard and a snow mobile and you're away. Winner goes through to the next round. And if any of the audience are still in the process of freezing to death (as opposed to having already achieved ice block status) I'm sure they'll be very pleased on your behalf, and then they'll go back into the bar to defrost.
See the hut on the snow? That is actually a tent on the ICE. Yup! At about this time of the year the lake freezes and various super hard core fishermen satisfy their angling addiction thus: they cut a hole in the ice, erect said tent over the top and hey presto fishing in the winter. It is rumoured that they make themselves nice and comfortable with cushions, heaters, and yes, Chris, I'm sure, coffee pots! In fact the tents have a moulded plastic base, with chairs attached, joined onto the frame so that it all pops up quite easily. And of course when it's all folded down, the plastic base doubles up as a sled.
our question is: how do they choose the bloke to go out there first to test the ice? Makes you wander how many incredibly gullible people there are in the village: "Go on, mate, it'll be fine, I'll shout you a beer if..ahem, when you get back....."
Here's another doozy of an event that we will gladly let you borrow the car for if you ever fancy going!
The Snow Mobile Association Uphill Racing Championship
It is as it looks - drag racing up a black slope on a ski-doo. In the dark. Anyone can enter, all you need is an automatic cut-off switch on a lanyard and a snow mobile and you're away. Winner goes through to the next round. And if any of the audience are still in the process of freezing to death (as opposed to having already achieved ice block status) I'm sure they'll be very pleased on your behalf, and then they'll go back into the bar to defrost.
Friday, January 21, 2011
2011 already.....
I'm back. A short holiday from the blogosphere, as is traditional at this time of the year (!) does even the most fervent blogger the world of good. And for those extremely lazy bloggers amongst us it is a jolly good excuse to do nothing. And for those of us who don't normally need an excuse....well, let's just say it's a marvel that I write anything at all.
So, Christmas, a quick update. We all had a fabulous time - there was ski-ing, sledging, skating, snowballs, sub-zero temperatures - basically, we had it all. And as you can probably tell, a very White holiday season. So White in fact, that our visitors couldn't come, then they did, then they nearly couldn't get home again. Quite terrifying for all of us at various times!
New Year's Eve, my special bah humbug moment (enforced jolliment - won't do it), was spent practising for future years: I watched TV and Jodi snoozed on the couch while we waited for our resident party animals to phone to say they needed collecting from the local hostelry. I'm afraid to say that the prospect of a ball falling in Times Square did not hold the appeal of the Sydney fireworks, even when accompanied by the dulcet tones of Jodi's snoring, and I retired at 10.30. Luckily the partying Tates managed not to upset any locals and our porch was mercifully devoid of poo the next morning!
We had a brief thaw in the New Year and the grass appeared for an all-too-short day and a half. Since then, however, Mother Nature has been making up for lost time and we have had more snow than you can shake an icicle at. And it has been cold. So very cold. 3 degrees the other morning. Not too bad? Well, remember this is Fahrenheit we're talking. That's a super freezing -17 degrees C. MINUS SEVENTEEN AT NINE'O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING.
(Quick comparison for you though: Jodi is in North Dakota as we speak and was on the receiving end of a Public Weather Warning this morning along the lines of: don't go out with any flesh exposed as frost bite WILL set in. Wind chill expected to reach -40 degrees. Guess I should consider myself lucky.)
We built Finn a bobsled track in the back garden, and the wee chap was actually game enough to try it out. We can release the second trial run to the public - that's the one after Jodi built a snow pile at the bottom to stop Finn disappearing under the trees into next door's garden! I will do my utmost to attach said video here...
Meg is on the move: commando crawling with purpose now and really covering some space. The knee is starting to come up and the arm strength is definitely there so it won't be long now before she gets her wings and really starts causing trouble! Again, have some video.........
And so life continues into 2011: hockey practice, gymnastics class, swimming lessons, Volunteer Fire Brigade, driving tests, triathlon training - I'll let you guess who is doing what!.
So, Christmas, a quick update. We all had a fabulous time - there was ski-ing, sledging, skating, snowballs, sub-zero temperatures - basically, we had it all. And as you can probably tell, a very White holiday season. So White in fact, that our visitors couldn't come, then they did, then they nearly couldn't get home again. Quite terrifying for all of us at various times!
New Year's Eve, my special bah humbug moment (enforced jolliment - won't do it), was spent practising for future years: I watched TV and Jodi snoozed on the couch while we waited for our resident party animals to phone to say they needed collecting from the local hostelry. I'm afraid to say that the prospect of a ball falling in Times Square did not hold the appeal of the Sydney fireworks, even when accompanied by the dulcet tones of Jodi's snoring, and I retired at 10.30. Luckily the partying Tates managed not to upset any locals and our porch was mercifully devoid of poo the next morning!
We had a brief thaw in the New Year and the grass appeared for an all-too-short day and a half. Since then, however, Mother Nature has been making up for lost time and we have had more snow than you can shake an icicle at. And it has been cold. So very cold. 3 degrees the other morning. Not too bad? Well, remember this is Fahrenheit we're talking. That's a super freezing -17 degrees C. MINUS SEVENTEEN AT NINE'O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING.
(Quick comparison for you though: Jodi is in North Dakota as we speak and was on the receiving end of a Public Weather Warning this morning along the lines of: don't go out with any flesh exposed as frost bite WILL set in. Wind chill expected to reach -40 degrees. Guess I should consider myself lucky.)
We built Finn a bobsled track in the back garden, and the wee chap was actually game enough to try it out. We can release the second trial run to the public - that's the one after Jodi built a snow pile at the bottom to stop Finn disappearing under the trees into next door's garden! I will do my utmost to attach said video here...
Meg is on the move: commando crawling with purpose now and really covering some space. The knee is starting to come up and the arm strength is definitely there so it won't be long now before she gets her wings and really starts causing trouble! Again, have some video.........
And so life continues into 2011: hockey practice, gymnastics class, swimming lessons, Volunteer Fire Brigade, driving tests, triathlon training - I'll let you guess who is doing what!.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Dickens, in pictures.
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| Mr.Charles Dickens |
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Ebenezer Scrooge |
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| Take heed, Mathews children! |
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| A quick run through the story... |
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| ..outside the old Masonic building. |
Some
'period characters"
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| The ghost of Christmas present - and a policeman. |
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| Queen Victoria, Jacob Marley and another ghost |
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| Carols in the bandstand. |
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| Guess who showed up, giving children candy? |
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| A very chilly piper and drummer |
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| Bah! Humbug! |
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Oh! ChristmasTree!
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| Take a cart, then....pick your tree |
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| This one? |
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| No. Keep looking! |
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| This is the one. Now....saw it down! |
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| Ta Da! |
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| A bit of help to tidy up, then it's off to the professionals for...... |
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| a haircut..... |
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| a hole in the bottom ..... |
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| for the stand, then..... |
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| in she goes...... |
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| and hey presto, a bound tree ready for home. |
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| They even help you load her up! |
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| And a quick family photo for the album! Done. |
Friday, December 3, 2010
What the Dickens?
'Tis a funny old thing in this part of the world that ne'er a morsel do you hear of Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving then Bam! It's everywhere. And nowhere is this dramatic change more noticeable than in downtown Skaneateles.
For it is here that the local AmDrams like to thesp it up to the max and dash about town dressed as characters from A Christmas Carol. Yes, every weekend from now until Christmas Eve, various Cratchits, ghosts and even old Charlie-boy himself can be seen promenading the streets in full period costume (freezing their extremities off, no doubt) and greeting passers-by in English. And by that I mean English accents. Most of which, it must be said, fall into the Dick Van Dyke 'Cor Blimey Guv'nah' school of regional dialect, aiming hard for Whitechapel but hitting Dublin square on. Shocked they are indeed when answered in the Queen's own RP, and never entirely sure whether one is joining in with the charade or taking the, erm, mickey.
Anyway, the point is that they perform little snippets of the story at forewarned times of the day, and add in little extras like High Tea with Queen Victoria and a Carol-Off in the Bandstand. Much hilarity ensued on the opening day when an Urchin relieved a Gentleman of his fob watch and was chased down the street with a "Stop thief! In fact I felt doubly privileged when the Ghost of Christmas Present wished me Merry Christmas twice within the same hour. On the 26th November, no less.
This is the 17th year that Skaneateles has hosted such an extraordinary event and the tourists love it. This year the opening speeches were accompanied by flurries of aptly timed snow, and it was definitely fun spotting the characters, but the whole thing has the potential to get a little, how shall I say? annoying, with its persistent merriment and olde Worlde charm. Yup, I'm with Ebenezer on this one. Bah! Humbug.
For it is here that the local AmDrams like to thesp it up to the max and dash about town dressed as characters from A Christmas Carol. Yes, every weekend from now until Christmas Eve, various Cratchits, ghosts and even old Charlie-boy himself can be seen promenading the streets in full period costume (freezing their extremities off, no doubt) and greeting passers-by in English. And by that I mean English accents. Most of which, it must be said, fall into the Dick Van Dyke 'Cor Blimey Guv'nah' school of regional dialect, aiming hard for Whitechapel but hitting Dublin square on. Shocked they are indeed when answered in the Queen's own RP, and never entirely sure whether one is joining in with the charade or taking the, erm, mickey.
Anyway, the point is that they perform little snippets of the story at forewarned times of the day, and add in little extras like High Tea with Queen Victoria and a Carol-Off in the Bandstand. Much hilarity ensued on the opening day when an Urchin relieved a Gentleman of his fob watch and was chased down the street with a "Stop thief! In fact I felt doubly privileged when the Ghost of Christmas Present wished me Merry Christmas twice within the same hour. On the 26th November, no less.
This is the 17th year that Skaneateles has hosted such an extraordinary event and the tourists love it. This year the opening speeches were accompanied by flurries of aptly timed snow, and it was definitely fun spotting the characters, but the whole thing has the potential to get a little, how shall I say? annoying, with its persistent merriment and olde Worlde charm. Yup, I'm with Ebenezer on this one. Bah! Humbug.
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