What do you call this:

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We call it Squirty Cream; which turns out to be a totally funny and unique name for Canadians; who knew?  The reason we call it squirty cream, as it squirts out of a can.

I had a long conversation with the hairdresser the other day about this.  Another hairdresser came over to join the conversation and it cheered them both up (my hairdresser was having a rough day!)  

I never thought this was odd until our daughter-in-law came to live with us last year and had no idea what I was talking about.  I also mentioned we were having "pudding," one night and she thought we were having chocolate pudding like this:

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What I meant we were having dessert.  Despite living here for nearly 30 years, you can't take the British out of me at times....😁

Some thoughts about our trip.

We love going to the States.  They are such a patriotic bunch, flying the American flag everywhere. They truly believe their country is the best and I admire them for that.  Only once did someone mention how bad Obama is and as I said to him, "who would you prefer him or Donald Trump, running the country?"

He muttered something and as I then said, I was from Canada, and honestly we are no better off with the bunch of "misfits" we have running to be the next Prime Minister!

As many of you know, we are British born and as we came to Canada when we were in our 20's, we still have our British accents (dh and I;) the kids though sound as Canadian as the next person.  It totally confuses everyone and for some reason American's love hearing us talk?

Anyhow, we have got our response down pat now when people ask where we come from:

"We are British born, but live in Canada."

I must admit I think I blushed bright red from head to toe though one day, as I was talking to a cashier when I noticed another lady standing next to me, just looking at me.  I thought I was holding up things, and of course I apologized......I am Canadian after all...LOL  We apologize for everything, whether it's our fault or not.  Anyway she said no she was enjoying listening to me talk, and then turned around and told her friend to come and listen to me talk.  At that point I just clammed up, as I couldn't think of a thing to say.  

I honestly don't think about my accent and it surprises me when people notice I speak differently, as I never hear it.

The majority of the people are so well mannered; at least with us.  I guess it helps that we always say please and thank you, and if a job is well done I will let people know.  Whenever I talked to the ladies who took care of our hotel room, I always said thank you for a job well done.  I did find though that some people were just plain rude with people especially in the fast food places.

We were in one place and the daughter who was my age or older and her mother, were just plain bloody rude to the girl behind the counter.  Now granted she was as slow as molasses, but even so, don't be rude and disrespectful.  

I finally said to the mother and daughter, "you both seem to be having a bad day?"

Now I am not sure if it was my accent or someone spoke to them, but they both stood there with their mouth's open!!!  I don't remember what they said, but their attitude didn't change with the poor server.....LOL

My only gripe........I wish the exchange rate had been better, as I couldn't/wouldn't/didn't spend anywhere near as much as I normally do when do there.  The one thing we did find cheaper was the gas/petrol; they have super cheap prices for gas and we paid as low as $2.26 USD per gallon.

I look forward to our next visit to the States.  

A couple of British things and Molly.......

So I see we can now order clothes from Topshop to be delivered here in Canada and the States.  I remember as a teenager that was a cool place to shop and get the latest trends.  I used to love the loud music all the latest hits, those cool changing rooms, just the whole experience and it meant also we had to travel to the closest city Carlisle to shop there.

Fast forward 30 years and I hate that kind of fashion.  I hate loud music in the stores and the lighting is usually terrible.  Give me normal lighting, classic clothes; oh and soft quiet music any day!!  Must be getting old..........and I nearly forgot a comfy chair to sit on in case I am tired with strolling from the car to the store!

My brother sent me a photo of his toilet seat, very patriotic don't you think?  Anyhow I did a google search and happened upon this site make sure you look at the rubber ducks, they are just the cutest things out there.

Molly had a busy day guarding the property from the marauding squirrels again.  Here she is watching the tree.

Okay she has spotted him/her....

Close up of him/her......

Here's Molly worn out from all her activities.  Notice her paw touching her raw hide chew!!

Did you remember to put your money in your daily savings pot today?

Today's Money Saving Tip:

Pay cash. Leave the plastic at home and try using cash for a week. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes in your spending. Here’s a hint—once your wallet is empty, your shopping is over for today.

Keep Calm and Carry On, or better still put the kettle on!!

I just love this, it's so British. Now I know it's generally "Keep Calm and Carry On," however I saw this on Smitten By Britain's blog.   Basically in my mind this says it all, as the first thing we do in a crisis is put the kettle on as a cup of tea solves all the problems in the world!!

There's even a website that carry these items, here is the link I love the apron and tea-towel I must look into how much shipping costs across the pond.

Did a bit of sewing on Tuesday and here is the results. The "Fair and Square" block in the black, white and red colourway, and as its a quilt as you go quilt, it's already quilted. However when I finally find my free motioning foot which seems to have sprung legs and walked off somewhere, I want to do some free motioning (squiggly lines) on the grey and black borders. I know it has to be in one of the boxes, but I just can't find it!!

Here is the front:

Here is the back:

Wife in the North is a blog I stumbled upon, and Judith has written a book about her experiences.  It looks like a good read.

Did you remember to put your money in your Daily Savings Pot?

Today's Money Saving Tip:

Clean your car’s air filter. A clean air filter can improve your gas mileage by up to 7%, saving you more than $100 for every 10,000 miles you drive in an average vehicle. Plus, cleaning your air filter is easy to do in just a few minutes – just follow the instructions in your automobile’s manual and you’re good to go.

(Now my dad is probably rolling around in hysterics at the moment, saying, "She can barely put gas in her car, and here she is telling everyone that cleaning your air filter in your car is an easy job, I bet she has no clue where her air filter is in her car?" 

I so hate it when my dad is right, it is so bloody annoying...LOL)

Well here we go again......and being British

dh was up in the attic today and discovered mouse droppings. I found mouse droppings in the under the sink cupboard. So have set a couple of traps under the sink, I will have to get some more traps for up in the attic. Mind you we let Molly up in the attic today and she never went crazy or anything, like she normally does when she smells something. We bought these plug in mouse deterrents. They emit a high frequency noise that is supposed to keep the mice at bay. I know the manufacturers probably saw us coming, and thought some sucker would buy them and sure enough we did!!

So not only are we being invaded with mice, the blue bottles (house flies) are still bombarding us. Goodness knows where they are coming from, but both dh and ds were complaining at how many there were in the attic. By the way I figured blue bottle's were a "normal name" for house flies........the joys of being British, didn't realize it would confuse the heck out of people!!

Ds came over and gave us a hand carting down some stones from the attic. Dh has removed some for the ventilation in the attic, and ds is a heck of a lot stronger than us. So he carted them down the two flights of stairs and I dumped them in the garden. I have to sort out the concrete from the stones. It was a good job, jobbed and one that had to be done. My jobs for the day (Saturday) was to do a fire in the fire pit (done) and go to Shopper's Drug Mart as they had a 20 X the points day on Saturday (done.) I stocked up on butter $2.22 per pound. Eggs @ $1.29 a dozen. Stocked up on deodorant for dh and shampoo. I walked out of there with another 20,000 points.

I also managed to get a bit of weeding done in the flower gardens, which also was a good job, jobbed. Not sure what we are going to do on Sunday.

Oh and this couple are our twins, read this article

You may have to be British to find this funny, then again maybe not!!!!

I personally found this very funny, but don't be ticked off with me if you don't find it funny!!!

A Message From the Queen

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas , which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour', 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise'. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let M*crosoft know on your behalf. The M*crosoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

8. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

10. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

12. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

13. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

16. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

Who has an accent, me??? Noooooooo........

I don't think so. Well I never hear it, but apparently other people do. Because we have lived here for the past 19 years I just figure everyone understands everything I say.

I was at the pharmacy the other week, and have been going to the same one for donkey's years, and I was talking to her and a woman from the Caribbean and we got on about accents etc and I said I didn't think I talked any different to anyone else. However Celia (pharmacist) pointed out that not many people say donkey's years......I guess not?

I was in a children's clothing store the other day and one of the cashiers was from Liverpool and she thought I was visiting, as she thought my accent was so strong. I said I was full of cold, so that's maybe why my accent sounded so strong.

I am always shocked when people don't understand me. The funniest story I have with someone not understanding me, was when I went into an Italian bakery and a little Italian woman was serving me. I wanted a bun with butter on it. The bun bit she got, the butter thing she didn't get. No matter how I tried to pronounce butter, she didn't get it. In the end I did a spreading action and then she got it.

Over the years I have figured out when people don't understand me, by watching their expressions. Dd boyfriend is the best, as I can tell right away when I have said something he has no clue what I am talking about and dd will then translate. Did I mention we speak English!!!!

When we go to the States as soon as I open my mouth the first thing people say is where do you come from. I used to say Canada, and then the expression in one of total confusion, so now I say we are originally from Britain but now live in Canada. It saves on such a lot of confused looks and questions.

I find when I am with other British people, I drop back into a thicker British accent. However when we go to Britain they say we talk with a Canadian accent. In Canada, everyone comments on my British accent. So basically we belong to neither country :o(