Summer Solstice Soliloquy

The first day of summer comes on dreary and grey in the English midlands, much to match my mood as of late. What's it like where you are? I'm thinking of solstices past in Seattle's Fremont district, watching the joyous parade over a pint of Hoegaarden from a cozy beer garden and marveling with love for my community. Of Alaskan all nighters where it never really gets dark, but maybe a bit dim where calling in the summer from the dizzying heights of railroad bridges over Denali's great cravasses or scooping up the first of the summer's kittiwake chicks on Middleton Island seem so remote and removed from my life now. Of dipping my toes in the Atlantic for the first time on Mount Desert Island in Maine, the summer I discovered hidden swimming holes, the pure delight of licking my fingertips after a dinner on the pier at the lobster pound and the heavy heart of a love affair that falls apart before your eyes.

I'm feeling centered and settled and more engaged with who I am now than at any other point in the crooked path leading me up to where I stand. I admit, however, that I'm finding illness disheartening and this week I've been feeling more and more discouraged. I woke in the night from nightmares of being disemboweled, to find that I am in fact being scooped out by some unknown and creeping pain. I feel rotten. My tummy is in knots and there are moments in which I feel I'm being torn apart and it drops me to my knees. When that eases up there's the lingering and somewhat more sinister burning fist of pain punching at the base of my ribs, like a stitch in my side from running or swimming too hard. It's always there, I can disguise it with painkillers or distract it with exercise, but it remains, lurking, just under the surface. The doctors tell me there are only more invasive tests to be done, the ever pragmatic and optimistic GI specialist I see once a week regards the new medication regime as something to look forward to instead.If you've been wondering why I've been so quiet on the blog of late, this is your explanation. Though, in theory, I've had more time than usual, what with the being off work and all, but I'm finding it difficult to think positively and I didn't want to drag you down with me. I've been vaguely productive, what with nearly finishing the binding off of my first ever quilt, the transporting of my veg garden and planting out of the greenhouse into the garden of the house next door to which we'll be moving in four weeks time, of packing and cleaning for said move, and the tinkering with this and flirting with the idea of starting a home business and the posting of flyers around town and neighboring villages. None of which seemed particularly interesting enough to post on this here blog.

The idea of a blog as a sort of journal teases me. I set this blog up with the idea that it would be a nice way for me to keep my friends and family back home up to date with what I've been up to, a register of the things created before they were inevitably given away or eaten up, or else a curiosity to anyone who fancies moving abroad and wants to know a little more about life on this side of the pond. The blog as a diary or confessional is something I really wanted to avoid, my neighbor insists that the minute my blog becomes too personal she wouldn't want to read it anymore. I think she's on to something. And so, with the onset of summer, the turning of a new leaf, this post will be a one-off and I'll try not to moan too much about my tummy from here on out.

Better Late Than Never

Nearly three weeks ago, I got tagged with a meme by the Greenish Lady at what else but the Greenish Lady blog, follow the link to check her out. My first, I must add, so that makes me a meme virgin. I haven't decided how I feel about the whole meme business. It's wonderful to be acknowledged and particularly by someone I haven't met in person and it seems a great way to initiate contact with the blogging community, something I've been on the outside of looking in for way too long now. My apologies for taking so long to respond, another hospital stay is to blame, I'm afraid.

So here goes... my first meme.

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.

The book I'm reading at the moment was one my mom gave me on my recent trip back home, it's called The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly and it's truly a joy to read. I'm not sure if joy is the right word, because it's a sort of twisted and graphic and magical and poetic and dark and a little disturbing, but it's the kind of book that you can become completely absorbed in and not have to think too much about. I love a little magic in a tale, so this is one I'd recommend.

David, a boy of 12, has just lost his mother to a "creeping, cowardly thing, a sickness that ate away from her from the inside..." and whose father has re-married and now had a new baby. While having difficulty coping with the change and after a particularly nasty row with his new step mother, David is magically transported to a otherwordly type of place, a land where fairy tales are born, where lost children boiled in pots and wolves with teeth that gnash can stand upright and speak. He's lost in this fantastic land and must find his way back to the real world.

While on this journey,....'Suddenly, it seemed as if David was surrounded by short, unhappy men muttering about ''rights" and "liberties" and having enough of "this sort of thing". They were all filthy, and they all wore hats with broken bells. One of them kicked David in the shin.'

It isn't a particularly exciting or controversial quote. What about you, have you got something better?

Nightingale Lap Quilt : In Progress

My first quilt! I've got the top finished now, I've just got to start with the actual quilting bit....

Transatlanticism (or follow your heart or how to jump through the hoops of the UK Visa system)

It's been nearly two years since I turned up in the UK with little more than the rucksack on my back and the overstuffed suitcase full of English grammar books and lesson plans from my year teaching English in Eastern Europe. The G and I had met two years prior to that, we knew that we wanted to be together and were completely and utterly frustrated by the long distance love affair we'd been suffering through. As an American, I wasn't able to work legally in the UK (or anywhere in Western Europe (the EU) for that matter) and we were faced with a mounting pile of paperwork and confusing immigration laws and a sinking feeling that there was no other way but marriage to solve the mess we were in. So in the end, he said 'what the hell, baby, let's get hitched.'

I don't mean to suggest for a minute that we wouldn't have gotten married if not pressured into it by our geography and border control, but it certainly happened a lot sooner than either of us would have ideally wanted it to be. I think it caught my friends and family a little off guard, truth be told, when I left Seattle bound for a teaching job in Poland in November and returned a year later with an engagement ring and wedding bells in my ears. Nevertheless, we managed to pull it off in the end and I'm happy to report that neither of us regret rushing into it to this day.
Thinking back on that six months or so that I was here in England, not able to work and trying desperately to find my feet while wading through the ocean of information about work permits and fiancee visas and marriage visas cloaked in codewords like K-1's and INF4's and mysterious terminology such as 'indefinite leave to remain' and 'present and settled' and asking myself am I a 'highly skilled migrant worker'? is enough to make my head spin even now.

I thought I'd lay out what we did to sort through it all, so that maybe it'll make it just that much easier for someone else to figure it out should you find yourself in love with an Englishman (or woman). I'm about to get really specific so you may be a little bored, dear reader, if this stuff doesn't apply to you.I don't know it yet, but he's about to propose! There's champagne in it that backpack and everything!

The easiest way to accomplish marrying your beloved Brit, is to have the wedding in the States while he/she is visiting on their passport - the visa waiver programme gives UK residents 90 days in the US without any special permits and doesn't require any special visa to have a wedding in the States - then to return to England on a UK marriage visa.

The UK requires a special visa to have a wedding in Britain. This can take up to 6 months to obtain. You can also enter the country on a fiancee visa for 6 months- however you can't work and you still need the wedding visa to get married here. This is obviously an option, but an expensive one - keep in mind that each visa has a minimum fee of around 100 pounds sterling. Also US citizens are allowed 6 months in the UK without a visa anyway.

Note: I can only speak with any authority about how to marry and settle in Britain. I think settling in the US is whole lot more complicated and I am heartily postponing that mess for a few more years.

From the UK government website (www.ukvisas.gov.uk) :

You can obtain a marriage visa to settle in the UK if

• you are legally married to each other or are in a civil partnership recognised in the UK
• your husband, wife or civil partner is present and settled in the UK (see the next section)
• you both intend to live together permanently as husband and wife or as civil partners
• you have met each other before
• you can support yourselves and any dependants without any help from public funds
• you have suitable accommodation, which is owned or lived in only by you and your household, and where you and your dependants can live without any help from public funds
• your husband, wife or civil partner is not under 18, and
• you are not under 18.

Remember the key bit of information, you don't need a wedding visa to get married on US soil, so the next time your fiancee comes to visit make a quick trip to Vegas and have a drive through wedding in a pink cadillac. Next step; you've got to prove your love to The Man!! There are only three UK embassies in the US that process visas and they are located in New York, Chicago and L.A. You will need to schedule an immigration interview, you can do it online at the embassy website. It's very important that you keep all records of your relationship for your immigration interview - that means keep all those letters, e-mails, photos, cards, and add a couple of letters of support from family and friends just to be on the safe side. You will also need provide both of your passports though only the immigrant can attend the interview, bank statements for both of you to prove that you can survive in Britain without needing public assistance, any job offers and copies of your CV and diplomas to show you're employable, contracts from your landlord or copy of your property deed. Don't let the interview scare you, but do take it seriously. While I was in LA for mine, two other women were denied entry into the UK by the immigration office - so it can happen. Just make sure you have your ducks in a row and you'll be fine.

There are a couple of expat/travellers web forums that I found useful when I was researching how to do this marriage visa thing; easyexpat.com and justlanded.com where you'll find other people who are going through the same hair pulling process as you. Another informational website is globalvisas.com though stick to the government websites like the homeoffice.gov for the final say and to double check fees and everything.

This can be a really expensive process - it's not only the cost of moving overseas with all of my belongings, but the visas themselves are very expensive, not to mention the cost of flying to LA and holing up in a hotel for a few days while my passport was processed, and having to prove you have enough money in your bank account to live in Britain without recourse to public funds!! After 2 years, a landmark I am now approaching, I must apply for indefinite leave to remain which is fancy-talk for permanent residency and costs 510 pounds! After three years I can take the test to be naturalised as a British citizen and have dual citizenship which sounds so smarmy.

I'm sure most of this is nonsense for the casual reader of my blog, but if someone desperately seeking answers comes across it, I hope this helps! I remember finding comfort in learning that other couples managed to get through the other side, it's a stressful process, but well worth it in the end.

Biliary Blues (and a recipe for low fat chocolate zucchini cupcakes)

So things haven't gone exactly to plan after my emergency gall bladder surgery nearly two months ago. There's some sort of mystery pain that has had me in and out of the hospital ever since. There are a couple of possible explanations - one being that there's a stone left somewhere in the ductwork in my liver and the other being something elusively called post-cholecystectomy syndrome which basically boils down to spasms of the ductwork in my liver. Bummer.

In the meantime, it means I've had a lot of time off work. One more reason to embrace being an expat in Britain: Sick Leave. Even in my first year of employment with the college, I've been given 1 month sick leave at full pay and another at half pay. After I complete the first year, it'll be 6 months of full pay and a year at half pay. Have you ever heard of such a luxury in the US? (Have you seen Michael Moore's 'Sicko' yet? It compares health care in the US with that in Britain, France and Cuba of all places. It's a really important and eye opening film. Do go out and watch it, will you?)

I've had to make some serious changes to my diet as well, since I'm absolutely not able to tolerate any fats without horrible pain and vomiting and nausea. Wonderful. You see, that's what bile does - breaks down fats. Now that my gall bladder's gone, there's no bile available to digest it with so it just makes me sick. That's actually been fairly easy to cope with when it comes to main meals, but desserts are another ball park altogether. So I've been experimenting....

Confidential to anyone who's dieting out there: this one's for you!


Fit and You Know It Chocolate Zucchini Cakes

1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/3 cup granulated/caster sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose/plain flour
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini/courgette
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dessicated coconut

The thing about zucchini is that you can't even taste it once it's in a cake, but it adds so much moisture and texture to your cake you won't be able to stop yourself.

Preheat your oven to 350 F/170 C and turn on Regina Spektor's Begin to Hope CD and start bopping to Fidelity. While you're singing along, insert cupcake liners into your tin. In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, eggs, orange juice and almond extract. Beat well.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ones. Mix well. Fold the zucchini, chocolate chips and coconut into the batter.

Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

For the Icing:
1 1/3 cup confectioner's/icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup fat free sour-cream
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well with an electric mixer until smooth. If it's a little runny, you can add more icing sugar until you get the consistency you want. This will not be a hard set frosting, (there's no fat!!) so be prepared for it to run off the edges of your cakes or go with a less is more policy. Adorn with dried berries, hazelnuts and sunflower seeds and gobble greedily without guilt.

How To Make A Bad Day Better

Step 1: Give that tummy a rub.Step 2: Get some dirt under your fingernails.

Step 3: Notice the things that go unnoticed.

Step 4: When all else fails, add chocolate.

Inspiration this Bank Holiday Monday

He actually thinks he's helping.

I spoke too soon about all this sunshine and summer and eating al fresco business.... Man, what a crappy long holiday weekend. Giving me time for this bit of quilting - dueling quilt projects- that is. The blue one was started with my Mama, the quilt master, while I was in Tucson. I pulled it out when I got home and decided it was probably too hard for me - since I've never really sewn before and there's a lot of folding and circles involved. It's from the book Quiltagami! Origami inspired quilts. Fun.
Did I mention that my Mom gave me a sewing machine while I was visiting and I actually brought it back on the plane with us? Feeling a little guilty for not using the sewing machine that I hauled 6,000 miles yet, I started this little lap quilt instead that is inspired by the one in Doodle Stitching and will be embroidered with fun little birds and swirls. Looking out the window today and listening to my teeth chattering in the cold, I bought some down batting to keep my lap warm.

Project 52 (15 of 52)

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.
~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

Postcards from Tucson

Springing

Languorous Lazy Summer Sunday Opulence (and a recipe for Lazygirl Luxury Linguini)

One thing I love about these lazy summer Sundays is how late it stays light at night. We've got a sunset at around 9:00 these days, it's almost takes me back to those endless summer nights of my Alaskan childhood where it never got dark. Wait a second.... Summer? What's with all this glorious weather we've been having? England? Is that you?

We managed somehow to bring the sunshine home with us from Tucson. Record temperatures in the high 20's (80's to you and me) and in May! It seems England lusciously burst into full spring regalia while we were away. Mix one part torrential rains with one part unseasonably warm weather and Voila! Summer comes early. To celebrate I spoiled my husband with his favorite pasta dish for our patio dinner.
Have I mentioned how lazy I am when it comes to cooking in the summer? It's too hot to be in the kitchen, so this one's quick and easy enough for a weeknight. What you need:
Lazygirl Luxury Linguini

Your favorite pasta - I like Tagliatelle or Fetuccine with this one (but linguini sounded better in the title)
1 bunch asparagus
2 portabello mushrooms
1 zucchini (courgette)
2 cloves garlic (tsp pre-minced stuff)
1 tin crab meat
1 tbsp low fat cream cheese
splash white wine
olive oil

Turn on Alison Krauss' Lonely Runs Both Ways and prepare your veg. With lines like 'you're at your best with that ache in your chest and that worn out song that you play' or 'the people who love me ask me when I'm coming back to town and I say, quite frankly, when they stop building roads' you'll be singing along while your heart is quietly breaking. Anyway, back to preparing your veg:

My mom showed me this trick with asparagus to get the best out of it. That's right, make your asparagus work for you. If you hold a spear with an end in each hand and lightly bend it until it breaks, it will always separate at the toughest point - throw the tough, chewy ends in the compost heap and enjoy the tender tip bits with your pasta. (I prefer to steam my asparagus separately for this recipe, only because I find it gets too soft if I sautee it with the rest of the veg. Your choice.) Scrape out the gills of the mushrooms with a teaspoon - I find that if you scrape gently sideways, against the grain, the gills just peel easily away.


So you've got asparagus steaming and you're chopping the zucchini and mushrooms into bite size pieces. Meanwhile heat a bit of olive oil in a pan and add the garlic as soon as the oil starts to pop. Bring water to a boil, add the pasta. See why this is a weeknight special?


My Dad taught me this trick with pasta to keep the pot from overflowing. You just leave your grandmother's wooden spoon in the pot as it boils - the water's surface tension on the spoon prevents it from overflowing somehow. I don't really get it, but it seems to work. Wise old Dad.

Sautee the veg in the olive oil until the zucchini starts to brown and the mushrooms soften. For the sauce - add the entire tin of crab, including the juice to the pan. Then a glob of cream cheese and a splash of white wine. Mix well as the cream cheese starts to melt and bring to a slight bubble. Drain the pasta and mix it in, adding a little olive oil if it sticks. Add the asparagus and serve immediately.This recipe is best enjoyed on the patio on a hot summer's day with a nice glass of pinot grigio and fur shark looming in the background.


And for dessert..... Raspberry Love.

Add to the blender: fresh raspberries, a banana, plain fat free yogurt, a splash of milk, a splash of vanilla essence, and about a tbsp of cinnamon. Blend and enjoy!

Did you notice how low fat this meal is? The crab is what makes the pasta sauce taste so luxurious, the cream cheese is just there to turn it white so it looks like an alfredo or other decadent pasta sauce. (For even more decadence add extra cream cheese or sour cream/creme fraische and loads of yummy parmesan. ) This makes a good meal for those of you who've just had your gallbladder out and aren't able to tolerate any fats. Or those of you with IBS. And those of you trying to diet. And for the rest of you too. Enjoy.

Project 52 (14 of 52)

Okay, now I can see a difference in our friend the oak tree. How spring has sprung. Do you see that Warwickshire Gold in the background?
Here's a better view. The whole of our county is a patchwork of gold and green. Beautiful.