Awesome photos on Flickr

I found these photos on flickr, which have been put there by the Library of Congress, the U.S. national library.
There
are thousands and I have not yet seen all of them, but some of the
images are really amazing, the kind of photography that really stands
out.
Also women's dress sense in those days was fantastic and stylish all the way down to the factory workers.
Sadly, we have lost that ability completely.
To many fashion branches and to many styles to choose from. Perhaps one
day we'll come to our senses again and trade the comfort fast food and
jeans world for a bit more class.

Brand new face!

I just gave my blog a brand new face, which also includes some advertising. This blog will be the future home of Richmond research and also a character I am writing a book about.
Wizards and Witches deserve a break and now that Harry Potter is all grown up, it is time for a New Kid on the Blog. That new kid, however, is still in its baby shoes and to protect its identity, I will have to keep quiet about it until further notice.
There will be updates on its progress as I keep writing, so don't forget to check in and see how far I have got...also I will be raiding Richmond for awesome things to do!!!
Stick around;-)))

Big Bear...aaaarrrrg!!!

That's the sound Finley makes, every time he sees a bear...or a horse, a cow, an elephant, a frog...!! The only animal he does know the name of is a ffsch, thanks to Sarah who presented Gerard with one of which for Christmas. The ffsch had to be rescued and taken up to their room soon after as Finley got VERY excited every time he saw the ffsch and tried a number of times to shake him out of his bowl!!!
...and this was only one of our many adventures in Big Bear City, California. The excitement really started with flying on standby as we where travelling on Captain Gerard's Buddy Pass (thanks Gerard;-))). All went swimmingly though and we arrived all together and happily in LAX. For me this was the first time I ventured out that far west and I instantly loved the West Coast...it was like coming home!!
A last little trip to the shops (big shops) and off we went up, up and away - into the mountains in the perfect skiing car, the Audi SUV. (I should get paid for advertising)
On a long and winding road we climbed up to Big Bear and set up camp at the newly Wed's mountain retreat, where we spent nowhere nearly as much time as we did at Vons and Kmart;-)) Just kidding, we of course had to stack up provisions for ten days of feasting to our hearts content. After the veggies had been neatly packed away in Finley's plastic Kmart bath tub and stored in the garage, which kept them colder than any fridge could ever have, we got cooking!!
Sarah is the best cook and I am not lying when I say that. An avid pupil of Jamie and Gordon, she makes the perfect, better than any restaurant, Mac and Cheese and cooks a wicked roast with all the trimmings...yummy!
I could go on about our cooking adventures for ever, but I wont, event though the curries for Saturday's party where an absolute delight...
Enough of that, or people will think all we did in CA was eat!!!

There was not much snow on the ground, but they made plenty of REAL snow, like REAL man made snow in the ski resorts and we took our perfect skiing car, filled it with lots of skis and boots and sticks and went skiing.
Finley got dumped in a really lovely day care place which I thought called themselves the Manson family...turned out it was actually the MacDonald's family - much better!!
Anyway the ski resort proved to be a snow board resort, with Steve, Sarah, me and a handful of others being the only skiers amongst thousands of snow boarders.
If I have never mentioned this before, this is the time to do so...I hate snow boarders, particularly the ones who have just learned it and think the slopes are their personal living room where they can just sit around wherever they feel like it.
Luckily (for them) we found some runs where there was literally nobody and that turned out to be most enjoyable apart from the encounter with the murder lift...no further comment!!

Another very memorable event was the Saturday Christmas/Wedding party, which was surprisingly well attended given the fact that people had to travel for hours to get to Big Bear and than sleep on sofas, blow up mattresses and camper vans, which very well organised by the lady of the house turned out to be no problem at all.
The party itself was rocking!!! Well equipped with strobe, disco ball and smoke machine we danced the night away to Sarah and Gerard's groovy music collection and the odd Bon Jovi??!!! track...how did that get into their collection I wonder????
We all looked like we where on drugs, but it was actually the haze from the smoke machine that distorted our faces. In retrospect I am glad I was not on drugs, because there where times when the smoke got so thick it felt like being in some horror flick and that kind of intoxication would have truly scared the s..t out of me!!!
Saturday's dancing into the early morning hours was an exception. The norm was falling asleep in front of a blazing fire at 7.30 pm barley making it through half an episode of Black Adder. We blamed it on jet leg, Sarah and Gerard... I can only guess, probably old age;-))))))))))))

Like with all great things, this one also came to an end much to quick. Probably not for Sarah and Gerard who I am sure where ready to kill having to listen to one more weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhh and ffsch by the end of our holiday;-) Watching TV also has a whole new meaning now that the remote control does not have to be hidden on top of the fridge anymore and a program can be enjoyed from start to finish without having to shout NOOOOOOOOOO a thousand times!!!!
The little sheep can go back to their home next to the open fire place and the little bamboo coasters can rest in peace.

Our ten days in Big Bear where ten days full of adventure, accidents and absolute bliss amongst really wonderful friends and it was so much fun to spend Christmas and New Year with you guys. A big Cheer to you and all the people we met there!!!CHEEEEEERS!!!!!

Somewhere beyond the sea...

...somewhere waiting for me, my lover stands in golden sands and watches the ships that go sailing!!!

The sea always brings out my romantic side and even though Robbie Williams, Will Young's or Bobby Darin's lyrics are far removed from Charles Trenet's original version of La Mer, it is no doubt the perfect song to hum along to whilst strolling down a rugged coastline or beach.

Thanksgiving seemed to be a great time to take a trip to North Carolina. Steve's Parents were in town and the call of the wild made the boys...(all of them, even the youngest) grab their fishing gear and take a trip to the Outer Banks for some fishn!!
Us girls had to tag along and we also tried our luck with the rod. Unfortunately we relied on the guys to bring home the food;-)

Given the lack of talent, we found other means to occupy ourselves like building sand castles or taking photos for the light house series. As usual, time flew past and the few days in Nags Head are already a distant memory.
It was great to, once again, experience the wonderful late November weather (even though it was unusually warm) and enjoy the fresh ocean breeze and the all inspiring waves crashing onto the shores.
We took a long drive all the way down to Ocracoke island, of course the last part was by ferry as it is an island!!! That day was cold and breezy and we watched the most beautiful sunset and rise of the moon...simply awesome;-)

As we were all in party mood when we got back to Richmond, we took the opportunity to celebrate an early Christmas while we were all together. It was a really lovely evening with roast lamb instead of the boring old turkey and lots of presents, much to Finley's delight;-))
Steve and I went out on the town afterwards and got really drunk, like you do at Christmas.
The next morning we said goodby to the grandparents, hungover and heavy hearted as they departed for England.

To all you bloggers out there...Have a wonderful Christmas and a truly awesome New Year!!!!

What's new!!

Since nothing majorly exciting has happened lately, I have to either make something up or post whats happening in our everyday boring life. There is however, no real point in making things up, as this blog should be a true account of our life in America, therefore I will just go ahead and tell the truth.
Well, let me start with Halloween, which was as usual a great event here in Richmond as well as all over the world, I assume;-) I had great plans for the entire family to take part in the annual scary pumpkin fest
and I had already purchased some floppy ears and a little tail for myself and was busy searching for a smoking jacket for my lovely husband, who would have made a great Hefner, on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, Finley and I caught a nasty flu bug and ended up in bed for a few days and Steve and I never made it to Juniors Halloween party dressed as Bunny and Hugh;-((( very, very sad!!
We did however, make it to Wednesday nights Trick or Treat parade on Hanover Street, which was a real TREAT and quite an EYE CANDY...get it??? I did not bring my camera and I still hate myself for it because this would have been very interesting for you people at home.
Never mind, maybe next year.

From Thursday last week until Thursday this week, I looked after Lilly, my friend Martina's little girl. I thought it was a great opportunity to see if I could do two!!! Turns out I could and now the pressure's on;-0 What to do...another child or perhaps just borrowing Lilly for the odd occasion???!! Only time will tell;-)
Sarah also came to stay for a couple of days and we got in touch with our inner child at an outing in Richmond's Children's Museum...we had a truly great time as you can see for yourself!!!

Last night Finley stayed the night with his new girlfriend Lilly while Steve and I went on the first proper date in two years. Needless to say we made to most of it. After watching Bill Plymton's adult cartoons at the Canal Club downtown, 18 hot wings at BWW (I am still suffering), countless drinks at the New York Deli and Star Light (by than memory loss had set in???), and of course a cheeky cigar on the front porch with half the rugby team, we found ourselves unconscious in our wonderful king size/memory foam bed with the bed being the only one who might remember whether we did have that great sex we promised ourselves before we went on this alcoholic rampage!!!!;-))))