Thursday, 23 January 2014



Some photos. Not quite up to date, but it's a start.

Firstly, Rachel's violin recital at the Brookline Music School. Spot who's accompanying her!



Some of the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. These were photographed from the cliff walk.







This is "The Breakers", the Newport  mansion we visited to see the Christmas decorations. Sadly, taking photographs inside was banned so we had to make do with external shots. This was the family home of the Vanderbilts.





A gratuitous picture of Dougal looking cute and getting ready for the cold weather.



Christmas Day morning, about to open stockings.



New Year's Eve in Boston, known as the First Night celebrations. There were ice sculptures dotted around the city. This one was outside the Prudential Centre and showed Buffy the Puppy (whoever he is).




The baseball World Series trophy, currently in the hands of the Boston Red Sox!



Santa's sleigh!



Our ride for the New Year's Eve Mayor's Parade - a Chinese Dragon-style Green Line T train.



Some of the other puppets being carried by other passers by who volunteered to take part in the parade (or were press ganged into taking part).




It was cosy inside our Green Line T!



Izzy driving.


The New Year's Eve fireworks, viewed from Boston's Public Gardens.



Winter Storm Hercules arrived the afternoon of January 2nd. This is the view from our living room window the following morning.



School was cancelled so we went out for a walk in the snow.




Washing the ice and salt off Dougal's paws afterwards.



We've ended up getting Dougal some little rubber boots to wear when it's snowy and icy so his paws don't get sore. He's very unimpressed when we put them on him but is much happier outside with them when there's snow and ice around.




Another week, another snow storm, another school snow day. It's getting slightly tedious now. At least Winter Storm Janus, which hit Tuesday evening and overnight, didn't turn out to be quite as bad as forecast with only about 10cm of snowfall instead of the 20cm plus forecast. The school snow day on Wednesday was therefore unnecessary as all roads and public transport seemed to be running smoothly but as it had been called on Tuesday evening it was too late to change their minds on Wednesday morning. Ah well - the girls enjoyed it. It's gone very cold again though.

Not much else to report otherwise, apart from a girly shopping trip on Monday. Monday was a public holiday - Martin Luther King Day, which the school recognised last week with a special assembly which made a big impact on the girls. Most of Isabel's friends in school are Afro-Americans and, as she pointed out, had it not been for Martin Luther King she may never have had the opportunity to meet these girls and become their friends. Their minds are being broadened this year - this is not an issue which raises its head in Porthcawl.

The girly shopping trip was very successful. The girls had some pocket money burning a hole in their purses and wanted to hit the clothes shops. As Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch had huge winter sales a relatively small amount of money went a very long way and two very happy girls (actually three happy girls!) sat on the train coming home clutching several bags featuring photos of semi-naked men on the outside (those of you who've shopped in these stores will know what I mean) and an assortment of new clothes on the inside.

Plans for the rest of the week: Rachel has more Wizard of Oz rehearsals after school; basketball matches on Saturday; Isabel has a cello recital on Saturday evening and hopefully a day's skiing in one of the local ski resorts on Sunday.

Friday, 17 January 2014

We're in the "January Thaw" apparently. The polar vortex seems to have settled over Michigan and the Great Lakes and left the rest of us to enjoy some milder weather. It's much more like a UK winter now and we can go outdoors without feeling like our faces are going to fall off in the cold.

So, to catch up after Christmas. On Boxing Day (a holiday not recognised here in the US) we had our friends Peggy and Deon and children over for some food, drink and chat which was lovely and their daughter Megan slept over which kept the girls happy. A couple of days later we went with them to watch the Boston Celtics, the city's basketball NBA team. Through his work Deon has access to a box at the TD Garden, the stadium where the Celtics and the Boston Bruins, the ice hockey team, both play their home games, so we were very well looked after. It was a great atmosphere and involved lots of chanting of DEE-FENCE when the Celtics were trying to defend their basket.

On New Year's Eve we went into Boston in the afternoon for the First Night celebrations. Starting in the morning and running throughout the day and into the evening were lots of events and attractions, a lot of them aimed at families, to help celebrate the New Year. There were fantastic ice sculptures dotted around at various locations, lots of street entertainers, a family festival with circus acts, puppet shows  etc, and many other things going on which we didn't manage to get to. The Mayor's Parade was due to start at 5.30pm, travelling from the Prudential Centre to Boston Common and we managed to get ourselves involved in the parade! A community puppet workshop had created lots of carnival-style and Chinese dragon-style puppets and were inviting passers by to carry them in the parade so we thought, "why not?" and managed to secure for ourselves a Chinese dragon puppet decorated to look like our local Green Line T train. The four of us stood in the cold for about an hour beforehand as the parade was being set up and then carried our Green Line train in the parade for about another hour, weaving our way across the road and into the crowds watching. It was tremendous fun, if a little chilly, and we were able to finish with a welcome hot chocolate before dashing to the public gardens next to Boston Common to watch the 7pm fireworks display which was spectacular. There were more fireworks at midnight but it was much too cold to stay out any longer (the polar vortex was on its way) so we headed home and saw in the new year watching New York's celebrations on the TV. What a great New Year's Eve - definitely one to remember.

The girls were back at school and Barry back at work on Thursday January 2nd, which was when the snow started so they all had a day off again on the Friday when we waded through the foot of snow which had fallen since Thursday morning. Sadly, we were due to go to watch the Boston Bruins with Peggy and Deon in their box at the TD Garden on Thursday evening but we all decided it was too much of a risk in the snow so we had to pass. Hopefully we'll find another opportunity to go as watching ice hockey (or just hockey, as they call it here) live is great fun. On a sporting note, we've been keeping an eye on the progress of the New England Patriots, the local NFL team, who are due to play the NFL final against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Should they win, they go to the Superbowl. Denver are probably the favourites but not by much so it could be exciting. I can't say we've got into American football (or just football here) in the same way that we enjoyed the baseball but we will watch the match on TV on Sunday and hope the Patriots win. It would be great to have the local team to support in the Superbowl.

The girls did manage to get back to school the following Monday and have had no further snow days, although it stayed very cold for several days afterwards. At least we weren't suffering the gales and rain storms that the UK was experiencing. You were in our thoughts!

We managed our first skiing trip a couple of weeks ago at Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire. We drove up on the Saturday afternoon after Isabel's basketball match and stayed overnight in a nice little hotel with Dougal. Barry and the girls met up with one of Rachel's school friends Sydney and her Dad Marvin for a day's skiing and I spent the day with Sydney's Mum Jami and Dougal, walking in the snow and generally pottering around. It was very pleasant and absolutely beautiful scenery.

Marvin and Jami have taken us under their wings and decided we all need feeding up, I think. Marvin is an excellent amateur chef and we have been over their house a couple of times for food. The first time we were served the best, most tender beef I have ever eaten and the second time it was a seafood fest and, despite not being a seafood enthusiast (ie I don't do seafood) I ate almost all of it as it was delicious. I passed on the oysters, only because the meat didn't slide out of the shell into my mouth so I took that as a sign and gave up. Barry was in his element and was most impressed with me! Apart from feeding us they have also entertained Rachel on several occasions, including taking her ice skating.

Finally, to bring us up to date, we had a great night out last night eating yet more wonderful food. Marvin and Jami had invited us along to a dining event at a cafe up the road from where we live, where a local chef was preparing a seven-course tasting menu. Barry mentioned it to some colleagues at work and we also mentioned it to Peggy and Deon and we ended up turning up with a big gang of friends and had an excellent evening, eating all sorts of interesting and unusual foods (have you ever eaten fluke before?Apparently it's a fish and it was lovely - very delicate).

Monday, 6 January 2014

Before I continue with our daily doings here in Boston, a word on the weather.

Boston is used to harsh conditions in the winter but the weather of the past week has been extreme even by Boston's standards. Temperatures started to fall around New Year and many people (including us) decided not to brave the midnight fireworks on New Year's Eve for fear of finding the conditions too unpleasant.

Snow had been forecast for Thursday but the forecasters had been playing it down, saying that there may be a few inches but nothing out of the ordinary for this time of year. However, by New Year's Day it was being given a name, Winter Storm Hercules, and was getting the forecasters much more excited. The Mid West was already bracing itself for snow but the problem for Boston was that two cold fronts were due to merge over the coast north of New York, bringing the worst of the storm to Cape Cod and north to Boston. Temperatures across Canada, the Mid West, New York and New England were reaching record lows for the last couple of decades and there were warnings against staying outside for too long for fear of frost bite. Even states as far south as Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama were seeing snow and sleet. Another concern was coastal flooding around Boston as a result of seasonal high tides at midnight Thursday and midday Friday combined with strong winds.

The girls were due back in school on Thursday after the Christmas break and Barry was back at work. The Brookline schools decided to open for business on Thursday despite all of the schools in metropolitan Boston staying closed. It was snowing on Thursday morning when we woke up. It wasn't particularly heavy but obviously it had been snowing steadily through the night as there were already a couple of centimetres on the ground. It was very cold when the girls went to school at 8am. The temperature stayed well below freezing all day and it continued to snow. By the time the girls finished school at 2.30pm the wind had picked up and a few more centimetres of snow had fallen. They had been told there would be no school on Friday and had done very little work all day as apparently the teachers were none too impressed at having to be in school so the girls were very happy!

By this stage the Mayor of Boston and the State Governor were requesting motorists to stay off the roads partly for safety reasons and partly so the snow ploughs could get to work. There were many concerns that the extremely cold temperatures made the salt on the roads ineffective. Barry managed to finish early and get home before any traffic chaos started and was relieved that the IHI had declared a snow day for Friday too so he was able to stay home. Unfortunately, our planned trip on Thursday evening to watch the Boston Bruins play ice hockey in Boston with Peggy and co had to be abandoned. The match still went ahead but as the heaviest snow was due to start at about 6pm we all decided that it wasn't safe to drive and we didn't want to have to rely on what was likely to be a busy and much reduced subway service to get there and back. So we stayed in and watched the Weather Channel instead (and some of the ice hockey on TV).

Friday morning was a winter wonderland. The snow was at least a foot deep and was very dry and powdery due to the cold temperatures (I learned an enormous amount about different types of snow and the relationship between moisture in the air and the amount of precipitation thanks to the Weather Channel and the local Boston TV news channel). It was very beautiful but bitterly cold - the warmest temperature recorded all day was -10C, plus the wind chill factor. Dougal ended up with an ice-encrusted beard and fur coat after his walk. Rachel still managed to have a play in the snow with her friend Alex in the school's playing field which has a small slope perfect for sledging and bum boarding.

The snow stopped about lunchtime on Friday but the temperature stayed several degrees below freezing through Saturday before warming up a bit on Sunday, just in time for a day's skiing. Today it's (relatively) mild and raining before freezing again overnight and back to a top of -8C for the next couple of days so everywhere will be like a skating rink tomorrow. Apparently North America is in the grip of a "polar vortex" at the moment. We chose an interesting winter to be in Boston!

In the midst of all our weather, we have been hearing about the UK weather and the ongoing storms there. Apparently they are a knock on effect of the cold weather in the US so many apologies.

Thursday, 2 January 2014

Girls back in school today after the Christmas break so finally I have some time to update our blog. Apologies for the long break - December was a busy month. I'll have to do it quickly though - it's likely that the girls will have a snow day off school tomorrow as Winter Storm Hercules hits us. More on the Boston winter shortly ...

When I last left you we were about to visit Newport, Rhode Island. We had a lovely day - Newport is a beautiful town which needs more time to explore than we had in one day. We had a cold but exhilarating walk along the coastal footpath, the highlight of which is peeking through the fences and hedges at the back gardens of the mansions. In the afternoon we dropped into The Breakers, one of the most famous of the Newport Mansions, which belonged to the Vanderbilt family. It was like visiting a British stately home, if a little more ostentatious, with the added bonus of extravagant but tasteful Christmas decorations. The centrepiece was a 12ft poinsettia tree in the cavernous  marbled hallway. Sadly, we were not allowed to take photographs indoors but if you go to http://www.newportmansions.org/events/christmas-at-the-newport-mansions you'll get a picture of what we saw. The day finished with dinner at the house of one of Barry's IHI colleagues. Gareth was a UK Fellow at the IHI about 10 years ago and returned to Boston about 8 years to work at the IHI. He and his wife Donna live in Brookline and their daughter Ellen is in Isabel's grade at school. We had a lovely evening reminiscing about all things UK and wondering at some of the weird and wonderful things US.

The girls had a busy December at school. Fiddler on the Roof was performed Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th December. Isabel's cast were on stage the Friday night and the Saturday afternoon so Barry, Rachel and I were in Friday's audience. The show was absolutely brilliant. The standard of singing and acting was as good as any youth theatre show we've seen and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Isabel had a ball and has made so many new friends - not bad for someone who almost didn't audition because she was worried about singing in front of other people. Rachel ended up going to watch both shows on Saturday with a variety of different friends and Isabel went to watch Saturday night's show with the other cast so I think the Appletons showed their support!

The following Monday Isabel's school Chorus had its Winter Concert in the High School auditorium. All the children at Pierce School have two music sessions a week, one of which is known as "Conservatory". During this session the children can join their grade's string orchestra, wind band or chorus (choir) or if they are completely non-musical, they can do music appreciation instead. Isabel chose to sing with the chorus rather than play in the string orchestra. The Winter Concert featured the chorus groups from grades 5 to 8 and the grade 6-8 wind band and was very enjoyable. The standard was variable - we felt that the West Park Primary School choir was better than most of the choirs in the concert - but it was fun nonetheless and Isabel enjoyed it. The 20-minute wait for the T (train) back home standing on the outside station platform in the snow was rather less enjoyable!

In the midst of Isabel's shows, Rachel had an audition for the school's grade 5 and 6 show, The Wizard of Oz. The children had to audition in groups of five so Rachel and her team of cronies arranged to go together. They were given some sections of script to practice and were told they would be asked to sing Over the Rainbow and a song of their choice. Rachel set her heart on the part of the Lion, which she performed hilariously whilst practicing at home. Luckily in the audition the section of script the group of five were asked to perform involved the Lion so Rachel had the opportunity to do her Lion thing. The parts were due to be revealed at the first rehearsal the following week and we had the tip off from the producer (who is the Dad of one of Rachel's friends and basketball team colleagues) that Rachel had done very well in the audition so excitement mounted as the rehearsal approached, only to be dashed when the rehearsal had to be postponed due to snow. However, the rehearsal was rearranged for two days later and Rachel was over the moon to be given the part of the Lion! As in Isabel's show there are two casts who will do two performances each in mid-March. Most of Rachel's friends are in her cast although she seems to be the only 5th grader to have a major part. Rehearsals proper start next week and Rachel can't wait to get started after lots of practice and learning lines over the Christmas break.

In the midst of all of these cultural pursuits the girls have started playing basketball with a local Brookline league. Rachel plays in the grade 4/5 league and Isabel is in the grade 6/7/8 league. They train once a week with their team and play matches on Saturdays. Both are doing really well although Isabel hasn't had a great start not managing to make any of her training sessions so far because of other commitments and only playing one full match, having to miss one match because of her show performance and then getting injured in another match (bruised finger - more sore than it sounds!). However, matches and training resume this Saturday so we're hoping Isabel will get the chance to fulfill the potential she showed during her one match. They are both really enjoying playing and Isabel is even talking about pursuing basketball rather than netball on our return to Porthcawl. We'll see!!

So, onto Christmas. It's been an interesting experience! Christmas is a word not heard very often around here - Thanksgiving to New Year is referred to as "the holidays" as it also includes Hanukkah, the Jewish festival, at the beginning of December and with the large Jewish population in Brookline it seems safest not to mention Christmas. Certainly, the school didn't seem to have any Christmas celebrations and it has been strange not to have any Christmas concerts to attend. Even the Chorus Winter Concert made no reference to Christmas. At least Christmas trees were readily available - the Elks Lodge opposite our apartment block sold Christmas trees which made it very easy for us with no car, although I was wondering about the sanity of getting the tree whilst Barry was away at a conference in Orlando as Isabel and I struggled across the road and up the stairs to our apartment with a 7ft tree! The bigger problem was finding a stand for the tree - I travelled around Boston without success visiting various shops which seemed likely to sell stands only to end up eventually at a hardware store in Brookline which the nice men at the Elks Lodge suggested. It's the most unlikely items which cause problems when you're away from home.

So how was Christmas in the US different from back in the UK? I've already mentioned the sensitivity towards referring to Christmas and this translated to Christmas cards as well as school and general conversation. However, the most noticeable difference to me centred around food. As the Yanks have turkey at Thanksgiving they tend to go for ham on Christmas Day. We stuck to turkey but had the ongoing gravy problem - no gravy browning to give colour to home made gravy and no gravy granules. The only gravy options seemed to be anaemic home made gravy which went down badly with the girls at Thanksgiving, buying it ready made or in a powdered form in packets. In actual fact the packet powder made very acceptable gravy but it needed a packet per person to make enough to go around so it wasn't the cheapest option! I missed many of the other foods which we associate with Christmas. Mince pies were virtually non-existant - some friends managed to track down a couple of packs in one of the supermarkets which has a small section of British food and very kindly donated a pack to us which we have gratefully consumed. Christmas cake and Christmas pudding are also conspicuous by their absence. I bought a "holiday fruit cake" which was the nearest I could find but it's not the same. No pickled onions or pickled red cabbage (usually provided by my Mum!) and no Stilton cheese. Shortbread biscuits can be found but are expensive. Non-food but essential for Christmas are crackers. These are not a US tradition but can be found if you look hard enough. Again, they are expensive and charmingly are labelled as "a British tradition" and come with instructions. The ones I bought did the job though. Christmas dinner wouldn't have been the same without the paper crowns, silly jokes and useless toys!