What ... no pictures?!

It's been a while since we noted some of the many differences to living life out here in the States ... here are a few more ...

• Some words here have been shortened by a letter or two ... caramel becomes carmel, aluminium becomes aluminum
• Some words are completely different ... Abigail's not cheeky, she's ornery ... you play on a teeter-totter not a see-saw
• Other words are used differently ... to 'visit' with someone can be just to have a chat with them ... to be 'fussy' isn't to be choosy or meticulous but to be whinging and whining
• Road kill is different too ... no more rabbits, hedgehogs and badgers ... here you're much more likely to find skunks, racoons and deer!!
• Tipping at a restaurant can be double what you'd expect to pay in the UK if the service is good
• Tax isn't included on the price of things ... so you always have to add a little bit extra ... oh to actually be told the 'real' price and know exactly what you're paying (and tax changes from state to state too!)
• Houses are generally made of wood and are detached (some might say they look like little holiday cabins!!!) and most people don't have fences so people's yards just flow one into another
• A 'garden' out here is a veggie patch ... what us Brits know as a garden is more likely to be referred to as an 'English Country Garden' ... and not that many people do them either ... it's mostly grass, grass and more grass!
• Drive-thru's are everywhere ... there are your usual fast-food places ... like McD's, Burger King, Starbucks etc ... then there are ones we're not so used to in the UK ... ATM's, Banking, Library Drop-Off, Pharmacies ... the list goes on!

It's not in our nature to update the blog without some sort of photo ... so here's a sight we've never seen in the UK ... but it's been quite common place round here lately ...

... clearing HUGE piles of snow from local car parks and ferrying it off by the truckload ... to some great big snow dumping ground somewhere!

Nana Kukhu's half-term holiday!

Over the British half-term holiday, Jenny's mum, Joan aka Nana Kukhu (Kukhu means Grandmother in a Kenyan dialect) came to visit us. We were really pleased to welcome her to Coshocton when it was a 'Winter Wonderland' because it looks a lot more beautiful covered in snow than without!! One sunny and snowy afternoon the four of us went out the back of our house to 'play' ... not sure who's enjoying it more in the photograph below!!

Just before we went inside to warm up ... Mark took a photograph of the three generations of girlies ... all of whom had lots of fun in the snow!!

We didn't get out and about as much as we would have liked because of the fresh snow that kept falling during her visit and also because Abigail was sick for a couple of days ... but we did take Nana Kukhu up to show her what goes on in the hangar ... as you can see she was straight in there with the tools ... goodness only knows if that plane will ever fly again!! ;o) (she didn't really mess with the engine ... honest!!)

There was lots of silliness while we were at home as well ... including playing with some of the toys Nana Kukhu brought with her. Below is a 'clip-clopping' and 'neighing' hobby horse ... which at the beginning of the 10 days completely freaked Abigail out ... but by the end was her friend!!!

One of Abigail's favourite games at the moment is to get in her cot with a bag of plastic balls and then throw them all out at whoever wants to play with her ... there was often a lot of squealing coming from her bedroom when Abigail and Nana Kukhu disappeared into there ... as you can see a certain little girl was loving it!!

No trip to visit us would be complete without a trip up into Amish country ... and although we didn't get up there as early as we would have liked (only because we wanted a bigger selection of yumminess at Millers Bakery!!) ... we were able to drive around and give Nana Kukhu a snapshot of life there ... we even found a new place to stop for lunch where Abigail could eat from the buffet for free!! The afternoon sunshine on the virgin snow was so beautiful ... a lot of the time the sun made it look like it was covered in a shiny silver coating ... but difficult to catch on camera! As you can see it's still amazing scenery!

It was really good to be able to show Jenny's mum what life is like for us out here ... because however you try to explain something, it's much better to experience it first hand. She headed back to the UK on Monday with lots of photos and video footage of what we got up to!

Silliness in the snow!!

Over the last 7 days we have had LOADS of snow ... not as much as the east coast, which has been all over the news ... but according to the locals we have had the worst winter storms they have seen for years ... last Friday was the first big snow fall ... but it just kept coming every couple of days ... with different snow emergency levels across the state and many schools and businesses closing throughout the week!

We had made plans last weekend ... but once the snow started to fall we realised we weren't going anywhere ... and so made the most of it ... we had a couple of friends round, were able to watch England beat Wales in the Six Nations (thanks to BBC America!!) and then headed out into the backyard for lots of silliness in the snow!

As you can see the increased amounts of snow allowed for super-sized snowballs!! ... everything is bigger in America!! Andy and Esther (Mr and Mrs Porter-to-be ... in 4 months time!) were using our toboggan to pack down the deep snow ... and attempting to slide down a very slight incline!!! Much to our and Abigail's amusement!!!

As well as fooling around in the snow ... Abigail was falling around in it too ... it was so deep that every few steps she went SPLAT! Her preference was being scooted around in her little toboggan as you can see!!

Although most things were cancelled this week with the snow ... Jenny was able to make the first session of a quilting class ... quilting is BIG out here in the States ... especially in the more rural towns and here right by the Amish ... so Jenny figured how best to get to know a local tradition but to enrol in a class!! The perception of quilting out here is completely different to that back in the UK ... and it was really fun to be part of a class of 5 learning a new skill ... pictures to follow ... once she has done a bit more worth showing!!

The snow has been piling up all round the neighbourhood this week ... with the biggest piles of snow we've ever seen ... the main roads are cleared pretty quickly but the others ... like our road have been white with thick layers of snow and ice all week!! In spite of the snow ... Mark has made it into the hangar every day ... business as usual ... although it has been necessary to dig a path to the hangar door (see below!)

In the hangar the inspection of the Piper Aztec was completed at the end of last week and so Mark has returned to working on the Cessna again. Mark's supervisor has been down helping with the planes going to and from Haiti these last few weeks ... so it has made it a little bit more difficult to get on with things ... but we're pleased to say he has successfully completed another test ... this time the topic was 'Weight and Balance'! No planes have been flying from the airfield this week ... as you can see the runway, which runs perpendicular to this entranceway below, was a little covered!!

The sheer amount of snow we've had concerned us slightly as yesterday we were due to drive to Columbus to collect Jenny's mum, coming to stay for 10 days. As it turned out the last main snowfall happened on Tuesday ... and so although there is snow, a foot (or more) deep everywhere, the roads themselves were clear for us yesterday afternoon and she arrived safe and sound ... we were grateful for really good journey's to and from the airport as well! Now time for some fun in the snow with Nana Kukhu! ;o)

A weekend with Auntie Jojo!!

Last weekend we had a lovely time with one of Jenny's closest friends and Abigail's godmother, Jo! Jenny and Jo have known each other since they lived and worked together for a church in Oxford (1998-99). Although they have rarely lived in the same country since that first year, they have always managed to visit each other wherever they've been! At the moment being just under 7 hours drive away from each other is some kind of record!!! We are so pleased that Jo took the time to drive down and visit us!!

Before she arrived we tried to get Abigail to learn Jo's name ... but it was sounding more like 'no' one of Abigail's favourite words (whether she means no or not!!) ... so we went for Jojo instead ... and Abigail was instantly walking around saying 'Jo...jo, Jo...jo'. It was very cute and made us all smile a lot all weekend!! Abigail had lots of fun playing with Jo ... and after she left kept pointing to the door saying 'Jojo'!!!

As well as catching up and showing Jo the highlights of Coshocton (which doesn't take too long!!!) we also drove up to Charm and Walnut Creek in Holmes County ... Amish country! We realised when we took Amy we raved about Millers Bakery but only took a picture of the outside ... so here's a picture of one of our melt in the mouth favourites made there ... a carmel cinnamon roll ... Yum! It's probably just as well we don't go there too often!

Jo has been really getting into photography ... and took some beautiful photos when we were up in Amish Country ... here are a couple for you to see ...

She also took a lovely photo of the three of us together ... we often only get snaps of one or two of us at a time ... so it's really nice to have this ... thank you Jojo!!