My Week with Flat Stanley

I had a fun visitor for a week. My sister's friend has a son, Alex, who is doing a project for school. There is a book about Flat Stanley, a guy who gets flattened and makes the most of his situation. Alex has made a Flat Stanley and he is being mailed around the world to visit people.

Flat Stanley arrived after a nice holiday in the Bahamas with my sister. We first visited Wimbledon to check out some tennis.

We also headed over to the market and stopped to enjoy the sunny day overlooking the Tower Bridge.

Of course we visited the best landmarks. Here is Flat Stanley in front of Big Ben.

He thought Parliament was great.

And he also liked the Westminster Abbey.

He got to use a telephone box to call home.

And he did his favorite thing....ride in a double decker bus!

He is now off to Tucson to ride some horses!

Why Can't We Do That?

Since I moved here, I have been surprised at the low cost for organic produce. In some cases, there is just a 25 pence difference between the regular stuff and the organic. Other organic goods are even cheaper. For example, the organic hummus that I buy is CHEAPER then the contaminated stuff. Finally, something that makes sense!

One of the most impressive elements of the organic produce is the use of compostable packaging. That's right...after I eat my carrots I can throw the packaging on my compost and away it goes. I am fascinated by it.

Here is a picture of my organic potatoes in its cool packaging. Not only does it tell me what date my potatoes were packed, but also my farmer who produced the potatoes and where she is located.

All the bags have this symbol so you know that it can go on your compost.

Not only is it strong plastic, but it is also clear plastics and containers. Here are my tomatoes. Not only can you throw the plastic on your compost, you can throw the cream colored container holding the tomatoes on it to. Brilliant!

When more and more of my packaging says it is compostable, I just wonder.....

Why is America so behind the wheel?????? I have done some research and there are some companies in the US that specialize in this packaging. But some how, they don't seem to be getting to main stream stores. If I can buy this in a major supermarket in the UK, why can't this be done in the US?

My only problem now is finding a compost! :) I am saving the bags and trying to pass them off to my friend who has a garden and has the room for a compost. Too bad I don't have any soil or I would be doing it myself!

Too Cold Here!

Since I have been in London, I have been pretty fine with the weather. It is not cloudy all the time and the weather is rather moderate. But since we have been slammed with snow this week, the temperature refuses to go up! I was going to do my first day trip out of London today and after waking up to 30 degree weather, I decided to stay in. Who wants to walk around in below freezing weather all day? I really hope Spring gets here soon!

Here is my first video with my new camera. Nothing exciting, just snow.

Here is a look at the neighborhood.

For some reason, the English like to make snow balls! I saw them all over the place. No snowmen, just balls. Kinda strange. This snow ball was taller then my waist and had foot marks imprinted everywhere as it must have been really heavy to roll.

Funny enough, all the snow has melted and now the western part of England is getting hammered. They say the whole country is running out of salt because there has not been this much snow in history in some places.

Back in Business and Snowed In!

Well, I can say that I am finally back in business. I have been getting hate mail from friends and family asking why I had not updated the blog. To be honest...I have not done anything terribly exciting and my camera broke right before Christmas. I personally find the blog much more exciting with photos so I have been waiting to buy a camera. Well, I am happy to report that this past weekend I am back in business and just in time!

This morning, I woke to 5 inches of snow on my doorstep. It looks so much like Syracuse!

So far, this is the most snowfall that London has seen in over 18 years. All the buses throughout London are off the roads and most of the subway is shutdown (since much of the rails have outdoor sections). In addition, they just shut down Heathrow.

Thus, I am snowed in as there is no way to get to work!

Unfortunately, I have my computer at home.......so I can still work! However, they say it is going to snow all day so I will watch the snow fall outside. They say we could get another 5 inches!