Schmidt Adventures: Corgettes, Rocket, and Abergine (?!)

England and the USA were famously described by Winston Churchill (or was it George Bernard Shaw?) as "two nations divided by a common language". In MY English, the title above would say “Zucchini, Arugula, and Eggplant”. Its weird to have to translate (from English to English!) the awesome garden book my cousins gave me.

Chris is going to be gone for two weeks in September doing a pediatric dentistry short course in Texas so instead of moping around here by myself, I’m volunteering at the farm that Katherine worked at this summer. It’s a working organic fruit/veg and animal farm that’s also a wedding venue. Admittedly, my motives are a little selfish because I’m trying to glean knowledge before attempting a massive garden of my own next spring. The soil here is rich and black and a garden seems like a great way to get some organic veggies (earning my lost income?) while at the same time keeping me from going stir-crazy. The problem is as I get more and more bored my garden plans become more and more ambitious. The backyard is big, and don’t we NEED artichokes? 40 ears of corn? Enough basil to make everyone in Brampton a jar of pesto?

There are so many new plants around here to exploit, too! Take this little purple berry:

Katherine and I kept seeing these berries on our countryside rambles so I took a bite of one. Two bits of good news: it wasn’t poisonous, and Katherine found out it’s used to make a special, very English liquor. If we can figure out how to safely ship bottles of liquor you’re all getting drinkable Christmas presents. Has boredom turned me into Martha? Is anyone else scared?

Katherine just left us after almost two weeks. Booo!!! I really miss her company, cooking ideas, and watching the Chris vs. Katherine political debates. LOL. We didn’t have a TV this whole month, so that counted as quality entertainment. We kept baking our butts off (or on?) but in full disclosure, failed miserably on one thing: making yogurt (yoghurt). We managed to ‘make’ a couple gallons of spoiled milk over the course of her stay here, but never ended up with the good stuff. Sigh. Guess she’ll have to come back J

Walking

"Chris, go pick some apples"

People have repeatedly asked about the riots that happened last week. Yes, there were some big time riots and some people were very sadly killed. I know absolutely nothing more about them than any of you, though. Here in our sleepy town we’re much more likely to get run over by an electric wheelchair than involved in a riot so it seems as surreal to us as watching a riot in LA when you live on the East Coast. Yes, I can see it on the TV but no, it doesn’t affect us day-to-day. People around here blame the riots on a poor economy combined with a lack of parenting and weak family structure. Pretty sure the US would also welcome solutions to those particular problems…

On a much lighter note, one of our biggest joys has been using Skype to talk to our parents and nephew Wyatt. Everyone with kids, a nephew or niece, or whatever knows exactly what I’m talking about – Skype let us see Wyatt’s first haircut (tear!), let us watch him do a puzzle, demolish some blocks, and made us laugh when he tried to hand us a toy through the screen. Thank you, thank you Skype! Also thank you to the Facebook guys and girls for keeping us connected and allowing us to see photos of houses being built (at astonishing speeds, Lunsfords!), of babies getting ever cuter (too many to mention), and of couples starting to plan their weddings (congrats David and Jamie!) I have to insert a plug for one of my old Seattle buddies http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-himi-bosworth-20110731,0,5626887.story who actually created Facebook’s Newsfeed (no joke). I used to hate it, Boz, but now truly feel like it’s the thing that most makes me feel a part of the everyday life of some of my friends.

We should probably remember all our blessings right now and not get so frustrated by the little things that go wrong, and the little differences with culture, work, etc that make everyday life a bit more difficult than in Arkansas. General rule: everything is easier, faster, and less frustrating in the US, God bless it.

All our household goods should arrive and will hopefully clear customs next week, YAY, so hopefully the settling will begin in earnest. Here’s to hoping the rest of our things arrive in better shape than the sledge hammered (best guess) TV.

And now for a little tour of our town, Brampton (these photos are all of the main street):