Martha's Marvellous Munchies

It's not often that you get two Monthly Munches in a row, is it?  In fact, it's not ever that you've had two Monthly Munches in a row.  But this month has been entirely taken up with our two-week trip to America; the weeks either side somehow vanished without trace into the maelstrom of packing, planning, jetlag and sleepless nights. We made it!  Newark Airport. Let me start by saying the boys were brilliant.  They got through five flights, two houses, three pets, at least ten meals out, and too many friends, relatives and complete strangers to count, with humour, graciousness, and a lot more smiles than screams.  So I guess you'll want some photos to prove it... Toby - got very excited every time all the clocks at my grandparents' started striking (even in a one-bedroom apartment, they have six, most of which ding, dong or cuckoo.) Dinner at Meemaw and Grampoo's - liked playing on the rocks by the James River best in Virginia. - could re...

Nor for those who have an irrational fear of snakes, or for that matter an irrational love of cute little bunny rabbits.  But for those who are intrigued by the natural world and don't get too freaked out by the ickier bits of it, this was our David Attenborough moment. John and Kristal's dog Boudin spotted it first, and went bounding up before the rest of us had a chance to register any more than some kind of mound on the path.  It was so interesting he resisted all Kristal's attempts to call him away for a while.  Even though she quickly identified it as a non-poisonous black snake, and besides, its mouth was far too full of rabbit to bite anything else, we were glad when he was safely to heel. We stood and watched for a few minutes.  The rabbit was clearly dead; whether the snake killed it or just found it, we don't know.  It was eating in a leisurely fashion, which I suppose is fair enough when your dinner is actually wider than your body.  Ev...

Funnily enough, it was the trees that we really noticed this time.  Spreading oaks three times higher than the houses huddling beneath them.  Fat roots wriggling beneath the brick pavements.  And on the highways, you barely got out of town before the road became a channel between two walls of green leaves.  In Texas they have fast food joints and billboards along the interstates.  In Virginia, they have trees. Richmond is a nicely-situated city; if you go south-east you get to the Atlantic Ocean, if you head north-west you reach the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We did both. Family photo on Sandbridge beach Graham and Toby at the Shenandoah Pass lookout point John and Kristal took a day off work so they could accompany us to Sandbridge, where we set up camp underneath a big green umbrella and tried to stop Toby from eating sand.  He was quite a fan of the beach (great texture!) but the sea was far too cold and unpredictable.  One minute it's...

Finally, a long-awaited blog post about Virginia!  I'm afraid you will have to wait a little longer to hear a little about all our fun activities (we fitted in beach and mountains, what more could you want on a holiday?) but the main purpose of the trip was to introduce Toby to some more of his family.  He charmed 'em all. First, the most important: Toby meets Grandma (or Meemaw as she is known to her great-grands) Of course, Grandpa (or Grampoo) was just as important, but didn't get quite so many cuddles owing to having heart surgery while we were there (you wouldn't know it, would you?) It was the second time for meeting Uncle John, but Toby's changed a bit in 6 months! Inspecting the James River with Aunt Kristal. With a couple of my cousins, Lloyd and Ben.  At the rate Toby's growing he may rival their height one day. With Great-Uncle Ben. Walking in the woods with Great-Aunt Mary, who did a great job entertaining us i...

That pretty much sums up our recent trip to the East Coast. My parents were over for a visit so we flew to Richmond for a week to join them and other members of the family, and admire my brother and sister-in-law's newly acquired house. We arrived to stay a whole three days after they had moved in, which has got to be some kind of hospitality record. Major props to them for making us feel very welcome despite trying to repaint, unpack, do general DIY and deal with their cat having kittens all at the same time! Virginia is beautiful in the spring, with flowering bushes and trees every way you look. Those cherry trees with their big puffy bunches of pink blossom are my all-time favourites and there were whole streets full of them. We paid a visit to the Lewis Ginter Botanic Garden for extra flower admiration. Tulips at the botanic garden The problem with America's size is that a few hundred miles suddenly falls into the category of "just around the corner". We...