Ripley Scarecrow Festival

Ever year, at the end of August, the local town of Ripley hosts a scarecrow festival.

I have to mention that it was much different than I expected, but so much fun!

I've blogged about Ripley before, because Ethan and the kids and I went to the grounds of Ripley Castle last year. While there, we learned that an Inglby family ancestor (the Inglby family still resides in the castle), apparently fought off some wild boars that were attacking the King at the time. Thus, there is a boar theme throughout the village of Ripley.

That history should shed some light on the scarecrow festival, as all of the scarecrows were in fact boars! Scattered and hidden throughout the village were scarecrow boars of all kinds. Villagers who wanted to participate would make a scarecrow that characterizes a famous person/character, and give it a name that has "pig" or "boar" in the title.

When we arrived at the festival, we purchased a quiz sheet for a few pounds and began our search. We had to walk all around the village and find as many scarecrows as we could (we had to look high and low as some were even on roof tops!). Our quiz sheet had all of the names for the scarecrows, so we had to match the number of the scarecrow with the name. It wasn't always easy, but it was a lot of fun!

Here are some of our favorites:

Pig-nocchio
The Red Boar-on

Boar-atThis was one of those festivals that was so sweet and so simple... it makes me want to bring the idea back with me to America. What do you think... Do you think Americans would be up for a scarecrow festival like this?

Gillen Highlights

Alyssa Gillen was one of my college roommates, and is forever a friend. She lives in New York, and has three children who are pretty close in age to my children- Caleb (8), Cassidie (6), and Serena (3). She and her husband Kevin were brave (or crazy) enough to bring all three children over the ocean to visit us this past summer! I know it's been a few months since they came, but I am still pinching myself at the thought of it!

Here are some highlights from their week-long visit.

Fountains Abbey- The kids made their own paper versions of stained-glass windows, and got their faces painted.Ripon Cathedral
Day trip to the Lake District- We visited Beatrix Potter's Home (Hill Top), and The World of Beatrix Potter AttractionGirls' Day Out in Harrogate for some shopping and lunch at Betty's
Day Trip to York
We started our day at the National Railway Museum

Outside the museum they had a lot of fun activites for the kids, including the human hamster ball. (I was practically crying-laughing the whole time the kids were in there-- too funny!)

York Minster

Knaresborough Rowing on the River NiddWe spent the last few days of their trip in northern Wales
We really had a wonderful time being together. Yes, we saw some wonderful sights, but it was just so nice to be together with good friends. Alyssa and Kevin are the kind of people who are so much fun -- I kept wondering if I really knew how to have fun without them! Yes, we had our fair share of "moments"- kids throwing up in the car, waiting in long lines, waiting for food with cranky kids, etc., etc., but we always seemed to find a way to laugh out of the situation.

Until our next adventure together.......

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I am so pleased that the kids' school places a lot of value on drama! Last year, Tim's class performed two plays: A Christmas Carol at Christmas-time, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory towards the end of the year.

And who was cast as Charlie, you might ask? Well, that would be Tim. I'd love to be prideful and tell you that they picked him because of the natural acting ability he inherited from his mother; but he was actually selected because no one else wanted to play that role and he wanted to be helpful. That's my Tim.

Anyway, it was a wonderful production. They actually performed most of the script from the movie version I remember as a kid (without the songs). Here are a few pictures and clips from the performance:

• Tim as Charlie in the shared bed with his mum and grandparents
• A clip of Charlie opening his birthday presents from his family
• All of the Golden Ticket winners with Wonka in his boat
• A clip of Charlie and Grandpa Joe when they sample the Fizzy-Lifting Drink

I thought it was so clever how they portrayed that!

A few days after this play, the school held its annual Leavers' Ceremony. It's a graduation ceremony of sorts, where they say farewell to the Year 6s who will be moving onto high school the following term. This year, the school had 4 students graduating. Also, Tim's teacher, Mrs. Waller, was leaving the school for a teaching job that was taking her to Malaysia, and the school headmistress, Mrs. Buckton was moving on to another school as well. The ceremony was bittersweet. The children sang some songs (including "So Long, Farewell" from Sound of Music), and the Class 2 band performed songs on the musical instruments they had been practicing on all year. Here are two clips from the Leavers' Ceremony:


(So sweet to hear this song being sung by British kids).

And what first band concert would be complete without "Drunken Sailor?"
(And yes, that's Tim's teacher on the trombone. She took instrument lessons along with the kids. Doesn't that say so much about her as a teacher? We were so sad to see her go.)



I have to say, for such a small school, I am very pleased with all they do with the performing arts!

Summer Highlights

(I realize that I am months behind in my blog. So sorry.... I have been busy to say the least, with my new role as PWOC Pres., sewing with my friend in the afternoons, and just life in general. Anyway, I will do my best to get back into the swing of things....)

We'll start with some highlights from this past summer. We went home to the States for just two weeks at the end of June/beginning of July. Highlights included:

• spending time with Grandma Stryker and Uncle Luke at their home near Ithaca, NY
• boating and enjoying the nearby lakes
  
• going mini-golfing with Grandma
• playing in the inflatable pool and playing baseball in Grandma's back yard
• visiting with Great-Grandma Phelps
• going to the Corning Museum of Glass
• visiting with my college roommates, Tanya and Alyssa, and their families
• spending time with Grammy and Papa, Uncle Jesse, Aunt Babe and cousin Summer, Uncle Jay and (almost) Aunt Ashley, Aunt Katie and cousin Logan in East Hampton
• special time with my cousin Jane and her three kids, as well as my Granny
• lots of time in the pool and at the beach
• our annual family bivouac (including fishing and searching for crabs)

It was a very special time. Actually, since moving here, it seems like our time at home is all the more precious to us.

Sometimes, it's just the simple joys of being together...

Squirty Cream

Back in June, our church had it's annual barbecue at a local farm. It was organized by my friend Debbie, who is an American. She is fabulous at organizing our church's events, and tells how it has taken her years to "train" the Brits how to do church functions American-style!

This year for our church barbecue, Debbie decided that she would show our English friends what an ice-cream sundae bar was for dessert. She had people bring ice-cream and all different kinds of toppings. On the day of the barbecue, she asked me and a couple of other ladies to "man" the cans of Reddi-Whip (which the Brits call "squirty cream") so that the kids wouldn't use too much. (We all know what kids do with Reddi-whip --- they either squirt it wrong and waste all the gas inside, or they pour it down their throats without limit!)

So, there I was at my station at the toppings table, with the can of squirty cream in hand. I asked each kid who came up if they would like some. It didn't take me long to figure out that the American kids would ask for it, but the British children did not. In fact, I noticed that I was getting some strange looks for even suggesting it. One girl responded to me by saying, "Squirty cream on my ice-cream?...... NO!" (How preposterous of me for asking!)

I finally asked a British mother about it, and she told me that it is not customary for squirty cream to be put on ice-cream. Squirty cream was reserved for a few choice desserts like pie, but that was about it.

The kids seemed to have no problem with sprinkles (which by the way, they sometimes call "hundreds and thousands").... they heaped those one by the spoonful. And they also had no problem putting fruit on their ice-cream. My friend Debbie had a big bowl of cherries at her station, and the British people were trying to scoop them into their sundaes by the spoonful. Debbie had to politely teach them that they just get one cherry... on top, of course!

The ice-cream sundae bar was a hit! The kids and adults all enjoyed it. I even noticed a few British mothers who stood gaping at the sundaes saying things like, "I didn't know you could do this with ice-cream!" Leave it to us Americans to teach other cultures how to make something bigger and better.