So, about those updates...

I instituted this new rule about updating my blog here.  I can't do it until I've updated my paper blog.  So THAT is what took me so long.  As a result, a lot has happened since the last time I updated.  But I'm going to start updating the paper journal regularly, so I can update this too.  Sorry for the wait!

I'll just pick an arbitrary starting point somewhere near my last update: Castleton.  Castleton is a wee town a bit from here through the Peaks (The Peak District) and it's very nice.  We went there to explore the area around, and climbed some hills and had ourselves a great time, and took some pictures.  Actually, I took a ton of photos.  But I always do.

This is Castleton from the top of one of the hills we climbed.  The castle is there at the top of that darker green field in the upper center of the picture.  It's not that big of a castle, but it's still cool!

This is the castle!  Pretty cool.  We don't have /these/ at home!

We're all resting because this hill nearly killed us.  Well, that may be a little melodramatic, but it was a pretty serious hill.  I am not fond of all the hills, but eh.  The scenery was pretty!

One of my friends and I decided that we'd split off from the group to avoid further hill climbage, and ended up walking through this neat little mini-forest.  It had some flowers, even this late in the summer!  I whipped out my camera and took some macro pictures which I'm quite fond of- this is one of them.  Aren't they pretty flowers?

This is the forest!  It was so pretty- so much of the Peaks is that I really feel I may have wandered inadvertently into a fairy tale or a movie.

We also found the bones of a dead sheep.  I immediately took photos, and while I quite like them, I reckon not everyone might feel that way, so I'll spare you.  I do, however, have all the Castleton pictures up on Flickr, which you can get to by clicking on the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126812@N04/sets/72157622585754057/

We also went and listened to salsa music (I think it was salsa music) at a place in town called Cubana.  I was looking through the menu and found something funny!

This place didn't have just any kind of bourbon.  No, they had /Blanton's/ bourbon!  I wonder if we're related...

Umm, so now I'm going to skip to Halloween because the only things in between this and Halloween are two more family pictures that y'all don't need pictures of, really, since they look like all the other family dinners!

First, my favorite pictures from Halloween.  Note the look of manic glee on my face as I stab the pumpkin.  Boy did I ever have fun carving that pumpkin, and now we have seeds to eat!  And the pumpkin looked pretty cool.  Probably the best bit of carving I've ever done, anyway.

I'm not a psycho, honest!  I was taking off my jewelry in preparation for ripping the guts of the pumpkin out.  Anneleen and Alex and Anna were all helping!  But the only one in this photo is Anneleen.

I am ridiculously proud of the result, which is lit by the flashlight (called a torch here) which Pop gave me.  Don't worry, I wrapped it in a plastic baggie first so it wouldn't get all icky!  I worked a charm!

So, all my friends were zombies or... whatever Nerea and Carmen are.  I was a cowboy.  I wore my bright rainbow shirt, jeans, and my belt from Philmont.  I stuck out like a sore thumb, but we all found it really amusing.  I also really feel like I ought to account for that pear cider I'm holding- I had a few sips, and Julie (the girl on my right) had most of it.  Clearly, haha.

Today we had a family dinner!  Anna made a whole Sunday Roast pretty much with no help.  Okay, we chopped vegetables, and cleaned up afterwards.  But she did all the hard work.  I contrived to cut my finger.  Take a corner off my totin' chip!

I love this picture because we're all looking at Anna, who is doling out the food.  Vultures much?  I THINK SO!  The food was fantastic, I don't think I'm eating the rest of the day.  Unless someone left a Yorkshire pudding, but I bet they didn't.  On that note, I don't know why it's called a Yorkshire pudding.  It's a pastry.  And it's delicious.

This is the roast.  Most of it y'all'd know.  The only things I can think you wouldn't is the Yorkshire Pudding (that's that hollow cup looking pastry in the bottom of the plate) and the french fry looking thing, which is in fact parsnip.  They were chopped up and then fried in sunflower oil.  I think they were my favorite thing of the whole whole meal.






 Also, since I know maybe some of you were wondering if I was over my blasted sickness yet, the answer is yes and no.  My asthma is better, pretty much.  I have an inhaler I use every day that works, unlike the last one which was not working.  I was in the doctor's office two or three times the past week- once to get the new asthma medication, once to see a nurse and be told, "It's a virus, come back if it gets worse" (even though there were white spots on my tonsils and it was so clearly not a virus) and to go back to the same (brilliant) nurse only to have her say, "Oh, you probably got a bacterial infection on top of the virus."  Honey, it hadn't been viral since before I came to see you.  But thanks for that.

Anyway, long (frustrating, annoying) story short, I'm on antibiotics now and already feel loads better.  I'm almost back to normal!  After a month and a half of this nonsense, all I have to say is "About dang time!"  Thank goodness!

And there you have it!  An update!  For anyone who'd like to start following my Flickr pictures, (where I post a lot of the pictures that don't have my friends from Facebook in) I can be found heeeere: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126812@N04/

I was also thinking it would be nice to update this thing with maybe stuff y'all really want to know, so if there's anything you're just dying to know about England or my life in general, let me know!  And I'll try to remember to answer questions either as I get them or in updates.

Have a good day!  (The "day" is already gone here, it being after 5:30.  Yeah, that's right, the sun sets that early.  And it will get earlier!)