The trip back to the UK from the US

Well we're waiting here in Allentown,
for the Pennsylvania we never found
-Billy Joel

A little while back, I mentioned that I booked a 1 way back to the US, from Germany. Now all that remained was to get myself back, anytime between Dec 25th (we celebrate on Dec 24th) and Jan 3rd.

Iceland Express to Gatwick (ack!) on Dec 27th was looking like the best cost option, for 200 GBP plus 45 GBP of public transit cost, although if I could get my act together for the 25th, I'd be able to do the US holiday as well as the UK holiday (Dec 26th). However, in the end, after much gnashing of the teeth, I figured out that I could get back on a saver ticket on Dec 28th--from Allentown for a mere 52,500 miles. Trying to get back on Dec 25 included a 7 hour layover, which just got silly for a 7 hour flight. Even trying to go unrestricted coach for 55k miles was sending me via Chicago for 55k miles and 5 hours in the Windy city.

As that virtually clears out my United account, I'll be back to travels in the back of the plane for 2011 (grumble, grumble), unless I can build up my miles again on some business travel.

Allentown is a nice airport to travel from, if you ever get a chance. It's tiny, so there are never mega queues like in Philly or Newark. Parking is cheap and from where my rides are usually coming from, it's not a big deal with the traffic.

On the negative side, there are few direct options beyond Detoit to the Northwest, Florida to the South, and Canada to the North. Their international options the last time I flew through were two Canadian flights. ;-)

However...in travelling on United miles, I could only get out via Wash Dulles or Chicago, so no matter where I went through (Philly, Newark, or Allentown), it was going to shuttle me to Heathrow via Dulles. On a positive point, however...as I was relatively flexible on the time (once I realized that Dec 25 wasn't possible), I was able to get a business saver ticket back to London. So rather than being sardined in the back for the Transcon, I'll be in the front with free wine while I wing my way back in the pressurized tube, with my two free bags instead of one.

Pickling peppers from the roof terrace

For many years, I've wanted to try my hand at jarring or canning goods. While I've been able to freeze balkon grown tomatos by turning it into sauce for the past few years, with Euro freezers, there is only so much space. Plus, I didn't have much luck on the tomatos this year, the roof is just too hot. The peppers, however, seemed to enjoy it.

It took on a sense of urgency this week, as temps dropped below freezing in Essex. I brought in all of the peppers that I've grown:

It's a bit of an experiment, but I thought some whole ones and some slices would do:

An hour later, we have 11 full jars of Balkon peppers and garlic that received a mix of pickling vinegar, water, and preserving salt:

They look really nice, but the true test will be in 4-6 weeks when I crack open the first one. For now, they've been relegated to the bedroom as that is the coolest room in the house, to rest in a dark box and get ready...

The rooftop potato

Up here on the rooftop, potatoes are my bumper crop. If you invite me to a party, I'll bring something involving potatoes.

Or maybe you don't want to invite me, when this is what I bring:

It is one physical potato not two separate pieces, it appears that two may have melded together early on in the growth cycle, and then kept growing.

This weekend, I had a splendid idea of mini baked potatoes as a side dish. They always look very nice, especially as the weather cools down. For some reason, however, no one took this one.

(giggle)

Food insects in the Netherlands

On one of the drives from the UK to Germany, I had a passenger with who was able to take this picture, we were somewhere en route from the port of Hook of Holland towards DE:

In case you're also wondering about 'food insects', I had to go to their website, they sell a wide variety of crickets and items for terrariums...i.e. food for frogs, lizards, snakes, etc. On the overnight ferry, when you arrive prior to 7 AM the mind gets a little goofy. I think we spent at least 10 minutes brainstorming about what kind of 'food insects' people would be eating, and in what dishes! :-)

The accidental avocados

Here is Essex, fall has finally come to the rooftop garden. It's always a sad day to clear away the old plants and bring in the few remaining tomatoes and peppers. In some cases it's attempting to batten down the hatches for the plants that stay outside during the winter. A few prima donnas, however, do get to come inside, namely the lemon and lime plants. However, they take their chances here as well, as Slocombe kitty can be wild despite her advanced age of 12, and when a fly or spider is noticed upon a plant, the kid gloves come off!

I do have winter potatoes still going on outside, however, and I recently bought a little greenhouse thingy, so I'll try to have a few things happening during these dreary months.

As I was checking out the garden, I was trying to get the final work done to set it for the winter as I have another Crashpadder guest potentially coming next week. I was trying to look at things with 'fresh eyes' and to make everything look tiptop. One area which always looks a little 'wild' is the makeshift compost bins:

Living on the fourth floor where there is no elevator, the garbage needs to get carried down the stairs and around to the back of the building, to a locked cage that contains a dumpster. In an effort to limit my trips down there, anything that is compostable goes into my bins here. Then, they are covered with a broken terra cotta pot, or periodically I'll toss some dirt on top to aid in the degrading. As it's mainly vegetable scraps from my cooking, coffee grinds and tea bags, as it breaks down and mixes with the soil it makes a nice addition to my growing dirt. As well, it keeps me from having to bring more dirt up four flights of stairs!

As I was looking at the random items that inevitably sprout in this rich mixture of table scraps, it's easy to pick out where some green potatoes from last season have self-sprouted. As well, I see the runt tomato plants that didn't make the first round for this season. In addition, there were two thin plants that seemed to grow a head above the others.

As the balcony is a little bit isolated, I knew that whatever it was had to be something from what I was putting in there. I was curious enough (and the compost has decomposed enough as I haven't put anything in it for a few weeks...too wet and cold), so I dug them out and studied the root end. Then went to confirm with google, and sure enough: avocados:

I've brought them in for now as the wisdom of the internet is suggesting that they cannot stay outside through the freezing temps.

Most interesting, if you want to grow your own avocado, there are detailed instructions here involving water, toothpicks and getting inside the pit to get the best results.

Or my quick instructions: throw pit 'as is' into container with all other food scraps and ignore. ;-)

On closer inspection of some of the other repeated plants, I believe I have some walnut trees growing as well. I had collected some fresh walnuts last year outside, but it seems that they were wild and non-edible so I threw them in the bin as well and here they come too. So those got their own pots outside, until we see what those do as well.

I am tentatively thinking ebay for the avocado plants as internet wisdom says that they grow mighty fast to a tall height. For these small ones, the roots reached the bottom of these pots already that I replanted them into, so I can believe that one.

The frugal December trip home

Around this time last year I detailed my previous trips home from Europe to the US for the December hols.

Last year I was looking forward to flying back to the US from the UK for the first time, because it seems that there are more options for me. I ended up getting a really sweet deal on TapPortugal, although not the most direct route.

I've been playing around with the options this year, Open Skies appears to be making things easier, in particular as Newark is always an option.

Another possibility for this year is to combine two one ways. United and Iceland Express offer one way flights that are half of the roundtrip costs.

I'd recommend taking a peek at Iceland Express if you are still looking for a cheap route home. Granted they are nothing fancy--think Southwest style. However, I've taken them to Iceland a few times and they are 'cheap and cheerful' as my UK colleagues would say. So far, they were potentially my least expensive option, although all flights do include that Reykjavik connection and US landing cities are somewhat limited...

Until a further speedbump this year is that work suggested that I come back to DE again, in the third week of December when I had my heart set on December 15th to go home. Prices were not looking so hot if I stay that week in DE, by the time I could get back to the UK, prices were awful.

And then I took a step back and thought a little more.

I managed to pick up a cheap miles trip on United, one of their saver awards. For 27,500 miles and 61 USD (taxes), I will be enjoyed the almost last row as I wing it back to the US this year one way...from Frankfurt. While work will not subsidize the inflated cost of leaving later, they will allow to ship me anywhere from the office that would be an equivalent cost to sending me back to the UK. My work meetings are in Cologne, so I'll be purchasing a sale ICE ticket next week.

So after thinking my last transcontinental from DE was well behind me...I'm back.

On a positive note, I'll be able to bring back chocolate santas and hopefully get in a few Christmas markets, just like old times. Who says you can't go home?

Now, to figure out the return to the UK...

Obviously in need of spirital guidance?

It was a beautiful Sunday here in Essex, crazy warm and sunny. New friend Ian and I were out and about. We had separate shopping to do, with an appointed meeting time and place, on a small bridge in town. Plenty of people pass over this bridge, so I didn't mind that I was a few minutes early, it's a fun people watching spot with full sun.

As I was sitting there on my heels with my back against the bridge wall, I was re-arranging my backpack a bit. It was comfortable enough, so I remained there on my heels with my backpack in front of my, just waiting.

A woman of Indian descent walking by says, 'quite a beautiful day'
Heather: yes indeed.
Woman: so unexpected for fall.
Heather: yes
Woman: I'm not sure if you are from around here...or visiting?
Heather: yes, I live here.
Woman: then you would know, usually rain is quite common for this time of year.
Heather: mmmmm.
Woman: it is so wonderful that this weather is on a Sunday, when many people are off from work and can enjoy it.
Heather: yes. (secretly looking at watch, it's bang on when Ian and I were supposed to meet).
Woman: Of course, if you are of Christian faith, it makes your Sunday even more enjoyable. Are you a practicing Christian?
Heather: umm. I was raised Catholic.
Woman: Catholic. (now launches into a spiel about the coming of the end of the world.)
Heather: (thinking: this is sort of lost on me)
Woman: Have you read much of the Gospels? Have you heard the Good News?
Heather: um, no.
Woman: (begins second spiel, on the intricacies of Matthew and John)
Heather: (noticing that Ian is now 3 minutes late)

Ian thankfully shows up and the woman thanks me for the conversation and wishes me a lovely rest of my day. Interestingly, she didn't try to offer me any reading materials.

Do you remember when the Jehovah's Witness tried to convert me in Germany? That wasn't the only time actually. I think I ran into enough of them to cause them to start carrying English materials in my corner of DE, even in the tiny town of B where a woman tried to hoist the Watchtower in Turkish on me when I declined it in German. When I had to revert to German to explain that I wasn't Turkish and couldn't read German, she seemed so terribly disappointed.

I have no idea why I appear to be a magnet for those who feel called to bring the Good News. Apparently though, whatever it is transcends cultural boundaries. In particular, I think I go out a lot less than the average person, especially as I work from home. Therefore, my contact with people is probably lower than average, which makes the number of these interactions even more interesting, as I think I get more than an average number of such meetings.