Rosh Hashana

I went to the grocery store and asked if they sold round challah bread. The person in the grocery store said, Yes, cha-la. She was correcting me so I knew it was pronounced like "cha cha cha".

Songs

The songs and nursery rhymes are different here than in the USA. There is one song about little sleeping baby bunnies where the bunnies are "so still" that we sing "are they ill?" Another song involves singing different food combinations as if you were making the sound a train would make. The lyrics are "beef and carrots", "prunes and custard", "fish and chips".

Sand

I went to the Clapham Common (they call the parks here commons). There were big piles of sand in the middle of the grass in random spots all over the park. I let Ivy play in one. Then someone told me that dogs pee there.

Nursery School

In Ruby's school they watch Dora the Explorer on a regular basis. Whenever I pass by, one or more of the teachers is outside the building having a smoke. When I went by yesterday it was the school nurse (in charge of the nursery school kid's health) puffing away.

Preppy

 I keep seeing people that look like they were cast for a part as "preppy asshole" in an 80's teen movie. Today I saw a whole family. The father, mother, toddler (Imogen) and baby all wore pink. The father wore his pink polo shirt with the collar sticking straight up. None of them looked embarrassed.

Wendy

Our neighbor is named Susie. She lives across the street in an apartment building that I've been told is public housing (council flats). Susie calls me Wendy. She regularly pops by - usually right when I'm putting the kids to bed. Simon thinks she stops by on her way home from drinking at a social club. Once she came while I was out and scared the babysitter. She had boils on her hands and face. Usually when she comes by she says she stopped by earlier and where was I? She told Simon she was in a comma for 6 months, and they drilled holes in her head.

Tooting

We thought we were moving to a house in a neighborhood called Balham. That's because the real estate people said it was in Balham. Turns out we are living in Tooting - or possibly Upper Tooting. I thought that was the equivalent to moving to a neighborhood called Farting but my brother-in-law said that Tooting is farting, but Upper Tooting is burping.

Slug

Looked like this one but deader.

Last night Ruby was running around the garden (the backyard). She stepped on something yucky. Simon picked up an enormous mushy creature. It was as big as 3 or 4 American slugs. It was tan with bright orange. We weren't sure if it was alive or not. Simon threw it in the bushes.