The State of the Union

A Warm “Howdy Doody” and “Hey up “to you all!

As they say on all good television shows, previously on “Linda and Eddie’s Excellent Adventure”, we mentioned that Eddie had been offered a position with The Automobile Association, working as a Customer Service Advisor in the town of Cheadle in Cheshire. Eddie accepted the position and was very happy to do so. He started on 21^st November.

In this economic climate, when the naysayers predict doom and gloom, it’s worth mentioning that Eddie was offered FOUR customer service roles. It has to be said that the power of the Recruitment Agency cannot be underestimated and a big thank you must go to Manpower based in Stockport and Manchester. 

He is now gainfully employed answering members’ queries from “What am I covered for?” to “What’s the weather going to be like tomorrow?” He’s also expected to sell products to existing customers. Rome wasn’t built in a day but Eddie’s doing OK with his new job. He’s still in training but has been upgrading policies in his usual “Steady Eddie” fashion! Pleasingly, some of his Customer Service Skills haven’t left him – the ability to build rapport with people is still there!

To give you some kind of perspective of how far Cheadle is from Congleton, think Hatfield to Springfield and you won’t go far wrong. The drive to Cheadle takes about 45 minutes, which is OK but he has had to leave home at 6.45am in order to be settled and ready for an 8am start. He gets back home around 5.30pm. It’s a long day and the weekends have been greatly appreciated by us all!

Meanwhile, whilst waiting for the job to start, fun and frolics still were the order of the day!! Once of these frolics was a visit to the Trafford Centre, located just outside of Manchester, after a lovely Sunday lunch in the pub.

The Trafford Centre is the mall to end all malls. You truly needed the floor map you could get to help you. It truly was an experience. Every well-known store seemed to be there, along with countless eateries and a huge multiplex along with a performance area. Our original intention was to see a movie (which we did) but the desire to poke in stores overcame us!

When we finally found the cinema, we were exhausted! The nice comfy seats were worth the admission fee. However, going to the cinema in England is way more expensive than back in the USA. The film we saw was Mr. Clooney’s political thriller “The Ides of March” which was wonderful, although some of the political nuances were lost on the English audience. On one or two occasions, we were the only ones chuckling at some of the references.

It truly is a magnificent venue to shop; however, you have to come prepared to walk a heck of a lot! Its design reminded Linda of a giant spaceship that has landed on old industrial ground. The prices also reminded us of the value of outlet shopping and reinforced our love of charity shops! You don’t have to shop in Harrods every day you know or Macy’s for that matter!

November 5^th is a day to remember here in the UK. It is Bonfire Night, or “Guy Fawkes Night”. It commemorates the day back in 1605 when Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament in London. Bonfires are lit all over the country to celebrate the fact that he was caught before any destruction occurred. Congleton is no different. It was a carnival atmosphere at Congleton Park with games and rides for the children, good food and drink and a HUGE bonfire, lit as a brass band played in the background. A magnificent firework display rounded off a wonderful evening’s entertainment.

One week later, as in the States, Great Britain paid homage to its veterans with a parade through the town. Wreaths of Poppies were laid at the cenotaph in the town centre.  It is customary to wear a poppy around this time. There was hardly anyone who wasn’t wearing one.

We’re glad to report that around this time, our search for our first English home together was coming to a successful end, as we fell in love with 19 Bridgewater Close. It was abundantly clear that our time with Aunty Dorothy was coming to an end.  However, our date for moving in was still some time away. We always say “everything happens for a reason”. Our time spent, as you recall, perusing the internet in Costa Coffee (the upmarket “Starbucks”) proved to have more than just a silver lining.

We had become friendly with the staff, to the extent that they noticed us when we weren’t there at our usual time. One Saturday, we got chatting to the Manager of the store, a wonderfully kind man called Alec, and during the conversation our need for new lodgings became apparent. He came to us with the idea that his in-laws had a spare room at their home in a place called Knypersley, twenty minutes south of Congleton. He suggested we call his Mother in Law to chat about the possibility of us staying there. 

We’re so glad we did. We met and got on like a house on fire. We moved in two days later and had a great time with Marilyn and John and their wonderful dog Max. We made three new friends during our two weeks there.

Our new home, 19 Bridgewater Close, is set in a very quiet and respectable housing estate. Very clean, with a brand new boiler, it cried out for furniture! We’d looked at one place which was kitted out with everything that you could possibly need . . . but our chosen home gave us the opportunity to have the one thing we really wanted – a cat. Our new landlords permitted us to have one. That was the clincher in our eyes. Both of us are committed cat lovers, and virtually everywhere we’d looked at said no the idea of a cat. Thank you very much indeed Mr. and Mrs. Seddon!

You don’t have to shop in Macy’s or Harrods to get value for money. We’d discovered the joys of charity shops early in our return to England and a furniture charity shop was our next find. “Frenchie’s Furniture” located in Antrobus Street in Congleton, sold excellent condition, branded furniture for very reasonable prices. We weren’t to be disappointed. We bought an excellent dining table complete with eight chairs for only £175 and a two piece living room set for £140. The living room set is lovely, suede finished and chocolate coloured and is very comfortable – excellent for us as we do like a nap once in a while! Our kitchen was completed with a washer dryer combo and a fridge freezer. We noticed that British fridge freezers were minute in comparison to their American counterparts. Oh well, they do the job very well indeed and made the kitchen more like a kitchen. A friend of Eddie’s Mum supplied us with a microwave oven.

Small it may be but it is effective!

Of course, no living room would be complete without a TV. We bought ours and along with it ordered British Telecom’s version of TiVo. We now have a 24” colour TV with a great piece of equipment that lets you watch TV on demand and record shows with just the press of a button. So simple yet so bloody effective! We had what seemed like a long wait for this “TiVo” like piece of equipment to come, such was the demand, but it came, along with our internet connection and our landline for the phone we bought. It really is surprising how reliant you become on the internet without realizing it. The day we were connected to the outside world was a good day!

The day we were connected to the outside world came five days after Eddie’s 44^th birthday. Unable to get the day off from work as still in training, we both decided that it would be unfair not to do something. So we went to the pub! It was a pleasant evening and friends on both sides of the Atlantic sent birthday wishes, so that was nice.

Snow arrived in Congleton on the 16^th of this month. Congleton had what New Englanders would have described as a dusting. However it is noticeable that the British don’t cope too well with snowy driving conditions. Even Eddie feels like a seasoned New Englander now! The trip home from work that day took Eddie an extra hour; such was the drama of snow.

A Snowy Day in Congleton Town . . .

Our first Christmas in Congleton has been a quiet, peaceful affair. We were able to visit Eddie’s sister Bridget and her husband Gareth on Christmas Eve to give the presents to their boys Arthur and Robin. It was a fun time seeing the boys. Getting to know them was one of the primary reasons for moving back to the UK. These pictures will show you it was worth it.

Ed's sister Bridget with her baby boy!

Gareth and Arthur

Uncle Ed with Robin

Aunty Linda with Arthur

On Christmas Day we had Eddie’s Mum over for Christmas Day Dinner. Everybody enjoyed themselves and the meal was delicious! Special thanks must go out to Jamie Oliver – his recipes for stuffing and sprouts were winners and certainly had us feeling good about ourselves in a Charlie Sheen kind of way! “Winning” in the kitchen!

Christmas is a special time for people all over the world for many different reasons. Here in England being at the top of the charts on Christmas Day is a big deal. A song can be number one at Christmas for many different reasons. It can be because the band is just plain good (The Beatles’ “Hello Goodbye” was number one in 1967) or it’s a fun, novelty record (Benny Hill in 1971 with his classic “Ernie The Fastest Milkman in the West”) or because the song touches the heart strings.  That was the case this year with The Army Wives’ Choir song “Wherever You Are” hitting the top spot. We used to talk about this uniquely British phenomenon on our radio show “The Nightclub featuring The Late English Breakfast” back in the day on Valley Free Radio. Eddie will be giving his take on the subject in his next Music blog soon – be sure to have a look. In case you’ve forgotten, it’s www.thelateenglishbreakfast.blogspot.com

Our money has been needed for essentials these past few weeks so we’ve gone without giving presents to each other. As much as we would have liked to bought each other things, it’s given us the opportunity to experience a more spiritually enlightened Christmas this time. We spent Christmas Eve afternoon calling friends back home in the States. The joy we got from hearing friends’ voices was a great gift for us.

In order to truly appreciate Christmas, it does you good to go to Church. We’ve gone to Easthampton Congregational the past couple of years and this year we decided to go to Church again. We went to St. Mary’s Church in Astbury, a little village just outside Congleton for Midnight Mass. This Church is over 500 years old and is very beautiful. It has a long history – Oliver Cromwell once parked his horses there - and there are plenty of family buried or have their final resting place there. Neither of us has been to a Midnight Mass before and we both enjoyed the experience.  Linda noted that “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was sung to a tune she hadn’t heard before. Eddie thought “welcome to my Christmas world!”

St.Mary's Church Astbury

We really both think it’s done us the world of good to be spared the pressure of thinking what to buy each other, however, there is such a thing called “the sales” . . . .! We both get paid before the weekend is out so we plan to have a lovely day out on Saturday. A new haircut for us both is the pipeline as well. We’ll be sure to set the vision box to record Manchester United before we go – can’t miss the game! It’s been equally great to follow the Patriots courtesy of BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra but to be able to finally see ANY game from the NFL on TV has been fantastic!

 Well, we’re caught up now . . . New Year’s Eve is nearly upon us. We hope all our friends across the pond and here in England have a safe New Year. 2011 has been an eventful year. Please, in honour of Hill Street Blues “be careful out there” and enjoy your New Year and please keep in touch with us. We will through this blog and our Facebook page but it really does make our heart smile when we hear from our friends.

Serenity for 2012 Eddie and Linda

Didn’t we have a lovely time, the day we went to Blackpool?!

 Experiencing Culture from the boards to the boardwalk . . .

Culture grows on you . . . wherever you are, you cannot help but feel immersed in it, whether it is highbrow or popular, culture is everywhere. In Congleton, the focal point of culture can be found at the Daneside Theatre.

The theatre, in existence since 1984, was once home to the theatrical aspirations of one John Edward Kennedy. Eddie was a member of the local Amateur dramatic society, The Congleton Players (known to the natives as “The Players”, for eleven years during the years 1993-2004. Recently we took in a play, the opening one of the season. It was produced and directed by a friend of ours, Pam Mien. The title of the play will be familiar to many of you. “Keeping up Appearances”, part of PBS’s (Public Service Broadcasting – the equivalent over there to the BBC) Sunday night line-up and now a BBC classic was perfectly cast. The cast on the stage that night did the TV show proud.  Onslow was a dead ringer for Onslow! “Rose” was as over the top as always, Hyacinth was her usual effervescent self and the rest of the cast was as good as you would have expected.

For those of you in the know and might remember, a trip to Blackpool was arranged by Eddie’s Mum before we left the States. The residents of the retirement home where she now lives, “Heath View” were excited to go. We whippersnappers were equally as excited!

Blackpool, that famous seaside resort that is “famous for fresh air and fun” really is homage to all things British. The coach trip was about two hours long, heading north up the coastline past the Liverpool area. Our schedule for the afternoon included entertainment from a gentleman who was an overweight 1970’s “Larry” from “The Three Stooges” look alike and played the keyboard with all the gadgets. His music managed to get the old folks dancing (a nice foxtrot always works – we would have marked them “7” (say that in a Len Goodman style for the best comic effect!) and when things really got going, the line-dancers hit the floor!)

After the dancing, the excitement refused to die down . . . it was bingo time! Unfortunately, there was no “Kamikaze Bingo” to witness, a shame as “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is so true to life! After we’d “eyes down” and “looky looky’d” (Fat 1970’s Three Stooges Larry’s words, not ours!) it was time for the meal. The formal dining room at The Park House Hotel was quite ornate and lovely. Our meal was soup to nuts, as Americans are prone to say! We both enjoyed what we had ordered; our plates were clean!

No trip to Blackpool would be complete without a stroll along the promenade. Eddie and his Mum hadn’t been there for thirty years and it was Linda’s first time. Seeing the legendary tower and all the arcades, it was like time had stood still. It reminded Eddie and his Mum of their trips to Rhyl, an equally famous British holiday resort in North Wales. Nonetheless, it was fun to take in the sights and get a lung full of sea air.

Blackpool is definitely not short of hotels. They are literally one after another, as far as the eye can see.  The names of these hotels were very exotic, as you’ll see from the pictures below.

The highlight of the trip was our drive along the sea front to see the famous Blackpool Illuminations. Before we set off, a gentleman got on our bus attempting to sell his wares – all of which lit up.  How successful was he? See for yourself!

The trip back was quiet, everybody being tired after a long day out. We finally got back to Congleton at about 9.30pm. Everybody had had a good time and we were very pleased to have gone with Eddie’s Mum and we showed our appreciation by taking her out to Sunday lunch at a place that is quickly becoming a favourite of ours, a pub called “The Fool’s Nook”.

Uncle Ellis, Eddie’s Mum’s brother, invited us to join him and his lady friend Jane to a local club last Saturday night. It’s known as “The Band Club” and that night truly was a night to remember. We arrived early, the band “Nostalgia” was tuning up and people were slowly arriving for their Saturday night entertainment. For more details on this wonderful night out, check out www.thelateenglishbreakfast.blogspot.com . All we can say is that it was a wonderful night’s entertainment and it was gone midnight when we got home!

Today (Wednesday) we shopped at Asda. Asda is owned by Wal-Mart. It was a great shopping experience. There were bargains galore. For instance, we bought two portions of Salmon for our evening meal that cost us the equivalent of $5! Beat that Stop and Shop if you can!

Tomorrow, we plan a trip to Altrincham, a place not a million miles away from Manchester Airport, to watch Manchester United’s reserve team ( in the US, they would be known as the “farm team”). We are both excited to finally get to go to see members of our team play. Eddie’s talking about some of these players in his football blog www.motdusaway.blogspot.com  Eddie took Linda to a couple of these games on previous visits.

In the midst of all these cultural experiences, Eddie has been offered a job as a Customer Service Advisor with the Automobile Association, based in a place called Cheadle here in Cheshire. We’re hoping that the job will start in mid-November.

We have begun looking for our new abode, and what we have seen so far has run the gambit from wonderful to what the . . . ???!!!! We’ve high hopes of looking at another property soon. Of all the places we’ve looked at so far, sadly only one allows pets.

The weather is turning decidedly autumnal. Winter is not far away. We know winter is looming ominously because the desire for carpet slippers is so great we bought some today at Asda! Very comfortable they are too!

Until next time,

That’s right Toto, we’re not in Massachusetts anymore!

It does seem like the US is worlds away now.  And at the same time it’s hard to believe we have been here for almost 6 weeks.  That is long enough to know you are no longer on vacation!

Eddie has had a chance to reacquaint himself with his former barber and they did a great job on his hair and those skinny sideburns are just the thing!  They do beard trimming too so his goatee is ‘looking good’.  While Linda was very nervous picking a new hair salon, seeing we couldn’t bring Marianne over here once every 5 weeks, Francesco’s was a great choice. Linda had two young ladies taking care of me…the 2 Katie’s (well one Katie and one Katy), one did the color and one did the cutting! They did a great job, Linda’s a happy camper and Eddie likes it as well!

 It was a couple of weeks ago when we had a really nice night out with a couple of our friends Chris Davies and Dave Burt. Dave’s a big fan of the American Civil War.  It was fun getting caught up, talking football and politics from both sides of the Atlantic, etc.  One of the places we went is called DV8, a really nice evening spot with a great outside patio with huge patio umbrellas with heaters in them so no one was cold sitting outside, especially the young ladies about with very short skirts!

Maybe we weren’t paying attention back home, but we have to say we’re absolutely dumb struck by the number of babies being strolled around, or pushed in their “push chairs” as the natives are fond of saying! Maybe there has been a baby boom over here, they are everywhere!!!! The TV mustn’t have been good in the last couple of years or maybe they can’t afford a pint down the local (where’ve we heard that phrase?!)  We know what you are thinking with the “baby boom”… even if it was catchy…Linda’s immune to that virus!

We have been experiencing Indian summer weather for the last week or so, beautiful summer like sunshine and warm breezes coming at us from Spain and Portugal.  Not to worry though as the forecast is set to change in the next couple of days and we will be back to crisp autumnal air with the breezes to match. 

The beautiul flower gardens at Congleton Park

You may remember from our last epistle, we have become rather fond of the pub. This has not become just a passing fancy. Let us assure you of that! So far, we’ve been to The Robin Hood, The Railway Inn, The Moss Inn, The Castle Inn (which wins an Eddie for the best Steak and Ale Pie!), Fools’ Nook, The Bulls’ Head, Maskery’s, The Church House (where we had a lovely evening with Eddie’s Uncle Ellis), The Egerton Arms (which is situated across the road from St. Mary’s Church Astbury) and most recently Stock Restaurant, which can be found in the delightful surroundings of Congleton Park.  

Salad was worth the wait don't you think?

We also visited a lovely country pub called The Brownlow. The Brownlow served Linda the best summer salad – in order to gauge how beautiful it was presented, take a look at the picture and see for yourself!

Linda sipping a shandy and waiting for her salad.

Looking down on Buxton.

Road signage is different here!

 We took a drive the other day out to a town called Buxton in the county of Derbyshire.  Now that means we drove through the Peak District.  It’s farm country with lots of sheep and cows about and hills as far as you can see…it’s up, then down, then hairpin turns, really tight corners, then back up again before going straight down again.  With all that the speed limit was 50, OMG, no way!  You’d have to be out of your freakin’ mind to go that fast on those roads (no breakdown lanes over here!).  It was a truly beautiful drive through God’s country; Linda’s never seen anything like it before, the landscape was so dramatic. We plan to take another trip out that way and get to Johnny Allen’s home town of Tideswell.

There are some really great shopping areas in the towns surrounding Congleton.  There’s Handforth Dean with a really big Marks and Spencers (more Steiger’s than Macy’s) with an incredible food section!  Then there’s Freeport at Talke Pits with designer outlet stores!!! Now that was fun!  En route to Freeport, you go through this little town, which is just over the border of Cheshire into Staffordshire . . . this is no joke, it really is called this! Bloody hilarious!

Only in England!

Seems like where ever we go there are great charity shops sponsored by the likes of the Heart Foundation, Cancer support groups, or Oxfam.  Now if you go into the ones in the very well to do towns like Wilmslow or Alderley Edge you know you will find some fabulous buys! We’ve decided we’re not proud and will gladly wear expensive hand me downs! I wonder if Mrs. Beckham ever left any goodies behind for them to sell!!!

Linda is still getting used to VAT (Value Added Tax), otherwise known as sales tax, which is included in the price of items you buy – not added on at check-out time.  Oh and you don’t tip in restaurants unless you have a very large group.

There is a great cinema complex in Stoke that is part of an area called Festival Park.  We’ve been there on previous trips – so we stopped in again and saw a film…”Crazy Stupid Love”  which just came out over here. If you get a chance to, go and see it or rent it as it really is a good story about family relationships in crisis, the humor of it all!  Back in 2004 we saw the remake of “Alfie” at The Odeon in Festival Park, so it was nice to have a trip down memory lane.  We’ve taken in another Congleton Town football game – they won and you can find out all about it on Eddie's Blog www.motdusaway.blogspot.com

We are usually up and going when the local children are ready to set off to school.  It’s really lovely to see them, all age groups, going off in their uniforms (ties, blazers, trousers, little dresses).  The little ones are all walked to school by their mums and dads with younger siblings in tow or in strollers/push chairs, and the family dog as well.  They start school at a later time and of course end much later than in the states.

Radio here in England is so very different from anything in the US.  Yes, there are lots of FM stations with routine presenters etc.  But, there are so many special broadcasts such as old comedy shows, Dessert Island Discs (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs), music dedicated to a particular year and all the current events of that year.  Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones has a music show once a week and often has a guest artist.  And of course lots of talk radio, but a lot of it is other than political. Now having said that, a lot of it is available only via DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) so we bought a radio that can receive those shows…no package to purchase, just tune them in!  And talking of radio, we can hear American Football on Sunday evening…say yes to the NFL!!! Unfortunately it’s not always the Patriots that they broadcast. Eddie talks about this more in his music blog www.thelateenglishbreakfast.blogspot.com   

We’ve not watched much TV since we’ve been here, a look at the news in the morning and maybe a football game if it’s on the BBC or commercial TV known as ITV.  But, Auntie Dorothy likes travel shows and, get this, Billy Connolly, the comedian has done a new one on RT 66 in the USA.  So we are cordially invited (!) to join her to watch it once a week.  It’s been very good!

Would you hire this man?!

Amid all the fun and frivolity, Eddie’s job search is moving along wonderfully.  He has been doing phone interviews that have led to face-to-face interviews.  He is actually at one as this is being written.   So far he has been offered two positions but unfortunately neither overall package has met our needs.  The two he is doing this week are much better and we are hopeful that one of those might work out.  One is in a town called Cheadle (a bit south of Manchester) working for the Automobile Association and the other is actually just down the road from Manchester Airport with Virgin Media.  He is also waiting to hear about the next step in his application with Esure Insurance which is in Manchester.  So it looks like we may be looking to live north of here – closer to Manchester so Eddie’s commute is a short one.  Things are moving along and we are, as Eddie would say “guardedly optimistic”.

We have both experienced moments of homesickness for the USA. We miss our lovely home in Hatfield, our wonderful friends who we love dearly and of course the legendary “Hatfield Three” – Jerry, Daisy and Rooney.  We are looking forward to our friends back home in the States keeping in touch with us via Facebook and email.  We look at the Daily Hampshire Gazette online every day at Costa Coffee so we get a little taste of what is going on in the Valley.

You may not be aware of this, but we often read to each other before we say “night night”! No books for dummies here let us tell you that! We’re close to completing Keith Richards’ acclaimed autobiography and will soon be moving onto another living legend, Betty White. Should be fun!!

Next week we are joining Eddie’s Mum visiting the famous seaside resort of Blackpool, noted for fresh air and fun, to see the equally famous Blackpool Illuminations, which decorate the sea front. Stay tuned for pictures and a blow by blow account (!) on our next not to be missed chapter of our blog!

So, until next time…Serenity Now!

Eddie and Linda

The Long and Winding Road . . . .

Welcome to our long and winding road! We have been on this new journey for almost 1 month now. Could that be right, seems like we just arrived!  We have help as we make our merry way in merry old England . . . in the form of an Angel sent to us by some very special friends . . . she'll look after us for certain and for her being there we say thank you!

Here's our Angel garding us in our temporary lodgings at night!

Here's the Angel again . . . near that weirdly positioned steering wheel!

As you will recall the day we left the US we were on the edge of a hurricane (amazing weather after 80 degree heat at 8pm on the previous day!) and you can take that both literally and figuratively! Our pilot took a second and third look at the wind and rain conditions before deciding it was safe for us to take off...the last plane out of Philadelphia before they closed the airport. It was a little bumpy going up (OMG) but soon calmed down when we reached flying altitude and we arrived 10 minutes early.

After two days without wheels were we glad to have a Piucasso!

Since then we did a lot of walking through car sales lots and finally came upon a little silvery green Peugeot hatchback that just looked perfect (cost was right as well). We took her for a spin and put her on the list. We returned and took her for a second and longer ride, she put a smile on our faces, she ran well, has ac and a cd player - we managed to get some new tires and a good checking out of her mechanicals and the deal was sealed. Betty was ours to take home! (Her name is Betty so it would be good to remember that for future reference!) She has been owned by two ladies from Wales so her registration was partly in Welsh!

The beauty that is Betty!

As well as feeling pleased with our acquisition of Betty, we've been able to go for the odd walk or two. The other day we went to Congleton Park, a beautiful place even though we say so ourselves. It seems beautifully looked after and the River Dane runs by it and this wonderful feathered friend came to say "hey up!" to us . . . .very cute in its own way!

Very pictureesque!

Duck on the Dane!

 Life in Congleton has been weird for both of us. It's been strange for Linda to readjust to life in a new country and it's been equally strange for Eddie to get used to being back in his homeland after five years in the States. What's helped has been the familiar sight of the pub! English food has a bad rap in the States, yet Linda will tell you don't believe a word of it! Traditional pub food here in Cheshire is delicious.

Chicken and Ham Pie from the De Trafford Arms in Alderley Edge

Of course, no plate of delicious English "pub grub" would be complete without the traditional "pint" to wash it down with. Linda has rediscovered the joys of having a "shandy" (which is beer and fizzy lemonade mixed -very quenching) and Eddie has greeted with glee the sight of pint glasses with words like "Marston's Pedigree" on it!

We promise - it wasn't warm!

On the subject of food, we’ve had ample opportunities to compare and contrast English and American supermarkets. We are, and always will be, big fans of Stop and Shop. So, we were interested to see how its UK counterparts fared. The choice of products offered in places like Tesco isn’t as broad as in the USA, but the quality of the products offered is better. However, we do miss the hand scanners at Stop and Shop – those suckers are really missed! There are no baggers to help you pack your shopping. You have to do it yourself. Also, the cashiers at supermarkets sit down . . . Stop and Shop and Big Y you have been warned!

A wonderful store that needs a little fine tuning from Stop and Shop!

Congleton has a nickname – Beartown. We’ve felt quite at home as the town is festooned with colourful bears wherever you go! It’s like Easthampton has been transported across the pond.

Da bear with Eddie's honey!

One of the main reasons we came back to England was for family. We felt it was time to know our two nephews Arthur and Robin Finney. Another contributory factor was to be close Eddie’s Mum. We had a lovely meal with her at Heath Farm, a family pub in the West Heath part of Congleton, where Eddie grew up. It was nice to chat and have a lovely meal together. 

The two Mrs.Kennedys in Eddie's Life!

Mother and Child Reunion . . .



Uncle Eddie and Arthur

Last weekend, we visited nearby Macclesfield, where Eddie’s sister Bridget, her husband Gareth and their two lovely little lads Arthur and Robin live. We hadn’t seen Arthur since he was three months old, and as you can see, he’s changed quite a bit in three years.  

A Happy Aunty Linda and a smiling Robin

Live sport does play a prominent part in our lives. Whenever we’ve been able to go to a game, we go. After the delights of seeing Manchester United live in Foxborough seeing Congleton Town play Runcorn Town at Booth Street certainly was a change in surroundings and a culture shock but great nonetheless! If you want to read more about that adventure, check out Eddie’s blog www.motdusaway.blogspot.com

On the subject of sport, we’ve bought a digital radio. This allows us to listen to more stations than we would be normally able to listen to. One such station is called BBC Five Live Sports Extra. Why do we mention this? This wonderful station covers the NFL! We were tucked up in bed last Sunday night listening to Tom Brady and the boys working their magic!

This trip has not been one big vacation. We’ve devoted a lot of time to Eddie’s job search. On Tuesday of this week we went to Manchester, our favourite city in England, so Eddie could be interviewed by a recruitment agency. We drove into Manchester, as we know the area pretty well, with us having visited the city together many times and also due to the fact that Eddie worked there once upon a time and also our favourite football team plays there! We parked at Old Trafford Cricket ground (where we stayed once in 2005): it's about 1/2 a mile from Old Trafford football ground.

Old Trafford Cricket Ground - home of the Champions!

Old Trafford Lodge - our homefor a week in 2005!

There is a position that the Recruitment Agency  are seeking for Eddie. It's working in a Customer Service role for the Automobile Association. It all seemed positive, so fingers crossed! Eddie is also due to be interviewed by an Insurance company, Direct Line, shortly.

Before we left hot and humid Hatfield for chilly Congleton, we mailed several boxes full of our clothing and memorabilia. As yet, we’re still waiting for one box – the one with all the sweaters in!

It really is weird that a month has gone since we left the USA; slowly but surely we are adjusting to life in England, and we look forward to sharing our adventures with you.

Miss you all and hope you will keep in touch with us as well,



Serenity Now,

Linda and Eddie