Imagine My Surprise

Sorry for this self indulgence but I need a new front bumper for my spitty and was just googling "Triumph Spitfire" when......I found this link. There I was admiring the fine lines and shiny paint job when I realized....bloody hell....this is MY Spitty at the Pittsburgh Schenley Park Car Show. Cool or what? Small world.

Imagine my surprise!!!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

It is -19 here at the moment. We have been huddling at home and enjoying the holiday that honors Dr Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. So...Happy Birthday Dr King.

However, the sun shone bright today so we legged it out to Laurel Ridge State Park which is about 2 hours East of Pittsburgh. We only managed about a 30 minute toddle along the trail but the snow was deep and the kids had a blast.

No pics yet but.....you'll love the video at this link. Mrs Clinton's campaign must be taking a toll on poor old Bill.

Love to all.

PS.....all yooz with young kids.....check this link out. We are adopting it as our household anthem!

Rocky Raccoon Again

The temperature spiked above 50 degrees F today so we legged it to Raccoon Creek for butties (sandwiches to our USA readers), footy and a yomp through the woods.
The recent cold snap has enforced a few quiet weekends at home so it was great to get some fresh air and throw off the cabin fever. Good for the soul!

However....although Pennsylvania parks are relatively free of dog turds, they are widely populated with hunters! I have a tough time getting my head around this one. Here we are in the middle of massive stretches of wilderness, on a scale that the average Brit can only dream about, and they allow hunting in Raccoon Creek State Park. To put this in context, the park is maybe 15 minutes drive from the Pittsburgh suburbs. Not exactly in the wilderness. There was a sign at the trail head that advised hikers to "wear orange clothing" and our peaceful stroll was punctuated by the sound of the distant (thankfully) discharging of firearms. Bonkers!!!!

Brass Monkey

It is -9 degrees here right now and the weatherman has reliably informed me that this actually feels like -14 because of the wind chill. I had forgotten how chilly it gets. Unfortunately it will be like this until the end of March so we are stockpiling hot choccy and red wine. Nothing new there then.

Happy New Year to all our readers! (Hi Dave B and Liz S)!

We discovered Sophia's competitive streak on New Year's Eve. It was vaguely sunny (ish) so we headed to the park on Wilkins Ave and had a kick around on the basketball court. One thing that is brilliant about the Burgh is that there is a park on every corner. It was me and Soph against Shaz and Adam. It must be the red hair but Soph is a maniac on the footy pitch. A complete hooligan. So nothing new there then either.