A Lazy Sunday

I went out to the pubs with Steve's brother, Chris, last night. We started off at the Lamb and Packet, where his wife, Dawn, works. We then went to the Sun, which was heaving with people so we stayed for just one drink, and finally Grey Friar's. This is a huge pub and, although pretty busy, big enough that the noise wasn't deafening. We sat near the quartet of stairs leading to the restrooms and had a nice time watching people navigate up and down them. One poor guy was so wasted he fell UP the stairs, and his jeans (which he was wearing too low in the first place) fell down. Too funny! There was also a table of young girls in short, tight skirts seated nearby. It was quite enjoyable watching all the lads watching them as they went by. The girls took no notice, despite some outrageous stunts by some of the guys.

So after having a late night out (I got home by 12:30 and was up until 2 a.m. Skyping with Steve), I opted to have a lazy Sunday. I woke up somewhere around 8:30, but lazed in bed for an hour. Then I poked around online for another hour or so before showering and heading downstairs for brunch.

After popping up to the Co-op (basically the neighborhood convenience store) to top up my mobile phone (I text Steve way too much), I went out for a walk. I walked through Middleforth Green, which is a lovely park where Steve used to play as a child a few blocks from the house. Then I roamed around the general neighborhood for awhile. It's quite chilly today (temp's probably in the upper 40s) and breezy, so my face was cold by the time I got back. At least it didn't rain (which it's been doing in weird 2-minute spurts interspersed with brilliant sunshine most of the day).

I took my camera with me to share some views of the area.


This is a house directly across the street from Steve's parent's house. I quite like this house. I'm not sure what it is about it that attracts me. I just like it. Though this picture doesn't really do it justice.


This is an old gnarled tree I encountered shortly after I entered the park. I don't know what kind of tree it is, but I guess either insects or some kind of infection did a number on its trunk.


This is a shot taken from a rise in Middleforth Green looking toward Preston. Steve's family lives in Penwortham, which is a Preston suburb. The church is St. Walburge's Catholic Church. It was built in the 1850s, during a Catholic revival in England and Preston's prosperity as a cotton town. It's spire is over 300 feet tall and is one of the tallest structures in Lancashire.


Magpies fascinate me. Again, I don't know why. I think it's because they look like crows that someone's partially painted white.


Finally, this is a shot along a street I crossed on the way home. It's a typical English residential street. I wanted to take a photo of New Lane, the home street, but there are a lot of big vans parked along it mucking up the view.

Amusing Odds and Sods
During my walk, a powder blue scooter came roaring to a stop at a cross road. The driver was wearing high heels, which I found kind of funny. As I got closer, I realized the driver was a little old lady who had to be about 80 years old! Eighty-years-old and she's roaring about on her powder blue scooter in high heels! Way to go, Granny!

It is amazing how many people are stupid drunk by 8:30 on a Saturday night. One guy was convulsing on the sidewalk - probably from alcohol poisoning - and it wasn't completely dark yet!

England and America are most definitely two countries separated by the same language. I prepared some pasta for dinner and my father-in-law asked me if I wanted a dish or a plate for it. I blinked and had to explain that to me, a dish and a plate are the same thing. Apparently, a dish is a bowl and a plate is a plate. At least I knew he meant a pot when he told me where the pans were.

The grass in England is incredibly soft. If it weren't muddy, I very well might have lied down in the grass when I was in Middleforth Green.