Taco, not in my pocket

Yay for Americanized Mexican food night! It almost didn't occur - there was so much rain the roads flooded and the buses ground to a halt. I had to walk/run the 4 miles home to get the ingredients...then ride the bike back to town. I passed the River Aire, it was massive! But at last we all converged at the house and commenced making the food. We chowed down on some chips and salsa, nachos, tacos, and burritos. Well everything was good regardless and we finished off with fruit, including my favorite - pineapple core - and ice cream. Then we played Jenga and Chairs. Chairs was fun, you literally stack chairs (not life-size!).

Also, my pet slugs seem to have had a baby...already. A tiny slug has appeared in the cage. Do slugs hatch? Are they born?

Diddle run

My latest crayfish gathering trips have been highly successful, I managed to avoid the rainy days AND get lots of crayfish. Piemaster was happy too, since there were plenty of sardines going around as bait. She loves the 'dines. There is plenty of daylight for work, since the sun comes up at 4:30am and goes down at 10:30pm - wow! This time I drove a VW Golf, 1.4 petrol engine. It did not have much get up and go, I must say. Very disappointed. I like my torque in the lower rpms. But it was black and shiny and had good MPG, so what can I say, its just a field vehicle.

I am now preparing for my journey BACK TO THE USA! horray! But first, Taco Night! watch this space...

Dinnerz

Tonight I had a REAL Italian dinner cooked by a REAL Italian using REAL Italian ingredients! Of course, it was really good. Haven't had something so delicious in ages - it had actual flavors. The chef was a visiting student whom I am assisting with DGT (water chemistry stuff). She is not enjoying the English summer, as it has rained for almost 2 weeks now, almost daily. I admitted I was very ready to be in the 90 degree heat of the USA. When I got home I poured salt on the slugs that were eating my bean plant. It was 11pm. Then I fed small pieces of carrot to the other slugs and snails that were oozing around the patio.

Crawdad Mobile

Renting cars to do fieldwork is overwhelmingly foul. The only good part is that I get to try out lots of different and brand new cars. Which is fun, but every other aspect is wretched. So, today I purchased the Yorkshire Auto Trader magazine. Thusly, I officially enter the Used Vehicle Market! The ads come in many sections, including my favorites: bargain cars, vans & commercials, and estates. No, I'm not buying land, 'estate' is the name for a station wagon here. Will I find a perfect, boring, yet reliable 2002 Toyota Corolla estate? Or will I succumb to the charms of a Diahatsu Hi Jet still bearing the emblem of the company that formerly owned it (in a very Wayne's Samwich Wagon-eque fashion)? Only time will tell.....

The Lost Boys

Today I found real live lost boys in the forest! I was gathering moss to make a terrarium for my pets slug, Takumi. It was starting to rain and these four kids wandered up from the stream, and asked if I knew how to get to Hawksworth (where I live). They even had booty that they had found in the stream! A cool toddlers' seesaw, fisher price-esque, and also a golf club. Pretty sweet haul for four 8 year olds. So I got to lead this wee band through the wet, dark forest and up into fields. Apparently I had met one before because he knew Tasha's name... They were interested that I had a pet slug, and even suggested where I could find a toad or newt (a vast improvement over a slug, apparently). They even told me how one kid had been sucked into the waterfall and the other kid pulled him out! Way to go kid! Then I walked home in the rain. It was sublime.