Beginners. Today, Foxy had an appointment with the vet for vaccinations and a general check-up. She is about eight months old, so she needed her second set of vaccinations. The vet also needed to see if her growth was normal and healthy. I put her in her cage, in the back of the car, and drove about ten minutes to the Animal Hospital of Wenatchee. It is a lovely building, brand new infact, that is right in the center of town. The owner had had a pet shop which sold many different kinds of pets, ...
Sep 30, 2009•7 min
Beginners. We are continuing with our series 'The Tour of Homes', highlighting all the everyday details of life at home. You are probably thinking, "When is she going to be finished with the kitchen?" I think this is the last kitchen episode, at least for now. You also are probably thinking, "We have already heard about drawers in the kitchen." Yes, you are right. However, the phrase 'The kitchen drawer', is actually quite famous. It has become an expression in English speaking nations. The reas...
Sep 28, 2009•8 min
Beginners. Do you like to eat fruit? What are your favorite kinds? I like all kinds of fruit, local and tropical. I am fussy about one thing, though, when it comes to fruit: it has to be fresh. There is nothing worse than biting into an old apple that is soft, or an old orange that is starting to lose its flavor. Because we live close to all kinds of orchards, we have the benefit of shopping at local fruit stands. Every year there seem to be more and more of them. Just around the corner, a block...
Sep 23, 2009•7 min
Beginners. If you drive around this town, you will see lots of new buildings, and some that are almost finished. The town is growing. There is heavy machinery of all kinds in many places: cranes, backhoes, dump trucks, and bulldozers. As you walk or drive past these busy places, you can hear all the noises of the machines, the workmen, and the automatic tools. It is interesting to see how quickly a neighborhood can be changed by a building. Now, also, there is a rule in Wenatchee that when a bui...
Sep 17, 2009•7 min
Beginners. Baseball season has started. 'Fall Ball' is the title of the season's activities, and the town is busy and buzzing with the sport. Usually, when a child is signed up for baseball, he will have two practices per week, and then two games at the weekend. It is a big commitment because the games last for two hours each. Preparation has to be made: the rest of the family comes along to the game bringing chairs, hats, blankets in case it is cold, cold drink in case it is hot. The weather is...
Sep 14, 2009•7 min
Beginners. This year I have some free time. My youngest child goes to preschool four mornings a week, so during that time, I can do many things. I decided recently to put my application in for being a substitute teacher. That is a teacher who takes the place of a regular, full-time teacher who is ill, or who cannot make it to school for some other reason. Sometimes a teacher has a training day to attend, so someone else needs to take his class. Often, especially around flu season, a teacher migh...
Sep 11, 2009•7 min
Beginners. Well, it looks like we're back in the kitchen. I told you, didn't I, that the kitchen is an important place, and that is why we need to spend more time using the every day kitchen vocabulary. The main idea of today's podcast is the pantry. It is an odd word, really. It means the storage area for all of the food. Pantries vary quite a lot. In our kitchen, we have three different areas for food items: one for cereals, one for baking items and canned goods, and another for pastas and ric...
Sep 09, 2009•7 min
Beginners. On our recent trip to the zoo and aquarium at Defiance Point, my family and I saw a special show of wild animals. We sat in a packed open-air theater at about three in the afternoon and waited for the show to begin. Music played. It was the theme from Mission Impossible. I thought, "Why are they playing that music? What has it got to do with an animal show?" Well, it was a good idea for the show. The two female presenters found a box with a large red button on it. They pushed it, and ...
Sep 04, 2009•7 min
Beginners. During the summer, my family and I took a trip to a beautiful and fascinating place. It was a zoo and an aquarium at a place called Point Defiance, near Seattle. A friend of mine had been there, and told me that it was worth a trip. We were staying close by, on the coast, in a friend's house. It took about an hour and a half to get there by car which was fine. When we got there, it was quite a shock. The huge parking area was completely full. Infact, cars were parked on the side of th...
Sep 02, 2009•6 min
Beginners. It's great to be back podcasting for you, my listeners. And what an exciting time of year it is! Back to school. For some of us, it is back to work. It seems that for most of July and August, here in the States, there are advertisements everywhere for the children's clothes and supplies for school. Unlike in England, here each child has a long list of supplies that their parents must buy for them for the start of school in September. The list includes: pencils, paper, books, pens, kle...
Aug 31, 2009•7 min
Beginners. We are continuing our study of different countries, with Croatia. It is a realtively small country in Central and Southeastern Europe, that is sandwiched between Slovenia and Hungary to the North, Serbia to the Northeast, Bosnia and Hertzegovina to the East, and Montenegro to the Southeast. Just opposite, to the West, across the Adriatic Sea, is Italy. It is shaped like a crescent moon. The geography of this country is quite varied. It has a very long rocky coastline, plains, lakes an...
Aug 14, 2009•6 min
Beginners. The unfortunate thing about cooking is the cleaning up that you need to do afterwards. Oh drudgery! The endless pile of cups, plates, cutlery, and pots and pans can spoil an otherwise fun evening. I am used to cleaning the kitchen. I do it every day, sometimes without even realising. My goal is to get the dishes done as soon as possible. Even my mother has commented on the speed with which I unload and load the dishwasher, clean the countertops and put clean crockery away. Well, if I ...
Aug 12, 2009•7 min
There's no podcast today. Sorry! I'm suffering from summer fatigue. Is it an illness? No. It's called needing a good vacation. I'll catch up with you on Wednesday. See you then. Anna. Tweet //
Aug 10, 2009•19 sec
Beginners. The other day, I took the children to the local library. It is only a ten minute drive from our house. We had a lot of books that were overdue and needed to be returned. It's one of those great places to go when it is too hot to do anything else. Another benefit of going there is that it forces the children to be quiet. Ha-ha, that was my plan! We actually stayed there for over two hours. The library here in Wenatchee is divided into three sections. The main floor has most of the book...
Aug 07, 2009•7 min
Beginners. A few days ago, we had a yard sale. I actually held it over two mornings, out of my garage. Yard sales are very common in this area, and very popular too. Do you know what they are? I suppose the name explains the meaning; a sale of household items which takes place outside on your driveway, or inside your garage. With it being so hot, I arranged everything inside my garage so prospective buyers wouldn't leave quickly because of the blast of the sun. The shade in the garage would keep...
Aug 05, 2009•6 min
Beginners. You will probably get tired of me writing about how hot it is. Yes, yes, Wenatchee is always hot in the summer. However, this year, it has been exceptionally hot, like an oven. The past few weeks have each had several days of temperatures up to 106 degrees. You don't really see anyone around in the streets during the day, unless they are crazy....The early morning is wonderful, and late evening is very pleasant for a barbecue, a get together, or to do some gardening. I look out of my ...
Aug 03, 2009•7 min
Beginners. This time of year the summer flowers are fully in bloom. In most gardens you can see different kinds of lillies, daisies, roses, and bulb plants. It's great! I am quite choosy about the kind of flowers I have in my garden. One which I have grown for many years is the Morning Glory. It is a climbing summer flower. It needs plenty of sun and growing space. It is perfect if you want to cover a fence, trellis, or an ugly wall. I grow them every year. Last year I grew some in a large pot t...
Jul 31, 2009•6 min
Beginners. This summer, my brother has come to visit from New Zealand. We are having such a fantastic time together. He is wonderful person, and also a complete goofball! That is an american expression for a person who jokes and fools about. He has a very dry sense of humor, but he can also make children laugh very easily. When we went to Lake Roosevelt recently, he travelled in the car with us. We chatted away, observed the countryside, talked about old times, and stopped a few times on the way...
Jul 29, 2009•6 min
Beginners. The color yellow is very 'in' at the moment, mainly because of the Tour de France. It is a spectacular event that my husband and I follow every year. Infact, now that it is over, we are in mourning. "What are we going to do now, Babe?" I asked my husband this morning as we turned on the taped version (we are about eight hours behind France where we live). "I really don't know..." he answered, sadly. Happily for us, though, we have a DVR, so we have the whole tour recorded, and we can ...
Jul 27, 2009•5 min
Beginners. What sort of things do you like to do during the Summer. Are there any activities that you are particularly fond of? What about when you were a child? If I could sit down and chat with all of you, I would probably be able to write a long list of things that people like to do in the Summer months. Here, our time is mainly spent around water. It's really too hot to do anything else. It's too hot even to go for a walk. Yesterday I took my kids and my brother to a nearby riverbank. The be...
Jul 24, 2009•5 min
It was dark by the time Thomas Black got home that night. He had lingered in the workshop, putting final details on cabinetry and tables. He had needed the time to be alone, and to digest Theo's words. He was disturbed by her account of the Whitcome tragedy, and by what he had learned about that family's misfortunes, resentment, and growing hatred over the generations from the time of Peter Whitcome. A curse was something that Thomas refused to believe in; it was fantasy, irrational. A man made ...
Jul 22, 2009•5 min
Beginners. Now that it is hot, I think a lot about the fridge. What is in there that will cool me down? Actually there are things lurking in the back of the fridge that have been there for a while. It's time for a cleaning. We seem to go through gallons of juice and milk in these hot, thirsty days of Summer. But what about cold food?As I look in the fridge I can see what you probably see in your own fridge: a vegetable drawer at the bottom, a fruit drawer next to it, then lots of shelves with bo...
Jul 20, 2009•5 min
Beginners. Today I will start at the end of a story to tell you a story. It was at the very end of our stay at Lake Roosevelt, that we stopped at an oasis. I say oasis because The Homestead Cafe is one of very few great restaurants in a remote area. There are not many shops or restaurants in the Lake Roosevelt area, so you have to bring most of the food you eat with you. It is also quite far away from any major towns. Though we had plenty to eat in the house that my mother had rented, our choice...
Jul 17, 2009•5 min
Beginners. Fishing seems to be a sport that you either love, or have nothing to do with. My father is a fisherman, and has been for most of his life. My husband also enjoys fishing during salmon season. It would be nice, though, if he caught a fish at some point.... Well, my kids love messing about in rivers and streams, as I'm sure most kids do. They have buckets and nets and kids' fishing rods. They also have the real thing. Infact, my youngest son, Robert, bought himself a tackle box with his...
Jul 15, 2009•5 min
Beginners. As you can see, I'm back from my trip to Lake Roosevelt. We were there from Wednesday until Friday, and the time flew. It took a lot of preparation to get there; typically I overpacked some things and underpacked other things. For example: I took enough food to feed an army, but I forgot to pack toys or coloring pens for the kids, which are essentials for the evening when we have all returned from the beach. When we arrived, I opened the trunck * door, and saw that my children had thr...
Jul 13, 2009•5 min
I'm sorry but I am away today, Friday. I have taken my children and my brother, who flew in from New Zealand recently, to a rental house on Lake Roosevelt. I have never been there before, but I will let you know all about it when I get back. Have a great weekend! Anna. Tweet //
Jul 10, 2009•1 min
Beginners. On the sixth of this month, I took my children to Seattle to go to the Pacific Science Center. We do not go to Seattle very often, so I thought that, now that it is summer, I should make the effort and make the three hour drive over the mountains to spend some time in that fantastic city. My children were so excited. Part of the journey was to pop in and visit my sister-in-law and her five children. Yes five! Phew! She's a smart lady; she has a nanny four days a week to help her with ...
Jul 08, 2009•5 min
Beginners. Oh my goodness, we're all tired today. Thankfully it's Sunday, and there are not a lot of pressing things to do. Yesterday was the 4th of July, Independence day, here in the U.S. As you can imagine, it is an important and fun national holiday, and a great excuse to make a lot of noise. We started the celebrations, by going to a local golf club for lunch. My in-laws were there and three of our nephews. It was close to 100 degrees, so we were all pleased to jump into the swimming pool t...
Jul 06, 2009•5 min
Beginners. One of the things I really enjoy is gardening. I have a patch of vegetable garden in one of the corners of our back yard. It has four raised beds. Two of these are wide wooden boxes which my husband put together. In these I put a mixture of manure, compost, and soil, a perfect combination to grow healthy vegetables. The other two raised areas are just piles of earth, but still, they are packed with tomatoes, peppers, and raspberries. My two favorite raised beds are quite organized. Th...
Jul 01, 2009•5 min
Beginners. Grab your swimming trunks or your swimming suit and head to the nearest park to cool off this summer. Just up the road from here, a new park, paid for by Rotary, has been set up for the locals. It is in a residential area where there are lots of young families, so it is a perfect spot for kids to run around, play, and get rid of excess energy. The place is actually supposed to be a frisbee park. There is a large, oval, open area, similar to a valley, where people of all ages come and ...
Jun 29, 2009•5 min
