Glad Blog Octoberfest!

It's about campfires and s'mores, cider (hard and soft), harvest and the smell of smoke in the air. It's about Halloween, putting on a sweater for the first time in the year, cuddling under blankets and walks through the crisp cold air. It's about Pumpkin. It's about October. It's the Glad Blog Octoberfest!

Please join me as I make and taste a s'more for the first time, try to attend every Fall Fest in the county, and experiment to find out the difference between a toffee apple (UK) and a candy apple (USA). October is a big deal out here in the country, and I'm wholeheartedly getting involved with this whole US Fall thing. This whole month the Glad Blog will be entirely devoted to the changing seasons and what it means for this corner of the world.

If there's anything I miss during Octoberfest, please let me know - I want to try everything and anything Fall related. I mean it!

Rustic Weekend: Alpaca my bags

How You Doin'?

Alpaca Farm Day! These guys crack me up. If you're feeling down, head to your local Alpaca farm. 

I've heard mixed things about how domesticated they are. Either they make terrible pets, or they make great pets. Luckily we live near a few of these funny looking furry chaps, as I don't think our bulldog would be too keen on sharing the limelight with an alpaca.

Trip to the grocery shop

You know what it's like to be a in a new place. When you have to figure out how to go about those little every day tasks. Where to buy toothpaste. Where to get food. Everything's a little different.

My mother-in-law asked once if I wanted to visit proders junction. I said "sure!" with genuine enthusiasm and not a clue of what proders junction could be.

Turned out I misheard, and we arrived at Produce Junction for a weekly vegetable shop. But hey, it was an experience. I learned how cheap local produce could be.

Recently we took a trip to a flea market that also doubles as a produce market. It was a fascinating meeting point, a snapshot of Rural America and its inhabitants.

I didn't take any photos of the 'flea' market element as some of the stall holders were holding rather large shotguns, and I couldn't quite work out if they were for sale…or if they served another purpose. Another time, I promise.

Fall/Autumn USA: The best pumpkin flavored marketing

I was unreasonably disappointed to read this Guardian article today that says Pumpkin Spice Lattes have reached the UK.

I admit I didn't read the 122 comments on the CiF article

You see, in the USA, the usual holidays aren't the only marketing themes. Everything has a marketing theme.

In rural America people don't just decorate their homes for Halloween or Christmas. People decorate their homes for any occasion or season. You'll see spring and Easter wreathes, Fall and Halloween wreathes, Christmas or winter wreathes. You'll see patriotic flags up from July 4th to Labor Day. You'll see reflections of different religious and political beliefs in every corner all year round.

I love it because it reflects the diversity in the faiths and backgrounds of people in the US, combined with a uniquely American patriotism.

This year in the UK was wonderfully different because of the Jubilee and the Olympics. Usually houses are bare until Halloween and Christmas, when even non-Christians decorate their homes with lights and trees and the like.

America, predictably, does it all bigger and better. I think this is partly because of the deep-rooted capitalism in the USA. It's the heart of American history. Any occasion or event can be captured by purchasing a Hallmark card or an item of home decor. I've seen Happy Halloween cards on sale for children to give to - who?

But I think it also represents a closeness to nature and the changing seasons. My American friends are all on hopeful hold right now, asking "Is it Fall yet?". The place I volunteer had an unfamiliar scent wafting through the offices which I later identified as a pumpkin spice candle. Mr has been wearing heavy plaid shirts for a week now, willing the cooler air to breeze.

It's still warm and humid. It's not October yet. But the leaves are changing, and the stores are ready with this, until recently, uniquely American tradition, pumpkin flavored marketing:

A single trip to Walmart was a great source of amusement for this British lady, and it's not even October yet. The best of Fall is yet to come. But if the UK gets pumpkin spice marketing too, what will I write home about? Isn't Germany's Apple Crumble Latte much more fitting for the UK at any rate?

Send me your favorite pumpkin spice marketing. Next week the Fall fests start, so I'm determined to have pumpkin themed posts for the whole of October.

Being one in ten thousand almost every day.

It's Saturday night and Mark is watching the Smithsonian Channel while I'm editing photos. It's a World War II documentary narrated by Martin Sheen.

You know about the rule of cable TV? There always has to be at least one WW2 documentary broadcasting at a time. It's like the screaming baby rule on long haul flights; if there's no screaming baby the airline has to find one and put it on the flight.

I'm not paying much attention to Sheen's dulcet narrating tones until Mark exclaims: "Grannies. You had grannies?"

Me: What?

Mark: Your army had grannies?

Me: Uh, that'd be the home guard.

Mark: The what?

Me: You know, Dad's Army.

Mark: What?

Now I'm singing the theme tune to Dad's army. Mark has no idea what's going on.

Me: You've never seen Dad's Army? How can you never have seen Dad's Army? That's important historical television! Okay, well, you know the bit at the beginning of Bedknobs and Broomsticks?

Mark: No.

Me: You've never seen Bedknobs and Broomsticks?

Now I'm singing 'Bobbing Along' and it's kind of freaking Mark out. Maybe it's the rhythmic bobbing I'm doing. I start gesticulating wildly.

Me: But it's about World War II, witches, medieval knights! It's got live action AND animation. And the home guard. It was our "well-organised militia" if you will.

Mark: What? Well-organised grannies? No wonder you needed our help.

Uh oh. It's serious now.

Me: Oh yeah? And just when did World War II start?

Mark: 1942.

Me: 1939!

Mark: It wasn't the World War until we saved your asses!

Me: It started in 1939, buster. You guys were late.

Mark: Did you ever see Patton?

Me: No.

Mark: You've never seen Patton!? Did you see Saving Private Ryan?

Me: Uh, no.

Mark: You've never seen Saving Private Ryan?!

And so it went on.

Our transatlantic marriage can quickly degenerate into a full-blown argument about our respective countries' efforts in World War II. It's almost unbelievable how heated and protective we can get about the wars, while throwing in disbelief at our differing pop culture exposure. Just ask any American when World War II started: You'd be surprised how many say 1942.

But after we poke fun at each other comes the best bit. On an average day, in our transatlantic marriage, one of us is one of the lucky ten thousand people in the US learning about something for the first time.

From xkcd, which I love, and you should too

Happy Friday! (from afar)

I don't usually do this kind of post, but I want to give my best wishes to one of my Uni girlfriends who is getting married today.

I'm so excited and happy for you!

Red purse brigade?

…and so sad I'm not there to see you in your fabulous dress and all your splendo(u)r.

Yeah, yeah. I know I made the decision to marry an American and move out here to the back of beyond, USA. But I do feel sad whenever I miss something big in the lives of my friends and family back home, er back in my old home. I've been invited to weddings, missed births and birthdays and parties. But I'm celebrating from afar, you bet I am, even if I'm in my PJs, drinking too much filter coffee for breakfast and cleaning up bulldog vomit (what the hell did the dog eat!?).

I'm always there in spirit, and I'll be the annoying person who 'likes' all the event photos on Facebook afterwards. I think that's an expat's prerogative.

Five places in Pennsylvania I really want to visit

Only one of these photos was taken in St.Andrews

Some of my friends and family are quite surprised that I made the giant leap from St.Andrews, Scotland, to nowhere, PA. So far moving and living here has been challenging but satisfying, and I'm excited to get stuck into the local Fall events. I've even made a calendar marking all the local Fall Festivals, pumpkin chucks, apple cider tasting and hay rides so I don't miss anything!

But there are also loads of non-Fall related places I'm still yet to explore. So, in no particular order, here's a shortlist of places in Pennsylvania I can't wait to check out:

1. Hershey Park
I described this to my younger sister as "a theme park where the theme is chocolate" and I don't think there's much more I need to say about it. I love chocolate, and I love theme parks. Hershey isn't the only theme park around here that looks great though. There's also Dorney, Knoebels, and over the state border in NJ there's Six Flags, home to the the USA's tallest roller coaster. They all do Halloween events that look like a total scream, and if I had the money I'd do them all.

2. Crayons and Potato Chips
Okay, cheating a little again with two very different factory tours in at number two. First off we have the Crayola experience, where it seems you can draw and play with melted crayons, see how they're made and learn the history of the famous brand. I know I'm way too old for this, but admit it, you want to come with me.

The second factory is the Herr's Potato chip factory. I'd reckon I eat enough of these potato chips to warrant me a free tour, but the tours are already free. Not only that, there seems to be some 'zany' chipmunk characters involved, and the site promises 'technological wizardry'. Intrigued?

3. Lancaster
Lancaster county is the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. By 'Dutch' the Pennsylvanians actually mean 'Deutsch', and by that they mean the German immigrants, culture and influence on this region of the US. This includes the Lancaster Amish and Mennonite communities, and there seems to be a huge focus on tourism to see these 'plain' farms and homesteads. But a trip to Dutch Pennsylvania also includes pretzel bakeries, the history of the German settlers, and some great gastro-attractions, including the Turkey Hill ice cream experience.

4. Gettysburg
We took a trip to Valley Forge on July 4th, but still have not ventured to Gettysburg, the civil war site famous for a short but nevertheless important speech. I think that while living in PA, a visit here is a must, and will help cement my understanding of how this country came to be what it is today. Fellow blogger Katherine of Of Corgis and Cocktails recently visited the site, and you should check out her stunning and moving photos.

5. Centralia
A completely different kind of attraction altogether. Centralia is a ghost town. It has no zip code (according to wiki it was 17927 until 2002 when it was revoked). The town was blighted by an underground mine fire in the 1960s, which still burns today. Most people left in the 1980s, though a few remain, and although there's little there, the road is torn in two by the still smoldering fire. Apparently the horror movie Silent Hill was partially based on the spookiness of the town. I've read that during snow storms the heat of the fire melts the snow, and steam can be seen rising from underground. For a fan of urban decay photos, that's a site I'd love to see and something I can only imagine would be a fantastic location for a fashion editorial. Who'd like to take me and my trusty DSLR here for Halloween?

What have I missed from this list? What other quirky sites should I check out? What are the hotspots (literally or otherwise) in other states?