Friday, November 11, 2011

The Christmas Pudding Creation

So here it is, for all of you who were waiting anxiously for my next post. No, not a "what I've been doing since last we met" post. This is the pictorial saga of my foray into the world of making Christmas Puddings from scratch. I got tired of paying through the nose for tiny puddings from British import stores, and although I've never made my own before, I have helped... the last time would have been at least forty years ago, though!

Courtesy of the Good Food Channel's Vegetarian Christmas Pudding recipe (a. because I will be taking one to a party at which at least one vegetarian will be present and b. because finding suet over here is almost impossible) here is how it went, step by step:

Ingredients

For the pudding

  • 200g plain flour
  • 2 tsp mixed spice
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 200g fresh white breadcrumbs
  • 200g dark brown sugar, preferably muscovado
  • 300g chilled butter
  • 300g sultanas (Couldn't find, so used double raisins)
  • 300g raisins
  • 100g mixed candied peel, diced (Couldn't find, so used dried apricots)
  • 2 apples (Forgot to buy, so left out)
  • 100 g chopped dates
  • 100 g honey
  • 2 lemons, grated rind and juice
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 120ml brandy

For the brandy butter

  • 200g unsalted butter
  • 2 oranges, grated rind
  • 200g icing sugar
  • 6 tbsp brandy

For flaming

  • 4 tsp caster sugar, for dredging
  • 8-12 tbsp brandy

Method

  1. Sieve the flour and spices into a bowl
  2. Stir in the breadcrumbs and add the sugar.
  3. Rub the butter into this mixture until it resembles a rough breadcrumb texture.
  4. Stir in the sultanas, raisins, peel, grated apple and chopped dates.
  5. Lightly whisk together the honey, lemon rind and juice, eggs and brandy.
  6. Pour into the fruit mixture and stir well to combine everything together.
  7. Lightly grease 2 x 500ml pudding basins and spoon in the Christmas pudding mixture. Fill to within about 1 cm from the top of the bowls.
  8. Cover each pudding with a disc of greaseproof paper and secure with a double layer of foil, tied in place with string. (Didn't have greaseproof paper or string)
  9. Steam each pudding for 2-3 hours, until they have darkened and are firm to the touch. To save time you can cook them in a pressure cooker for about 30 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before turning out.
  10. When completely cool, wrap each pudding in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight tin. This pudding tastes even better if given a month or so to mature after steaming.

(The following steps have yet to take place. One will be consumed at Thanksgiving, the other at Christmas.)

  1. For the brandy butter; beat the butter and orange rind until softened and gradually stir in the icing sugar, followed by the brandy. Don't add the brandy in one go, otherwise it might curdle. Turn the butter into a bowl and chill until ready to serve.
  2. When you're ready to serve the puddings, return them to the pudding bowls and cover once more with greaseproof paper and secure with foil. Steam for about 45 minutes-1 hour, or until they have heated through.
  3. Turn out the puddings onto a warmed platter and lightly dredge with caster sugar. Heat the brandy in a small saucepan and tip the pan towards the hob - the brandy should catch alight.
  4. Pour the flaming brandy over the puddings and serve straight away with the brandy butter. Accompany with piping-hot creamy custard. (I'll be using whipped cream instead of custard)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Weighty Issues - Inertia

  • Weight before leaving for Las Vegas and a suspension of calorie-counting: 157.5 lbs.
  • Weight one week after returning from Las Vegas, still eating whatever I want: 159.5 lbs.
  • Weight this morning, eight days after resuming counting calories: 158.5 lbs.

I'm starting to wonder if the amount I eat has any effect on my weight whatsoever...

(To my impatient subscribers - all two of you - life update coming soon, I promise!)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Progress

It's been seven weeks since I started watching my weight and calorie intake. I switched to tracking via MyFitnessPal instead of Livestrong's Daily Plate because their Android app is better, and their database is larger and more current. As of this morning I have lost 9.5 lbs, some of which happened quickly and drastically during a brief illness a few weeks ago, but I'm not complaining. My clothes fit better and my energy level is improved. Onwards...

Rose Garden in Reid Park My boss kept gently reminding me that I needed to use my vacation days before I stopped accruing them, so I took a week of staycation. I'll be taking another week later on in the year, and going away from home, so I wanted to save money this time around. For each of the days, I scheduled myself a chore (cleaning a room or area of the house), some computer game playing time, a venue to go out locally and take photos, and a restaurant treat.

On the very first day, I had to alter this self-imposed schedule slightly due to two unexpected invitations - one, to spend some time with my friend Logan and her daughter - and the other, to go to a Journey/Foreigner/Night Ranger concert with my friend Sharon and her boyfriend Andrew. The concert had been suggested some time ago, but the plans were cancelled for financial reasons, and I was overjoyed when Sharon said she could manage it after all. It was the first big concert I'd been to since Neil Diamond came to the Birmingham Arena in the mid 1980s. Even though there was thunder, lightning and rain towards the end, our spirits weren't dampened in the slightest.

Day 4 was the most successful financially, as I finished up with a profit! My "restaurant treat" for the day was the local casino's excellent buffet but as I arrived early, I decided to amuse myself by putting $20 in the cheap slots and seeing how long it would last me. Within less than ten minutes, my balance was $38.60 and I've never had trouble quitting while I'm ahead. So I cashed out, with my winnings paying not only for the buffet but for everything else I'd spent that day with room to spare.

You can see all my Staycation photos on Flickr. A picture is worth a thousand words, which luckily saves me from having to textually describe each day here. I may blog again before my September vacation, but if I don't, I promise to blog as soon as I return!

Meanwhile, if there's anything you - my readers - would specifically like to ask me to blog about, make a comment. And no, I'm not going to start a Formspring account! All comments are moderated, so if you want to ask me something that you'd prefer to keep private, say so in the comment and I'll make sure it isn't published. I reserve the right to pick and choose which ones I respond to.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

It's Monsoon Season

And there's lightning. And my camera does long exposures. (Click for the larger version.)

Friday, July 1, 2011

Friday means Shoes and Hair

It's the Friday before Independence Day. My mother was born on July 6th, two days after she was due. If she'd been born on July 4th, her father would have named her Independence - he was a very patriotic American Vice Consul, apparently. She lucked out and got away with Phyllis instead (after her mother). I don't think I've met anyone with Independence as a first name - I wonder if that would be considered gender neutral?

To celebrate this year, I went to the Tucson Mall, bought new shoes and got my hair done.

New shoes from Payless

Post hairstyle portrait of Sonora Sage

Monday, June 27, 2011

How to have a 'Cool' Weekend

Normally my weekends are spent in a very lazy fashion, barely leaving the house or the computer screen except for essentials such as food shopping. It saves money, and I'm not the sort of person who has an insatiable need for human contact on a daily basis. However, with temperatures above 105°F for several days now, and no respite in sight - plus an air conditioning system that has never worked well, and now needing major repairs with parts that have long delivery times - I needed to revise my weekend habits to include spending time in cooler spaces.

A portable swamp cooler in a single room ensured that my cats would be comfortable while I was gone. I strong-armed my friend Sharon into letting me come over to her house for the day, knowing that her a/c was working fine and that she lived in a complex with a swimming pool! Her son and daughter-in-law have a three month old son, and this turned into my first experience of swimming with someone quite so young. We stayed out in the cool (okay, only slightly below body temperature) water for as long as possible, and it was simply a blissful experience. After we had gone back to the house and changed, we decided to make a trip to 17th Street Market, a local store that sells a variety of fresh and international foods. I go there because they stock a variety of British food brands that I can't find anywhere else close by.

They very kindly invited me to stay for dinner, with Sharon preparing a delicious potato salad, and Brandi cooking up an ambitious Mandarin Chicken dish. My own market purchases of a large can of Bisto Gravy Granules, Heinz Baked Beans (the British version is vastly superior) and tomatoes, celery and garlic (for juicing) seemed to pale in comparison to their culinary feats. Oh, well - it's not a competition. Smile

I was thinking that this would be my only social encounter of my three day weekend, but I was surprised by a phone call from my friend and colleague Nancy, one of our Mammalogy/Ornithology keepers at the museum. She said that Pilar, who works in the same department, had been given some free tickets to the Culinary Experience Weekend that's a part of the Iron Chef Tucson competition. Apparently when Pilar had asked Nancy if she knew anyone else who might like to go, my name popped into her mind! Of course, I said yes - a combination of spending time in a well-cooled luxury resort and a steady supply of free gourmet food samples was a dream come true.

We figured out a chain of carpooling, and arrived at the event at around 1 p.m. In hindsight, we should have arrived earlier, as several exhibitors packed up and left by mid-afternoon. Luckily, we got to sample some heavenly pulled pork right away, before heading to a lecture on beef cattle by Langdon, our ticket benefactor and ADHD-afflicted owner of Aravaipa’s Painted Cave Cattle Company. Despite the several tangents into such areas as the dangers of cell phones, and how to fix irrigation leaks, we left the talk with the basic message of "Eat more Ω3 and less Ω6". Well, okay then.

On noticing the vanishing supplies of free samples, we established a strategy to ensure we missed out on as little as possible - holding places in the long line for Langdon's beef sliders, while the others slipped away quickly for more pulled pork, chicken wings, and freshly decorated cup cakes. Everything tasted wonderful, and we were full before the event was over. Once we realized there was no practical reason for any of us to sit through the demonstration for a $3000 oven, we decided to call it a day.

I arrived back home to a cool house! Had the a/c been fixed? No, but a very generous offer of the loan of a huge portable swamp cooler by Raptor Free Flight volunteer and friend Debb, and her husband Bud, had already made a huge difference - my roommate Erin had set it up while I was out, and once I returned with a hose and faucet coupling, we were able to hook it up to a steady supply of water instead of having to manually refill it every couple of hours (it's a dry heat!)

Thanks to the swamp cooler, I was able to relax and actually do nothing for most of the next day! However, my unusually social weekend was not yet over. My friend Michael is training to be a bartender at New Moon Tucson (formerly Pulse Tucson (formerly Coyote Moon (formerly Howl At The Moon))), and he had put out an open invitation for people to come on down for Happy Hour and help him learn how to make their favorite drinks. I couldn't pass up an offer like that, and arrived there barely an hour after Happy Hour had started. I knew my friend Martha had also indicated that she would attend, so I called her up to remind her and she arrived soon after I did. Michael's girlfriend Carolyn even put in a surprise appearance, and I would estimate that the number of patrons exceeded twenty at the busiest time - not bad for a specialist bar on a Sunday evening! We didn't let Michael have a moment of free time, as we browsed his bartender text books and picked out the most amazing names and tastes to try. My favorite would have to be the Peppermint Patty #2, although Sex With A Cheerleader comes a close second! Michael will be there for Bartender Bootcamp again next Sunday between 4 and 8 p.m. so if you're reading this, are local and have a taste for cocktails at very reasonable prices, just drop in and put him to the test.

I hope my repair guy can come up with the parts for my a/c system before next weekend - it's still at least ten days away from monsoon rains - but at least with the loaned swamp cooler I will be able to spend the entire 4 days curled up in my recliner chair, with my laptop, killing trolls in World of Warcraft. I doubt I'll be able to come up with many more activities outside the home that are quite as easy on the wallet and replete with good food, drink and company as I did this weekend! A big thanks to all my friends who helped - Sharon, Brandi, baby Aaron, Nancy, Pilar, Debb, Bud, Michael, Carolyn and Martha! I am blessed (and cooled!) by your friendship.

(Edited to add: Just heard that my repair quote is "with the general manager" and they should get it to me late today (Monday) or early tomorrow morning via email.)

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Weighty Problems

In May, 2008 I weighed 152 lbs.

I started tracking my weight and watching my calorie intake.

Me standing on the scales showing a 145 lb read out In September, 2008 I weighed 145 lbs.

This morning, I weighed in at 169 lbs.

I'd like to be able to wear the clothes I bought for myself in 2008. Time to watch my calorie intake again.

Monday, June 20, 2011

My Life In Pictures

I see that the last time I wrote about something current in my life was back in March 2010. Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, or know me IRL can probably skip this post, but I figured I might still have a few readers who don't fall into either of those categories. This one's for you!

I've recently started taking more photos again, and resurrected my Flickr account. That's a good thing, because without the aid of a pictorial reference bank, I'd have no clue what to write in a "catch-up" post. My memory is certainly suffering as part of the aging process.

A spiny-tailed iguana by the deer and turkey exhibit So, the most recent event in my life was a visit to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, with my friend and fellow blogger Meg. She was in Sierra Vista for a couple of weeks on business and needed to fill her weekend with touristy activities, so I invited her up here. If her blog posts are anything to go by, it was a success and I am very grateful for her generosity as far as pre-, post- and intra-visit food and drink was concerned! (If you click on the lizard shown here, you'll be taken over to Flickr where you can see the whole set of photos I took during Meg's visit. This will also apply to all the other photos below.)

Performer and audience members during the Gender Identity Project I've been attending a lot of Wingspan and related events, with the most recent being an evening of art exhibits and readings under the banner of the Tucson Gender Identity Project (see photo to the left.) This took place in the new Fluxx Gallery premises on 9th Street, coincidentally a location vacated a few years ago by a very eccentric hairdresser that I went to a few times. The audience was primarily young, with a few familiar faces, and many unfamiliar ones. I asked if it was okay to take photos, and the cheerful response was "Oh, yes please! Take lots and distribute them widely!" The art on exhibit varied widely from nude photos, to doodled sketches of items relating to trans-related surgical procedures.

Synchronized dancing at the prom Another Wingspan event that I attended was their "The Time Of My Life" second chance prom, for adults who may not have been able to attend a traditional high school prom with the person of their choice, or adopting their preferred gender expression. This inaugural event was very successful, with food, dancing and entertainment for the capacity crowd. I was there in the role of official photographer, which was a great way to make sure I met and got to talk to everyone, while capturing the moment for them to treasure later. This was also the evening that the right arm of my glasses decided to snap off, which added to the challenge of taking decent photos but somehow I managed to muddle through. It does explain the ones that turned out to have the focus on entirely the wrong subject, though!

Kevin Maxey roasts Alison, while MC Michael Woodward looks on May 2011 saw the departure of SAGA's chief "Crone", Alison Davidson (and my roommate Erin's rise to fill Alison's shoes), and Wingspan threw a celebratory Roast / Farewell Pot Luck to honor her. I took along a batch of my infamous homemade chocolate croissants, which I'm happy to say disappeared quickly. Many friends attended to say their goodbyes to Alison and share stories, and as the evening wore on and the children were taken home to bed, the adults moved on to more mature areas of 4th Avenue to continue celebrating. Or so I'm told... I actually declined that invitation in favor of heading out to make a late arrival at an impromptu party being held in Picture Rocks by a member of the museum's Botany Department. It was a tough choice - dancing the night away at IBTs or eating freshly-barbecued zucchini while listening to softly-strummed guitars under a starry sky?

Jennifer Lopez of TMI with her Fender It was actually a peaceful ending to what had been a really busy day that started with attending a Too Much Information concert at St Matthews Church on the east side of Tucson. This was my third time at one of their gigs, with each one marking a significant milestone in my life. I had invited a friend-of-a-friend to meet me there, someone who had recently moved to Tucson and needed support and friendship to overcome significant previous trauma in her life. I was happy that she turned up, and had a great time dancing to TMI's repertoire of 70s and 80s favorites. The church was also having a silent auction to benefit their youth group and I walked away with a brand new juicer at a very reasonable price, and a resolution to juice fruit and vegetables as my primary source of nutrition at least one day a week. My new friend picked up a beautiful wooden fruit bowl, as well as several new friendships - and she even accepted my offer to come with me to my next stop, Alison's Roast (see above.)

The Girls Night Out crowd It's been over eighteen months now since our Girls Night Out group grew from two people, to three, to ten and often more. The most recent one took place at a new venue for us, Old Artisans in the downtown area. You'll notice I'm not wearing my glasses in the photo - this is not because of lasik surgery, or contacts, or a miraculous improvement in my vision, but because it took place a few days after the Wingspan prom where my glasses broke. At this point in time, I was still waiting for my new glasses to be ready, and so I spent the evening in a happy, non-alcohol-induced blur. This was a great gathering, although tinged with sadness due to the untimely death of one of our previous attendees, Hailey, following a surgical procedure a few days before. We had a moment of silence to remember her and her fiancee, Paula. One of our core organizers, Lori, was also unable to attend due to a family emergency that pulled her away to Texas at the last moment. Despite that, we did have a few first timers to make up the numbers, in Alison, Nikki and Amy, and we were surprised (in a good way!) when both Erin and Carolyn turned up to join us in the late evening after they had fulfilled their previous engagements. I think it's the first GNO where I've stayed chatting till past midnight!

Although we didn't know it at the time, our venue for the previous three gatherings - Buddy's Grill on Grant - was heading for permanent closure, which happened last weekend. I had several friends who worked there, including my close "buddy" Sharon, and I hope they all find alternative employment soon. This isn't a good economic climate to find yourself suddenly out of work.

Finally, I have to say that my beloved Gizmo passed away two weeks ago, very suddenly, from complications of a blocked urinary tract. I am recovering from the devastating loss of a very special boy, and am so grateful for the love and support of all my friends who rallied round me at that time. He leaves a hole in my heart that will never be completely filled. Sleep well, sweet prince...

Although I've only gone through the events of the past three months in this post, there's really nothing much to say about twelve month period before that. I've been through some changes at work which have added financial challenges to my life, and made my job a little harder, but I'm still happy to be working where I am. And I promise to keep this blog updated on a more frequent basis. (Of course, a little motivation in the way of comments always helps too!)

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Eight Months On

So. It's been eight long months since I last posted anything here. That time period in itself isn't very significant, as my posts for quite a while have been about my past, rather than my present. My close friends are aware of why I write so little about my life as it is now.

So why this post? Maybe it's because the silence has been so long that the blog was delisted on Blogshares, where a period of six months or more without a post qualifies a blog as Inactive. Perhaps it's because a new friend I recently made by commenting on her very active blog followed the link from my name to here, and found herself "puzzled" as to why I was one of her followers. Perhaps it's because my closest friend just resurrected one of her own blogs after an even longer silence. Perhaps it's because of changes that have lessened my own fears of retribution for anything I might say here. And perhaps it's because of the current "Lesbian Bloggers Revealed To Be Men" news story, which has destroyed some of the trust many had in online community.

Let's take that last one first. I find myself perhaps less outraged, less angry, less shocked than others who have voiced their feelings about this whole drama. I do not wish to diminish those feelings, and I fully understand the real dangers that these charades could cause to people in vulnerable positions. However, I come from the days when the catchphrase was "All the women on the internet are men". Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was just assumed that whoever you presented yourself as online, you were someone who was Male Assigned At Birth, and it would be foolish to believe anyone who argued otherwise. That ingrained attitude has lessened in my brain over the years since then, with the verifiable demographics of internet users now being much more gender-equitable, but it has never really gone away.

Although I was not aware of the Gay Girl In Damascus blog until after the author was reported missing, little warning bells went off in my head about the authenticity. However, I have trained myself to give everyone and every situation the benefit of the doubt, and hoped the situation would have a happy ending. As far as the Lez Get Real blog, I had been a Facebook friend of the owner, Paula Brooks, for quite a while and the "I only have two photos of myself, both showing a woman much younger than my stated age" profile was definitely a red flag. But I had become so jaded to those who wanted to hide aspects of themselves that they felt ashamed of, or uncomfortable about, that I let it slide. Perhaps she was an elderly woman with skin like a walnut, or a disfigured face. Perhaps she wasn't a woman. Perhaps she wasn't a lesbian. Perhaps she wasn't deaf. I never had a personal relationship with her, nor did I pay much attention to the blog postings she made, so it wasn't a big deal to me. I can understand that it is a big deal to those whom she befriended, who trusted her, and who confided in her.

I wish everyone felt able to be open and honest about who they are, even online. I know it's all too easy to develop an internet persona that projects who you want to be, who you feel you really are outside of the physical attributes you've been burdened with. I'm not innocent of that. For a long time I was Helbergina, the Master Herder on the fictional planet of Pern. Or her sister, Khyri, rider of the green dragon Elianth. I've been Lisse Livingston, citizen of Second Life and respected realtor, mall owner, landlord, mentor and event host. I've learned to accept who someone presents as online, and be open to the fact that I might learn later that they are very different in the physical world. After all, that's how I met my ex-spouse.

Given my cynical, jaded and blasé attitude, it's perhaps surprising that I even take note of these "shocking reveals" when they happen. But I do care. I care for the feelings of those whose trust has been betrayed. I am fascinated by the details of how the charade was perpetuated, storing them away for comparisons in the future. I analyze patterns and have a very fuzzy list in my own mind of people out there who are probably not all they present to the world, and who could cause drama of varying degrees if "outed". But I'm not sharing the names on that list with any but a couple of close friends, and only those names I have the most doubts about.

Because when it comes right down to it, it's not a big deal to me. I'm still in that "All women on the internet are men" mentality. These days, of course, it's modified to "All female World of Warcraft characters are played by men", or "All men on the internet are women". If my readers aren't the gender, or race, or nationality I think they are, that's okay with me. (Heck, I know that the person behind the twenty-foot tall, multiple-genitaled centaur on FurryMUCK is almost certainly different in the Real World!) What's not okay is when they use that to destroy the trust of others. You don't have to reveal yourself, warts and all, to everyone you encounter online. Just say "I'm a little different in person", and leave it at that. If you're talking to someone who will become a true friend, they'll accept that for the time being, and respect your own timetable and comfort level in "coming out". They might even fall in love with your warts.

(This post was originally going to be about something else entirely, but I got side tracked. Oh, well. I'll need to write another post now!)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Home, Sweet Home

I know, this blog has turned into nothing but infrequent nostalgia posts recently. Maybe I'm working through something, who knows. In any case, it's time for another one!

The Street View feature of Google Maps has been the subject of much controversy, but personally I love it. While I was researching other aspects of my lost past yesterday, I realized I hadn't checked recently whether it was now available for locations outside the U.S. and yes - it was! After verifying a few locations from my days in Paris, I turned my attention to England, and the places I lived during the first thirty-three years of my life. When selecting what to include in this post, I discarded rented accommodations, boarding schools and college residences, and anywhere that my mother was living after I became an adult. That narrowed it down somewhat, but still left me with a collection of domiciles that reflect a large majority of those years.

Bexhill

Okay, I never lived in any of the three houses visible in the Google Street View. However, I did live in the house that was demolished to make way for these three to be built. I can understand why they did that after it was sold. After all, who would want to live in a ninety year old house that had a pre-school built onto the side of it, and never been rewired in those ninety years? Yeah, I didn't really want to either. However, this was the home offered for me and my mother to share with the two elderly sisters who owned it, and I have to admit that the three quarters of an acre grounds and empty school rooms were fun to play in. We lived here until I was ten.

Battle

This was newly built when we moved in, four flats cleverly disguised to look like one house. Our flat was the two windows in the top left - my mother's bedroom and the living room - with my bedroom and the kitchen at the back of the building. As I look at this, I can recall my mother mowing the small patch of lawn in front, and buying a ladder to clean the outside of our windows. The garage you can see to the left was the one allocated to us.

Chippenham

My first home as a married woman, and the first time I had my name on a mortgage. The Royal Air Force were selling off a bunch of officers' quarters and we were one of the lucky buyers. After moving in, we even found a parachute in the attic. I notice in the 27 years since we moved out, the front door has been replaced, and the tiny little privet bushes I planted have grown into a wonderful hedge. Yes, I single-handedly dug holes for, planted and lovingly cared for every single one of those bushes, even though at times I despaired that they would ever grow. We were there three years, during which time they reached no more than 18" in height, and were far from anything that could be described as "dense foliage". I am glad the effort was worth it.

Selly Park

After I graduated and got a job in Birmingham, this semi-detached house was our next purchase. I hated it. It was old, dark, and I spent far too long wallpapering and painting every single room. When we were there, the front entrance was for people only, and the driveway and garage were at the far end of that brown fence you can see. I can quite understand why the next owners put in space for a car at the front of the house, saving the long trek with heavy groceries from the other end of the property.

Dodsleigh

And now we come to the house that burned down, sixteen years ago. Not that it matters, as you can't see the house from any of the Street View shots, but it looks like it was rebuilt in the same spot. This came with dog boarding kennels and a cattery, a business which eventually fell victim to the complaints of the neighbor across the lane. It had two acres of fields behind it, which was great for exercising the dogs - not so great when we installed six foot chain link fencing around the whole thing. I never want to go through that trauma again. As to why it burned down - we'll just gloss over that for now. Suffice to say that it was after I had moved out, and those close to me already know the story.

Southam

My last home before moving to the U.S. was a newly-built, tiny, terraced house. It was on a cul-de-sac which the Google Street View drivers must have decided wasn't worth capturing, so I've added an arrow to indicate where my house actually was - behind the one you can see. This was the first home I had where I wasn't living with anyone else, and I really enjoyed having the freedom to make my own choices about decor, landscaping and furniture. It was far enough in the country to have views of cows, and yet near enough to town that I could call for Chinese food to be delivered. The year I spent here was a happy one, despite several traumatic experiences.

So, when was the last time you checked in on where you used to live? You might be surprised at how things have changed.