图片1 I have missed a couple of podcasts this week, oops! So here is the first of the two, a little late. My reason for writing this podcast late is that I've been spending time researching my options, as far as the education of my two youngest. Th...
图片1 We spent a noisy night on Saturday at the local arena. We had tickets to go and see a basketball match between the two big local rivals, Wenatchee and Eastmont. We were lucky enough to have box seats, so we were up high with a good view. We t...
Aren't holiday traditions great! I'm always fascinated by the many ways that people of different cultures celebrate special times. We use symbols, songs, colors, food, actions, religious rituals, and get togethers to express our humanity. And we all...
图片1 A recipe I have been making recently that happens to be very easy is baked apples. What could be nicer than hot, cinnamony apples, oozing with deliciousness, and making the whole house smell great? I have recently discovered an apple that has...
When you have a hobby, and you want to improve your skills, you have to practice. There is no substitute for practice. Those of you who come from disciplined nations will know all about this. In the Western world, I think, dedicating ourselves to lon...
It was only this evening, after a busy day, that I realised that my phone had not rung all day. That is unusual. I checked my messages, and there were twelve! How come I hadn't heard the phone ring? I checked the setting, and it said 'silent'. Oh, gr...
If you have the blog or the app of A Cup Of English handy, you will see from the photo or the video clip just what the 'it' is. Yes, the snow. Last year, we hardly had any at Christmas, and not even a hint of it at Thanksgiving. This year is very dif...
I have recently been conducting interviews with people in town who have businesses. Why? Because I am beginning to build a website of interviews and dialogues. I hope to launch it before Christmas;....let's see if I can get it ready in time. It sound...
This past Friday night, I was settling in for the evening, when my youngest son said, Mum, can we go to the family bingo night at school? I groaned inside, not wanting to go anywhere. I had received an automated voice message from the school a few da...
My energetic daughter has been begging me to take her to karate classes. She had already enrolled in gymnastics, and our rule is to do only one after-school activity each season, so I decided to only look into it, and not agree or commit myself to ta...
One of the things that I had on the calendar this month was the bilingual night at my children's school. It is held a few times a year, to inform parents about progress being made with the school's dual language program. Tonight was the first meeting...
As we move into the middle of November, the countryside seems to be changing every day. The colorful leaves that decorate the whole valley are beginning to fall, and preparations are being made for the long, cold winter. I am trying to go for walks a...
We used to have a large pine tree in our front garden. It was a very tall, old one. It was planted about thirty years ago, but last year, we decided to cut it down. I wouldn't normally agree to chop down a tree, but this one was yucky. Half of one si...
My good friend Nataliya called me a few days ago, and invited me to a concert at a local church. There is a very good Russian pianist, Oksana Ezhokina, you might have heard of her. I vaguely remembered the name. She has performed a few times in Wenat...
For a while now, there has been a lot of construction going on at our local Walmart. I am a frequent shopper there, as it is only a couple of blocks from my house. Walmart is expanding. After a few years of doing tremendous business here, the owners...
