A Green and Pleasant Land....

We are approaching the end of our Summer 2008 holiday at 'home'. We've had a blast even though the weather hasn't been the slightest bit kind, in fact it has, for the most part, been foul. Nothwithstanding too much necessity to wear wellies and raincoats, our girls have got a whole new set of memories to bank and whole new list of favourite things to eat. In no particular order, they have eaten their own bodyweight and more in the following:-

• Fish and Chips - of course! Rosie must have absorbed some of the content of my constant nutrition lecturing and now insists that fish must be eaten 3 times per week in order to make her clever. She won't however, be persuaded that salmon reaps the same benefits as battered fish from the chippy.

• Ice Pops. Teeth achattering, Emily will eat these until her mouth turns blue and since I optimistically bought a pack of 100 when the sun was shining (for 4 days!), it's just as well that arctic weather doesn't deter her.

• New Potatoes. Previously labelled 'isgusting' (sic) by Emily and retch-inducing to Rosie, potatoes are now their carbohydrate of choice. Only being able to buy and serve almost sprouting, on the turn to nasty spuds in Malaysia perhaps contributed to their disdain and here's hoping that I'll be able to buy this little taste of heaven when we are in Dubai otherwise it's back to the rice for us.

• Mr Whippy ice cream. Rosie will always eat ice cream by the bucketful but Emily claims that it's too cold! However, we bought a 99 cone at the farm and that alongside the hypnotic effect of the ice cream van jingle has led to repeated demands for 'warm ice cream with a chocolate sausage'. Hmmm.....

• Roast Dinners. Familiar to them already because of my desire to keep true to our roots, the humble roast dinner has become a Thing of Desire. I have no problem with this since they have accepted that mounds of veg must be eaten before a second helping of yorkshire pudding will be dispensed. I won't be wasting any more money on Annabelle Carmel books.

They have acquired a taste for many more items that may not be as readily available overseas. Some I'm hoping that I'll be able to source (local strawberries, peas in the pod, mature cheddar), others I'm hoping won't be espied on the supermarket shelves (Foxes classic biscuits, Seabrook crisps). You can take the girls out of England but you can't take England out of the girls.......