Welcome to the Whitworth Blog Site

hello

2010-05-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

it's a fumphie for those who don't know what they are.

THANK YOU 7FW!!!

2010-05-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

What a surprise!!!! Words cannot express my gratitude for your generousity and kindness with Sunday's Surprise Going Away Picnic!!!! You are a FABULOUS form and I am looking forward to keeping up with you through your posts and photographs on this Blogspot. Many Blessings, Mrs. Whitworth

Preparing for our last days in beautiful Hope Valley

2010-05-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

It has been an experience I wouldn't trade. As Amelia Earhart said, "The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one's appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship."

Happy Valentines Day 2010

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Scotland was lovely! Royal mile leads up to the castle; Sir Walter Scott Monument; the girls; Greyfriars Bobby Pub with famous dog sculpture.

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Edinburgh Castle is perched up on a rock mountain in the middle of Edinburgh overlooking the city and harbor.

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Half-term Break and updates about school year!

2009-10-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

Yeah! It's half-term break! We get a whole week off, from school! This is Laura Ann. Our family is going up to Edinburgh, Scotland tomorrow for two days and nights. At school, we're working very hard! I have a new teacher called Mrs. Francis, and she's very nice! We had a Cross Country Running Event at the local Middle and High School about a month ago. We ran in age groups also in boys and girls. It was a running event against about 12 other schools. We haven't got the results back yet, but I think I might've came in the top 25! We're going to have another Christmas play this year, but we don't know what it's going to be about yet! So, over all, we're pretty busy. By the way, check out the new question that I came up with. It will be easy for some! I'm excited, because it's my birthday in less than a month! I'm turning 11! Katie and I are going to have a joint party, since her birthday is about 2 weeks after mine. It's going to be a swimming party at our local indoor pool. We're going to have the 'Aqua Run' which is like a huge bouncy castle on water. I can't wait to go to Scotland tomorrow! Well, I have got to go! Bye!
Laura Ann

Phone booth and balloon

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Eggs cost about $5 a dozen here, so we bought two hens, Fudge and Butterscotch

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Laura Ann with her new glasses and both girls on the morning of the first day of school

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Summer holiday

2009-08-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

We soooo enjoyed the warm weather, delicious foods and the time spent with family and friends this past month. It's hard to imagine that we've been here a year.
It was a learning process the first year-how to do things we take for granted in our native country. Going back home to the States I can't help to compare and contrast the differences. Thanks for checking this blog... I'll try to update it occassionally with photos and bits of information.

Enter the Cotswolds in June

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Historic Bibury

Cotwolds in June

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Roses in bloom everywhere!

Lower Slaughter on path to the mill

Thatched roof at Minster Lovel

Burton-on-the Water...the Venice of England

My Bucket List in England... Stonehenge

2009-06-07T10:03:00.001-07:00

After living here for nearly a year, I have finally visited Stonehenge. The heaviest stone weighs 44 tons. Some of the stones were carried from Wales. Amazing for being nearly 5,000 year old!

Robin Hood's Bay at Half Term Break

2009-06-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

Monkey Forest, Stoke-on-Trent...

2009-05-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

It took driving 80 minutes to go 40 miles, through the most beautiful countryside to get to this FANTASTIC Monkey Forest! There are 140 monkies here to freely roam. We saw a two day old monkey clinging to it's mom up in the trees, but the fun one to watch was the 5 week old monkey that was about 10 feet from us. Overall, we were close to about forty monkies!

Katie with her guinnea pig, coconut

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Baby Lambs at Chatsworth

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Sister Jane's visit to Jolly Ol' England

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2009-04-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

Easter: West Minster Abbey

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Big Ben

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Buckingham Palace Band

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Buckingham Palace Guards

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Off to London!

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On top of the World!

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Haddon Hall nearly 1,000 years old; home of Lord and Lady Manners

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I've been a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad Blogger!

2009-04-24T05:58:00.001-07:00

We must be offically 'adjusted' here, because life is too full to find the time needed to post updated information and photographs! It took me seven months to enter into a job. Looking back, I am thankful for the time that I had to set up our household and enjoy the beauty of the land and of the people I am surrounded by. Our 'savings grace' has been that the British Pound fell sharply after we moved here so our dollar lasted longer than it should have. Unfortunately it's time to earn an income to live on! I am a full time substitute teacher in a Secondary School about 25min. away from our home. I will try to update this blog seasonally with photographs and recent happenings. For example, we recently went to London for the first time with my parents and David's sister, Jane, has been visiting us this Spring. Cheerio, Tammy

Lambs and daffodils

2009-03-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

It is so precious to see the little lambs in the fields and the cheerful yellow daffodils throughout the villages and countryside! I'll be sure to take photos soon!

Mothering Sunday

2009-03-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Mum's Day! It has the same feel as Mother's Day in the States. Although it's history comes from children (around the age of 13) returning home to their mothers after being away at work in elaborate homes/estates. They wouldn't have been able to travel by foot during the winter months, so when the warmer weather of March came around it was their first visit home since October. Parish churches traditionally went to their Mother Church on this Sunday.

Happy RED NOSE day!

2009-03-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

Today people do funny things for money which is donated to charity. Almost all the children wore plastic red noses at the girl's primary school. British Comedians and Celebraties are on the television raising money for charities in Africa and in the UK. Here you see some Cliff College students who dressed to extreme today!

Slight differences in dates...

2009-03-09T07:31:00.001-07:00

We won't move our clock forward until March 29th but we do celebrate Mother's Day,
more commonly called 'Mothering Day' in the United Kingdom, on March 22 instead of in the month of May!

Curbar Primary School Update by Laura Ann

2009-03-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

Hi!! Did you know that we just had a 10 day holiday? We have two weeks off in April, and one week in May as well! Also, did you know that we don't get report cards over here? We don't even get to bring our work home either.
So far, since I started in September, there are 2 new people in my class. Caitiln, and a boy called Noah. Next year, when I'm in Year6, I'll be the oldest in the school!!!!

At school, we have a subject that most schools don't have, called Technology. It's when your teacher tells you what to do, and you do it. Once we made a boat that had to carry a 2 hundred gram weight! Luckly, mine didn't sink! We also made a clock that actully worked! I gave it to Mom and Dad for a Christmas present. Right now, it's here in the living room ticking away! Well, gotta go! Bye!

Our friends, Brian and Maria Rice have been so kind to share England with us! Here Laura Ann took a photo of us eating Paella in York.

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FUN in York, on half-term break last week!

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York: 1,000 year old Viking city

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York's Shambles- Once the meat-butchering center of York, it dates from before the Norman Conquest

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York Minster, the largest Gothic Cathedral in Northern Europe

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Wintery photos

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School Details

2009-02-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

Unlike in the States, here children & teachers don't have to make-up days due to closures for snow. There are no buses for the Primary School. But if a chartered, double-decker bus for the Secondary School students (or high schoolers) is more than 15 min. late for pick-up than the students are not obligated to go to school that day.

Snow Details

2009-02-13T12:13:00.000-08:00

After a week and a half of lots of snow and freezing temperatures it looks like we are thawing out, for now. England hasn't seen this much snow in over twenty years! They ran out of road salt/grit and have had to import it from Italy.
FOOD: The sheep would dig into the snow trying to reveal the grass below it. People brought hay to their fields and they seemed to appreciate it. Food for people was also on everyone's mind since only the main roads were fit for driving. I ordered our food on-line from a grocery store and had it delivered. I did this a lot when we first moved here and was afraid to drive. Even without snow, the grocery stores always seem chaotic to me, so with people feeling limited access to the stores I didn't want to battle the food aisles.
SCHOOL: Although all the primary schools were closed in our county, the girl's school wasn't. Their headteacher didn't seemed too bothered by the amount of snow and made it a priority to be at school and most of the children walk to school from the village area anyways. They call sledding here 'sledging' and everyone seemed to have a proper run down the many hills!

The village of Calver and the bridge of Curbar

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All schools closed in our county this week except...

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Snowy hills along our Cliff Lane

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SNOW~Curbar crossroads photo: Brian Rice

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Curbar playground sits against the backdrop of Curbar Edge (with people climbing the cliffs) and Hope Valley below.

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Speaking of ducks, there are a LOT in England! This is a village called, Ashford-on-the-Water

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Our Cliff Lane

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Tip: If you double-click on the photographs you can see them on your whole screen! It's amazing!

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Beautiful NATURE in the Peak District

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Highland cows in our area.

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Put on your winter coat to view these frigid photos! These beautiful photographs were taken by our good friend Brian Rice http://peakpictures.webs.com

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Happy New Year!

2009-01-08T02:24:00.000-08:00

Leave any comments here on blog improvements you'd like to see for this year.
Cheers! David, Tammy, Laura Ann, and Katie

Katie's Nativity Play at the Angelican Church

2008-12-18T01:28:00.000-08:00

Laura Ann in two roles for 'Snow White and the Seven Jockies' at the Village Hall.

2008-12-17T04:57:00.000-08:00

Katie on stage at the Village Hall preparing to dance as a fairy.

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Video of Concert warm up

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Christmas Orchestra Concert

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Living room photos with our girly girls.

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Our kitchen (the flowers in window presented to me from Curbar Primary's headmaster, as thanks for the Thanksgivings Day presentation)

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First snow!

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Happy Birthday Katie! You're 7 today, Dec. 3rd!

2008-12-02T14:14:00.001-08:00

Comments & Myspace layouts

Katie's High School Musical Birthday Party, Sunday afternoon

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British children having their first Thanksgivings feast. All had never tasted pumpkin pie and most liked it!

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Treasure found, through the sheep filled field, under the conker trees

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Laura Ann's british friends introduce themselves

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The stage is set for a birthday party...

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Can 11 girls find this Treasure Chest during Laura Ann's birthday party?

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Laura Ann is 10 this Saturday!

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Comments & Myspace layouts

Skype Phone Calls

2008-11-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

We have been blessed to recently call our family through Skype! With our built-in webcam and their webcam we could see each other! Most new laptops come with this. If you would like to call us, we would love to chat! To begin first you need to download Skype. This is free! After creating an account with them you can ring us at: tammywhitworth All call are free!
We have experienced homesickness recently and look forward to coming home for Christmas.

Chatsworth House invites the public daily. The Duke & Duchess of Devonshire live here. Their family has owned this valley for 900 years.

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The contemporary sculpture exhibit was amazing at Chatsworth! Especially the 6 ton baby balancing on its hand!

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Last couple thoughts about Wales...Their flag is the oldest in the world and the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles is celebrating his 60th birthday!

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800 year old Carernarfon Castle on the north-western coast of Wales

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Views from the top of the castle

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Suspicious of knights in shining armour

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Cartref Guest House's typical Welch (and British for that matter) Breakfast

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Conwy, Wales towne centre

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Walking through Conwy's castle village wall to the sea

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The Smallest House in the United Kingdom was once inhabited by a six foot, three inch man!

2008-10-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

Off to Wales for Half Term

2008-10-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

The schools are closed this week, for what they refer to as 'half term'. We are going to Wales for a couple days to visit Caernarforn Castle and other castles along the north-western coast and the Isle of Anglesey. We should bring back a couple of good photographs to share!

Introducing Curbar Primary's newspaper editor, Laura Ann

2008-10-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hi! This is Laura Ann! Did you know that every morning at my school we have an assembly? We sing praise songs and before lunch and right before the end of the day we say a prayer. On Tuesdays we ride in a bus for a 5 min. drive to two fields for Games where we play hockey,'football'[soccer],running etc. On Wednesdays Year5 and Year6 go swimming. [I'm in Year5] We go to Bakewell Indoor Swimming Pool. On Thursdays we walk down to the little village of Calver for P.E. at the Village Hall. My favourite activity is swimming. Talk to you soon! 'Til than 'Cheers!'

Laura Ann
Whitworth

Katie's spelling words, age 6

2008-10-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

thousand, mouse, house, market, garden, enjoy, royal, noisy

Bakewell... my market town!

2008-10-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

Village of Beeley

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NEW: You may now post a comment WITHOUT signing into Google's Blogspot!

2008-10-03T12:16:00.001-07:00

Spelling Words for Laura Ann, age 9

2008-10-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

Theme this unit is international common words: gnus, gurus, haikus, kimonos, oratorios, paellas, pagodas, piccolos, risottos, samosas, sonatas, tarantulas, tombolas.

Cathedral in the Peaks, on the way to Buxton

2008-10-02T06:38:00.000-07:00

Buxton Opera House

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Beautiful Buxton Park with a picnic lunch and bread for the ducks

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Laura Ann and Katie hang on a gate while walking to Bethany and Naomi's house

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This corner is 100 yards up the lane from our house

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Corner complete with a red phone booth

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Hot air balloons frequently float through the valley in our backyard and sometimes over our property, like this one did! Mum, are you in there?

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Look closely, you can see Chatsworth House and fountain. This is where Pride and Prejudice was filmed! Our house was airbrushed out in the movie.

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Interesting glass can be found like this on doors and windows

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The Royal Mailman delivers the ol' fashion way

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8th Century Celtic Cross in Eyam

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David herding the "lambs that got away" down our lane. After some effort he got them into their field.

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Our newest neighbors!

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