英语博客：Analysis time.

Some of my listeners have asked me to examine and explain English phrases and vocabulary in depth. I think that that is a great idea. In order to do this, I have selected a small paragraph from a magazine that is about wasting money. This will be the

英语博客：Goodbye Summer!

Summer has been and gone, can you believe it? For me, it has flown*. I suppose you have been wondering, Where on earth is Anna? Has she fallen off the planet? Has she given it all up*, moved to Nepal, and become a monk? Or is she just enjoying her Su

英语博客：Friends From Estonia.

This past weekend was very special. We had friends to stay. What made the weekend special was that, at the beginning of their stay, we actually didn't even know them. This unusual situation started back in June. There was a knock at the door, and whe

英语博客：Delivering the Bobcat.

Yesterday, I had the most unusual thing to do. If you had asked me a couple of years ago if I could see myself doing what I did yesterday, I would have told you that you're insane. I delivered a Bobcat to a taxidermist. Take a while to chew on that s

英语博客：4000,000 boxes of cherries.

I learned a few things this past weekend about the fruit industry. My husband has been involved in national and international export of fruit for over twenty years, and right now, he is *up to his neck in this season's fruit: the cherry. Washington s

英语博客：A Morning Routine.

A routine is a habit, often one that gives us comfort, or some sort of benefit. We say in English that we are 'creatures of habit'. Humans like to have a routine, a familiar way of living. I've noticed that even my children have developed their own r

英语博客：A Yard of Bubblegum.

A Yard of Bubblegum We had an interesting weekend this past Memorial Day weekend. We went to the town of Monroe which is on the outskirts of Seattle. My son had a baseball tournament. It would have lasted for three days if they had won on both Saturd

英语博客：Squirt Guns.

I have noticed recently in the shops, a new season of toys on the shelves. When I say a season of toys, what I mean is a new set of toys for this warmer season. The Summer toys are here, and they have a very outdoorsy and watery theme. As you browse

英语博客：A bleating baby.

Those of you who follow my podcast probably remember that I live in a rural area. Our house is located towards the outskirts of a small community. Our neighbors tend to have lots of trees, vegetable gardens, and animals. Across the road from us is a

英语博客：A rocket launch.

It was a windy, sunny day. You certainly needed to have a jacket on, as the wind was blowing down from the snow-capped hills. The crowd had gathered in the park, as scheduled. Everyone was excited, and waiting for the teacher to appear. A few passers

英语博客：Batting practice.

Once a week, as part of his practice schedule, my son Cass has batting practice for baseball. It takes place in a sports complex called Sportsplex. The building actually used to be an ice skating rink, but has been converted into a place where you ca

英语博客：A Hole in Facebook.

You know, I'm getting better at learning about technology. I wouldn't say that I am totally ignorant about social media, but neither am I an expert. At least now I have a Twitter button on my blog page, in case anyone likes a blog and wants to send a

英语博客：The Instrument Zoo.

It's not very often that you get the opportunity to try out many kinds of instruments. Have you ever blown a bassoon? Have you ever strummed an electric guitar, or tried a set of drums? We had the chance to do that on Saturday. The Woodshouse Conserv

英语博客：Thanks for the million downloads.

This is a very special podcast because I have some thanking to do. Every now and then, I check on the statistics of my podcast, and yesterday I saw that I have had more than a million downloads all together. Thank you, to all of you who have listened

英语博客：Oh, you filthy princess!

Oh, you filthy princess. I'm afraid that I'm going to talk about one of my dogs. The reason for my apologetic tone is that some dog lovers go on and on about their animals, and often the people listening have no interest in their little beasties. Wel

英语博客：Guinness.

Ah Guinness! We have lots of it in our house at the moment. My brother loves it. I'm not unfamiliar with it either. Back in London, I used to drink it mixed with 7Up. I found it too bitter to drink neat. If you've never tried it, you should. It is a

英语博客：A Starbucks Revolution.

Hello, we have a special triple grande caramel mocha with whipped cream for only three ninety-nine. Can I take your order? That's the kind of information-loaded question that you get asked when you pull up to a Starbucks drive-thru. Just as you are a

英语博客：Oh the olives!

On my recent trip to Nice, I was fortunate enough to go to an open market. Oh, the colors and smells were fantastic. I strolled around just taking everything in. It was February, but the weather was wonderful. It was very sunny, and you only needed t

英语博客：A Manicure Fanatic.

My daughter is obsessed with fashion. She is only six, and it comes as a surprize to me that she is so fashion conscious. She is not so concerned with the seasons' colors or styles, but she does like to know the 'pop' fashion. I think it comes from h

英语博客：Umtanum.

Yakima is a small city located an hour and a half's drive(1) from Wenatchee. It is a wide valley, famous for its grapes and apples. We were there last weekend for a baseball tournament, the first of the season(2). One interesting fact about Yakima is