The surprising flag

I went out for a walk yesterday, going on one of my usual routes, and saw this:

I have easily seen the flag of the Confederate States of America more times in the United Kingdom than I ever did in the United States; this is the third, possibly fourth, time that I have seen it here. It's bizarre! I only recall seeing one Confederate flag while my family and I lived in the United States...and bear in mind we lived there for over fourteen years.

I do wonder if the people who fly this flag here in the UK actually know what it represents, or if they fly it because they merely like its appearance.

As for this picture, my brother took it this morning with my main camera; I didn't have my camera on me yesterday when I went for my walk.

Carnival 2013 (2)

Here are some pictures from yesterday's carnival. The carnival began at 2:00pm and lasted until about 6:00.

There was a parade that snaked its way through the town and this bunch of balloons was at the front. I recognise Buzz Lightyear, SpongeBob SquarePants, Hello Kitty, Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Micky and Minnie Mouse in that mess.

Somebody dressed up as Tin Woodman from The Wizard of Oz. Normally I've seen this character portrayed with a smile!

This is the "Cowboys and Indians" float; at first this float bothered me because I thought it was something mocking American Indians, but I later learnt that it was supposed to represent harmony between cowboys and Indians.

I thought that this year's parade was smaller than last year's; my brother thought they were the same length but I recall more floats.

Another balloon, this time it's a unicorn with purple hair.

These are the targets for the archery stand; my brother was going to try the archery out but for some reason he changed his mind. I've only tried archery once and that was back in Patterson, California.

Two flags above the candy stand. While British flags were a common sight, I was surprised to see an American flag present. The couple running the stand didn't appear to be American, but then again, they could have lived over there as I once did!

One of the two ice cream vans present; this was the bigger of the two. My brother bought himself and me ice cream before I left; I had a double-caramel bar!

A closing shot, taken around 5:30. Most people had left by this time and the park was in the process of being cleaned up for daily use again; I left after I took this picture. I hope the carnival will return again next year.

Cuba and the Union Jack

This was another interesting video on the BBC website. It's about how the flag of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack, has become fashionable in Cuba:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21082793

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London were popular in Cuba, and it has resulted in the Union Jack becoming a fashion statement in that country. It can be seen on clothing, as tattoos, on fingernails, on cars...everywhere, at the moment!

I quite like odd, but positive, pieces of news such as this. Seeing the United Kingdom's flag become fashionable in a country such as Cuba wasn't something I ever expected!

Move videos

Here are two videos that I took on our move day. I only took a few movies that day, and nearly all of them contained my family members in them, so therefore most will not be uploaded. These two, however, are safe, and I am sure they will be pleasant enough:

This one shows a brief part of the landscape on the A14 while going from Cambridgeshire to Northamptonshire.

This video shows the flags at The Fox Inn (along the A14) blowing in the wind.

The move

Note: this is a long post!

As exhausting as moving day was, it went a lot smoother than I had anticipated. We got up at ~6:00 in the morning to put away the things that could only be packed at the last minute (bedding, the inflatable beds, the kettle, etc.), so that we would be ready for when the removal people came at 7:30. We did have everything ready before then, and were well on time, but when Mum phoned the removal company at 8:30, we did appear to fall behind. Worse yet, the weather looked like it was going to throw down a massive amount of rain.

It turned out that one of the removal guys was sick, and he had to be replaced with someone who was on their day off; plus, they had got stuck in traffic. They finally did arrive at 9:20, and when they came, the three guys surveyed all our belongings to figure out the best way to get them all into the truck. In addition, part of our moving package allowed us to have the moving guys disassemble pieces of furniture if we chose to have them do that, and as such, they had to see what they had to take apart.

Fortunately, with two guys taking the furniture out of the house, and then the garage, and the other guy in the truck fitting everything in, we were soon back on schedule. Even better, the rain only came in a few brief bursts, rather than chuck it down, and the guys were able to use the small showers to take breaks. Despite one of guys also having to disassemble a few pieces of furniture, they got the entire job done in about three hours…a far cry from the estimated 4 ½ hours to complete the task. Once they left to go to Northamptonshire, we did a small amount of cleaning in the house, took a few pictures/movies of the place, say goodbye to our next door neighbor, and then left our (now former) home in Littleport, Cambridgeshire.

We stopped off in Ely briefly to hand back the keys to our old place. While my brother and I were waiting in the parking lot, I spotted both an American flag and an English flag on top of a building! (I am not referring to the flag of the United Kingdom here, but rather, the flag of England itself.) I have never seen these two flags together before, and so I took a few pictures of them. We then left Ely and took the A14 to go to Northamptonshire.

On the way to Northamptonshire, we stopped off at a pub on the way called The Fox Inn to have lunch. At this pub I had a burger, and I have to say that it was the best burger I have ever had. In fact, it was so nice I shared a little bit of with my family (except for Mum, who was already having a burger) so they could try it too (if I think something is really tasty, rather than have it all to myself I prefer to share a little bit of it so others can see how good it is too). Outside the pub, three flags were being flown: the pub’s personal flag, the UK flag, and the US flag!

Our next stop was the agents’ place to pick up the keys for our new home, and once we had done that, we went to our new home in Northamptonshire. The removal guys were waiting for us there, but they had not been waiting long, and besides, our scheduled time to arrive at the place was about 5:00, and we were there before that time. It took an hour to unload the truck (my brother and I helped with this) and for one of the guys to re-assemble the furniture he had taken apart back in Littleport. They left once they were done.

As for the evening, Mum, Dad, and my brother went out to buy some sandwiches for dinner while I stayed to sort a few things out in my new room (I have my own room again now, for the first time in over a year!). After dinner, we got a load of unpacking done, despite the long day, and Dad even got the internet up and running (hence the brief post from yesterday). Not surprisingly, the house is a mess, and it will take time to sort it all out, but we are getting it done. I am glad we are living in a bigger house now, and there are more people around here. At least this was also a short move in camparison to moving halfway around the world last year!

Finally, I do have a few pictures and movies of the trip to Northamptonshire. When the equipment to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer is unpacked, I shall upload them!