british – Mediocre Mum

How to Fake a British Accent?

I’m Canadian but have been living in the UK for 11 years and prior to that I lived in New Zealand for a couple of years and dated an Irish guy. Over time my accent appears to have morphed. When I’m in England, I don’t go a day without someone asking me where I’m from and when I go home to Canada I get the same question and when I reply ‘from here’ I always get very odd looks.

I can assure you that this happened naturally and wasn’t a conscious effort as I don’t have time and energy for such things and if you’ve ever heard me try to copy an accent I inevitably sound like a British Taxi Driver (can I say that???) no matter what dialect I’m having a go at.

To be honest I don’t like that it has changed. It’s not because I was particularly fond of my Canadian accent, eh, but I hate when people accuse me of putting on a phony British accent.

So what, do you think???

Do I Want to be a Beekeeper?

Photo Credit

We’ve got some new house guests! With most things at the moment I blame the builders next door. I think they’ve disturbed some Bumblebees and they’ve now taken up residence in our nesting box, right outside our back door. I must admit my original reaction was to seal it up and let them die a slow horrible death or relocate them to the bottom of the garden.

However, I’ve now learned (thanks to Twitter) that Bees in fact are protected and their decline is a worry to conservationists. We need bees to pollinate flowers, fruit and vegetables. No bees = no home-grown food. Apparently, it’s a compliment and I must have a bee friendly garden. Plus, these are bumblebees; they ‘do’ sting but are difficult to provoke and don’t swarm.

For the time being, I’m happy to leave them as they’ll die naturally in the autumn, Madame will love to watch them in the summer and I’m doing a small bit for the environment.

So, maybe I do want to be a Beekeeper…….

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs-tl6GBOBo

If you’re worried about bees I found the British Beekeepers Website Helpful

Pancake Day

I was really excited about making pancakes today. @iaingilmour sent me a recipe for American style pancakes but it wasn’t until I started cooking them I realised that he had sent me two recipes; one for traditional American Pancakes and one for British Pancakes and I used the wrong one. Our frying pan has a slope and when it all pooled in one corner I twigged!

I know I live in the UK now, but I was really looking forward to thick buttermilk pancakes and yes, being Canadian, I put maple syrup on my bacon. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to partake in the ‘Will She Flip it, A Pancake Vlog’ but here is my daughters rendition of Pancake Day. I think it was a hit……

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyroSOpqjE8