英语博客：Chirping Chicks.

Oh, I haven't been getting much sleep recently. It seems as though* the whole world is noisy. It's summer, and every living thing is feeling fully alive, and therefore, making lots of noise. I often have to put our two dogs in the garage in the early

英语博客：Preparations for a barbecue.

One of the things I like most about Summer is barbecuing. As a person who cooks all the time, it's so nice to have a break from the kitchen, and to do some rapid, easy clean-up cooking on the barby. Over here, it's often the men who are in charge of

英语博客：Watermelon eating competition.

Are you enjoying your Summer? It is in full swing now. The clothes shops are full of swimming suits, bikinis, and barbecue equipment. Flowers are out, and most families find a swimming pool to enjoy. There were end of year celebrations for schools, h

英语博客：A Cougar in Town!

The local news the other day was just the kind of news that I don't want to hear. A cougar had wandered down from the nearby mountains and was found in a residential area of town. Now, I know that we live in an area that is close to wilderness. You d

英语博客：Native American Sculptures.

Art seems to be a very personal thing, as far as what a person does and doesn't like. You must have found that, at some point in time, you have been in a place where all of a sudden you come across a piece of art that you absolutely love. That happen

英语博客：Who invented the Garp?

Like many good things, the Garp started out as an idea. A boy had been told by his Science teacher to make an instrument involving specific measurements and the number eight. Well, the idea moved around in the mind of the boy for a few days, changing

英语博客：I'm on Facebook.

Well, everyone, I've taken the plunge and joined Facebook. I signed up months ago, but didn't really start communicating properly with people until a couple of days ago. You can find me under, believe it or not, Acupof English. I had to put in Acupof

英语博客：The cost of teeth is rising.

We've had teeth all over the house recently. My children just happen to be at the ages where they are all losing teeth. For my oldest boys, it's no longer a novelty. They have gaps here and there where teeth are growing in. And the contrast between t

英语博客：Ethanol anybody?

Today's podcast is going to test your knowledge of ethanol. What is it? How is it made? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of using it? I asked myself these questions recently, when I drove past a gas station that had a sign saying 'No eth

英语博客：An intimidating meeting.

Last week, as some of you know, I met with the Superintendent of Wenatchee Schools. I was very nervous, for some reason. I had never met him before, though I had seen him a couple of times in School Board meetings. My intention was to encourage chang

英语博客：Firewood for free.

I was driving down the road the other day, to go to Walmart, when I saw something that really caught my eye. On the left hand side of the road, infront of a house, a huge tree had been cut down. It was so big that it took up all of the house owner's

英语博客：Daily homework.

Did your teacher give you your homework packet? is a question I ask my children often. Every week they get a set of papers that are stapled together, each paper being either a math sheet or a reading and writing sheet. For the longest time, I couldn'

英语博客(A cup of English):017 Keep fit

Keep fit, even when it's cold. Beginners. Winter is just about here in Wenatchee. The air is cold; we have heavy frost most mornings. Thankfully, the days are still quite sunny, even though they are short. What do children do in the afternoons, after

英语博客：Ali Baba

Ali Baba. In a town in Persia there lived a man called Ali Baba. He was a poor woodcutter, and he struggled each day to feed his wife and children. All he ever wanted was to own a shop in the town, sell goods to his neighbors, and have plenty for his

英语博客：Saint George and the Dragon part 3

图片1 Saint George and the Dragon (part 3). The smell as they approached the dragon's den was horrible. George and the princess put George's shield near the sleeping dragon's head to protect themselves from the dragon's fiery snores. They watched t

英语博客：Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

This tale is of a brave mongoose, named Rikki-tikki-tavi, and his great fight to help a family that saved him. It all took place in the far-off land of India. It began on the first sunny day after many days of darkenss and rain. A young English boy,

英语博客：How small do they get?

Over the weekend, one of my sons had a couple of baseball games in a local park. It's that season again! It was actually a perfect day for the sport as well; it was sunny but cool. There were lots of people sitting and watching the event. In fact, th

英语博客：An eye exam.

At this time of year, the schools have tests of all kinds for the children. Reading and writing tests, math skills tests, and tomorrow, there will be hearing and vision tests for the whole school. If you think about it, the two last mentioned tests a

英语博客：It's here early!

If you have the blog or the app of A Cup Of English handy, you will see from the photo or the video clip just what the 'it' is. Yes, the snow. Last year, we hardly had any at Christmas, and not even a hint of it at Thanksgiving. This year is very dif

英语博客：Stuck in traffic.

I hope that this never happens to you. You're driving along, minding your own business, when suddenly your car stops. It could be because of engine trouble, or because of something in the road that is preventing the car from moving. I spotted this po