英语博客：Xephos and Honeydew, in Minecraft.

This title is the kind that gets attention, isn't it? I first heard about these two characters a few days ago. My three boys play an on-line game called Minecraft. It's actually quite fabulous. It is an unending arena, where you can discover and crea

英语博客：Hot pasties.

Hot Pasties. If you've never had a pasty, you've never lived. That means that eating one is an experience you must have because they are so good. I actually haven't had a pasty for years and years, though I did eat them up until I was a late teenager

英语博客：Cross Sport Training.

Cross Sport Training. You know, being a mother is an interesting job. I sit back sometimes and consider the influence that I have over my children; it's quite a responsibility. My likes and dislikes are obviously reflected in how I run the home, in w

英语博客：Mythology looking at me.

Mythology seems to be all the rage these days. There have been films released recently, like 'Percy Jackson and the lightening thief', and 'Clash of the Titans', that have had a lot of people talking about mythology and what it means to us today. Oth

英语博客：Stars on ice.

Stars on ice. I have never really been much of an ice skater. When I was a teenager, I would go indoor skating with friends, mainly to have a good laugh. When people are wobbling and falling down on a regular basis, it can be amusing! My friends and

英语博客：Bleeding Hearts.

I have been making excuses recently, to avoid doing some gardening. I have had pots of plants ready to plant for at least a week. I even put them right on the spots where I intended to plant them, but they sat there for a long time. Every time I happ

英语博客(A cup of English):055 Car crash

Beginners. The other day, I was looking in the kitchen for a cookie. It was mid-afternoon and I was having a 'snack attack'. I opened the cupboard hoping to find a few oatmeal cookies (my favorites), or perhaps chocolate chip cookies. Unfortunately t

英语博客(A cup of English):072 Spain.

Beginners. We continue our study of different countries of the world with Spain. This fascinating country makes up most of the Iberian Peninsula that forms the southwestern tip of Europe. Portugal is on its west, and France is on its northeastern bor

英语博客：Fire and sugar.

Ah, Spring is here, and we are back to the normal good weather activities. This weekend, we had a couple of the kids' friends over for a 'sleep-over'. You can probably tell by the name what a sleep-over is: the kids come and play in the evening and e

英语博客：The Golden Goose (part 2).

The Golden Goose (part 2). When Samuel reached for their snack, he found a magnificent sweet cake and a large bottle of cider for them to share. My, look at this, said Samuel. I am glad I have much more than stale bread to share with you. When they f

英语博客：The Golden Goose (part 3).

The Golden Goose (part 3). The minister saw the odd procession and cried out at the three sisters, Have you no shame, girls? Why are you running after the boy? It's just not right! He tried to pull the youngest girl away. Suddenly, he felt that he wa

英语博客：Unpack those bags!

Hello everyone, and welcome back to A Cup Of English. I'm very excited to start this season of podcasts; I have a lot to tell. I have been away, with my family, travelling around Europe, visiting family, for about 6 weeks. We had a great time, but no

英语博客：Quite a social calendar.

Do you use calendars very much? I do. Without them, I'm sure I would forget a lot of appointments. I have a calendar conveniently placed in my kitchen, just above where I do my podcasts. I have a collection of other important things on this 'mini-des

英语博客：Little dragons.

My energetic daughter has been begging me to take her to karate classes. She had already enrolled in gymnastics, and our rule is to do only one after-school activity each season, so I decided to only look into it, and not agree or commit myself to ta

英语博客：Bingo.

This past Friday night, I was settling in for the evening, when my youngest son said, Mum, can we go to the family bingo night at school? I groaned inside, not wanting to go anywhere. I had received an automated voice message from the school a few da

英语博客：After school.

One part of my daily routine during the week is to pick up the kids from school. I'm sure that a lot of you listening now probably do the same thing. Thankfully, I live very close to the school where three of my children go. It's literally a three mi

英语博客：Shooting skeet.

Have you heard of skeet shooting, or perhaps clay pigeon shooting? Well, we are beginning to do it. Having been inspired by his grandfather in Scotland, my son Cass caught the bug. Doing it once when we went to stay with my father last summer just wa

英语博客：Choose a treat.

It's great to be back podcasting to you again. I had a lovely Christmas break with my family, and now have plenty to podcast about. I actually have had a problem of no internet connection for about four days which has been very frustrating. When that

英语博客：The U.S. Census.

We can't move forward until you mail it back is the saying on the recent campaign to get everyone to fill in their census form. As required by the constitution, a census has to be conducted every ten years. We have all received the forms in the mail,

英语博客：The blossom season.

This podcast was inspired by Kimiyo from Japan who recently E-mailed me a photograph of the cherry blossoms on the street where she lives. She told me that, at the moment, the wave of blossoms is moving through Japan, and so she decided to capture it