Clean or what?

Bath - Poultney Bridge.

Bizarre Bath.

Georgian houses - miles of them - a beautiful city.

Bath - The Abbey Square - galvanized wire sculptures of the Minotaur & a hare.

Bath - The Royal Crescent.

We went to Bath for the weekend.

Actually, we stayed at the Bristol Hilton as it was a very good deal for two nights whilst bath was pretty booked up & expensive.

G had his "Karma Enduro" reunion at an Indian restaurant in the middle of Bath on Saturday pm. so we drove down on Friday, in hot sunshine in the lotus, getting sun burned en route.

We went via the Fosse way, stopping at Northleach, near Bourton, for lunch as Bourton was heaving, the greens covered with people sunbathing.

After lunch we visited Dyrham Park (former home of the Blathwayts, now NT), then on to the hotel where we went to the gym, the pool & had dinner (Carvery - not G's favourite).

On Saturday we drove to Bath, parked below the Royal Crescent, where we visited no 1, a magnificent Georgian town house. After pottering around, G went to his reunion whilst I visited the Pump Rooms & the Abbey. I met the party later when they all retired to the garden of a local pub, to watch the DVD of the rally!

G & I went on to Sally Lunn's to eat & then joined the Bizarre Tour of Bath - a comedy tour of a small part of the city, with comedy routines at about a dozen sites - street corners, doorways etc.

It was very funny & certainly different. Apparently it was voted second best tourist entertainment last year.

At 10.00pm we staggered back to the car & drove back to the hotel.

This morning we went to Tyntesfield - - the Victorian Gothic house in the Yeo valley, bought by the NT in 2001, which had been in the same family for 4 generations, largely unaltered.

Fantastic.

We went on to Lacock, a beautiful village used in Cranford, The Boleyn sisters.

It has a wonderful abbey with cloisters that you will have seen in Harry Potter.

The weather has been brilliant all weekend, warm throughout, even late last night.

Happy First Anniversary to Sarah & Matt!!

Thursday already.

Doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself?
We went to see JR on Monday & stayed over. He was well & pleased to have some company.
The sun shone, we had a very nice lunch at a local pub & G played with the Triumph.
We arrived home on Tuesday evening, ate pate & salad & went to bed.
I got up early on Wednesday to go to Bicester, leaving G in bed.
I had a lovely day with T & KP, most of it spent on my knees, playing with the new Brio train set, sourced by B.It is magnificent - a vast track with inclines, tunnels, bridges & an array of rolling stock that would not shame R. Branson.
We made wands & spells to make the rain go away so that we could go to the Teddy Bears Picnic in the Library.
They worked! (Prayer was used as a back up, but always needs a week or two to be certain)
We had lots of bear stories, colouring & sticking, bear biscuits & juice.
I was surprised that my legs still functioned after sitting on the floor with KP on my knee for an hour & a little shamefaced when we got out our picnics & KP wailed (loudly & at some length) "I want Philadelphia".
Only Cheddar on offer! Sorry.

I stayed over to give T & KP a lie in & another morning on the train set. We had an hour in the garden & a picnic.
Home, fed & watered. G has had physio & chiro appointments & mown the lawns.
I await "Question Time", to see whether the team are worth staying up for.

A Thomas day for G.

I've just done another two days at Kingsbury & thoroughly enjoyed them - a warm welcome from both staff & students. (Chris made us call them "students" , because they studied - all paperwork changed accordingly. I never liked it. AR changed it back to "pupils", so I stuck with "students").
I've done a couple of maths lessons today & have been asked to come & do Maths for September. Sounds good.
Regular days at Kingsbury would be great - leave home at 8.15am, enjoyable day, finish at 3.0pm & get well paid.
This doesn't compare with working at Granville - a long journey, hard work & stress.

A teacher somewhere has been suspended for putting comments about her colleagues, students & school on Twitter, up to 20 times a day.
Sad twit.
How did she find time to Twit all day, when teaching?

G had a good day with Thomas - football, reading & an hour in the park included.
Are we needed for extra duties next week?

The Telegraph have dished some more dirt today - amazing greed & MPs excusing themselves.
A village shop in Leicester has the sign "Only 2 MPs allowed in the shop at any time"
The great British sense of humour!
Watch the repeat of "Have I got News for You" if you missed it tonight - worth watching again even as the repeat has some extra bits.

I went to M&S after school & bought the "dine in for £10" meal - risotto, mixed berries, etc.
A little disappointing actually, but they hadn't got a lot left to choose from.
I fancied buying a couple of T shirts, (two for £8) but couldn't find two I liked, in my size.
Is broad deep pink/white stripes, me?

Half term next week, no early morning calls to work.
Enjoy the Bank Holiday.

An unexpected day off.

Having thought that a whole week at work may be too much, the problem was solved when I arrived this morning & found that I was not needed as there was a year 10 "off- timetable" day, & a trip out to the "Jewish museum" in London.
Perhaps they should have considered this yesterday.
The teacher in charge of the trip had specified that packed lunches must not contain any meat, presumably in case they tried to force feed ham sandwiches to any Jewish visitors.
I left the gingerbread (iced with lemon icing, tested & approved) , came home & changed & went to play tennis.
We had a great game until mid-day then I went to Kenilworth to potter around the shops as I will be working for the remainder of the week.

G cooked dinner - a Vietnamese curry from the B & E pressie. Very good.
It took only an hour to clean the kitchen & make a cake for the science dept for tomorrow!

Travelzoos best holiday deals e-mail awaits, before bedtime.

Some lovely pics of dear little DK om William's Little World.

Today's Telegraph has some detail on Gorbal Mick's expenses - "arrogant" was the most widely used word; not a well liked guy, it seems.
Can Hazel "home-flip" Blears survive the inevitable shuffle, post 4 June?

Will anyone ever feel compelled to write a comment, if only "Hi"?

Back on the job.

A call at 7.30 this morning to go into Kingsbury - I was in the shower, so G bought me the phone.
The rumour at school was that we had a very posh shower with phone.
I had a great day - 4 science & one year 10 "pathways" lesson, when a group of lads doing woodwork or pond building at college one day a week have a lesson to catch up with their coursework.
You can perhaps assess the ability & coursework motivation level of such a group. Actually they were great & we didn't even notice the Head until he went out through the far door.
Back tomorrow, I presume, although we didn't hear from Karl as to the baby situation.
I came home, did a pile of laundry, baked a tray of gingerbread for school, sent G shopping & made a chicken stir fry.

I have aching shoulders, I put this down to playing tennis for well over two hours yesterday morning, in high winds, with damp balls - a dodgy combination!
I went on to shop & go to the gym, so it may have been the rowing machine that did it as I haven't been for a week.
The joy of working may dim before the week is out.

We watched the programme about the tuna industry - slave labour to produce canned tuna for people to eat whilst wearing Primark clothes.
This was the highlight of the viewing evening.

Good news - the Speakers gone, Gordon next?

Time for bed - G's nodding on the settee.

Christian Aid all home & dry.

Yesterday was T's birthday party, with about 30 little friends, family & a disco.
Beat that!
We planned the cake - a train - but took it in kit form to assemble in the kitchen for fear that it could "come off the rails" en route.
We spent an hour in Bicester (it has a good bike shop),before going to the party.

P, A & family came - Jessie was very shy whereas Thomas was a real party animal in a individual sort of way. i.e. he played & danced entirely on his own. He enjoyed the tea, with sisterly support.
T was excited & enjoyed himself in a quiet way; KP was busy with Grandma & cousin E.
All went very well.
We popped into Bicester Village on the way home - nothing of interest, then, on impulse, stopped at the George in the Tree in Balsall Common for a steak on the way home.
We slept very well, perhaps due to eating early, sharing just one glass of wine or just relaxing after the party.

This morning I had a lie in, reading my very long Wilbur Smith (Quest), dashed to church, bought a paper & milk then came home for breakfast of boiled eggs & soldiers.
We read the papers for a while, had a nap & then I spent 3 hours "on the knock", collecting the remaining (nearly all, that is )Christian Aid envelopes.
I always dread Christian Aid week, it always rains heavily - high winds as well today - & worry about how little we are going to net. When it comes to it, a lot of the locals know me & it's really nice to have a chat & catch up.
Nev is 80 & still giving music lessons - he always speaks fondly of B, who cried when he threatened him with no more lessons, because he didn't practise enough.

We are watching "Come dine with me" from Liverpool, before I make avocado & a chicken stir fry for dinner.
I suggested this morning that we gave up alcohol for a week. I may be changing my mind.

Tomorrow, I may be teaching.

Goodbye to Cheryl

Today we went to Cheryl's funeral at St Chads in Lichfield, followed by lunch at DMP.
It was a good service in a packed church & a fitting follow on with family & friends.
We parked in the town & walked the half mile or so to the church, alongside Stows Pool, which was really nice, despite needing an umbrella (accidentally; G googled St chads, & it sent us to the cathedral)
We walked back to the car & watched the parade as the Staffordshire Regiment went to the Cathedral to surrender their colours as they have become a part of the Mercian Regiment.
The music was wonderful & the whole thing very moving - a fitting end to the morning.

By coincidence, it was leavers day at Kingsbury School, the day that I have spent at DMP for the last 12 years or so.
It rained today.
It never rained in my day!
We visited school on the way home, to sort out my CRB. Apparently, I hadn't got one due to an error on my application, so that was that.
No teaching.
When I got home I eventually phoned the CRB office to be told that my application went in on 14 Feb, was rejected & sent back to Warwick on 9 April because the countersignature was unacceptable.No further action had been taken.
Frustration.
I have two certificates from 2007, one for Granville, one for Kingsbury.
I phoned them back to find that the clearance is "open-ended", update only needed if there is a break from teaching for 3 months, excluding holidays& they are transferable.
I am covered!

We have been to Coventry to see "Angels & Demons"
It was really quite good. I can't speak for the first 10 minutes as I was asleep!
We collected fish & chips at Meriden on the way home.

As for yesterday, apart from the facial, I managed everything else - hair done at 7.45 pm whilst G prepared dinner from his spice pack & fresh chicken breasts.
There's still a lot of Christian Aid envelopes to collect - Sunday afternoon.

What's it like to be five?

Happy Birthday to T for yesterday - I'm working on the plan for the train cake for Saturday.
Actually, I'm just breathing a sigh of relief as it's now 8.27am & too late for school to phone for me to go in today.
I really wanted today to
*go to the gym
*plan T's cake
*go shopping
*collect Christian Aid
*go to the hairdressers
*have the facial that W&MK gave me

I think that this is a bit ambitious, but it gives me something to work on.
G has gone to physio & will be back later.

The weather forecast is poor, but it doesn't look too bad here.
Yesterday was very gray, mainly because it was raining until about 2.00pm.
T & I had a picnic lunch on the conservatory floor & then went to Solihull to look in the windows you would never normally consider - Shipleys mock up fruit machine is tops - & splash through every single puddle & walk along the flower bed walls.
J read all of her new reading book (I' sure that I couldn't read "precious" at 5) & was charming with T, after school.

I came home, G fetched a take-away (the usual) & I fell asleep.

A teacher on TV is telling how she lived on £1 a day for a year, apart from household bills.
*take sandwiches everywhere
* shop late in supermarkets
*walk/cycle
* go to events with free food
*get friends involved

I don't believe it!
I shall go out & spend my £1, after phoning aj

Have a great day.

A day at the chalk face.

I have been so busy/tired that I have not turned on the lap top for days.
Anyway, W, MK, J & DK stayed last week, going home on Sunday.
It was lovely having them here & seemed very quiet on Sunday afternoon, so I made good use of the lovely weather & washed everything that was not nailed down or made of metal.
This is always good therapy, especially if you get it all ironed & put away as well. (I haven't quite managed that yet)

On Monday I went to Bicester & had a lovely day with KP. She walked miles, chattered non-stop & loved the shops & lunch out (even though I had taken her sandwich with us)
A real little girly girl.
We collected T from school, walked to his french lesson & found that he has a friend who can even out talk both T & KP. Amazing!

There were messages on the phone from both Kingsbury & Granville schools when I got home.
Kingsbury to check that I was still available to cover a science paternity leave & Granville for some organisational help.
Following that I had a call from Kingsbury at 8.30am this morning to cover a sickie souter.
Fortunately, I was up & pretty well turned out, ready for a day at the gym & the shops.
I had a great day & was made very welcome.
Granville called tonight to ask me to go tomorrow - just like buses!
Shan't/can't go as a T day with contingencies already in place in case there is a nativity tonight.
I have mislaid my CRB certificate. Bother!
Does anyone have one I can borrow?

A Jeremy day.

W, MK & the boys are here for a few days.
It is lovely to see them all & spend a little time together.
DK had a hospital appointment in Manchester today & passed with flying colours.
Great!
He is such a sweet little chap.
Jeremy took his chances with Grandma for the day; we had a great day.
We went to the playground in the village, J at high speed on the bike without pedals, me, on foot.
J had three pretend "falls into the mud". I don't know whether these were in honour of his Dad or Grandad. Perhaps both.
That took about two hours in all. We played tennis when we got home then had a picnic in the garden, then a game of football.
I hoped that J might be flagging by this time, so we watched a bit of "Miffy" before making cakes. J settled for pushing the ingredients into the bowl, turning the mixer on & off & deciding on the icing letters on the fairy cakes.
We hung out the washing, played another game of football & then he settled for CBBs.
Whew!
I hope that J sleeps well as I'm sure that I will.

G was at work today & came home smiling.
When E phoned, she thought that she had a wrong number as G actually cracked a joke, at my expense admittedly, but it's a start!

Bicester tomorrow, shopping in the morning, Granny helper after lunch at T's school.

Yet another day off!

A nice family day yesterday with P & A, B & E & families - an excellent way of inducing sleep.
This morning we slept in, until 11.30am, this did include tea & reading, but seemed quite bohemian.
I have just finished my second Carol Shields novel, "Unless". She writes brilliantly, in the first person, people /relationships.
We got up & had smoked haddock & rice for brunch, followed by toast & marmalade.
We have made up for the lethargy by G mowing the lawns, then recovering in the bath, whilst I hoed the flower beds, washed the car & vacuumed the house from top to bottom & made up the beds.

We are watching "Compulsion", a much hyped play, based on "The Changling".
I don't like it at all.

G is much more mobile & is hoping to drive himself to the physio tomorrow.
I shall pretend that it's a Monday, without the tennis, go to the gym & shop - rye bread & pate!

Another day off.

Well.
I have done this blog once; when posting the photos all of my carefully composed text was turned into gobbledygook.
Shucks!

This morning we went to the Jewellery Quarter to collect a repair, then to G's favourite watch shop, where he bought me a new watch, waterproof to 100 metres, so that I can wear it in the bath!
I have now caught the watch-flu strain from W, honestly.
I have only had 7 watches in my entire life:
*1 Oris (for passing my 11+)
*1gold cocktail watch (pressie from W)
*1 Seiko (bought for £80)
These were all stolen 1986/7.
*1 Seiko (replacement for above)
*1 Seiko (pressie from G)
*1 Tissot cocktail watch after burglary in 2005
*1 Tissot waterproof to 100 metres!!!

G had a new diving watch, which he can also wear in the bath & was, allegedly, very cheap.

Anyway, we then went on to Kidderminster, but a traffic problem & the English Heritage handbook caused us to go to Witley Court, the shell of a grand Victorian mansion, 10 miles NW of Worcester.
It has wonderful gardens & adjoins the parish church, built about 1700, with an amazing Italian interior.

We are presently watching a Miss Marple DVD - (Joan Hickson) brill!

3 days off for good behaviour.

Bank holiday weekends are more run of the mill when you don't go to work anymore - it's just that everyone else will have Monday off as well.
I hope that you all enjoy the weekend & the sun shines.

W started his new job today, I hope that it went well & the family enjoyed their day on the beach.

I have had a Thomas day today. He had had a bad night &, after a short game of football, he slept for a good 4 hours.
No-one to play with!
He woke up in time for a snack before walking to school to meet Jessie, who read her book (brilliantly) & ran off a couple of pieces of art work before going to a swimming lesson.
G has had a day at home. He would have gone out but the lotus had a flat battery.
I came home, cleared up his lunch things & cooked taglietelli carbonara for dinner.
We are presently watching J Ross before bed.