holidays are here again.

Last night we had a power cut, so no blog.
I was just looking at the Telegraph on line - an article about Venus Williams, wearing a black lace outfit & flesh coloured pants for the French Open (tennis).
As I couldn't move on I looked at the blogs, which ranged from bigoted to hilarious, the best being "I don't mind what she wears as long as her d... doesn't hang out"
"The Junior Apprentice" was just starting - about the only programme worth watching - when the lights went out.
G put on a headlamp & read - this was rather spooky in itself, I eventually opted for a soak in the bath & radio 4.
It was off until after 11.0pm, by which time I & finish was in bed, reading with a torch.

I've taken my fungus-infected big toe to the doctors & had my BP taken (130/90)
The fungus is being identified before treatment starts.
We've cleaned the dining room after G's repair of the ceiling in the bay, the laundry, after the new boiler & before decorating & put the washing out.
G has gone to see J & G & will stay over & meet me at P & A's in the morning.
I can't decide whether to go out or stay here.
"60 Minute Makeover" is on - they paint over the wallpaper, borders & all with shitty coloured paint & glue the skirting boards on
I'd sue.
The pheasants are in the field along with six babies, well camouflaged - the joys of spring - photos to follow.
Brilliant day, despite having a cold.
I think I'll take the lotus out for a spin to M&S.
The volvo cost nearly £400 - new starter motor & cable to battery!

Another fascinatng day at KS.

Two days at school, now taking year 9 revision classes after school, as they have GCSE exams in June. I teach the bottom set; their mock exam results last week were "disappointing".
I have racked my brains as to how to improve their results in the three weeks remaining.
I have only taught them for the last six weeks & only teach them for 3/6 lessons a week.
I need more teaching time with them & them to have more commitment & bigger brains.
Any ideas?
The cold that laid me low last week is still hanging on.I can't take cold cures with my rampiril, only paracetamol, which do nothing for my nose & throat.
Still, last day tomorrow, before half term.
We have a new condensing boiler operating & G booked to decorate the laundry whilst it's empty.
Kingsbury garage have the volvo, to replace the starter motor & some wiring - I hope they don't see any smoke anywhere near it.
I did all but 4 clues in yesterday's telegraph crossword; I can't do any of today's, yet.

Whew, what a scorcher!

OK, so I was not intended to do a car boot sale this weekend.
I fully accept this & apologise for ever having considered doing one.
What do you need for a car boot sale? - tat, a friend/sister & a car.
Boxes of tat in the loft & factory.
aj coming on Sat evening.
Volvo V50 in the drive.
Great.
Saturday morning the starter motor is jammed, will not unjam, even for the RAC man, & a replacement unavailable until Monday.
Bollocks!
P, very kindly offered her car.
Aj arrived & we went to the church quiz/bingo whilst G went to fetch it.
He didn't phone first, P&A were out so he came back to the quiz & went again later, after the quiz - 60 miles clocked so far.
(The quiz was a little disappointing, well, more than a little to be honest.)
Anyway, we were up early, packed the car & set off before 7.30am.
We queued from Over Whitacre for a couple of miles, drove onto the field with relief, to be told that they were full.
Bollocks 2.
We came home, had a lovely day in the sunshine with J, G & the children, including lunch in the garden.
We have unloaded the car, sorted & repacked the tat & put it back in the factory, G has returned the car & you would never know that it had happened, or not, as the case may be.
Time for some supper.

If no-one comments, I shall start posting photos of serial killers.

How long do rotten colds last?

A minimum of three days.
I did feel a lot less ill when I woke up this morning, on my own, as G stayed with JR in order to avoid me.
I cleaned upstairs with enthusiasm, had a bath, then went to Coleshill to buy the paper & find something tantalising to eat.
Nothing tantalised.
I came home & cleaned downstairs & vacuumed the car, still foul from the Bournemouth trips, ironed, re-made the bed, opened the garage doors & boiled the kettle for tea at which point G arrived home, thinking that I'd been drinking tea all day - men don't notice gleaming floors & furniture or clean sheets.

I cheated on the Telegraph crossword as Google put up a help site when I googled "cockney slang for Cathay" Answer, "Old China"
I couldn't have done it all anyway. Actually, I could only do a few clues, two, to be exact .
The Telegraph crosswords are very hard. OK , aj can do them, but she knows a lot more things than I do.

I'm sure that I will feel much better tomorrow & will not need to carry a box of tissues around with me all day.
The Tennis Club has a draw for Wimbledon tickets tomorrow evening; since we could only do the end of week two, I'm not sure that I can afford to win this one - £190 for 2 centre court tickets.
A quiz in NW on Saturday, with aj as our joker!

Rotten cold day.

I really wasn't fit to go to school today.
I phoned in sick at 7.30am but had to leave a message on the normal number as I don't know the direct "sickie" number.
This has cost me a brilliant attendance record & a day's pay.
I saw G off to visit JR, in the lotus, got up & went to Coleshill for a paper & milk, planning activities for the remainder of the day. By the time I got home I was knackered & apart from a couple of loads of washing (compulsory on fine days) I did nothing, apart from sit in the conservatory, read the paper & attempt to do the crossword.
I have to admit to "doing a Grandad & filling in all of the answers to yesterdays crossword from today's paper. I do manage the "quick" one.
We haven't had a daily paper since I retired - one of the economies, plus the lateness of delivery - we have just taken out a six month subscription, which costs little more than the Saturday paper. Only snag is that you have to fetch it!

I've got through half a box of tissues & a number of cold cures today.
They haven't worked.
I'll try the alcohol with honey & lemon & go to bed.

Who gave me this rotten cold?

Yesterday morning I suddenly had a cold.
I tried to tell myself that it was hayfever due to the gardening on Sunday & the fact that we are surrounded by smelly rape crops, but I knew better really.
I had a runny nose all night & woke at least once every hour to check on the time, so felt even worse this morning.
I went into school because
1.I had only one lesson left with my year 9 class before their exam tomorrow.
2.I never have time off.
3.I am paid on a daily rate.
Anyway, lunch was brought forward by an hour to accommodate the RE GCSE exam, so by 12.15pm I had only a support lesson to do, so came home to suffer in comfort.
The gasman cometh to give a quote for a new super duper efficient boiler, presently with a subsidy which DC & GO haven't had time to cancel yet.
This will save us £30 - £400 pounds a year, so will give us the determination to get the payback.
The present boiler is 16 years old - that's 112 in dog years - so will have problems when parts fail.
The new one is tiny-a good job that it will be attached to the wall or we could lose it!

The sun has come out & it's a very pleasant day - school finishes any minute now, so I will no longer be skiving. (that spelling looks odd & it doesn't recognise "cometh". Rubbish!)

Up, up & away.

That should have been my title on Thursday, Ascension Day, but I was staying at JR's until Friday afternoon.
I did catch up by preaching on it on Sunday at Nether Whitacre & spent a good few hours on both Sat & Sun collecting Christian Aid envelopes.
The weather was good, Sunday was lovely so after lunch spent watching the Grand Prix, then a nap, because we were sitting down & had been awake for more than an hour, we did some gardening then went to collect the final envelopes in Back Lane & then walked across the cinder path to Whitacre.
There were two reasons; to visit Mary & Maurice & to check the route as we have 6 months of pre-paid tokens for the Telegraph, which must be collected daily, somewhere.
When you get to the far side of the railway' a stones throw from M7 M's, you have to walk through the wood behind Station road as far as the iron bridge, then back along Station road.
We walked back along the road, over Little Hampton Bridge (funny name, that), cutting a good half mile off the distance.
We got home by 9.15pm, to cook dinner. I settled for an M&S shepherds pie that I had intended for G & JR on Wednesday, but did make a rhubarb crumble to follow.

School today. Non uniform, off-timetable day. I volunteered to man a "naughties" room.
Mug or what.
G had forgotten to collect the paper so I popped up to Coleshill with the token before Kristian arrived for a "Chemistry hour".
Dinner is in the oven, G's in the garage, all's well with the world.

Doh!

Got up early to sit for T and was just making a drink before leaving when this litte gem popped into the garden! G

P's race for life today

There were c1200 present raising c£80,000. Unbelievably typically only 2/3 of the money pledged gets remitted to the Charity - disgrace!

5km round Connon Park, Edgbaston. Apparently anything under 30 mins is considered good.

P & Kelly jogged round in the crush in about 45 mins. There were some still on the course when I left 1hr 30+. My guess is that 2/3 of those attending didn't even break into a fast walk though some were sweating to walk. Too fat, to unfit or just too lazy. Proves the stats about fat folk though. Lots of poor gaits, poor posture and

Well organised - there was one last night as well and there are 3 in Sutton Coldfield in
Apparently Cancer Research Uk is the biggest charity anywhere . Absolute measure!

These runs raise in excess of £60M p.a.

Well done P.

The first day of tne next five years.

We appear to have a new government, all very friendly & good natured so perhaps the future is bright, yellow & blue striped, like the old Park Hall school tie.
It is called the Liberal Conservatives. The Lib Dems have 5 cabinet seats, some of which are likely to be difficult in the present economic climate. So saying, the Scottish Secretary looks made for the post.

We have eaten an M&S Chinese takeaway, which was very good, to celebrate the end of another working week.
I'm going to see JR tomorrow, leaving at about 7.00am for fear of problems on the A14. Cambridge is the worst bit with very heavy traffic.
I shall stay over until Friday to take JR out for a pootle around Saffron Walden.

The old stage floorboards at The Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford are being laid in the foyer so that theatre can "tread the boards". Great.
Another cold night forecast.

An historic day, apparently.

Well, it's been all go today in Downing street whilst the rest of the world have been at work.
The Queen's had a busy evening seeing Gordon off & appointing David Cameron. The Brown's left Downing street as a family, the first time that the two sons have appeared in public.
Nick will be deputy PM with four other Lib Dems in the cabinet.
I doubt that many people even know four other Lib Dems at the moment - Vince Cable & who?
I hope that it all goes well.

An historic day at school as year 11 take exam leave on Friday, meaning that I had the last two lessons with my maths class today. I made a large cake, decorated with chocolate numbers, to celebrate at the end of the second lesson, after working hard until the last five minutes.
Some of them remained difficult to the end; they did appreciate the cake & say that they had been well taught.
Thanks.
I couldn't believe how relieved I felt as they left.
I just hope that they come to revision sessions & get some C grades.
I planned to collect some Christian Aid envelopes when I got home but it started to rain at that precise moment, so I changed my mind, sat down & had a cup of tea & a crumpet.
There was an parcel from W & MK with a lovely black merino top as a Mothering Sunday gift - celebrated last Sunday in CPH.
I'm very pleased with it.
I seem to have slept for most of the evening since dinner, at least I stayed awake all day at school.
More cold weather promised - ne'er cast a clout.........

Bye bye Gordon.

We seem to be auctioning off the role of PM.
The Conservatives have upped their bid for the Lib Dems by adding a referendum on voting reform, Gordon has asked the Labour party to find a new leader (never once using the word "resign") as Nick declared weeks ago that he could not work with Gordon.
Still, lots of options & no clue as to what will happen.
A number of senior Labour politicians have stated that Labour lost badly in the election & should stand down - I agree with them.
At least that would get rid of Mandelson, that unelected prig.
All we do know, according to Nick Robinson, is that we shall have a coalition government with Lib Dems in the cabinet & Gordon will hang on in Downing Street until September.
Call me bigoted, but I really don't like
1. Mandelson
2. Brown
3. Balls

We have hard times to come, whatever happens at Westminster.
At least we have kept our own currency.

Back in real life, we had a good weekend - a quiet Saturday then to Bicester on Sunday where I went to T's birthday bowling party whilst G went to J & G's to do some jobs & ride his bike.
School today, maths revision class then Chemistry tutoring at 6.00pm.
Last year 11 lessons tomorrow for me as they take exam leave on Friday.
I should be pleased, but they still have a lot to learn & most do nothing outside of lessons.
I've made them a cake.

Who'd have thought it?

So how come that the Lib Dems didn't do better, that the Labour Party didn't do a lot worse & that the Conservatives didn't get a majority?
It must have been a sympathy vote for Gordon & the Lib Dem voters losing their nerve when they could only think of two Lib Dem policies at that vital moment.
Perhaps it was all Lib Dem voters who were locked out at 10.00 pm last night.
How could that happen?
One Polling Station ran out of ballot papers.
Anyway, we now have to make the best of a disappointing result.
No doubt Gordon will hang on in there like grim death, having had two or three years of practice. He will continue "agreeing with Nick" or anybody else who could keep him in power.
Nick ruled this out some time ago & appears to be a very honest man, furthermore, he stated today that Dave should be given a chance to form a government as he had the largest number of seats, so, it appears that Gordon will have to find some other chums.
The Midlands did Dave proud, apart from Edgbaston - 17 gains, including Tamworth, Nuneaton & Warks North, giving a total of 36 seats.
Our longstanding & good Labour MP, Mike O'brien lost his seat by 54 votes to Dan Byles, formerly an army major. This must be one of the closest results in the election.
Looks like it may be a Dave/ Nick event at the end of it all.
"Have I got election news for you was a hoot" - catch the repeat if you missed it.
The BBC website is good if you want to check results.

We had a great day with Jessie & Thomas including lunch at McDonalds.
Thomas is in "big boy pants".
P & A's lounge looks fantastic, very elegant.
We had minestrone followed by seared scallops with oak smoked bacon & salad for dinner.
Perhaps these are the things that matter.

Escaped!

I woke up early & then lay wake until 8.00am fearing that the phone would ring & I'd be asked to go into school.
It didn't.
I read a few chapters of my Ian Rankin/Rebus novel before having a leisurely getting up then a potter around Knowle & Solihull - the first since before Easter as I've been working or away somewhere every other day.
It was a relaxing, even without a cup of coffee as I'd promised to be home with/for a late lunch.
I got home at 3.45pm, G had eaten already.
Never mind. I did buy some delicious food from you know where - they have some amazingly good offers (fish /meat for two, three meals for £6 - we have scallops, salmon & lemon sole)
We had tea & a welsh cake & a snooze on the settee, waking up cold.
I did the ironing then made minestrone in the style of Jamie Oliver in Venice. It was very good.
We've just settled down for the election on TV.
The exit pole gives the Tories a lead, but no overall majority.
The BBC are projecting the results onto big Ben - how about that for innovation?
Aj & I predict a Tory majority

Relocation.

I'm having a snooze in front of the TV after a hard day at work.
We spent the weekend in Bournemouth, having gone down on Friday afternoon to collect the bedding & crockery that we had left down whilst cleaning/decorating as a tenant will be moving in shortly.
We walked to Bournemouth, around the shops & back to boscombe on sat. morning, around Boscombe in the afternoon & then down to Hentisbury head & a walk around the headland in the evening.
Phew!
On Sun. we went to Swanage via the ferry from Poole, where G relived past family holidays.
The hotel was now an activity centre but the beach was still there where his Father sank a rowing boat containing the entire family, whilst his Mother looked on, in stitches.
We went on to Corfe & the castle then along the beautiful Purbeck coast to Lulworth castle & Cove before returning to Boscombe to eat & sleep.
On Monday we set off for the Midlands, going via the Dorset & Hampshire countryside.
We went to Mottisfont Abbey, an NT property, a twelfth century priory converted into a family house after the Reformation, abandoned for a while during the eighteenth century then bought by a society couple & patrons of the arts in the 1930s.
We fitted in visits to J,G & family & B, E & family en route home.
The weather has been amazingly cold & windy but the weekend was fun, we even managed to do the Telegraph crossword, with a little help from aj.
No TV & G did all of the cooking.