Monthly Round Up (March 2010)

It is now officially springtime ... hooray and hurrah. Isn't it wonderful to see some colour creeping back into our gardens and hedgerows? And we've had some real warmth in the sunshine too. It won't be long before I get the call to transfer my tootsies into flip flops, in which they will reside until at least September. :D

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I keep meaning to ask if any of you bloggy peeps are Gleeks?

There are several definitions of the word 'gleek' - from the verb to gleek: to squirt liquid (including saliva) through the teeth or from under the tongue; less commonly, squirting saliva directly from the saliva glands or expelling liquid through the sinuses.

Or the Shakespearean verb to gleek: to trick; to make a gibe or jest (at a person).

To a noun Gleek, which is: an English card game for three persons played with a 44-card pack, popular from the 16th through the 18th century. Hmmmm, 44 card pack? Is that a regular pack with 12 cards missing? If so, which cards? See ... this is the sort of brain I have to contend with. Darn thing wants to know stuff, all the time!

Anyway, I don't mean any of those definitions. I'm talking about the modern-day noun Gleek, which is the name given to a fan of the TV show 'Glee'. No.1 is a devoted Gleek - it is her favourite programme of the moment. She owns the CD of the songs from Series 1, and has asked for the CD of the songs from Series 2 for her birthday. I see there is a DVD of Series 1 due out in the middle of April ... that'll be heading our way too, no doubt. For those who have never seen it, it is described as a 'musical comedy drama' - which is kind of different, isn't it? I must admit I have watched every single episode, and sometimes it has made me laugh out loud (no mean feat considering what a grump I've been). It's an American series which only began airing in the UK in January, and which appears to have captured the attention and imagination of loads of folk.

Personally, I think Mr Schuester is rather cute; and that Sue Sylvester (the trainer of the cheerleaders) is hilarious. 'And that's how Sue sees it!' has become a catchphrase in our house - to be tagged on the end of any kind of strong expression of opinion - along with the accompanying 'c' sign the character uses in the show.

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I had some good news regarding Miss Maisie - the insurance company have authorised the repair (rather than writing her off). Phew! The garage can't fit her in until late April, so in the meantime I am driving around in a warped car - which is ok, because I'm a bit warped myself.

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I had a lovely giggle last week outside school whilst waiting for No.2 to emerge from his day's educational experience. Why is my child always almost the last one to leave the building?! Anyway, there were lots of people milling around outside school waiting for their children, when a little girl (aged about 5) rushed out of the gate, shouting at the top of her voice 'Mummy! Mummy!' as she ran to her mother who was stood about two metres away from me. (Oooh, get me with my metric measurements!) 'Hello!' said the mother, 'Guess what?' said the excited little girl ... and then in her biggest, loudest voice (the one that all mothers know and dread) 'Me 'n' Alice are wearing the same knickers!'

Don't you just love little kids?! Her mum had to laugh, as did many of us within earshot.

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Speaking of kids, I had a couple of proud mum moments on account of No.1 this month. Firstly, she was awarded with a certificate for being one of the top five students in the field of 'Creative Arts' in her year at her school (there are 300 kids in her year!). The school had a little ceremony evening, at which other students played music, and presented films and pictures; it was very well done. The fact that the other three girls in No.1's 'gang of four' also got awards, was really nice for them all. (S got hers for Drama, B got hers for Humanities, and J got hers for Design & Technology.) From next September they will perhaps spend less time together as they begin their CGSE courses (and are all taking different options); we'll see.

The other moment came a couple of weeks ago. It's been more than three years since she gave up formal guitar lessons with her previous teacher, but she felt she wanted to go back to having lessons. The former teacher no longer teaches, and I'd been asking around other parents for months. This (new) guy's name kept coming up over and over again. I contacted him to be told he was seeing three prospective students for his one free place, that weekend - would No.1 like to go along to play for, and meet him? She was very nervous as - quite understandably, it felt to her like an audition, and I guess it was in a way. Anyway, we went along on a Sunday morning - she was the first to be seen. He showed us the sort of work he does (very impressive) and asked No.1 to play for him. She felt she'd fumbled it and done quite badly; and when we came out she said she wasn't at all sure about him anyway, wasn't sure if she liked him or would want to work with him or not.

An anxious few hours were then spent waiting for the email, but eventually he contacted us to say that out of the four of them, No.1 "had 'something'" and he'd like to offer her the free place. She was over the moon and immediately said 'yes', but given her earlier thoughts on not being sure, I asked her to think it over. She was still sure she wanted to take the opportunity, so is now attending music lessons with him.

She did good - I'm very proud of her.

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In early March I went to Camera Club one week, to find that the Committee had chosen two of my images to represent the club in a 'battle' with two other clubs. How cool is that? I was really pleased. They'd put forward the snowy window one and the cobweb one I showed you in this post. In this particular battle, the judge was looking at prints and projected images: I haven't yet got brave enough to 'do' prints - perhaps one day? Anyway, the snowy shot scored 18 out of a possible 20 points (so that's twice with the same score now), but the dewy web shot scored major points - 20! Oooh, it was such a thrill. At the end, I got a round of applause, lots of 'well done's and a guy from another club came over and shook my hand telling me he thought it was superb. Wasn't that nice?! Five other images scored 20 that evening, all wonderful shots; I was honoured to have one of mine given that score.

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Earlier this month I managed to finish off the Moscow part of Mafia Wars - the game (along with Farm Town :D ) to which I am addicted at Facebook. I'm thinking I'm getting quite good at this life of crime, having completed first New York, then Cuba, and now Moscow. Am I finished? Not a bit of it ... I'm off to wreak criminal havoc in Mafia Wars Bangkok!

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This was the month I discovered that Georgie-cat likes hamster food. How weird is that?! I was cleaning out Herbie, he was sitting in his exercise ball at my side (he doesn't wander off in it anymore - just sits next to me, bless him) and had just put some new food in his dish. I turned round to sort out his bedding and heard a crunch, munch, crunch sound. On looking over my shoulder I caught this little monkey

eating his food! She seemed to especially like the fruity shape nibbles - perhaps I should get her a packet of her own?

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I'll leave you with a collage of images from my Mother's Day this year (Sunday 14th March); I trust any mums reading this had as lovely a day as I did.

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Primary School Reports

I don't expect anyone remembers, but when we moved house (the second time) in 2008, I (re)discovered my old school reports, and said I would make a blog post out of them sometime. I found those school reports again recently, so here I am blogging the first batch. I'll just 'do' the Primary School ones today (for those in other parts of the world, 'Primary School' is where kids aged 5-11 spend their term times. They then move on to Secondary Education.) I don't seem to have any reports from my time in the Infants (age 5-7) I just have the ones from the Juniors.

I'm not sure anyone will actually be very interested in this, but it's the sort of thing I'd like to go in a future Blog Book for family, so please forgive the self-indulgence.

The earliest report I can find is from the year in which I was 8:

[Kitty] has made very good progress in all subjects throughout the year. She is very enthusiastic and joins readily in with all class activities. PE, games and swimming have been enjoyed. Apart from an unfortunate incident relating to school meals, I have found her a very thoughtful and reliable girl.

The Head has added to the back '[Kitty] is a very pleasant girl who has worked hard'

I'm sure your reaction is the same as mine ... what unfortunate incident relating to school meals? :-O It was obviously important enough for the teacher to note on my report, but what the hell ... ? I don't remember that teacher at all, other than that she had dark hair and big glasses; her name was Mrs Prior.

What do you think I did that might have been unthoughtful and/or unreliable and was related to school meals? All suggestions very gratefully received! I must ask Mum if she can remember.

The next report I found is from the year in which I was 9:

[Kitty] has worked steadily throughout the year. She takes great care over her written work and produces stories of imaginative content. She is an extremely able reader, capable of reading mature books, of which there is a good choice in the school. In Mathematics she has proved to be quite competent and has few problems in this subject. Always helpful in the classroom, she has many interests and belongs to several after-school clubs.

The Head has added to the back 'This has been a good year for [Kitty] and I am very pleased. Well done!

I remember this teacher a bit more than the last one. He was tall, thin, had very dark hair, and had a distinctly olive-coloured skintone. His name was Mr Payne. His wife also worked at the school but was never my teacher. I wonder what my stories of imaginative content were? Good training for blog-writing, no doubt. As for reading mature books - I would read anything at all, and still do. It sounds like I did a few after-school clubs but I can't recall them; wonder what they were?

The next report is dated the year in which I was 10:

[Kitty] is an able child. She has a pleasing attitude to all her work and has progressed very well this year. Her Mathematics is good and she tackles new topics with enthusiasm. She has worked well on her topic books which are varied in content and well presented. [Kitty] has a lively imagination and her English work shows throught and care. Her reading is very good, she chooses from a wide selection of books making good use of the school library. [Kitty] enjoys a wide range of school activities. She has produced some good Art and Craft work this year, is a keen Netball player, a member of the School orchestra and Judo Club. She enoys PE and works hard with her swimming.

The Head (who was a new one since the last report) has added 'Is there anything she doesn't do?! An excellent all-round report which augurs well'.

There is a space under the Head's words for a parent to make a remark if they so wish. On the two previous reports, neither of my parents had written anything, but on this one my mother has written 'The halo slips a little at home!'. Pah, cheeky baggage.

I really liked the teacher who wrote that report. Her name was Mrs Cox - and as well as being a teacher, she was an artist. I guess she was more on my wavelength than any of my previous teachers? She was blonde, attractive, and everyone liked her. I see she made mention of my imagination - just as Mr Payne had done. Interestingly that Head teacher was still the Head teacher when No.1 started at the same school a zillion years later!

The final report from that school is dated the year in which I was 11:

[Kitty] has had a good final year at **** School and shows promise for the future. She is a capable girl and works well at all times. Her mathematics is of a very good standard and she tackles new work with enthusiasm. Her English work is good. She shows a lively imagination and her work is always neat and well presented. She has worked with interest at her Topic and has produced some very pleasing results. She reads well with obvious enjoyment and her vocabulary continues to develop. She enjoys all forms of Art and Craft and has worked well with some very pleasing results. She is a good Netball player, and works well at her PE and Drama lessons. [Kitty] has showed herself to have considerable qualities of leadership this year - if sometimes turned into rather talkative directions! I hope she will channel these qualities to good use at her next school.

The Head has added 'A very good report [Kitty], but please heed the advice given. Good luck'.

That was Mrs Cox again - I had her for the final two years of my time at that school. Hmmmmm, wonder why she found the need to mention my 'rather talkative' trait. Ah well - not much has changed, has it - I can still witter for Britain! My imagination gets yet another mention; I'm wondering if I wrote some amazing stories! I'm amazed that she has mentioned qualities of leadership since I don't view myself to have any of those whatsoever. I've always thought of myself as ideal 'backroom' material; I don't have the courage, and am far too self-conscious to ever be a 'leader' of any kind.

So there we are - the reports from the 'first instalment' of my education. It makes me realise that not a lot has changed with regard to the core 'me': I still read, have the 'lively imagination', tackle subjects that interest me with enthusiasm, and enjoy all forms of art and craft. I don't, however, still do the netball, play in the orchestra, or do judo!

I wonder if my own children are already essentially what they will be as adults?

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Better Luck With The Birds

No, no, no ... I'm not batting for the other side; although I have been invited by one of my Flickr contacts to join a group entitled 'Lesbo Girls'. What, I wonder, makes her think I might be that way inclined? :-O The same person invited me to join another group which "celebrates the sensuality of women". All the contributors appear to be other women, so I guess it's another lesbian group? I'm thinking I'm giving off the wrong vibes!

The birds in the title of this post of course relate to our feathered friends. Some of you perhaps remember a post from January, in which I whinged a bit about not having much success in attracting birds into the garden. Primarily, I wanted to get some nice photos of birds, but now I find I am rather mindful of them, their diets and their wellbeing.

I am gradually getting some more birds into the garden, although still have my fair share of pigeons!

I'm pretty sure I have a pair of blackbirds, who are nest-building in a neighbour's Elder tree. Mrs Blackbird is incredibly territorial and possessive over the food I put out. If other blackbirds come to share, she sees them off!

Mr Blackbird is a rather handsome chap.

But even he gets shoo'ed off by Mrs Blackbird sometimes. Some days they seem to get along pretty well, even working as a team to scare other birds away; but on other days, I'm left with the impression that they might have had an argument, and aren't speaking to one another.

I'd love to get some Bluetits into the garden, and in fact have seen one on the washing line, but of course I didn't have my camera to hand. I managed to snap this one on that Elder tree in a neighbour's garden, but it's not a great image.

I do have a Chaffinch who seems to be becoming a regular.

Do any of you know what this little bird might be? I think she might be Mr Chaffinch's other half but am not really sure?

Whatever he or she is, he or she sings very loudly and proudly!

I have seen a tiny little wren in the garden recently, but wasn't quick enough with the camera. I have also had a crow visit - my goodness, up close they are so sleek and slightly menacing in appearance. Another neighbour has some extremely tall trees in their garden, and one day I did manage to snap a trio of crows having a bit of conflab.

The only other bird I have managed to snap from the vantage point of our little garden, was this Greenfinch.

He always looks rather aloof, and very grumpy indeed! I think perhaps his life isn't going well at the moment?!

I had been wanting to get a decent shot of a Robin for ages and ages, with no luck whatsoever. It wasn't that the shots I took were crubbish, but that I didn't get any shots at all ... hadn't seen a single Robin. :( However, last week I headed up to The Ridgeway, and there, sat in a tree was this little chap:

So now I have my Robin shot! But being a greedy sort of girl, I'd like more.

That's all for now, but I am thoroughly enjoying my little bit of 'twitching' (the bird watching version of the word, not the muscle spasm version), and the pictures are getting a little better. Hopefully I'll have some more for another post sometime.

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Oh Blimey, I'm Such A Twit **

It's quite nice, when good and pleasing things happen to be able to put them on the blog. And now I'm into photography, to be able to add pictures of those good and pleasing things is a bonus. When the blog books are viewed in years to come, family members and friends might smile at achievements, and even (hopefully) admire my images. So ... I think it only fair to present a 'balanced' view of life, and also note when things don't go quite so well.

I once wrote a blog post called 'Driving Miss Maisie' which was about me and my experience of driving (and learning to drive), but which also introduced my readers to Maisie, my fabulous little car. She's not posh or anything, but she is lovely. In my June Round Up of last year, I also posted a picture of Maisie (well, a bit of her) when she'd been valeted and looked gorgeous and shiny.

Poor old Maisie isn't looking at her best at the moment. :-(

I'd like to be able to tell you it was all the fault of some horrid anonymous other. To tell you that said other wasn't looking where they were going and was driving in a totally inappropriate manner. To tell you that this wasn't my fault at all, and that I was the victim of circumstance. But I can't. Well, I could, but I'd be lying, and then I'd get big white spots on my tongue (at least that's what Grandma C said would happen if I lied).

I'll tell you what actually happened if you promise not to laugh. Do you promise? You haven't got your finger crossed behind your back have you? So the promise doesn't really count? Hmmmm. OK then.

What actually happened was that I'd dropped the kids off at school and thought I'd be very efficient and nip into Waitrose on my way home, to get a few bits. I drove into the car park and picked my parking space - over in the corner, between the black VW Golf, and one of those 'trolley bays' where people put their trolleys for the young man to collect later and take back to the front of the shop. I reversed in, as I always do. But I didn't do it very well. :-(

Total understatement of the year ... I more than didn't do it very well. I totally cocked it up! Those iron railings they've got round those trolley bays are really, really strong! 'Was the fence moving very fast?' asked one of my friends when I told him what had happened? *blush* Erm, no ... it wasn't. I was so very cross with myself - what a stupid thing to do. In my defence, I had been ill all week with one of those feverish, achey viruses, and really wasn't feeling at all 'right'. I've been driving for over 20 years and this is the first time I've done something like this.

Anyway, I came home and burst into tears (like you do). It was one of those times when I wished I wasn't doing 'life' alone. I wished there were a lovely man here to put his arms round me, comfort me, and tell me not to worry - that it was an accident, and he'd help me sort it out. But of course that's not how it is.

So, once I'd stopped being angry with myself and calmed down a bit, I did what any sane woman would do: I baked. I baked vanilla biscuits and flapjacks, because as we all understand, that would help. It didn't help with the car, but it helped with me. When a couple of days had passed, I rang a local car body repair place and a nice man looked Maisie over. He said I need a new door and a new sill and lots of paintwork 'doing'. He sent me a letter telling me how much he would like me to give him to do the work. After I'd picked myself up off the floor, I called my Insurance Company and said 'help!'

The insurance company sent a different nice man to look Maisie over. He said she needs TWO new doors and if it's a high grade steel job, she might even be a write off, given that she's several years old, and a Toyota (the value of which make of car has plummeted badly in recent weeks.) :( Oh flipping heck. I'm waiting to hear from the insurance company now as to what they're going to do - to repair or not to repair; that is the question. Whilst I am able to think it is probably a good job I tangled with the metal railings rather than the black VW Golf. And that I was on my own so the kids weren't upset by witnessing the accident. And that nobody was hurt; I still feel a total numpty, and cannot believe how much hassle this has all caused. Tsk.

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** Please feel free to exchange the 'i' in 'twit' for another vowel of your choice.