Things Have Changed....

From today, I'm posting on a new blog.  If you get chance, please come and visit The Great Escape and find out what's going on.  I will be posting on this new blog regularly and I hope that I'll catch up with you all again soon.
Best Wishes,
Jx

The Age of Miracles

I picked up this brilliant book from one of the local charity shops last Friday.  It has joined an elite band of books that I considered to be truly 'un-put-down-able'.  You know the ones - books that you don't want to stop reading, but you never want to end.  For 36 hours I cooked with one hand, ate with one hand and completely ignored my husband!


If you haven't read it, the basic story is a 'coming of age' tale about an 11 year old girl in California.  Julia has friendship issues, worries about her parents' relationships, deals with bullying at the bus stop and so on.  It's the backdrop to the story that makes it so gripping.... At the beginning of the novel we learn that the rotation of the earth has started to slow.  No one knows who and no one knows how to deal with situation. As the days and nights stretch, gravity changes and ecological disasters unfold, it's all narrated through the filter of Julia's own view of the world.   Gripping stuff!


Other books in my 'un-put-down-able' list are
~ Gone with the Wind (I lost several days to that book when I was a teenager!)
~ The Wine of Angels (the first in the Phil Rickman 'Merrily Watkins' series)
~ The Bronze Horsemen (Paullina Simmons)
~ The House on the Strand (the best Daphne Du Maurier.. but only in my opinion!)


There were others that were great at the time, the Da Vinci Code and The Rectors Wife for example, but lost their impact when their authors started to write more in the same vein and formula.

Have you got books that have hijacked your days?

A Little Bit of House Envy....

On the Easter Bank Holiday I took Mum and Dad down to Newark Park in Gloucestershire.  It's a National Trust property at the top of a steep and secluded valley in the South Cotswolds.  The weather forecast for Monday had been really grim, so we had the added bonus of surprise good weather.  It was a perfect day to explore the house and grounds at a leisurely pace - which really suits my Mum.


The house was given to the National Trust in 1949, but it was let to a nursing home until 1969 and become increasingly run-down.  In 1970 a Texan-born architect called Bob Parsons took over the tenancy (joined in 1980 by his friend Michael Claydon).  The house and gardens that we visited were the result of 40 years of their hard work and vision.  (Bob Parsons died in 2000 but Michael Claydon stayed on in the property until 2011.)


The house is now cleverly arranged so that it feels like you are part of a house party and the tenants are just somewhere else, waiting for you to join them.  It's a technique that the National Trust have used in other houses where it feels a bit 'contrived'.  Here it seems to work perfectly... even on a busy Bank Holiday when the grounds were over-run with small people doing an Easter Egg Hunt!


In-fact I am now officially suffering from an acute attack of house envy.  This is my dream home and I'm sure that the National Trust could offer me a tenancy.....!  To see why - click here.


Back to the chalk face tomorrow...... but there's a day of trips on Thursday AND a long weekend coming up so I don't feel too bad about things!
Jx

In Praise of Blue and Yellow!

I'm not one for 'getting on Band Waggons' ~ in-fact I have a healthy distrust of many ~ but in early January I joined the discount shopping brigade.  I'd just got to a point where I felt that our household bills were way too expensive and we had to take some kind of radical action. We have a 'Blue and Yellow' store about two miles up the road from here.  There's a large car park (free) and it's just off the bypass in our local town.  If we get off the motorway one junction earlier, we can pop in on our way home.  It's not only cheap, it's convenient.


It was easy to see that we were going to save money, but I decided to monitor exactly how much.  For the last three months I've logged our savings against a calculated average weekly spend from the Autumn.  I've filled pages of my accounts book with everything we've spent (OCD!!!).  I've included house-hold items from the 'W' store, "top up shops" from anywhere and the occasional trip to our original food store to pick up special items.


I think our diet has improved in the last few months, largely because fruit and fresh veg were really expensive at our previous store.  It is a different type of shopping experience.... but it's funny how quickly I've got used to things costing less!


Anyway, the rolling savings total is already looking extremely healthy.  Once I'd added the lower winter fuel bills resulting from our mild winter, the total is bordering on the embarrassing!  Why did I continue to pay so much to these other stores for so long......  Mark (who is a great believer in 'designated savings funds') suggested at the beginning of the experiment that we should put the money into a pot for our 50th Birthday celebrations.  We are 48 later this year so that's going to be MONTHS of savings.  I'm not sure he realises quite how much money that might represent!  Oh well..!! 


The funny thing is that I can't persuade my family to try out the store.  My sister is completely loyal to 'T****' and my parents can't be separated from 'S*********'.  In the meanwhile, I'm a complete convert!!!


What are your top food-shopping tips?
Jx

Remembrance of Things Past..

Mark and I 'got lucky' with the weather when we booked a short break in Swanage just before Easter.  We parked the car at the hotel and walked everywhere for four days.  It was a great way to get rid of the last of the 'winter fug' and a lovely chance for me to revisit one of my teenage haunts.


I've shared some of my teenage memories here on the WordPress blog.  I hope that they amuse you!


Since we got back I've gone down with a cold and chesty thing, which laid me a little low for Easter weekend itself.  Fortunately Mum and Sister decided that they wanted to do all the big family meals, so all I had to do was sit quietly in a corner and try not to cough.  The bug seems to be clearing my system now.... I expect that I'll feel fine by the time I go back to work next Monday!!!


Mark moved his holidays so that we could have the break in Swanage.  As a result it's been really quiet around here since Monday.  Yesterday I caught up with all the 'niggly' jobs that have been tormenting me for weeks (dealing with charity shop bags, rag bags, cleaning the cat flap...) so today I feel 'super-virtuous'!


It won't last.....!!!!!
I hope you are all having a good week.
Jx

In the Footsteps of Jane Austin

After a bit of reflection I've decided to keep both my blogs 'alive' for the next few weeks.  This means I can more easily keep up to speed with all your news - especially as I've not been able to get my head round the Wordpress following system yet.


To read about my travels in January, please click here!


Thanks for bearing with as I try to bring order to the chaos!!!


Jx

Hello....!

Thank you to everyone who realised that I'd 'gone to ground' for a while.


There have been several difficulties within my family which have taken up a lot of time...
There's been a visit from Ofsted...
There was the resulting Post-Ofsted exhaustion..
There's been some pretty stressful times within my friendship circle too..
I've ended suffering from a bit of depression (not nice while it lasted)
AND - to top it all - my blog has got a virus.... which means I can't upload photos.


In spite of all this, I have still been busy with my camera and I've got loads of photos I'd like to share.... so I'm in the process of trying to set up a WordPress blog.  Once I've got everything sorted I will come and find you.  Hopefully I will be able to follow you all from the new dashboard. 


I'll post a link to the new blog on blogger over the weekend.  Please come and find me!


Jx

Check out our bottom!!!!!!!!

Follow this link to check out our bottom.... Brooklands Museum !!

Yesterday afternoon we were just checking some event dates at the museum when we realised that a photo of the rear of our car is promoting the 2014 Super Car Day.  Our little "garage-built, recycled, up-cycled, costing about the price of a family saloon" restoration is sharing web space with REAL exotic super cars.
We were SO excited.  It's lovely when all Mark's hard work and creativity is recognised unexpectedly.  We've been asking people to 'look at our bottom' all day.... so I couldn't resist a quick post!

Tidying up the Wool Stash...

 Introducing.... my first ever 'scrappy blanket'.

 

After two years of happy crocheting I've collected loads of 'part balls'.  There's some cheap and cheerful DK in there but I've also got some lovely soft cottons and bits of interesting textured yarns.  My first 2014 project is to work them all together into a 'scrappy blanket'.  (I'm just working with one yarn until it runs out then tying the next one in.) Currently I'm in a pink and purple phase....

 

I'm trying to create a bit of a 'summer garden' effect with all this colour.  The blue bit at the centre is supposed to be a garden pond, the green is the grass and all the other colours are the flower borders.  It may not be the most elegant piece of crochet I've ever done but the riot of colour is banishing my January blues!!

 

 

Once I've finished up all the purple and pink, there's still another red section to do and enough bits of yellow for one more paler border.  I hope that it will be finished by the end of January.

 

I spent some time tidying up my wool stash over the holiday.  I realised that there's several 'close to being finished' pieces of work tucked away in there.  I hope that I'm going to have the self-discipline in February to finish these things off! 

 

I'm back to school tomorrow... although the New Year starts with training rather than teaching.  My school has joined up with some of the local primaries to do a large scale training event at the NEC.  (That's another first for my 'Novelty' list!).  I'm actually really looking forward to the new term.  I feel as if I've had a proper chance to recharge my batteries over the holidays.  I've also had plenty of time to catch up with niggling jobs and other bits and pieces that were waiting patiently for my attention at home.  In short, I feel 'smiley and positive'.

 

Not sure if I'll feel the same way when I have to get up at 'stupid o'clock' tomorrow morning....!!!

Ha Ha!

Jx



 

365 Novelties.... A Challenge for 2014!

I've got to 'come clean'... 2013 wasn't as good a year as my blog frequently suggests.  I try to post about the nice stuff because those are the times that I want to focus on, remember and celebrate.  The reality is that my workplace, especially by the end of last term, was extremely difficult.  One of my line managers went off with stress at the beginning of December, the other followed him about a week later.  My own health 'went astray' in the last week.  I ended up doing most of the last week on crutches (not easy when the school site is about a quarter of a mile wide).  My family's health is not great.... and a certain family member's behaviour has generated huge tension and upset across the rest of us.  A few of my closest friends have had horrifically difficult 2013s too, while Mark's workplace has been worse than mine (One of his line managers collapsed at an airport, while he was waiting to travel for work.  He's OK - but not in work until they can find the reasons behind the collapse.)

My only wish for 2014 is that things don't get any worse....

As a result I've decided to take a slightly different 'tack' on New Years Resolutions for 2014.  (As I read in another blog recently - life is stressful enough without creating more self-imposed stresses.) 

So here's my idea... I'm going to collect 365 "Novelties" over the course of 2014.  By this I mean recording all the tiny new stuff (a new recipe; the discovery of a new author or new song; the pleasure of doing a walk in a new direction; choosing a different flavour of ice-cream - simple things) and then I'm going to post more regularly about the things that are keeping me sane and 'out of a rut'.

Does anyone feel like joining me?

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2014!
Jx

Season's Greetings!

Season's Greetings to you all from my poor neglected blog.  The last few weeks were SO chaotic (both in terms of a ridiculous workload at the end of term and lots of lovely Christmas stuff with family and friends).  My new year's resolution must be to post more regularly again.....!

Anyway, here's the edited highlights from December...  The harp moved out of the lounge so that the Christmas tree could move in.  I was very proud of the 'new look' silver and gold tree (63 baubles for £5 from a local Charity shop!)

The harp has taken up temporary residence in a corner of the dining room.  This photo was taken on Christmas morning.  There were five of us for Christmas dinner this year (my parents and Mark's Mum).  My sister and her family went to stay with her Father in Law in Derbyshire.

Thomas the cat has really enjoyed having his humans around.... in the form of open access to the sofa and an almost unlimited supply of treats!

On Christmas Eve we took my parents and Mark's Mum for a little drive around the Cotswolds.  This is the church in Temple Guiting.  Mum particularly wanted to see this village because she's recently read a murder mystery based in the area.

We then stopped off at the tea rooms near Broadway Tower..... A coffee break seamlessly moved into a lunch stop too!

The views from the windows were so gorgeous that it seemed a shame to move on..

Eventually we drove down the hill to Chipping Camden and stopped to explore another church.

The church was full of families rehearsing for the Nativity play and Christingle Service..... All very festive!

A very important, non-festive, development in our lives has been the arrival of another (!!!) Marcos.  You can probably see that it's another major project to entertain Mark for a few years.  (He gets as excited about Marcos parts as I do about wool and crochet projects!).  However it has to be said that family and friends are slightly bemused by the fact that this is Marcos number 3....

 

Anyway...

I hope that you are all enjoying the last couple of days of 2013

and all my best wishes for 2014!

Birthday Celebrations

I celebrated my birthday on Friday evening.

A few of my oldest friends came round and we had a little 'carpet picnic'..

On Saturday I continued to celebrate with a lovely walk round some National Trust land,

just to the south of Bridgnorth...

The sky was a fabulous colour...

There were shadows and reflections everywhere..

At the top of the valley we tried a new route, which extended the walk by a few miles..

We picked up an old lane, which was in surprisingly good condition..

Eventually we reached higher ground and the views started to open up..

These two cottages have a stunning view towards Clee Hill and the Welsh borders..

We picked up another old lane and dropped back down to the River Severn..

By this stage we'd walked about 9 miles and had a huge appetite

for the 'eat ups' from the night before..

I even had a small glass of 'drink up' red wine (birthdays and all that!!)

The end of November is a funny time to have a birthday....

My cards always have to fight for space with the early Christmas ones

and work commitments can be a nightmare.

However, I loved my 'low key' celebrations this time.

Winter picnics are really fun!

~X~

On other subjects...

At the moment I don't seem to be able to access any of the blogs that I follow through my dashboard.

I haven't a clue what's going on - but I just can't get to your latest posts.

Is anyone else having the same problems...

I wondered if I'd missed an update or something.

Jx

Routemasters and Other Things...

 

Things have been  'mid-term' chaotic here -

 

400 effort grades and levels to do...

130 Year 8 reports to write...

Endless coursework to mark (to the rigorous detail of a new specification)..

The final weeks before a school show (in which I'm playing the piano almost continuously for hours every evening)...

AND Ofsted are now 7 TERMS overdue..!!!

 

Then....

My Mother-in-Law came to stay for three days at the end of last week to celebrate her 70th Birthday..

and Mark's been really ill (but is fine now)

 

So it's the little things that are making me smile...

like my husband's deeply eccentric ways of showing affection.

At the end of last week I was moaning that our lunatic schedule of commitments was making it impossible to get any real exercise.

"If I keep on like this, " I moaned "I'll be like the back end of a bus!"

"Never mind," said my husband supportively "You're my cute little Routemaster!!!!!"

 

It's a good thing I share his sense of humour!!!

Jx

Out Takes

We decided to make a permanent record of my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary

by having some 'proper' professional photos taken at a studio..

There are loads of really nice 'serious' photos - but I'm rather taken with this group of 'out takes'..

 

All the girls (youngest niece, sister, Mum, me and eldest niece)..

 

 

A lovely one of H. and I.....

 

Sis and I in giggles....!

 

It's the first time that we've had some professional photographs taken since we got married.

Digital technology makes it all much more immediate and it was great fun.

 

Here's a more serious one of Mark and I..

 

 

..But I think my favourite is still the first photo...

What do you think...

 

The Two 'Ps' - Pray and Panic!

What do you do when your husband is having a car accident in your rear view mirror.... Yesterday I discovered that I pray and panic in a ratio of approximately 80% to 20%!  Mark, I hasten to add, is absolutely fine.  The car is written off but, as one of my very dear friends said as he hugged me yesterday, "Never mind Jan - it's only metal".

Basically we'd done the food shop yesterday morning then went to collect this car from Gloucester.  It's a powerful old Japanese car that Mark only really wants for the engine and gearbox (to modify one of sports cars that we have already).  Nevertheless, the car appeared really well looked after and has a full service history etc.  To be honest I was upset with Mark that he planned to pull it to pieces when people seemed to have cared for it for so long.  (I'm a bit of a sentimentalist when it comes to this sort of thing).

Anyway, either we picked up a slow puncture in the 16 miles that Mark followed me home OR the tyres on the rear of the car weren't quite as well-looked after as they should have been.  When Mark went for a slow over-take (no more than 40 mph) on the A38 south of Worcester, the back end of the car stepped out, spun him round and took him straight through a hedge.  He came to rest the right way up about 200 metres into a ploughed field.  I watched the whole accident happen in my rear-view mirror (because I was leading the way in our other car).

Fortunately there were no trees on this stretch of road, no fence posts or wire in the hedge and the hedge itself was old and rotten.  Mark is one of the luckiest men on the planet. 

As you can imagine, I immediately slowed down to look for somewhere to turn back.  The car behind me had seen the accident too and very kindly held back the rest of the traffic.  As I turned in a gateway I saw Mark get out of the car in the distance but it seemed like an eternity as I drove back to the point of the accident (praying and praying and praying!)  Mark appeared at the gap in the hedge pretty much at the same time as I parked my car and got out.

The next few hours really brought home to me how kind people are.  It took about three hours to get the wrecked car out of the field and home.  Complete strangers stopped to check that we were OK.  People that we only know very superficially offered tea and a place to warm up.  Two of our oldest friends abandoned their shopping trip and came to tow us out in their old Land Rover.  I feel very lucky to have such lovely people in my life.

Mark (being the car-obsessed man I love) was determined to get to the root causes of the accident.  He's discovered that pressure in the rear passenger-side tyre was approximately half what it should be.  We're just grateful that the accident happened at low speed and on a quiet road.  The 'what ifs' really don't bear thinking about...

Jx

Sunrise, Sunset....

Here are a small selection of my favourite photos from last week's break in the New Forest...

Boats on the Beaulieu River - in early morning stillness after the storms had passed..

 

 

The hotel's landing stage and reflections of a deep blue sky..

 

Reflections further up the river as we walked to the little village of Beaulieu..

 

Peaceful lanes..

 

Sunset over the marina by the hotel...

 

 

..And a seriously dramatic sky (taken a few moments later)

 

 

Stormy skies over the Isle of Wight and the Needles...

 

..And the last sunset of the holiday at Lymington Marina..

 

I really didn't enjoy the transition back to work this morning.

The pupils were fairly grumpy too - I think we all wanted to be at home under our respective duvets!

After school we had a staff meeting about the latest changes to our pay and conditions.

Pay.... deteriorating (in real terms against the cost of living)

Conditions........!!!!!!!!

 

I've popped a couple of shells from the coast near Lymington next to my computer in my classroom.

A little reminder of the beauty of things when everything gets a bit complicated...

 



Excuses for my blogging break...

We just about scrambled to the half-term break this year.

I felt dreadful in the week before the holiday - suffering with migraines and stuff - while Mark was completely submerged in some major changes at work too.

You know you really need a holiday when it feels like there's no time to have one!!!

Fortunately I'd spotted a great deal at one of our favourite hotels and booked it way back in July.

We packed our bags, walking boots and the camera - and took ourselves off to the New Forest.

 

After the storm cleared the weather was perfect for dramatic photographs.

This was the view at the beginning of our walk on Wednesday...

(The view up The Solent from Lymington Marina)

 

 

We stayed at The Master Builder's Hotel in the picturesque hamlet of Buckler's Hard.

The hotel is the last two cottages on the left (plus some extensions round the back that overlook the river).  I was constantly rushing down to the water's edge with my camera to try and catch the changing light.

 

The hamlet is just the two rows of cottages and a marina, so it was the perfect tranquil 'get away'..

 

A couple of years ago we got a great deal on a room in the attic of the main building.

This time we got a sweet room in the more modern block for a ridiculously good price.

 

The hotel describes itself as having 'quirky luxury'.

I think it's a bit like staying with an wealthy elderly relative..

(Sadly I don't have one of these in real life!)

 

Red wine and an open fire completed the relaxation process!

 

We've come 'back to earth with a bump' today....

(Paperwork for school for me and changing the gearbox on the Discovery for Mark)

Never mind - we can still feel the residual 'chilled-ness' of our break!

Now the weather's colder...

I lost some of my crafting 'mo-jo' over the summer - 

It seemed far too hot to work on large woolly projects,

 then I lost interest in a smaller-scale crochet bag.

The darker evenings and horrible weather have had one bonus -

I've picked up my hooks again!

 

Since the beginning of the month I've made these children's blankets.

(My Mum knows some-one who hands them out as part of a Charity project)

 

 

I make them with a large hook and chunky wool - so they grow quickly and are soft and snuggly..

 

I also made my first ever 'wave' pattern scarf.

I gave it too my younger niece as a birthday present because the colour was perfect for her and I know that she loves long 'Doctor Who' style scarves.

 

 

I've also finished my latest granny square throw. 

I've just got to get through the process of finishing off all those ends...

 

I've learnt a lot about picking up stitches, keeping my work neat and changing direction in this throw.

It's not perfect - but I'm pleased with the overall effect.

 

I'm wondering whether I've got the confidence to try making a jumper next.  I used to design my own knitting patterns so I've got some idea of where to start in terms of shape and tension. The wave pattern scarf has also convinced me that I can work neatly in lines as well as squares, which is probably key to making something to wear.  I love making the big, chunky charity blankets while we are travelling to work, but it would be nice to have a evening project for myself too.

 

In the meanwhile, I still don't feel like finishing the crochet bag.  Isn't it funny how some projects seem doomed to lurk for months at the bottom of the craft bag....!

 

Jx

 

PS - Yes - I really do play the harp!  It's been part of my life for so long that I rather take it for granted - but it is a rather nice thing to have in the corner of the lounge!!!  Thank you for all your lovely comments on the last post.

One Wet Weekend...

I'm still pinching myself..... but this tidy, co-ordinated lounge actually belongs to me!!!

 

On Friday evening I decided that the drifts of crafting stuff; the mountains of old car mags, DVDs and books; and the mis-matched soft furnishing HAD TO GO.

I wish that we'd taken a photo before we got started. 

Things weren't exactly in a complete state of chaos - but it had all started to 'bug' me a bit.

 

Here's the results of all our labours over the weekend..  A new lamp-shade and cushion covers.

The sofa has also been re-positioned so that the 'music end' of the room is more open.

 

 

I've kept all the things I love..

We found this pretty little cupboard in the basement of a junk shop years ago.

It hides all the wires and gives some useful storage.

 

The large bay window has always been a bit of a 'dead space'.

Mark spotted this bench and persuaded me to buy it at the weekend because he loves window seats.

I already had the scatter cushions in the back bedroom and

I was delighted to see the way everything fits with the new curtains...

 

We treated ourselves to a new light-fitting and the mirror.

The effect is quite 'Downton' (!!!) but it all came from Dunelm (pretty cheap!)

 

...and here's the finished room from the window seat.

All my crochet has been tucked away in a wooden box I inherited from my Nana

(under the lamp by the fireplace)

 

As you can see - I'm really into the 'vintage' style.

Almost everything you can see has been inherited, rescued or bought cheaply.

I'm not a very confident person when it comes to styling rooms - but I'm really pleased with how things have come together this time.

 

I hope that you've enjoyed a little insight into the things that have been keeping me from blogging recently!

Jx