Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth is a nice place, but these photos are probably not going to show it.  Highlights of our stay here included

• the Four Seasons Hotel - right up there among the best family rooms we've stayed at

• the Varsity Pub - discovered on the first night and so good we returned on the second night.  Plus Mum and I hit the cocktails -  mojitos all round (discovered these in Myanmar 6 months ago - they must have left quite an impression!)

• our trip to Portmerion (but that's another post)

And the not so highlights of our stay included

• the hotel alarm going off at 3:45am with a decibel level that meant staying in the room was not an option.  Interesting though to see all the guests in their jimmies and hear a funny man saying he thought he could hear a bit of a noise as he sat directly in the firing line of the alarm's sonic boom.  Also interesting to see all of the dogs evacuating the hotel, including a huge St Bernard.  Did I mention dogs can stay in hotels rooms with their owners over here?  I guess that doesn't appeal to everyone, but I'd take my little Lucy-loo with me anywhere, and she'd be as good as gold (probably less bother than the kids and she certainly wouldn't jump up and down on the beds!).  And nope - I have never noticed a doggy smell in any hotel we've ever stayed at.

• the weather - fresh again, and drizzly and windy.

no sun baking on this here beach

Welsh freshness at its best.

Gorillas in the mist.

Pembrokeshire Part 3

Sunday was more exploring, we checked out Pentre Ifan, an ancient burial site that looks a bit like a mini stonehenge.

Then it was on to a nearby forest for a stroll....

...followed by dinner at the Swan Inn in Little Haven.  Charlotte very kindly babysat the kiddies, so it was a very peaceful and relaxing meal, with Mum ordering the dish of the night - Lemon Sole.  Huw ummed and ahhhed about dessert for a while and then at the last minute decided on the warm chocolate pudding.  Bec had very kindly looked one up on her iPhone, which was huge and gooey.  When Huw's arrived it was a tiddler beyond belief, just over a table spoon's worth.  We all felt Huw's pain, but had to give him credit for his "What's this?  Honey I shrunk the pudding?" comment.

Pinched this piccie from the net.

Thank you so much Dave, Michele, Charlotte, Andrew, Katherine and Florey for having us, we had a brilliant time.  I just wish it hadn't gone so quickly.  Please come and visit us here in Essex :)

Pembrokeshire Part 2

Today started with a trip down memory lane with Dad.  Dad grew up in and around Haverfordwest and lived in a variety of houses, including a vicarage and for 4 years during the war - a fort with no electricity or running water but complete with a dungeon and huge moat!

Then in the evening it was party time.  I am so mad I didn't take photos as it was one of the few (if not only) occasion when 9 of the 10 cousin's on Dad's side were together.  The only one missing was Tim. Dave managed to fluke the weather for a while and we got in a good hour of barbecuing before the rain set in.  It was lovely to see the Welsh relies and to meet the new additions.  And a big thanks to Dave and Michele for organising the get together :)

And because posts are so much more interesting with photos, here are some professional wedding shots from Bec and Huw's wedding.  Not a bad Price scrub up effort :)

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Pembrokeshire Part 1

Today we ventured out into the bracing December air for a tour of Pembrokeshire.  We started off here in Tenby, where we had fish and chips for lunch and then a stroll along the beach.  The only problem with the stroll was the wind which, putting it mildly, was just a little fresh.  Not sure if the pictures accurately convey the exact level of freshness......

And then it was off to the remarkable St Govan's chapel, built in the 13th century and perilously perched in amongst the inhospitable cliff's at St Govan's Head.

After this it was off to Freshwater West. As well as having sand dunes for a bit of tobogganing, Freshwater West was also where they filmed the scene of Dobby's death in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1.  I don't know about the water at Freshwater West, but the wind was certainly fresh!

We're going to Wales

Here is our next trip away, 8 days in Wales.  The first four will be with David and Michele in Haverfordwest, then 2 nights in Aberystwyth (how long has it taken me to work out how to pronounce that properly!) and then 2 nights in Cardiff (Steve is beside himself with excitement because we're going to do a Dr Who tour!).  654 miles all up, good thing the car just passed its service with flying colours.

Boxing Day

My appetite has returned and good thing too as on Boxing Day we drove to Potten (near Cambridge) to have lunch with Mum's old school friend Chris, her daughter and son-in-law Celia and Simon and their daughters, Izzy and twins Maddie and Josie.

It was THE most delicious lunch and after being sick for so long I was making up for lost time!  Plus we now have a fabulous new salad recipe - red onion, coriander, pomegranate seeds and lime juice, very simple, very colourful and very very yummy.

Celia and Simon have an amazing house that reminded me of something straight out of Escape to the Country.  It had huge bedrooms and a lovely new extension, but the piece de resistance for me was the dining room, complete with an aga oven.  In fact I was so taken with the oven I took pictures of it and the food of course, but none of any people - shame on me :)

We had a lovely day out and thank you so much Chris, Celia, Simon and girls for making us so welcome and for the delicious lunch.

Christmas Robins

Look what Grandma got for Christmas.......

Cheep cheep

I made it!

But only just. After hanging on at St Joseph's for 7 weeks and 2 days and then the end of year science dinner down I went. Sick as a dog. It started in earnest on Monday evening, followed by three full days in bed and a feeble trip to the Dr's. I've now nearly finished a course of antibiotics and have only just felt like I've returned to the land of the living.

It has been such a bugger and a disappointment being sick when Mum and Dad are here. I was so looking forward to them coming and spending time whizzing around, enjoying time off work whilst the kids were still at school. Oh well, the only good thing to come of it is that in 3 days I ate 3 small pieces of toast and now am the skinniest I've been in yonks. Might need to buy myself some new threads, either that or eat more J.

Maldon in the sun

Finally, third time lucky - Maldon in the sun, and how beautiful does it look.

How gorgeous is this St Bernard pup - she was only 14 weeks old and already weighed 22 kg and
was putting on 2kg a week!

Frost!

Continuing on with the cold theme, not snow this time but a spectacular visit from Jack Frost.  The trees were completely white, and closer inspection revealed they were covered in long, thin white needles of ice.  Having never seen frost like this I googled and this morning's display wasn't just ordinary frost, nope - turns out it was hoar frost which in case you were wondering.....

occurs when water vapour touches a very cold surface and freezes instantly, a process known as deposition. This often happens on the leaves and branches of plants, covering them with ice crystals that look like spiky white fingers. 

Hoar frost needles, Sainsbury's car park and the view from Daniel's bedroom.

Hoar frost creates a very, very spectacular display and this morning transformed the landscape into a beautiful but cold winter wonderland.

Snow!

This is what we woke up to this morning......

White out.

Optimistically Emily and I set off for breakfast club.  We went all of 1 mile, then sat in traffic for 10 minutes, then did a u-turn and slid all the way home.  Underneath that thin layer of snow was ice.  I was lucky and only did 2 small but hair-raising skids.  Others were less lucky and I watched a little Fiat slide slowly and gracefully by, both back wheels locked in a useless brake.  Fortunately he had a clear path ahead and coasted gently into the curb, before straightening and crawling slowly on his way.

Treacherous driving.  The guy on the right is spreading salt on the road.

After dropping Emily off back home I tried the other direction to school, no traffic jams this time and I was about half way down the newly discovered short-cut of Church Lane when I got a call.  School was off!  Whee heeee.  Another u-turn and I was heading back home.   Not so lucky with the traffic jams this time and what should have taken 5 minutes took 30.

Cars going uphill lost traction as they accelerated, cars going downhill slid as they braked.  Any car that stopped, even on the flat, had trouble with wheel spin.  I was lucky - I only had to stop once and managed to get started again.  I reckon my top speed on that trip home was 6mph.

Church Lane

Then I caught up to Steve and walked Emily to school through Mill Meadow, which was looking stunning in the snow.  Then it was home to collapse in a heap.  Driving on ice is really stressful, school is really stressful, naughty students are really stressful - it seems I have a stress imbalance in my life and I don't like it!

The walk to school, Emmy in her new coat.

Mill Meadow

Another look at Mill Meadow.  A bit colder than before, but still beautiful.

Lighting up Brentwood

Christmas celebrations are happening everywhere.  Main streets are being closed, Christmas lights are going up, Christmas crafts and food abounds.  And there is mulled wine.  Saturday it was Brentwood, on Sunday the celebrations moved to Billericay.  We sampled sausages, cupcakes, marshmallows, punch, chutneys and fudge.  I sampled mulled wine.

We met a Stig imposter and saw the Brentwood Christmas Tree.

And we succumbed to the cupcakes we'd sampled.

Harrods Take II

Harrods rivals Winter Wonderland when it comes to entertaining the kids.  The food displays had them in raptures and Steve diving into his wallet.  We sampled Belgian chocolates (very very high quality!) and sushi, not that the two go together that well.

Cheese, pies, sushi and marzipan fruit!

After the food halls it was up three floors to the toy department, where many of the staff demonstrate the very-latest (but very overpriced) best-selling toys on the market.  There were a lot of "Can I have......" which we fixed with the timely purchase of some sticky rock sweeties that lock the jaw for a couple of minutes at a time.

After toys it was up to the pet department, where we saw a big big dog shopping for a collar with his (presumably very wealthy) owner.  He was gorgeous, but wet and therefore a bit on the nose.  Funnily enough it was raining outside.  Have I mentioned it rains quite a bit over here?  Anyway, there he was - one gorgeous smelly dog shopping in Harrods. Love it!

Pooch shopping in Harrods, £2m diamond necklace, fine dining

We also saw a diamond necklace that I've put on order for when I win lotto.  It was a steal at £2 million pounds. The photo I took of it is rubbish - I was too busy watching out for security guards who might have thought I was being literal with the "steal" bit.  And that lovely restaurant room is one of many dining options in Harrods, others being little cafes and stands nestled within the food halls, many of which surround a "kitchen" so that guests can view the food being freshly prepared.  One stand was exclusively for oysters and champagne.  Carmel would have been in heaven!

After Harrods we had lunch with the gorgeous Miss Margot and then it was home James!  And so ended 24 fun, busy hours in London.

Winter Wonderland

Friday 23 November was a big day.  Up at 6:20am, at school by 8:00am, 5 lessons on, home by 3:40pm, packed and out of the house by 4:25pm, on the train to London at 4:57pm!  Non-stop.  Phew!

We were heading to Hyde Park to check out Winter Wonderland with Kelly and her husband Nick.  We dumped our stuff at Hotel Simeon in South Kensington and caught the tube over to the park.  Winter Wonderland has mulled wine. I was happy.

It also has rides, German sausages, a large talking tree, an outdoor ice skating rink and loads of market style stalls.  We wandered around wide-eyed, just soaking up the atmosphere.

Little M started to fade at about 8:00pm and I wasn't faring too much better, so back to the hotel and straight to bed!

What to do when the inevitable happens...

Last week, just as I was about to perform a demonstration of a precipitate reaction, the inevitable happened.  The kids had gathered around the front bench, I had finally got them quiet and then in that initial moment of silence Harry let off a loud trump (English for let rip, busted his guts, baked an air biscuit - get my drift?).

The class snickered.

Not batting an eye-lid I fixed Harry with a Bronwyn Bishop inspired death stare, put my hands on my hips, deepened my (permanent) frown lines and began a lengthy tirade into the dangers of trumping in the lab, including mention of....

noxious fumes, naked flames, possible explosion, high level of recklessness, putting classmates at risk etc etc etc.

There was silence.  They weren't quite sure how to take it, was I serious, was I not?

Inside I was killing myself.  This was a good trick and about time I got one back.

Harry lost his triumphant look, the class remained silent and without further ado I slipped neatly back into demonstration mode as though the trump had never existed.

Miss Price one, class none!  J

Jammie Dodgers - they're jamtastic!

How's that for the name of a biscuit?  And not just any biscuit, apparently Jammie Dodgers are the most popular children's sweet biscuit brand in the UK and are bought by around 30% of its households.

Jamtastic Jammies!

Jammies are made from shortbread and raspberry flavoured jam and have been produced exclusively by Burton's Biscuit Company in South Wales for the last 50 years.  I've tried to find out the history behind the name but had no luck.  They have been featured on Dr Who as one of the Dr's favourite snacks and the kids have given them the big thumbs up.

I haven't tried one yet, I think I'd rather use up my 83 calories on cheese or chocolate or perhaps on some of the mulled wine that has just starting appearing on the shelves for Christmas J.

A little gem

Here is the response I got from a Yr 8 boy who I gave a lunch time detention to.  His task was to think about his behaviour, why he had a detention and how he might improve in future.  Reading it, I marvel at his left of field thought processes, his honesty, his spelling, but most of all his "Sorry Miss, won't happen again" conclusion J.

Up for air

Ok.  My nose is only just above the water line.  I am one small step ahead of the kids and the workload required to stay there is relentless.  The classes just keep on rolling and to make matters worse some of the behaviour this week has been less than inspiring.

On Thursday I brought out the big guns, seating plans and detentions.  Not popular, but they're making my life that little bit easier.

Highlight of the week included me performing (in my opinion) a very skilful demonstration of a heart dissection.  In preparation I watched a 5 minute "How to perform a very skilful demonstration of a heart dissection" clip on youtube and then watched it again and I am now a dab hand with the surgical scissors (far preferable to a scalpel if you're planning on doing one).  Not only could I point out the 4 chambers, the thicker walls of the left ventricle, the aorta, pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein and vena cava, but yay me, also managed to find a valve (well at least something that I called a valve J).

Lowlight of the week - a stool throwing incident in my dysfunctional year 11 class.  Only 9 students, but with a Mr Steroids, a Mr Painful and a Miss Violence, the class is a bit of a nightmare.  Unfortunately after provocation (that I didn't see) Miss Violence decided to retaliate by throwing a stool at Mr Steroids.

"No, no, No, NO, NO!" I said, which was about as effective as wet toilet paper. 

Thud went the stool.

Luckily there were no injuries, as far as stool throws go it was actually quite gentle, more of a light toss.  The incident has since been reported and perhaps Mr Roids and Miss Violence will get another talking to from the Deputy Head about what is and isn't appropriate behaviour in class.

And would you believe it but I am now 33.33% of my way through my 6 week stint at St Joseph's, each additional day is another 3.33%, not that I'm keeping tabs of course J.

Guy Fawkes night

No sooner had we arrived back at Billericay, we were out the door again.  This time to the Billericay Bonfire Night, one of thousands of bonfires held throughout the country to commemorate Guy Fawkes and the failed Gunpowder Plot way back on November 5 1605.

As background.....

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that strong action was called for.

A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby, who formulated a plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.

But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members felt so strongly he sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th.

The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.

Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.

It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless.

Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster.

On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night and is traditionally celebrated with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes.

Billericay Bonfire Night 3 Nov.  L-R Burning the effigy, lighting the bonfire, Emily's light-up hair
spectacular fireworks, the massive bonfire flame that looks a bit like a dancing chicken.

I loved learning about the history of this night.  Plus I now want to watch the movie V for Vendetta, which apparently is all about Guy Fawkes and the events leading to the failed Gunpowder Plot.

The magnificent Lake District

This post is all about the scenery.  The pictures were as we travelled between Keswick and Kendal, and via the towns of Grasmere, Windermere, Ambleside and Conniston.  Most were taken after stopping on the side of the road, or doing a u-turn and then stopping on the side of the road!  Stunning scenery like this demands u-turns and random stops and I'm hoping the pictures will speak for themselves....

And my favourite photo of all, taken just after leaving Windermere and heading towards Conniston..