Still processing....

Bloody friggen' hell!  Excuse the French but I can't help it -that is my reaction to the crazy chaotic world that is St Joseph's School.

I have been there now for three days and as I leave each day I think the same thing!  Today is a blur, I know I've just taught 5 lessons and taken a morning roll group, but where did that 7 hours just go?  Perhaps it is a safety mechanism, perhaps if I could remember in greater detail I might not go back.

From a supply teacher's perspective, as I said before St Joseph's is sheer chaos.  I get emailed most of my lesson plans at about 8:10am, giving me all of about 15 minutes to digest what's coming over the next 5 hours.  And a single lesson usually goes a bit like this, noting the excruciatingly painful logging on and off requirements -

• Look at map for location of room, turn map upside down and look again.  Give up and ask for directions, race over courtyard through mist and fog, struggle against sea of students, bound up stairs and burst into room.

• Log on to classroom computer and then log on to the SIMS register system 

• Get class in and take the register

• Open outlook and use email to open class notes and powerpoint presentation, desperately try to think of interesting facts/stories pertaining to content of powerpoint presentation.

• Starter - ask the class 10 general questions on heart disease, go through the answers (!) Outline lesson objectives.

• Main Activities

• talk through the powerpoint presentation on heart disease, heart structure, circulation and heart valves, including explaining the animations (what animations? - I have subsequently found out when loading the powerpoint presentation you need to enable the animations in order for them to be displayed!  Go me!)
• Log off and re log on using a different ID to access the "Ox Box" folder within the general science/biology folder.  Log on to Ox Box using a third log on ID and password to load and play 2 short videos on heart disease and risk factors.  Watch very carefully so can work out answers to questions that will follow.

• Log off different ID and log back on under original ID to re-access class notes and resume powerpoint presentation.  Go through questions and just-acquired answers on videos and hand out worksheet on examining veins in the forearm.

• Plenary - Collect worksheets, summarise lesson and give out any homework.  Dismiss class.

• Log off SIMS register and main computer program and get ready to do it all again 5 minutes later.

Bloody hell, it's making my hair stand on end just recounting it! (sorry - there is something about this school that is bringing out the expletives out in me).  To be fair - the school does have 3 science teachers out and is trying to create me a generic log-on so I can access everything I need under the one ID (every little bit helps).

Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike going there.

In fact I have been quietly amazed at my capacity to speak (reasonably) authoritatively on a wide range of subjects - take today for example - I raved on about biodiversity, veins, arteries, capillaries, hydrostatic pressure, osmosis, tissue fluid, heart disease, deforestation, pollution, circuits, batteries, energy, electrons and charges!  Yee har!  And in amongst all that I had an art lesson and looking around the room was relieved to find that I actually recognised a bunch of Escher prints.  Ha - see I do know something about art!

Anyhoo - I am still shaking my head in bewilderment as I recap on today.  I had kids that were so disinterested that despite my best efforts and (very entertaining) anecdotes they either gazed out the window, talked, looked at their phone or worse still - got up and moved around the class.

I'm trying hard to generate interest in the subject matter in the hope that this interest keeps the masses quiet-ish, rather than continually having to ask for shoosh.  I'm having mixed results, but I have one thing that is proving a bit of a bonus and that is an Australian accent.  The kids are interested in Australia and want to ask all sorts of kangaroo/surfing/beach/snake and spider type questions. I have started using this as a bit of a bargaining tool - sit down and do some work and I'll give you 2 minutes at the end to ask me anything about Aus.  So far it's been sort of working.

Anyhoo again - believe it or not I think I sort of enjoy the crazy chaos, well perhaps enjoy is not the right word.  I am surviving and I'm proud of that.   I'm also learning my subject matter at a phenomenal rate, which is no mean feat for the Year 13 lessons on cellular respiration and the light dependent and independent reactions of photosynthesis, including the processes of photolysis and cyclical and non-cyclical photophosphorylation (which, in case you were wondering, is the creation of the high energy molecule ATP from ADP and inorganic phosphate in the presence of light)!

St Joseph's provides the kind of environment that challenges me to the upmost and hey -it hasn't killed me yet.

The Paper Dolls

Just for you Deb - here are the paper dolls we created in Brentwood last week.  J

Daniel's three legged aliens, Emily's little boys and girls and my sophisticated and suave Brentwood adolescents. Jeremy didn't really get into this activity and his little paper people weren't quite up to the high standard required for display.

And in case you were thinking my artistic abilities have increased, well no they haven't - I sort of told a little lie.  Those bottom ones are not my dolls.  Nope - those fine specimens are Sarah's, we admired them so much she let us take them home J.

He's been at it again

There's no stopping Jeremy.  This time he did everything himself, from cleaning out the gizzards to pinning on and transferring the template to the delicate carving.

I introduce evil Ichabod, companion to Jack Skellington.

ps - a bit of a sad ending to this tale.  Jack Skellington is now in the bin.  A few days after carving he showed signs of dehydration, then the poor poppets face started caving in, then he was struck down by a mould infestation and finally his lower jaw and bottom got soft and smelly and turned to mush.  He was in a bad way and the kindest thing was to put him out of his misery.  So now poor companion-less but still evil Ichabod sits alone on the shelf.

A day in Brentwood

Last Sunday the kiddies and I went to Brentwood.  We'd been there the week before with Margot and she'd spotted a flyer inviting children to come and listen to "The Paper Dolls" by Julia Donaldson (author of The Gruffalo) and then try their hand at making their own paper dolls.  Not bad - a chance to listen to Julia Donaldson reading her new book - pencil that one in!

So, there we were in Brentwood nice and early and we had three things on the agenda.

One - a bit of shopping at Sainsbury's to get, among other things, a new pumpkin for Jeremy. After lifting up and inspecting nearly every one of the 60 or so for sale Jem finally settled on the first one we'd seen. I think he gets his decision-a-phobia from me.

Two - lunch. We decided that since we were in Sainsbury's for shopping we might as well stay there for lunch. The cafe had super value kids fish finger meals and for me a modest baked potato and cheese. It was all very nice, certainly nothing out of the ordinary, but for some reason Daniel, Jeremy and Emily took a real shine to the place. They loved that they could get their own drink, they greatly admired the view out the window to the car park and they raved about their one fish finger (perhaps that's why the meals were so cheap?). And when I gave Daniel a try of my baked potato he was completely overcome, I kid you not his very words were "Wow Mum, that potato just blows my mind"! Yeah - can't say it was having the same effect on me.

Three - the real purpose of the trip - off to the bookstore to hear Julia Donaldson reading her new release. Better get there early to get a good pozzie. There wasn't much fanfare in the store when we arrived so I assumed the big event was in another room, perhaps upstairs or out the back. But no, we were in the right place. Turns out it wasn't Julia Donaldson reading the book, it was Sarah the shop assistant who we'd met the week before. She did explain that if it had been Julia there would have been media and security and perhaps a few more people than my three children. Of course there would I said. Not at all phased by the famous author's absence - Daniel, Jeremy and Emily launched into their paper doll making and then listened very nicely as Sarah read the book, almost as well I'm sure as Julia would have done.

Reggie's play date

What time is it?  Now what time is it?  How much longer?  When's he coming again?  How many minutes is that?

And so went the countdown to Reggie's play date.  Reggie is one of Daniel and Jeremy's new friends and he was instrumental in organising their first get together.  He wrote a note to Steve and I to introduce himself and raise the possibility of a play date.  He left his phone number and instructions to "Please call", he even threw in the tantalising tempter "ps - I have dogs and kittens!"

So play date number 1 was about 2 weeks ago, Reggie's dad came round, picked the boys up and took all three to the movies.  And apart from the sweetie overload and massive sugar high that had Daniel bouncing off the walls, all was good.

Play date number 2 was last Saturday at our house.  Reggie rang several times in the lead-up just to make sure all was on track.  I mentioned we might make brownies and asked him if he would like that.  He said yes and we moved on.  About 10 minutes later he rang back.  Some clarification was needed.  Not only did he like making brownies, but he also liked eating them.  I said cool - that was the plan Stan (even though I knew full well his name was Reggie)

So, 1:00 pm rolled around and the fun began!  There was skate boarding, ice-cream eating, pumpkin carving (only Jeremy had the patience to stick this one out),  brownie making and of course brownie eating.

Not a bad effort for our first play date!

Halloween is coming...

Pumpkin - Check

Template - Check

Carving Tools - Check

Enthusiastic Jeremy - Check

Beautifully carved Jack Skellington pumpkin - Check

Excellent work Jem J

Jeremy's latest craze - pumpkin carving

My mojo is back

After feeling a bit flat and despondent for the last couple of weeks I have my mojo back and it's all thanks to a boys school down at Southend on Sea.  But before I get to the good bit, let's start with the not so good.....

For the last month or so I have busted my wee guts looking for teaching work, but week after week after week nothing was forthcoming and slowly but surely my mojo packed its bags and headed south.

And then, just when I was at the very depths of my mojo-less despair I got a call - would I like a day's work at the Fitzwimarc School in Rayleigh.   Is the pope catholic?  Of course I would!  This was the start I'd been waiting for, except for one tiny detail - I was to be employed as a "cover supervisor" as opposed to a "supply teacher".

So, off I went to the lovely Fitzwimarc School not really knowing anything about cover supervisors or what they were expected to do.  Well, after a days work that included taking 5 one hour science classes I can quite confidently say I can see no difference whatsoever between the role and responsibilities of a cover supervisor and that of a supply teacher.  For schools however, there are two important distinctions.  One - cover supervisors do not need qualifications, teaching or otherwise which means two - schools can employ them at a fraction of the cost of employing a supply teacher.  It is pretty much two for the price of one, and for my efforts on Friday I was rewarded with all of  £60, roughly £8 an hour.

As you can imagine, this was not quite the introduction to teaching in England that I had hoped for, in fact it didn't even feel like a viable option for me, for despite the benefit of gaining experience within a school and perhaps getting a foot in the door, some part of me just couldn't accept being paid £8 an hour.  And if cover work was to be my main form of "teaching" then things weren't looking good.  And just to rub salt in the wound, we had a leaflet in the mail from someone offering to do cleaning and ironing for £12.50 an hour!

So, even after the long awaited first day's work my mojo remained firmly down south.

But then yesterday along came Southend High School for Boys, this school wasn't after a cover supervisor,  they wanted the real deal, they wanted a supply teacher.  But me, still in a funk, still minus my mojo didn't really want to go and I was feeling so poopy I was even wondering if the whole switch to teaching was proving to be one big mistake.

A happy Penny with mojo restored

(NB - It took all my will power not to photshop out all
 the crows feet, grey hair, frown lines, wrinkles and zits!)

BUT yesterday was fantastic!  Southend High School for Boys is a happy place.  The students are happy, the teachers are happy and pretty much from the moment I walked in I started to feel happy.

I taught 5 lessons - 2 physics, 2 English and 1 history. The boys were so unbelievably well behaved and polite.  They didn't sit down until asked and at the end of the lesson waited to be dismissed.  They all wear uniforms with ties and jackets and look fabulous. It was a world away from my experience at a certain high school in Canberra that shall remain nameless.  I thoroughly enjoyed my day and it has done a lot to dispel my recent reservations about teaching. And the best thing - they've asked me back for two more days.

So, the mojo is well and truly back and things are definitely looking up :)

Margot

Last weekend Margot came to visit and it made me appreciate all over again the value of a true friendship.  Margot and I have been friends since year 8 and being with her is easy.  We have done so much together and shared so many good times and although we've lived in different countries for a while it is just like old times when we catch up.

Margot is someone I laugh with, truly laugh with.  Like just recently when I skyped her and there she was complete with a face covered in white goo.  It was an ultra moisturising face mask that was literally dripping off as we spoke.  Not the best look, think a cross between Mrs Doubtfire and Hannibal Lecter.  Say no more!

It was great seeing you Missy Margot.  My turn in London next time :)

Lovely

Harvest Festival

Emily had a special Harvest Festival assembly today to celebrate the wonders of harvest season and to pay homage to the hard working British farmers.  Emily's in a class called the Foxes and they sang a gorgeous little song about picking apples and pears and digging in the soil.  But my personal favourite was a jazzy number by the Moles about cabbage, broccoli, plums and apricots set to the Michael Bublé song Sway.

And just in case you were wondering about schooling over here.... Primary is split into Infant School (Reception to Year 2) and Junior School (Year 3 - 6).  While the two schools are co-located they each have their own Head Teacher (Principal) and are administered independently.

Additionally, all classrooms seem to have a teacher plus a teacher's assistant and Emily is benefitting greatly by having this extra resource on hand.  She was one of the oldest for her year in Australia, after missing out on starting pre-school in 2010 by just 29 days.  With the different age cut-off here she is now one of the youngest, and after only 4 months of Kindy in Australia has jumped forward 18 months to be in Year 2.  Her classmates are definitely ahead in terms of reading and writing but hopefully with additional help and the right attitude Emily will catch up.  Also believe it or not she is one of the tallest and towers over her new best friends - Dylan, Corrine and Grace.

And the good news is the Harvest Festival celebrations didn't end with assembly today and Emily is very excited about her special lunch next week.....

Steve's Job

Steve has a job.  It's taken me a while to write this because I'm still getting over the completely arsey way in which he obtained said job.

So, in my limited experience, to find a job in Billericay you don't submit any applications or approach potential employers directly, or compile an extensive portfolio on yourself, chase references, register with recruitment agencies, or get yourself set up with new supplies, new outfits and a brand new national insurance number.

Nope - none of that seems to work.  Instead you go to the pub, get smashed and play poker until 5am.  And at some stage within that period you meet someone who knows someone who runs a function centre and who thinks it would be a charitable thing to set you up with a job.  Luckily what seemed like a good idea to Jim the JobMan at poker also seemed like a good idea to Jim the JobMan the next day.

Long story short, introductions were made.  They liked the look of Steve, Steve liked the look of them and as they say, the rest is history.

So - there you have it.  Steve is now working two to three shifts a week at the Ivory Rooms Lounge Bar and Restaurant, which is all of a 5 minute walk up the road.  He is, as he likes to call it, a Maitre D'ude and he is in his element.  Apparently his smooth talking and Richard Gere looks have already rewarded him with 2 pecks on the cheek from some old fluffs dining at the restaurant.

And me in case you were wondering, I sit each morning by the phone waiting for the call that never comes.  Sniff, sniff.  Cue the violins......

That suit looks a bit crinkly to me.

Roman Day

Daniel and Jeremy had their first dress up day yesterday and it got off to a shocking start.  After gathering bits and pieces and ideas for costumes over the preceding 3 weeks AND putting it on my iCalendar AND adding a reminder alert - I completely forgot.

Oh goody.  Fortunately Steve remembered, unfortunately it was at 8:05am!  So over the next 30 minutes the boys were transformed into Roman Emperors, complete with decorated tunics and ivy head dresses (Daniel's looks more like a mini garden springing from his head).

Then we had a dilemma.  Were they meant to wear their costumes to school or take them to change into later?  The note home said the children were to be prepared to dress up, which could go either way.

The boys voted to take, not wear, their costumes which meant de-robing, putting back on uniforms and neatly shoving costumes in a bag.  Of course when we arrived at school and saw little Luke in his Gladiator tunic it was obvious it was the other way round.

After a quick pop into the medical room for a re-robing my little Romans stomped off to class, but not before I managed to take a couple of snaps.

Activities during the day included a guest visit from one of the cast of the wonderful Horrible Histories.  He was dressed as a Gladiator and told the kids all about Roman armour and weapons - spears, shields, helmets, swords, daggers - and ending with a bit of pretend fighting.  Needless to say the boys loved it!

Two priest-like Romans

Bel, Andy and Maisey

On Saturday we had Steve's cousin Andy, his wife Bel and their gorgeous baby Maisey over for a visit.  The weather was glorious and we took a stroll to Lake Meadow for a picnic and some obligatory squirrel feeding.  And then for dinner we went to the Duke's Head, which is officially now my favourite pub.

Not only does the Duke's Head have a stunning beer garden outside but the chairs in the restaurant inside are covered in sheepskin!  Very nice and toasty!  After a tiny bit of menu choice anxiety I ordered fish pie and I think it was the pick of the night.  And as I munched out I thought how much my Dad would love it!

Once the kids were in bed Andy and Bel introduced me to Words with Friends, an online scrabble game.  I am now officially addicted and am rapidly learning new words with whacko spellings, including two new ones using a Q without a U.

Bel and Andy - it was lovely to see you guys and to meet the beautiful Miss Maisey.  Come again any time J

Bel, Andy and Miss Maisey

A new favourite

In a country that prides itself on its ice cream (think Cornwall, think Vanilla, think Clotted Cream) we have done the unthinkable and gone yankee.

Meet Ben and Jerry.  These two are welcome in our house any day.

Yes - Ben and Jerry hail from the US of A and judging from the price they obviously travel over here first class.  The only reason we currently have 4 of them inhabiting our freezer is they were on special at Waitrose, 2 for £6, and you know us  - can't resist a bargain (don't say it Conrad!).

Wellies on!

Living on Greenfields Close comes with a "dealing with ratty kids" bonus.  And the clue is in the name, there are green fields that (funnily enough) are close.

Take Wednesday evening for example.  Ferral city - non-stop jumping, biffing, whining and general mucking around.  Me - narrow eyes, simmering, slowly getting to the boil.  Steve suited up and planning his escape to work (stay tuned - that's another blog).

Aaargh - what to do, what to do.

Alright you kids - get your wellies on - we're going exploring. It had been raining (did I mention it rains a bit here?) hence the need for the wellies.

Walking in wellies adds a whole new dimension to wet weather. No longer do you need to mince around mud patches or tip toe delicately past puddles. With wellies it is "Bring 'em on!". The more mud patches and the deeper the puddles the better.

So off we went, wandering through the fields and the woods, the rain held off and the sun came out. We saw squirrels, pheasants, pigeons and a fox. Daniel and Jeremy did skids in the mud and Emily skipped and frolicked and I went off the boil J.

Sunnymede Fun Day

Last Saturday Emmy's school had a fun day and me being such a fete expert (go on - ask me anything about Slushies and Sno Cones) volunteered to help.

We were on the Bottle Tombola stall - 3 tickets for a pound - with any ending in a 0, 5 or 7 winning one of the bottles on offer.  And here's the interesting bit - the drinks ranged from (yawn) soft drinks, mineral water and juices to (hang on a minute!) bottles of wine, brandy and whiskey.  It's funny how parents stop indulging their children for a minute when they're presented with the choice of a bottle of diet coke versus a Chardonnay J.  Suddenly it's Mum or Dad who is desperately thirsty J.

Anyhow, before our formal duties began we had a quick look around.  The boys were on a play date with their new best friend Reggie so Emily got a bit spoilt and spent up big. Her favourite was the £1 "grab a teddy bear with a big pair of pincers" stall and she scored well.

Meet Billy (short for Billericay) ..... I think it's love J

M walking Billy home through the meadows

Art collection

The Price mini art collection has started!

And first up we have a beautiful print created by Rhian Symes of Brecon in South Wales entitled "Dragonfly and Common Frog".  Rhian started painting water colours 10 years ago after suffering a stroke.  Her story is here: www.artgallery.co.uk/corner/rhian_symes

Dragonfly and common frog.

And then we move on to the first of two Cornwall purchases, starting with these little cuties.

Cornwall puppies

And followed closely by some cheeky little beach babes.

These crack me up (no pun intended - well maybe just a little one - ha!)

Given that art work is not exactly the easiest thing to cart home, plus the fact that we've pretty much used up all the available hooks in the house (and we're not supposed to add anymore) I think that brings us to the end of the art work collection for the moment.  Unless of course something else cracks me up J

Mademoiselle Emilie

When we were in Paris I bought myself a hat. Perhaps I should have bought two of them?

Is anyone else thinking Timmy when they look at Mademoiselle Emilie?

Windows

I'm not quite sure why but I have a bit of an obsession with the window design over here.  Not only do our house windows look good, but they are double glazed and have not one, but two different ways of opening.  So here for your viewing pleasure is a snapshot of our bedroom window in all it's double-glazed glory.....

Key:
1. Handle down - window closed
2. Handle up - window open a smidge
3. Handle horizontal - window open fully

And anyone studying these pictures in detail will have noticed that something is missing.  Yep - fly screens, the reason being there aren't any flies.

Well actually that's not strictly true - there are flies that hang around the cows and their pats in Mill Meadow, but it seems that English flies are far more well behaved than Australian ones and stay where they should.  So - at the end of the day....

J the flies bug the cows and sit on their pats 

 and 

we get open windows and don't need corks in our hats J

(Emily's school has a poetry competition coming up - I think I've been inspired)

Emily's journey to school

Alrighty then.  Here is how Miss M gets to school.  We set off nice and early.  School starts at 8:55am and there's a long walk ahead, which starts off with a straightforward bit through the streets.

After that - we take a "short cut" through Mill Meadow.

In the in gate

Along the path

It is beautiful in here



A bit further along the path

Mind the cow pat

Good one Mum


Phew, getting tired

Past the cows

And out the out gate


Damn - late! Only 2 minutes, but the door to Emmy's classroom is shut, which means buzzing to get into the main building, going to the reception desk and filling in a form stating reasons for lateness, our entry for today - "too many cow pat pictures on the way in". Lucky for us though that wasn't necessary, Emmy's teacher spotted us standing forlornly outside the door, took pity and let us in, no mention of the pats needed!

A London Getaway

Today I spent the day in London with fellow Aussie and work colleague Kelly.  This was a treat on so many levels.

J  A day in London minus kids
J  A day in London minus husband
J  A day in London minus planning (whee hee thank you Kelly)

I caught the 9:37 train from Billericay and very diligently read 34 pages of my Stuarts and Tudors of England kids history book on the journey in.  Arrived at Liverpool St station and jumped on the underground to Queensway, where I met Kelly, but she was not alone.  There it was - right next to her - a bike!  A "Boris Bike" (named after London's Mayor Boris Johnson) to be precise. Bike docking stations are located throughout London giving you access to around 6,000 bikes at 400 locations and visitors and residents alike are encouraged to use the bikes as a new form of public transport.

We started off in Kensington Gardens and saw the soon to be home of Kate and Wills - Kensington Palace; the Albert Hall and Albert Memorial: the round pond, the Serpentine and the Princess Dianna memorial fountain.  Then it was across to Hyde Park corner, through the Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace.  Riding is a great way to see London, but we certainly didn't need bikes for our next destination - Harrods.

I went to Harrods when I was 19 and had memories of the fresh fish display, so that's where we headed.  The new parts of the store looked like David Jones, but the food halls were sort of how I remember them - I say sort of because age 19 was a long long time ago!  One thing both Kelly and I noticed was how completely over-staffed the store was, in fact if you'd taken the 60 staff out of the perfume section I think there would have been only 2 people left - me and Kelly!

After Harrods it was off to Covent Gardens for a bite to eat and then a quick visit to Trafalgar Square and Westminster Bridge and then back to Kelly's place in Kensington.  On the way we passed a street with £16m pound houses, one of which is owned by Dustin Hoffman.  Kelly passed him one day on the street!  I must be a groupie because I would have LOVED to have had a squiz at Dustin, or any other star but sigh - there were none about, not even Kylie.

Middle left, Dustin Hoffman's street.

And after a cup of tea and a welcome sit down it was back to Billericay.  Thank you Kelly, I had a ball J  

Squirrel stalking ☺

Saturday was squirrel stalking day.  Armed with monkey nuts we hit Lake Meadow park in the early afternoon.  I'd say we were pretty successful!

Greenfields

And due to popular demand (well just the one request actually) here are some pictures of the inside of our house.

Let me walk you though, left to right, starting from top left.

• This is our boot room, it is where we chuck all our shoes and coats.  In an attempt to keep the carpet clean and following on from Stew and Donna, we have a no shoe policy.  I think we'll try to continue it in Aus, but having a boot room makes it so much easier.

• The hallway - as you can see you have a choice, either up or down.  Let's stay downstairs J

• Keep going straight and you get to the kitchen.  The kiddies eat in here and we (very naughtily) eat in the lounge room in front of the telly.  Might have to look at changing that so we have quality family meal time (or maybe not!).

• The lounge room with Steve's new 51" plasma!

• Bedrooms x 4 - ours, Daniel's, Emily's and Jeremy's.  Having the boys in separate bedrooms is working well and Daniel is giving it the thumbs up.  I think Jeremy would still like to share so he can pester Daniel when he's trying to get to sleep.  Another practice we will continue back in Aus.

• Our bathroom.  Note the cyclamens on the window ledge. £1.30 each - bargain!

School

First day of school and it was definitely Steve and I who were the most excited.  Don't get me wrong, Daniel, Jeremy and Emily have been good since we left, no pining or whining about going home or anything like that, but they are definitely ready for school (well we think they are!).

So after 4 uniform shopping trips we are set.

Unfortunately Emily is not at the same local school as the boys, which will become a bit of a problem should I start working.  

Anyway here they are -the boys in their Quilters Junior School uniforms and Emily in her £2 Sunnymede Infant School dress.

As well as the day to day uniform, the kiddies also have a PE uniform, school swimming gear and school bags.  

They looked great as they set off for their first day, with everything nice and clean - hmmm - will have to enjoy the "clean" moment because I'm sure it won't last long.

Comments after day 1 of school.

Emily - I LOVE SCHOOL, I love it, I love it, I love it!!

Jeremy - It was ok, the teachers are really old, one even has white hair!

Daniel - Not good, they made us do work all day!

Imperial War Museum - Duxford

Now this is what a museum is all about!  I can't begin to say how good this place is.

It consists of 8 massive hangars, brilliant displays and hundreds of planes, many still capable of flight.  We started our visit in the Air Space hanger that covers the history, physics and today's commercial uses of flight.  The displays were hands on and brilliant and the historical presentation really emphasises how far this industry has come in such a short space of time.  From man's early efforts in hot air balloons to the Wright brother's historic flight in 1903 through to the commercial flight industry of today, space travel and of course the role of planes in the wars.

I kept thinking my Dad would be in heaven in this place, but really anyone would appreciate the wealth of information and history this museum has to offer.  The hangars dedicated to the Land Warfare and the Battle of Britain are moving and by the time we'd been through both Daniel was quite convinced of how wrong and pointless it was to go to war!

If you do come to England and want to go to a brilliant museum this is definitely the place!

We got to go inside the Concorde!

St Ives

Just 4 miles from our accommodation at Bluntisham was the delightful little village of St Ives.  We first visited late in the afternoon and liked it so much we returned for another visit the next day.

St Ives is an ancient riverside market town, built on the banks of the Great Ouse River over 1000 years ago.  It is famous for the beautiful Chapel Bridge and for being home to one time resident Oliver Cromwell.

Newmarket and the National Stud

After Wicken Fen we headed here - The National Stud.

The original aim of the stud was to supply the Government with high quality light weight cavalry horses for use in war campaigns around the world. Technological advances in artillery and warfare however meant the need for this programme was short lived, but the Government retained the site and horses and concentrated instead on the improvement of the Thoroughbred breed.

The National Stud is the place stallions want to be - they spend their time waltzing around paddocks, eating, eye-balling their neighbours and of course performing their "covering" services.  We took a tour of the stud and our guide went into a bit of detail about the covering process and whooshka - straight over the kiddies heads.  There were no questions - and I am glad Jeremy - who is very good at asking questions - didn't put his hand up to ask what all this "covering" was about. J

Some of the stallions in residence are called "shuttle stallions" which means they travel between the hemispheres to spread their love.  I was wondering why they didn't just transport the stallion's little wigglies instead of transporting the whole kit and caboodle, but apparently it is illegal world-wide to use artificial insemination to breed thoroughbred racehorses!

Palatial accommodation for the stallions!

Wicken Fen

Today we spent over 2 hours wandering around Wicken Fen.  And what is exactly is a fen?  Well I wasn't sure until a) we got there and b) I googled.

Here's a tiny intro into to the world of fens.......

Fens are like bogs, swamps and marshes in that they are areas of waterlogged land supporting a wide variety of plants and animals adapted to live in damp conditions. Bogs, swamps and marshes are fed by rainwater or water draining from the land (known as "run-off"), which makes them acidic. Fens on the other hand, though often formed like bogs on waterlogged peat, are usually fed by water from below ground, which tends to be alkaline (chalky). For this reason fens have a unique variety of plants and animals, all depending in some way on alkaline ground conditions.

And so we entered the fen and took the nature trail walk, and that's when the hunting and stalking began.  There was lots of hushing, sneaking, creeping and crawling to get pictures like these....

Note dragonfly (or was it a damsel fly) on bottom left, very flighty and very difficult to photograph.
Lots of sneaking for that shot!

But the fen wasn't all about insects, here's more of what we saw.

The boys are laughing at Steve pretending to be David Attenborough!

Once again our last minute decision to just have a quick squizzie at the "fen thingy" was a winner and our visit to Wicken was a resounding success.   

My kind of place

Here's our accommodation for our Cambridge stay.  It's actually about 20 miles north of Cambridge in a little town called Bluntisham.  This is my kind of place, nice house with superior hanging baskets (I am a hanging basket expert you know J) and a big block with, wait for it, veggie patch, fruit trees, loads of flowers, a big lawn and the best bit of all - chooks.  Perfect!

Cambridge

Cambridge is lovely.  Unfortunately the photos I took of Cambridge are not.  This is the first time I've been really disappointed with my pictures,  but still at least I've got some of us punting merrily along the Cam River.  We spent quite a while deciding whether Steve should be the chauffeur or we go on a tour.  After seeing a few dripping amateurs and a couple of poles stuck in the mud on the bottom, we decided to go on the tour.  And apart from the hundreds of other like-minded tourists and oodles of other punts in the water, it was very peaceful and relaxing and a great way to see the university colleges which Cambridge is so famous for.

I'd like to go back to Cambridge again, it's only 58 miles from where we live and takes just over an hour up the M11.  Perhaps we'll go in winter and get some snow shots J