A Flying Visit.

It has been a beautiful breezy and sunny day made all the more special by a visit from Vytas. He was on his way to his annual karate club camp which takes place only a few miles from here. He takes his karate seriously and it does help to keep all 6ft something of him fit. He doesn't have any plans to pop over for the rest of the week because it is supposed to be like a retreat where they can immerse themselves in karate including meditation. ( I said he takes it seriously.) But he and his new girlfriend will be down to visit in a few weeks. That's something to look forward to.

He got to meet Speedy who enjoys a little tussle though he is not encouraged to use his teeth on us for while being cute in a kitten it is not so cute when an adult cat still tries to sink its fangs into you. (Am I referring to Sherlock?) Speedy had another group of visitors earlier in the day when Jack came round with a coterie of 4 girls to see the new kitty. He also brought the news that the hound puppy has been returned to the hunt kennels in disgrace after killing one of the ducks. Ooops.
Peter had been out rowing but returned in time to see Vytas. He also mentioned that there was a heron in the field so I ran up and managed to get a few pictures.

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Is It Really Summer ?

Once again we had to cancel Sports Day due to a wet field and a very wet afternoon. It rained on and off all day with as usual the heaviest rain just as we were sending the children home. This was the view coming down the drive at 6.00 this evening with the distant valleys shrouded in rain. Romantic but damp.

It's a bit depressing to think that tomorrow is the longest day and after that the nights will be drawing in.

So instead let's cheer ourselves up with some photos from Romas and Vicky's recent trip to Jamaica. I think any depression would lift immediately I set foot on such a beach, or indeed lay back and watched that lovely sky.

They went out and about visiting Vicky's friends as Vicky has spent quite a lot of time in Jamaica over the years.

And one of Romas' favourite pastimes, enjoying good food.  Romas also got his diving qualification, lucky lad.

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Poor Linas.

I was having a fairly good day, despite Windows 2007 blocking my attempts to get on with school work and also being unable to add comments to other blogs (5 attempts to log in before I gave up) but then Linas rang. Our middle son is not having a rosy life at the moment. 2 years after graduating with a good IT degree he has only had 3 months of internship work and for the rest of the time has been living hand to mouth on state benefits (and bank of mum). Today he phoned to say that his motorbike has been stolen and then there was a second phone call to say that he only had third party insurance and not for theft. Peter is absolutely furious as he advised him to make sure he had insurance for theft and now he has lost everything. I just feel so sad that someone who is penniless has now lost his only method of transport, how will he get to work if he ever finds a job? Peter is adamant that we won't bail him out again but it breaks my heart to think of how Linas is feeling.

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Shadows.

After a chilly morning the sun shone brightly for the rest of the day. The conditions were perfect for the children to investigate shadows in the playground. Armed with chalk they drew round their own shadow creations and any other shadows they could find. This was a welcome relief after an intense morning (for half the class) of sitting their maths SATs test. I've already marked their papers and they have done better than I expected. All the extra maths we have been doing must have done some good. Let's hope the children who take the Level 2 test do as well. Tomorrow we are off to the local tennis centre for a schools' tennis activity morning. I rushed home early from work today because Vicky and Romas were on their way down to stay with us. For once I cooked a meal (Peter is the cook these days), and we enjoyed a roast chicken with new potatoes and broccoli. Vicky made me some low calorie muffins with banana and yogurt and I'll have one with my bedtime hot drink as I'm full from eating an unaccustomed dinner.

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Happy Birthday Vytas.

It's Vytas' birthday, he's 25 today and hopefully celebrating with friends up in Leicester. (My family only seem to ring when they want something)Facebook is a great way for me to at least hear what my boys (Vytas & Romas ) are up to and I'm also a photo stealer. If they get tagged in someone else's album I copy the photo to a folder on my pc. I get some interesting photos that way. Vytas usually appears in SK events as he is still a keen member of River's Regt.
Here he is casually marching along with a pike on his shoulder and his morion at a rakish angle for some reason.
Currently he is still working on his PhD though I'm not sure how long the funding will last. With so many cutbacks due to the economic climate I can only hope that he will be able to complete his PhD.

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Sshh!

All is quiet at home, very, very quiet. For me this is the sad part of the holiday knowing that it will be months before I see my boys again. Indeed last year it was Easter until I saw Romas and August before Vytas returned home. Linas is that much closer and does come back for the occasional week-end. But today the house is almost silent, even Peter has gone into town to get some things from the DIY store. I started taking down the cards yesterday (recycled into shopping list cards or next year's gift tags) and this morning I took down all the decorations. Before the boys left the tree was cut into burnable pieces and if I'm lucky the decorations will be soon packed away and back up in the loft. (Last year's tree decorations spent the whole year in a bag under a side table in the living room.)

Yesterday's lack of post (when I was going to detail my New Year's resolutions), was due to a major pc disaster. I've had the parts for a pc upgrade sitting here for some months so the boys decided that they would swap everything over yesterday. That way Romas could have my old hard drive etc to replace his which had finally bitten the dust. Unfortunately the end result was 3 dead pcs - DISASTER! I need my pc for work and Romas also has vital work to do for uni. More hours spent resulted in my pc being back up and running with all the old parts but the new mother board is no more, possibly static has killed it. Poor Romas has taken his salvaged parts back to uni but needs to buy a new mother board and some other vital parts. Such a shame. Romas and Vytas had been really helpful in the last few days, laying the new hall carpet, washing my car, putting extra lagging on the outside pipes and climbing up into the loft to blow out some of the airlocks in the plumbing. Our plumbing is not back completely but we have running hot and cold to most of the taps, what luxury. You think you appreciate your home comforts but doing without really makes you realise how good it is to have heat and water. It now feels like we are living in utter luxury.

This morning I repaired a pair of slippers that Romas likes to wear all the time. New furnishing fabric soles and a felt patch made Vicky's old slippers like new.

Yesterday the boys had planned to play a wargame but the pc swap disaster took up the whole evening so I took a photograph of part of their armies before they packed them away.

Lots of school work done this afternoon with just a little left to do tomorrow before our return to work on Tuesday.

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And Then There Were 4.

Half of our visitors left today. Sam and Kate were driving Alex back down to PLymouth before heading home to Teweksbury and had gamely volunteered to take Linas down to Plymouth as well. I think that was before they realised just how much luggage Linas had with him. He had managed to carry an awful lot of luggage up on the train, after all you can't separate a man and his PC. It was an exercise in spatial logistics to get all the luggage in but with some bags sitting on the youngsters' laps and Milo the dog scheduled to be perched on Sam's lap it was all sorted.

L-R, Linas, Vytas, Romas, me and Peter.

After a chilly photo session, (a family tradition), we waved goodbye to the travellers and wished them a safe journey home.

As usual our boys like to pose some action shots to show their true characters.
The rest of the dismally gloomy afternoon is being spent with Vytas and Romas finishing off a wargame in the conservatory while I motivate myself for yet more school paperwork. We haven't decided yet if we will head into town for the New Year's Eve celebrations. I would as much like to stay home and relax as to go in, enjoy the ambiance and the fireworks and then come home. We'll see how we feel later on.

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First Flowers.

A quick stroll around the garden revealed the first flowers on the winter flowering jasmine that grows by the kitchen window. Soon the bare green stems will be covered with small yellow flowers that will brighten up the grey wall.

The countryside was back to being damp and green as I headed off to the dentist in the morning. He's put a temporary filling over the broken one but the whole filling will have to be taken out and replaced, I fear for the little tooth that is left. No signs of the mysterious bump in my mouth now but I moaned on about the various aches that I still have after he 'dealt' with them 6 months ago so he took some x-rays. Being only the poor people's NHS dentist you don't get the results of the x-rays straight away. Instead they phone you if you need treatment or as in my case let you know at your next appointment. Naturally they don't do week-end appointments so the first appointment they could find to fit in with my work is in 2 weeks' time and that is only because I can leave school early on one of my planning afternoons. Otherwise it wouldn't have been until the end of January.

I then dropped into the High Street to check out a few more sales and in Millets I bought a light fleece hoody for work reduced from £20 to £6, a fluffy fleece for Peter (£35 to £16) and a compass for Vytas (£13 to £4).

After a robust evening meal of sausage & mash we spent the evening playing Balderdash, a word bluffing game which at times had us in tears of laughter.

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Rainy Devon.

A sleepy wet day today. Outside it has rained and/or dripped the whole day long. No signs of normal water service returning. If it is simply due to ice in the pipes then it should soon be back to normal but if it is the pump that needs replacing then that will be another hefty bill.

It seems strange to see the countryside in shades of green and brown after the pristine white of the last few weeks. However at least we have free access to the outside world which for me means a trip to the dentist tomorrow. A chipped filing needs repairing and a small bump in my mouth makes me think I've got another root infection. I'm taking immediate action because the last time this happened I ended up losing the tooth, and my patience with lying National health dentists.

Finally today I've knuckled down to sorting out my school planning. I've printed off pages of plans sent to me by my colleagues and then sat there looking glumly at the overall week's plan wondering how I can fit in daily literacy, reading, phonics, numeracy and PE lessons as well as Science, art, IT, RE, music and PSHE. It just doesn't all fit. History and geography already get merged into other subjects and there has to be some very creative timetabling so that everything is covered.

The rest of the household have been occupied with reading, drawing, painting & playing a wargame (lots of little figures and books of rules) as well as marching Milo the Jack Russell out for a long walk up the hill in the rain. A typical Christmas holiday.

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Trapped.

We are now officially trapped in our valley. Well not really trapped as Peter is still able to get to the big wide world (ie work) in his 4x4 but the boys and I failed to make our escape. It was much mistier today as we climbed up our hill. My little path along our part of the road is still clear and makes walking a lot easier but Paul obviously doesn't want any customers this week and has left the main part of the drive untouched.
I was a little dubious when we got to the car but with the boys pushing from behind and offering advice on gears and revs ? I slowly inched my way out to the road.

This was the drive that I had just made my way along,

...and this was the state of the back road. No way was I going to risk life and limb driving over that just for some shopping so I parked on the verge and we made our way back down again. Peter has access to shops on his way home and can pick up some things which he can then leave in my car for the boys to carry down tomorrow.

The walk down the hill provided an opportunity for some snow boarding and just visible in the above photo is Romas' track as he swung his way down the ponies' field. The boys spent some time outside (playing) in the snow and also chopped back the leylandii in the yard and brought in one and set it up for me to decorate with a million (at least 6 dozen) glass & plastic icicles and a tasteful (?) selection of silver and glass ornaments. There hasn't been any more snow so perhaps things will ease up soon. The weather man was talking about -20C which is Ice Age for those of us used to temperate Britain. After all this disruption it would be a shame not to have a white Christmas but I do feel sorry for all the people who are still unable to make their way home and slightly less sorry for those people who can't get away on holiday. Yesterday there was a 2 1/2 km queue of people trying to get tickets for the Eurostar trains to the continent. That would not be fun.

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The Sons Return.

This morning there was much checking of train delays and many emails & phone calls. First I checked the train delays, fine according to the information on the web. The Peter phoned to say he was at work and the word was out that the Tarka Line (Exeter to Barnstaple) was closed. I managed to get hold of Romas and advised him to delay until tomorrow. More phone calls to Linas and by mid-morning they were running one train every 2 1/2 hours so the boys decided to return to plan A. Latest update puts Linas at Exeter waiting for Romas as the trains from Stoke have been delayed. Have spoken to Peter who is waiting for an update on their arrival in Barnstaple. The weather has been the big news today with airports closed and many roads affected by snow and ice. The police have been advising people in the South-West not to drive unless absolutely necessary so I heeded their advice and had a day in our valley. After doing some hand washing of socks etc I walked over to our neighbours' to deliver a card and a present for Jack. Stayed for a coffee & a chat, admired the tree which Jack and Paul had decorated before heading back through the powdery snow.
The sun didn't come out until the afternoon so I made a second trip out to take photos.

The lack of perspective always flattens out hills but this road is really steep, 1st gear only. Good cardio-vascular exercise getting to the top of this.

Some views from next door when it wasn't quite so sunny.

My afternoon has been spent getting the bedrooms ready and more tidying up. As I cleared one of those 'piles' that appear by magic on any surface, I stopped to read the magazine sent out by the Co-op (a supermarket chain that is part of a group of businesses run on co-operative and ethical lines and owned by the members). I became a member when my local Somerfields store was bought up by the Co-op. I had a vague idea that it was run differently to the big multi-national chains such as the country dominating Tescos and Sainsbury's but wasn't aware of their ethical policies or support for UK and overseas aid/projects. I shall now be making the Co-op my first choice of supermarket and urge anyone else who has the option to do so as well. The prices are just as good and they have up to 75% reductions on fresh produce towards the end of the day.

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Stomp On That Pupil Tracker.

No photos today as the only ones I took were of my class doing their stomp dance moves and I can't put their faces on my blog. They're really enjoying the stomp dancing. It's only my attempts to copy moves from the video but after learning a few steps and shapes I let them freestyle to some very heavy rock/stomp/Indian music. One of the most satisfying things for me is the way most of them put all their energy into the dances and are completely puffing and panting by the end. I like the way that stomp with its high energy actions and optional heavy music appeals to most of the children while giving them the opportunity to makes shapes at different levels, compose routines with linking movements and do partner or group work. All the objectives that might come from more traditional styles of modern dance. Let's face it , it's fun.

After school was not fun as we (the teachers) all headed off to another local school for a 2 hour training session on the On-line Pupil Tracker. Learnt quite a bit and it's all good stuff ... if you don't mind spending time ticking little boxes. One good thing, provided you have been a good little teacher and put in assessments, targets and comments throughout the year, is that it will print the main part of each child's end of year report though I expect it will take a year of using the system before it starts making life easier. It's just a bit much to have to have 2 hours training after a working day especially when there is nowhere near the school to park and you end up parking a 10 min walk away as we did.

Ha, almost forgot to put in a bit about Peter's new job. He's really enjoying it and even convinced the lads he works with that he's some sort of Lothario. The reason, he's been seen chatting to two very glamorous young women who joined the firm recently. All the lads had failed to establish any contact with these girls while he's there only 2 days and already having lunch with them. The other men are most impressed but what they don't know yet is that Peter overheard the girls talking Lithuanian and being a fluent speaker he struck up a conversation with them and of course they were happy to chat with him. Lithuania being a very small country with a population of less than 3 1/2 million it is not surprising that one of the girls comes from Kaunas and knows of Peter's father's family. It won't take long for the penny to drop but for the moment he's enjoying being thought of as someone who the girls all fall for.

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Sad News.

I am feeling quite flat this evening having come home to find an email from my cousin telling me that her dad had passed away. Even though this is something that will happen to us all it is always sad to loose a member of your family. I have no family members at all in this country (apart from Peter & the boys) but I have always kept in touch with my Canadian cousins and we still have fond memories of our visit to Canada nearly 30 years ago when we met most of my family members for the first time. Indeed one of the reasons for this blog is to keep far flung members of our family informed about the lives of the British branch.

It seems almost trite to rattle on about my day at work so here is only a brief post.

We went swimming and for once I remembered to take my camera so I can show what a (typically) grey day it has been. This was looking west from the New Bridge towards the sea.
In the other direction can be seen the River Taw and the incredibly ugly council offices building.

Further up the river is the Old Bridge and town behind.

It was an extra late evening at school as we had a meeting for parents to explain/ discuss the way we teach reading. For 120 children (4 classes), 18 parents turned up. There were 4 of us class teachers there as well as the Headteacher and I got home from work at 8.45.

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21 Today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROMAS.
My baby is 21 today so I suppose I can't call him that any more.

This year I've decided not to embarrass him with more cute baby pictures. But I still think he's cute anyway. He's grown up to be a sensible young man who enjoys his life as a student. He's studying a subject he enjoys, not quite sure what his future plans are (apart from successful musician) but he knows how to budget and is an adventurous cook so I don't have any worries about him looking after himself..

He's now in his 2nd year studying music at Keele University (up north) and is the drummer in a band, The Dead Radio Society. They play electric/rock/folk, (I think) and play gigs most weekends.

He's a very outdoors type of person and is here showing me around the vast woodlands that surround the campus.

His other half is the lovely Vicky (also a student and musician) and he has even persuaded her to come along to Sealed Knot musters. Romas and his brother are enthusiastic pike men in Earl Rivers regt and might also enjoy a pint or two.

Earlier in the summer Romas and Vicky joined us for our holiday on Lundy. We had made the correct assumption that both of them would enjoy the chance to roam the island, scramble up & down cliffs and partake of a few pints with a game of scrabble in the evenings without any electronic distractions.

A family tradition that both Romas and Vytas have kept up is the annual Lithuanian Scout Camp where they are now both leaders. I'm not sure how enthusiastic these young girls are about their knot tying lesson, perhaps the middle ages battle re-enactment (where did you get that idea from boys?) or the evening camp fires were more popular.
Living most of his life up north we don't get to see Romas that much but I hear his news via the occasional phone call or email or more often by checking out Facebook. (Thanks to all those people whose pictures I have borrowed.) I had a phone call from him this morning to say that they celebrated his birthday in style last night with a surprise party organised by Vicky and they are a little .... fatigued this morning. It was a good party!
As for me today, I cut down that branch at last. Not very tidily but it is down and the branches cleared up. I also took down the hanging baskets and replaced them with some wind chimes. So now instead of a feast for the eyes it's a feast for the ears as they gently chime in the constant breeze. Another sweep of the leaves on the front patio and then the rain came down stopping any further outdoor work.

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A Little Sunshine.

At last, the week-end. It's been remarkably warm today but mainly wet. During one of the brief sunny interludes I did some gardening! It was only dead heading the hanging baskets but at least I was outside. They're looking a bit straggly but still provide a cheery splash of colour. I've managed to get all my school planning done leaving tomorrow clear for .... housework, gardening, going for a walk ? I did spend some time emptying my mind doing more of my jigsaw puzzle. It's out in the conservatory which was nice and warm. Every now and then I had to stop to take out another butterfly which had come inside in the last few days and was now fluttering against the windows.

Linas made a brief appearance today to collect a few more of his belongings and to see a friend. He had to buy a new motorbike in the week (yes, bank of mum again), as his scooter had come grinding to a halt , the crankshaft had gone and would have cost too much to fix. He's now the proud owner of a Honda CBF 125. He came up on the train, single fare £6.50, day return £6.55. Only 5p for the return journey! I've just returned from taking him to the station so I missed the first programme of the new Strictly series but apparently it was really cheesy. Let's hope it gets better.

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Another Year Older.

and unfortunately a couple of pounds heavier, from last week that is. Although I tried really hard to watch what I ate last week eating salads or small portions the daily cake baking and large quantities of food to hand led to a lack of self control. I've decided that expecting someone to diet while preparing family meals is the equivalent of saying to an alcoholic "Well done for wanting to stop drinking and going to AA meetings but you still have to work behind the bar. After all you can just have soft drinks." I have eaten quite a bit of chocolate today which wasn't the best thing to do but a birthday comes but once a year. In lieu of the (yet again) non-existent birthday cake (the clue is in the name!) I also tucked into some of the blackcurrant crumble I made the other day. However on a positive note, this was us last year,
and here we are a year later. Tomorrow I'll be back on the diet to lose those final few pounds.

The boys had clubbed together and bought me a lovely big bunch of flowers which are taking pride of place in the kitchen.

The heavy overnight rain eased off in the morning, I settled myself in the conservatory and had a quiet day working on a jigsaw puzzle. A mindless but relaxing activity before I start getting my mind spinning with school planning. The afternoon has been sunny but extremely windy. It would have been a good day for a walk down by the sea but we have been waiting all day in vain for a plumber who was supposed to be sorting out some of the radiators before we actually need to start using them.
Today has also been brightened by some good news. Linas was been told this morning that his internship is being extended for another 2 months. Great for his cv and his confidence and also good for his finances. One step closer towards a more permanent job.

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A Quiet House.

Typically the sun shone for the last day of the family visit. However there is a weather warning out for severe rain and winds for the next few days.I always take a group picture of the youngsters at the end of each visit.

L to R. Vicky & Romas, Vytas & Kate B, Linas, Rachel & Alex.

There was much hilarity with a plastic spider at the lunch table. (Neither Rachel or Alex like spiders so I have to get rid of as many of the house spiders as possible before they visit.) Vytas & Kate and the Eedles left after lunch but everyone will be meeting up next week-end for a SK muster.
The family visits are a bittersweet time for me. I miss my family and look forward to their visits but when they do come ( we only saw Vytas 3 times last year) I feel I become an invisible person whose role is to live in the kitchen. This is especially disappointing because I thought I had brought up my boys to see everyone as equal but I suppose that they feel that this is their holiday. It makes me very sad to feel that they have so little consideration or respect for me as a person.
Now that Peter's arthritis stops him doing manual work about the place I always imagine that when the boys come down they will help out with some of the jobs that I find difficult but this doesn't happen and I don't like to ask too many times and end up being seen as a nag. They just go off and do their own thing. Once everyone left I spent a couple of strenuous hours raking and shovelling the drive repairing the damage done by the week's rain. Romas (having returned from a trip to town) did do a little work on the drive before leaving me to clear the whole of the central ditch. He has, after some insistence, put wood across the bottom of our neighbour's road to divert the water that pours down the hill in bad weather. All we need to do now is repair the sky tv cable that has been pulled out of the box and we're set for the bad weather.

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