Wot no blogpost?

Apologies to all my loyal blog readers, there has been no post for days now. In fact, I have decided now to formally close this chapter of my blogging career. It was only ever meant to be an advent project, then one thing led to another and I found so many fascinating things I wanted to share that it just kept going and going.

It's not that life is less interesting now. On the contrary, life is very full and exciting. My teaching career is developing apace, church life in Ashby is vibrant and family and friends continue to amuse, enthral and entertain. I want to concentrate on these things for now and if in the future I decide to pick up the blogging bug again, I hope you will visit!

So it's "Goodnight, God bless and sleep well" as we say in this house!

Hey-ho Hey-ho

Holiday memories!

Back to work tomorrow.

Ooh la la!

We at Ashby Baptist Church have gone all French. The church has been transformed into a French bistro and all our holiday maker guests have enjoyed their first day. We were entertained with accordian playing, quizzes, songs and a fashion show. Following a sumptuous cassoulet and brulee, we turned our hands to all manner of crafts including beading, watercolours, knitting like the tricoteuse, meccano and jigsaws!

We still have a visit to Lichfield and a Taize service to come.

All buttoned up

I remember the fun of sorting out my grandmother's tin of buttons and have always enjoyed the random colours and shapes in a collection like this. There's also the quirky interest in each button's history and the vague memory of the garment it may be from. Buttons are fun.

So I really understood what my one-to-one tuition friend meant when she advised me to take in buttons instead of counters to help pupils with maths. Who wants boring old counters when you can have all these shapes, textures, colours and stories!

A potted history of a May Bank Holiday day out.

First we dropped our son off at a big boys' play area like this:

Then we went exploring Stoke on Trent with map in hand looking for mugs, plates and the like in the famous factory shops.

Unfortunately we saw a lot of these:

...But eventually some of these.

Have you ever noticed that many of the successful potters in Stoke were called Josiah? (eg. Wedgewood and Spode). I wonder if they could have foreseen the decline of their industry or whether they would be amazed how long the success did last. Anyway, it is a sad sight to see derelict factories at every turn.

We didn't find any ideal plates or mugs but still, we came home a bit brighter having splashed out on a bargain pack of lightbulbs.

The musical medley of an Ashby Saturday morning.

First stop the market stall where the flower seller started humming cheerfully "Raindrops keep falling on my head". Encouraged be the admiration of passers by, he launched confidently at full volume into the whole song. It was actually very impressive, if you like that kind of song.

Round to the church coffee morning where our creative friends were transforming the church into a French bistro ready for Holiday at Home this week. All busily hanging bunting and pinning up doilies accompanied by French songs with a jolly theme.

Out again into the rain and there in front of Boots was a Morris Dancing group with blue painted faces and sticks and bells and banjos and all. They were literally singing in the rain. And dancing and having a jolly old time with old English folk songs.

So this is Ashby on an average Saturday morning. Covent garden of the Midlands!

Celtic Blessings

I incorporated celtic blessings into RE lesson today. The children especially liked this one:

May the roof above never fall in

And may we below never fall out.

If only everyone could just not fall out. What a happier place it would be.

Mind you, I think they liked this one because it was the shortest and I had asked them to write their favourite two. Another choice was:

May you have walls for the wind

And a roof for the rain,

And drinks beside the fire,

Laughter to cheer you,

And those you love near you,

And all that your heart may desire.

A bunch of birthday blessings

As my Mum celebrates her 80th birthday, she was delighted to share with me a surprise with a difference. A bunch of flowers from my sister from a company called BUNCHES. Check them out at bunches.co.uk. The website claims they offer Ethical flowers (whatever they are) and if you click on the charity link you find a long list of international development projects they support. And a surprise box of chocs with every bunch. Oh and a Christian fish!

Mary Mary...

....quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

Answer is "very well indeed". So well in fact that Mary at church is having a plant sale in aid of our youth work. 3000 plants must go!

I am going for a sneak preview tomorrow but the real event is Sat 22nd and Sun 23rd May.

Teas, crafts and good fellowship.

Ask me for details!

A triumph of modern engineering

Had a great evening out courtesy of Triumph who were opening their new dealership in Frog Island in Leicester. Free t-shirts, a hog roast and motivational speaker Digby Lord Jones. He spoke very movingly about British industry and the need to keep manufacturing. He told the story of Triumph and how it went through a period of 7 years of watching and waiting before the time for growth came. So many parallels with church life we felt!

Hog roast was great fun. Did they think...sausages ?.... burgers ? ... oh let's just go the whole hog!

But it occurred to me how this choice of menu reveals their target market. I don't suppose Jews, Muslims or vegetarians were there to eat the hog or buy a Triumph.

My M&S

It doesn't take much to make a good experience a great experience. A surprise gingerbread man each with our coffees at M&S this morning.

Not only that, a new (at least new to us) gadget that flashes and vibrates to tell you your food order is ready. So there we were quietly dunking our gingerbread men. Graham's went in head first, mine went paddling first to his middle, then to his neck... then....BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ... jumping in shock, almost spilling our coffee we realised this was the signal that our toasted teacakes were ready! And 3 pats of butter! What fun. We really ought to get out more!

An apple for the teacher...

When they asked me to go on a trip to the apple store, I confess my first thought was a farm shop associated with an orchard or something. Or a museum like one I have visited in Japan that explains how apples are grown, packaged and sold. But no, this is the electonic version. I am going on 3 trips next week with different groups each day to the Applemac Shop in Leicester. Educational workshops will be offered no doubt aimed at persuading us all to ditch our PCs and convert to an Apple. I look forward to having a bite. Taste and see!

Tell me more...

Thanks to the General Election, our school became a polling station and to keep us amused, the school brought in an author to teach us (the teachers) the art of storytelling!

We amazed ourselves with our previously hidden abilities to make stories from objects and pictures. We developed themes and added funny twists. We laughed maybe a bit more than we should have done. We sat at the feet of a great storyteller (Adam Guillain) and came away inspired to be that storyteller in our classrooms in future.

We also learnt about an exciting new project called the story museum; a fantastic collection of traditional and modern stories for all ages.

Connections

What a small world we live in. Just had a message from Genesreunited telling me of someone wanting information from me about one of my family branches in 1781. I wonder who he is and where he is now. So out came all my folders again with countless documents and notes. I left the actual roll of wallpaper that contains the nitty gritty of the tree in all its detail. I fear that might crumble away if handled too much. Reading through the notes I see others from that branch contacted me a few years ago from California. So I may have the joy of introducing these two to eachother. I also came across correspondence from Australia. How far my ancestors have dispersed from humble beginnings as Lincolnshire farmers!

Gone in a Jiffy!

What was life like before Jiffy bags? All paper and string using those knots we learnt at Brownies I suppose.

Anyway I am glad of a Jiffy bag today. I have just sent off my first module for my post grad study. If it meets with approval at Edge Hill University it will count towards a Certificate in Education on Professional Development. If I continue, it could lead to an MA but that is a long way off yet. I am just glad to get the first bit sent off and reclaim the dining table!

Cherry Blossom

Have you noticed the cherry blossom this year? It seems heavier and pinker than usual. I think the hard winter has made it so.
It reminds me of Japan where we enjoyed the annual cherry blossom festival in the local park. The whole town would celebrate the beginning of spring and various stalls were set up. Our little church would sell home made cakes and crafts and give out gospels.
Can you imagine that here? I think not! Still, we can rejoice in the one who made the cherry trees bloom.

Empty plates

What a privilege to visit the 10 groups and see the "Guess who's coming to dinner" event in action. Driving in the dark from Donisthorpe to Packington Whitwick to Breedon to Ashby was exhausting but so worthwhile.
You could feel the buzz as guests arrived and the shriek of "You're here" and working out who else might be turning up.
Dishes were shared, pavlovas demolished. As the night went on, the chatting turned to laughter and in some cases hilarious party games. Can you pick up a cereal packet with your teeth while standing on one leg?
The things we do! All in the name of fun and fellowship!
Thanks to all the brave people who took part. I was so thrilled to see our young people happily mixing with older people.
Watch this space for next year!

"Guess who's coming to dinner?"

Well the 66 people all know the address they are going to and the part of the meal they need to provide. Other than that the evening will be full of surprises. I just hope and pray the 10 groups all have a great evening. The key to the success of the evening is to relax and have fun. It is not a food show. It is not "Come dine with me". It must not be judgemental! It is purely for the fun of finding out who else is around the table and what is on the menu. Good people of Ashby - enjoy!!

Peace at last!

...or let's not. Not a cloud in the sky! Not a plane trail in the sky! It's beautiful out there. No pollution, no noise. I feel really sorry for stranded passengers but it is such a blessed relief to have a break from the endless air traffic. I know we may not have our constant supply of foreign imports for a while and businesses worldwide will suffer but we will just have to eat locally produced food again. Nothing wrong with that!

Life is full of surprises

Well what are chances of this happening? I only know 2 people connected to the small town of Sedgefield (not counting Tony Blair) and it turns out they lived next door to eachother! My friend Katharine at church lived next door to my cousin Julie! Can't wait to hear how they discovered they both knew me.

Sometimes I think we really are living on a very small island.