2013...

Best wishes for a

happy, healthy and peaceful

2013

from

Gaynor and Tim x

Christmas 2012...

Wherever you are, I wish you joy and peace.

Why I do what I do ...

I teach many bright, enthusiastic and hard-working kids in addition to some that are not. I have complete understanding if pupils are not as able, and support them to achieve as best I (and they) can. I struggle more to understand the kids who are less prepared to try their very best, but it comes with the job.

Then, every now and again a child does something amazing and it makes it all worthwhile. As a homework activity pupils are tasked to make model cells, in order for them to demonstrate their understanding of the structure and function of ‘special’ cells. Then they present their model to the class.

This embroidery was produced by a Y7 pupil (aged 11-12).

This is why I am lucky to do what I do…

What's the date today?

The date is the 12/12/12…

Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. Deer are protected because mythology suggests that a God, Takemikazuchi, arrived in Nara on a white deer to protect the newly built capital.

Have a good day.

What a difference ten years make ...

On Sunday I was reading an interesting blog post by Ken, who is ‘Living his Life in St-Aignan’, about ten-year milestones. This got me thinking as we have our own ten- year milestone coming up.

The last time we holidayed together as a family was ten years ago, and soon, we shall all be doing it again. Of course, since then we’ve taken holidays with both Rhiannon and Tom, but never together. This prompted me to look back through the albums, both digital and print, to remember the wonderful times we spent together as a family.

We are probably reaching a time when our lives will take a different direction. In a few years both Tim and I will be fully retired and who knows where we’ll end up. Will it be in a combination of Staffordshire and le Petit-Pressigny, or just one or the other? Perhaps Wales will enter the equation, or we sell up everywhere to return to the spectacular mountains of the Haute Savoie? Who knows? Maybe life has other things in store for us.

Rhiannon has been away to and come back from University, bought and sold her first house and is now close to sealing a deal on another. She certainly knows how to turn a house into a home and has done this around a demanding and stressful job.

Tom is in his last year at University. He has spent summers working in both India and Japan, studied for a year in Colorado and is now applying for jobs in Japan, South Korea and China.

So, a lot has happened in the last ten years. More wrinkles, aches and pains, grey hairs and pounds on the waistline. We’ve lost four parents, three within the space of a year) which was a very difficult time. We've lost friends, colleagues and other family members although  we've enjoyed good health and met new and wonderful friends.

These photographs were taken on our last holiday together in Switzerland, but we’ll all have to wait for the updated ones …

Sharing an enormous dessert at the revolving ‘James Bond’ revolving restaurant, Piz Gloria, at the top of the Shilthorn.

Tim, in case you're wondering whether we'd left him at the bottom of the mountain...

An Archers update and taxing matters...

GaynorB thought that she’d better do an update, just in case you, and more importantly those wonderful people in the fraud department of the Inland Revenue, really do believe that Tim is moonlighting on the Archers.

In a manner of speaking he was, but in name only. His name, which is fairly unusual, was used in the show as the name of a local farmer.

That’s settled then. Now the IR can carry on investigating why giant corporations like Amazon and Starbucks don’t pay any tax in the UK, despite billions of £££ of sales, and how BBC stars can hide their earnings away so's they don't pay tax either. Starbucks, I’m told, even make(read engineer) a loss, but are quite happy to swallow this UK loss in order to be a ‘global brand’.

Now, isn’t that magnaninous of them…

P.S. The photograph has nothing to do with anything! It was taken outside St Mary's church in Stafford.