Another milestone

Yesterday was Stephen's first day at university.

Here we are outside the King's College library...



Coincidentally, this weekend also happens to be the weekend when many buildings of historical interest which are usually private are open to the general public, so we were able to tour the library. Pretty amazing...

We were in London by 11, and while Steve got his room key and started unpacking, Bobby and I went to what was billed as an orientation session for family members. Afterwards we met up with Steve again for lunch.

.

His walk from his hall of residence (hall = res for SAs, dorm for US people) to campus is quite spectacular - along the Thames, opposite the Houses of Parliament, past the London Eye and over the bridge to Somerset House.

There was lots happening along the river on Saturday - street art -



someone juggling a glass ball



dancers taking a break - I liked the juxtaposition of the African dress and the Houses of Parliament in the background -



and people blowing bubbles.



This is Stephen's hall - Brian Creamer House. It's in the grounds of Lambeth Palace, and very close to the Archbishop's Park. Because it's set back from the road and hidden from public view it feels very tranquil, despite being so central.



After we'd eaten, we walked back with him and picked up a few groceries on our way - the hall is self-catered; each group of four students has a kitchen to share. A far cry from the pampered existence Bobby and I had, back in the day! And then we said goodbye. He had a party to go to, and we had to get home to the girls.

The day was too busy to feel much sadness. But today all the emotions have hit hard. A mix of happiness for Stephen - the start of a whole new phase for him - and apprehension - how will he cope - and sadness - because we're going to miss him.

This is the end of an era... Of course he will come home... often, I'm sure... but he's now officially a young adult, living on his own. Very bittersweet... Bobby is also quite emotional - I don't think he'd expected that Steve's starting uni would feel quite this momentous, but it does. It really does.

Whoosh...

...the sound of another week flying by.

Work this year is going to be hectic. I have a "real" timetable this year (no more NQT remission), I'm teaching three courses instead of two, and I'm mentoring someone who's embarking on their PGCE, so that's yet another period a week. It's going to be odd - albeit less stressful - being on the other side of the observation!

So I'm going to be busy, which means that the weekends are going to be precious.

I went for a run early on Saturday morning, and then we cleaned the house and dealt with the laundry. Bobs went to fly his planes in the afternoon while I did some college work, and the kids hung out and read their books. The evening was also low-key - ironing and chatting, mainly.

Sunday has been a day of relaxation, though.

We went for a walk



and then on to Fanny's Farm Shop for brunch. It's so pretty there, especially round the back in their kitchen garden section - little battered tables hidden in the foliage. There's also a treehouse that one can hire for special events - I'm wondering if Sophie would like her next birthday party there...



Then we went blackberry picking. It feels quite eco-friendly getting food from the hedges, and I always feel like I've earned it, by the time I've fought the thorns and the nettles that grow interspersed with the bramble! I decided to make bramble jelly this year, instead of jam - the seedy bits were slightly annoying last year. But I got slightly freaked out by how repulsive the berries looked while they were draining through the straining cloth. It looked distinctly like something a serial killer might have in their kitchen. Very disturbing.



The end result looks good, though. I have three jars of jelly sitting on the kitchen counter, ready to be tasted at breakfast time tomorrow morning. I hope it'll be a good start to the week!

What we've been doing...

Horses on the hill at the allotments...



Tower bridge...



Boat trip on the Thames...



On the grass outside the Maritime Museum in Greenwich...





High up on Beachy Head...



and deep down in the Underground. The escalators were broken so Bobby's mum had to walk all the way down those steep stairs; a bit frightening for all concerned. I'm grateful it was at a quiet time of day - it would have been terrifying if there'd been loads of rushing commuters pushing past her.



Outside Buckingham Palace. (There's water behind them, and no, he didn't actually fall in...)



And to tea in a rather sinisterly decorated farm shop.



Poor swine-flued Bobby missed out on a lot, though he did recover in time to have a good day in London with his sister yesterday. He's back at work today; what an infuriating waste of his week of leave!

And, note all the blue sky! The weather has been glorious; the English summer at its best.

Up and down

Up: my mum-in-law and sister-in-law have arrived. It's lovely to have them here, and we've been sightseeing and doing touristy things. Tower of London, boat trip on the Thames, Greenwich market, Hever castle... And the weather has been gorgeous. Hot and sunny; most un-English.

Down: Bobby has swine flu. He's quite ill. High temperatures, muscle aches, sore throat, sore chest ... generally miserable. I think he is starting to feel a little better but it is a nasty flu. The NHS system has worked very smoothly; we picked up his Tamiflu as soon as he was diagnosed so he could start it promptly ... and we didn't have to pay a penny for it...

Up: Stephen got his A level results today. He got his predicted grades so he can take up his place at King's College and start his philosophy degree in a couple of weeks. So all that hard work has been worth it. He's excited; so are we. Excited and proud.

Weekend!

The other two people scheduled to go to India with Bobby left this morning. I'm can't quite express just how happy I am that he's not on that plane! Waking up with him this morning felt so sweet, knowing that we'd be able to go to sleep tonight together as well.

I got up early this morning and did my final Week Five run in the Couch to 5k program. Today was the two mile/twenty minute run, and I did it! So I'm pretty happy about that. A friend is trying to convince me to run a 5k race with her in a couple of months. I'm a bit daunted, as she is a "real" runner, but I think I might end up going for it! I was back home just after six, and Bobs and I left again at 7.15 for a bike ride. We went just over 25km - longer than I'd really bargained on - but it was fabulous being out and about so early. We went south from our house, towards Gatwick. I love the way that there is so much green space mixed in with densely populated, urban areas.




And the farms are working farms for the most part...




I still tend to think of farms in South African terms, where they are in the middle of nowhere, not 5 minutes from the shops and twenty miles from central London!

You may have noticed that I measured my run in miles and Bobby measured our bike ride in kilometres. This is because Bobby stubbornly refuses to succumb to the imperial system whereas I have given in to it - when in Rome, and all that... They really do have an odd relationship with the metric system here, though. We pay per litre for diesel for our car, for instance, but our fuel consumption is measured in miles per gallon!

I baked scones for breakfast, and after that we cleaned the house as a family. (Oh how the children thanked us for that!. At lunchtime I took Sophie and a friend over to a third friend's house (they're taking the bus to Epsom to see that silly-looking Shopaholic movie), and since then I've been sitting at the kitchen table motoring through a bunch of work stuff that I'd been putting off. I actually think that I may have got through it all by the end of tomorrow! If that happens, it'll be a first... If only my energy levels could always be this good...

A friend's coming to dinner tonight so I have a good excuse to abandon my preparation for now, though! And, Bobby's cooking, so it's all good!

Best. Day. Ever!

This weekend wasn't really up to much.




A sea of lesson preparation, marking, and housework, with the odd pleasant family interlude. Rather exhausting, and not particularly memorable,

This morning, though, I got up early to start week 2 of the couch to 5k program, and stepped out of the front door into a snowy wonderland. I loved the experience; running through the dark, with the snow sparkling, felt magical.





I had been worried I'd be miserably cold while running, but I actually got quite hot. When I got home I climbed into bed with Bobs for a moment before showering, only to have him scream like a girl and scrunch himself into an outraged duvet cocoon like a deranged caterpillar. Apparently I was colder than I'd thought.

We ate breakfast watching the snow fall outside, wishing that the schools would close, but not seriously thinking that they would, since they've not closed for snow as far back as anyone can remember. Much happiness ensued when Ems got a text from a friend to say that there was no school for her or Soph. And even more when my boss texted me to say - no college today! Whoooo! The only dampener on the delirious happiness around the breakfast table was the fact that poor Bobs, private sector employee, had to go in to work as usual, treacherous roads or no. Apparently this is the most snow that's fallen here for twenty years. Not very much by the standards of people who have serious winters, but enough to shut down all London buses and trains - and hence enough to prevent our students from getting to college.

Poor Bobs set out, and the girls and I went for a snowy walk though through the park.





The park was filled with happy tobagganing families (and a few not so happy ones - "mummmmmyyyy I'm cold ... I want to go hooooommmme....)





Just like a Christmas card....





Ems met up with some of her friends at the park, so Soph and I went to the cafe there (Urban Kitchen) for a hot chocolate. Well, that was the plan. When I asked for two hot chocolates, the girl behind the counter looked confused and said "Hot chocolate? Oh, we're not doing that today." Mmmm, yes, I can see that today - a once-in-a-blue-moon snow day, when every school child is out frolicking in the park - you'd not bother to stock hot chocolate. Sheesh, even if your hot chocolate machine is broken, walk to the high street and buy some instant hot chocolate and some minimarshmallows from Morrisons, mix it up and sell it on for 200% profit! Every parent in the park will buy some! Seriously, English businesses often seem a bit lacking in entrepreneurial spirit.

Snowball fight at home...





And Bobs came home from work early enough that we could go on a bike ride (too slippy to be pleasant) and a long walk though the woods...




... and across the fields.




Soup and hot bread for supper - and the cherry on top? No school tomorrow either! Life just doesn't get better than this!

Winter

One of the things I dislike about our short winter days is the way that the darkness makes me think that it's later than it really is. Often we end up eating ridiculously early, as I think that, because it's been dark for a while, it must be dinnertime. And that seems to compress the short day even further, since, if it's an overcast day, it can be dark by 3.30. Conversely, in summer when the days are gloriously long, we end up not eating until ten...

I'm actually looking forward to cooking dinner tonight, though, because it's going to involve lots of garlic which means that I can use the nifty garlic-peeling device that my folks brought back from Canada.




It's a dishwasher-proof silicon pot-holder that also works as a trivet, a jar-opener and - weirdly - as a garlic peeler. Just roll it around the garlic clove and rub firmly, and the skin peels off like magic. Even more fun than the whack-the-clove-with-the-back-of-the-knife method.

We're going to watch Gaslight tonight after dinner - one advantage of dark winter evenings is that they're far better for scary movies than sunny summer ones!

Home again

Cornwall was beautiful.

Stephen declined to come with us, ostensibly on the grounds that he needed to study. Here he is explaining that his lack of enthusiasm for the trip had nothing whatsoever to do with a distaste for getting cold and wet.




As it turned out, the camping actually worked out really well. It rained on and off, but never at awkward times, so we were spared things like pitching and striking camp in the rain. We camped at this beautiful site on an organic farm - fabulous location, and, because no-one else is crazy enough to camp at the end of October, we had it entirely to ourselves.





View of the sea from the campsite...





... and this is the view we woke up to.




We went for long walks along the beach





and along the coastal path,





... played in the rockpools...





visited Looe and Fowey and Polperro,





and, most importantly, spent some time with old friends. It was a great break.

More photos here.

Back home, I've had to do some lesson planning. I'm being observed again on Tuesday morning; a double one this time - one observer from college and one from Greenwich Uni. Hope it goes okay... It should do, I've put enough effort into it...

Tomorrow we're getting up very early to make the three hour drive to Beccles to see my folks. Looking forward to seeing them - they've been in Canada visiting my aunt and uncle for the past three weeks, so we haven't seen them in a while.

And then Monday it's back to work. Ho hum...

up and down ...and round and round...

The picture was taken last Sunday, in Ashdown Forest (home of Winnie the Pooh). The autumn sunshine has been glorious; I've been savouring it before British Summer Time officially ends next week and the days go short and dark.

It's been a busy week, what with work and Weybridge and the odd social event, and I'm tired. Tired, and moody. I feel frustrated that this weekend is already over, and angry with myself for not making the most of it. We did plenty of things that would normally make me happy, but I didn't enjoy anything much. I felt irritable and on edge instead of my normal self. Bobby is moody too, which doesn't help. I always feel that only one of us should be allowed to feel out of sorts at any given time.

But, the week after this one is our half-term break, and Bobby'll be on leave too, so, with any luck, that'll re-energise us. We're meeting up with friends in Cornwall; should be good (if cold; we're supposed to be camping!). But the day after we get back to college I'm being observed again - by two people at the same time; one observer from Greenwich Uni and one from college - so I am going to have to do quite a bit of work over the break.

Oh well. Bobby's made soup for supper and it smells lovely so I'm going downstairs to eat, and to watch Stephen Fry putter through the South with the family. And everything is ready for the forthcoming week - the house is clean, our clothes are ironed, and my lesson preparation is done - so I can relax with a clear conscience.

One more week!

Fabulous weekend

I feel ready for the coming week after two great days.

Yesterday, I took the train to creepy-Crawley with Emily and Sophie, and we had a girly shopping day. We all found the things we'd set out to get (a new jumper for me, an entire new outfit for Emily for next weekend's party - which she paid for herself - and a new winter coat for Sophie), the sun shone, and we had fun together. Oh, and I scored a free Guardian on the train (I'm so glad I didn't have time to buy it before we left) so when we got home we could sit in the garden with the paper and cups of tea. Bliss. And, once I'd relaxed, I kicked into efficient mode. Cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed, mopped, and got my lessons for the first half of next week sorted. And, just for good measure, did the week's ironing after dinner. House was on TV while I was ironing, and we'd all just been speculating about how accurate the medical details are when, lo and behold, they started a plot line about growth hormone deficiency, which is one of the only medical conditions which we actually know anything about. Sadly, I can now report that if that particular episode was anything to go by, the medical accuracy of the show is practically nil. Pity, really - knowing that it's completely unrealistic makes it a lot less enjoyable to watch.

So that was Saturday. One of those days where you don't do anything special but somehow all the ordinary little events add up to something wonderful.

And today has been even better. Once again, perfect weather - but today we got to spend the whole day outside enjoying it.

We got up early, cycled to the station, and took the train to East Croydon. From there, we met up with a bunch of other riders and cycled to Clapham Common before riding into central London to enjoy the London Freewheel, an annual event where the roads that run past the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace are all closed to car traffic and open for bicycles.

This is me, trying to pretend that I'm not intimidated by having been given a marshall's vest at the start of the ride in Croydon.




Secretly -or not so secretly, the foldeded arms are quite telling - I am feeling distinctly inadequate compared to the lycra-butts (as I call the professional-looking cyclists). As it transpired, however, despite my lack of lycra I was at least as competent a cyclist as they were, (better than many, actually) which was reassuring. Not that I did any actual marshalling, mind you. Bobby on the other revelled in the Power of the Orange Vest; stopping traffic for the convoy seemed to give him immense pleasure. He took one of the weaker cyclists under his wing too; I love that side of his character.

The ride from Croydon to Clapham Common was far prettier than I'd expected - all through residential neighbourhoods where, as usual, I found myself picking houses where I'd like to live. There were so many things I'd have liked to have photographed - stained glass windows in some of the old houses, flowers blooming by the roadside, murals on walls - but riding with everyone else meant I couldn't stop to fiddle with the camera.

At Clapham Common, I took the opportunity of trading my orange marshall's vest in for a regular yellow one.



I was amazed by how many people there were when we finally got to the start of the freewheel route. This is Bobby, at the start of the route outside Buckingham Palace.



And again, when we took a break next to the river.



There were jugglers and stilt-walkers and unicyclists and rollerbladers and people dressed up as witches along the route - none of whom did I manage to take a picture of, sadly. I did manage to get a picture of a cute dog, though.



More pictures from the day here...

We arrived back home at 4-ish, having cycled either 50km (if you look at Bobby's cycle computer, since he refuses to make any concessions to Imperial measurements) or 30 miles (if you look at mine, since I think it's easiest to go with the convention of the country we happen to be living in) just as my parents and aunt arrived to have tea with us.

A very nice end to a great day. We should sleep well tonight.

Last day of freedom!

My legs are slightly stiff (we cycled 25 miles today) but I feel better for having been outdoors for most of today.

After breakfast this morning...





(mmmm, homemade jam....) we cycled to the station and took the train down to Brighton. From there, we cycled along the shoreline via Shoreham to Worthing before catching the train home.





The play areas along the beach always seem poignant to me, because they are so lovely, yet it seems like every time we are in Brighton the wind is howling and it's absolutely freezing, so every time we see them they're pretty much deserted.





We took a slightly wrong turn just after we passed this broken railing





but I didn't mind having to back-track because the wrong turn led us to this, which I thought was cool.





The landscape along here always strikes me as somewhat post-apocolyptic. It's so bleak and stony; seems like what might remain after people have vanished from the earth...





We stopped for a cup of coffee in Shoreham, then crossed the River Adur.





I can't help imagining living in each of the places we visit. We toyed briefly with the idea of life in one of these houseboats, but decided against it on the grounds that the mud looked too sludgey and the houseboats didn't look like they could actually sail anywhere.





We noted this warning; presumably a cyclist who didn't follow those Sustrans signs quite carefully enough...





We sat on the rocks and watched the kite surfers for a while. Bobby is keen to try it; I think it looks beyond my capabilities.





They are beautiful though.





I didn't have the gall to take a picture but I was intrigued by the beach huts, and couldn't stop myself peering in as we passed them. They are the line of little white huts that run between the cycle path and the beach. Inside, it seems like everyone is set up in more-or-less the same way: a two burner gas cooker thingy, with a kettle on it (for tea I assume), a couple of deck chairs, a table, and a radio. All very cosy and domestic, but rather unbeachlike, somehow! But then, a beach made of pebbles is also not truly beach-like to me. Apparently there's a huge waiting list for the beach huts; I'm told that one rents them from the council for £300-odd quid a year.





Once we got to Worthing we explored a bit,. as there was a model-aeroplane shop Bobby wanted to visit. But sadly (for him) it was shut.





I find that living here where it's often grey, things like this street fair we came across in Worthing seem beautiful to me, whereas before I wouldn't have really appreciated them.

And then we took the train back home.

I'm glad my last pre-work day was a good one. I'm quite apprehensive about the new term; to the extent that I've been having anxiety dreams about it for the last couple of nights. Hopefully the anticipation will be worse than the reality.