Merry Christmas!

How have all the festivities gone? Had plenty of new socks? Fallen out with the family? Eaten and drunk too much? I've enjoyed my Christmas, apart from my dog being rather poorly again- he seems to be on the mend now though. However, I've really struggled this year to feel festive- Christmas just seems to come round far too quickly... I think Christmas every two years would be far better!

My last two days at work before finishing for twelve (yes, a whole twelve) days were fun, if rather hectic. We were charity bag-packing at Morrisons on Tuesday...fun, but I wouldn't like to do it every day. It appeals to the people-watcher in me. It's fascinating both seeing what people put in their shopping trolleys (an awful lot of alcohol) and listening to the conversations/ arguments between husbands and wives at the checkout! Some people really haven't heard of Christmas cheer. We raised just over £520 which wasn't bad for packing a few shopping bags, but I didn't half ache the next day.

Wednesday was our party for the children and young people who come to the Playground. What could be better than a load of over-excited children just before Christmas- poor old Santa nearly got crushed! I do enjoy it though, it reminds me of the excitement I felt as a child at Christmas.

Christmas Eve was busy. Had to clean the house, wrap all my presents up (I was as disorganised and last minute there as usual) and drop presents off all over Stoke-on-Trent. Called in on my brother and saw his new puppy, Boddington. He's a Staffordshire Bull Terrier which isn't one of my favourite breeds of dog- I prefer large dogs- but I must admit he is rather cute.

I spent Christmas Day with my family and that was a lovely relaxing day. Just wish there had been some snow. I love my turkey dinner, and Christmas pudding with rum poured over it (my grandad started me on that one at a very young age!) is one of my favourites. Actually that is a good enough reason not to have Christmas only once every two years. Yes, I had some socks, but no, I didn't have any arguments and no, I didn't drink too much, though I did eat quite a bit. Had some fab presents including another new bookcase from my parents (Voley is very jealous), some Morph and Chas bookends and books to go on my new bookcase (by the way Voley, did I mention about my new bookcase?!!), vouchers which will be happily spent when I next go shopping, and a variety of other bits and pieces...oh, and a mini Radley bag keyring, just to feed my obsession.

Christmas Day wouldn't be Christmas Day without Doctor Who and I wasn't disappointed there. Fab. David Tennant is soooo good, can't wait for the New Year's Day episode. I may well cry when he regenerates though (and I never cry at television programmes or films...well, except for when E.T. dies, that gets me every time- sorry) and I think an official week of mourning may be necessary. Matt Smith is going to have to be very good to top David Tennant, don't think it's going to happen.

Voley came to stay Boxing Day, bringing me more books for my....wait for it....new bookcase. Much appreciated. We watched Doctor Who (yes, it was good enough for me to watch twice) as Voley's family didn't quite get the timing of their Christmas dinner right and I actually spent most of an hour not annoying Voley with my incessant waffling...didn't last, especially after I had drunk a couple of Archers. Yesterday we had lunch at my brother's pub and then went to the book shop (no surprises there!).

I've done very little today. Had a lie-in and mooched about. Am off out later for a post-Christmas buffet soiree with my good buddies. Hopefully I will be able to follow conversation tonight as when we went out for dinner last weekend I was deaf in one ear- the whole evening was a bit like a game of Chinese whispers!

Toodle-pip for now.

It's Panto time (oh yes it is)!

I bravely took 40 of our children and young people to the pantomime- Dick Whittington this year- at the Regent Theatre in Hanley last night (not single-handedly I hasten to add, I did have a little help from my staff). Robbie William's best mate Jonathon Wilkes was starring again for the fifth year running (he is obviously inundated with offers of work) alongside a cast of other not-quite-made-its. I didn't realise till after the show that Robbie's dad was actually one of the main characters- he needn't give up the day job. The only really well-known cast member was Three Degrees singer, Sheila Ferguson, who belted out a few numbers as Fairy Oatcakes!Pantomime isn't something I would normally choose to see if going to the theatre, but I must admit I do love taking all our children, they get so much from it. We got loo rolls thrown at us and got drenched with water guns (why do I always book the front row seats?) and laughed lots. There was plenty of slapstick and a lot of double entendre (didn't help that the main character is called Dick).
We didn't lose any children (never have yet!), we didn't gain any, noone required rugby tackling after making a break for the stage (that was last year), and I didn't have to clamber over the cubicle wall of a toilet to get someone out (the year before). I make that a success.

Cinderella went to the Ball...

...but was rather ill. Couldn't believe it. I am rarely ill so it was just my luck that I had to catch the bloody flu. Typical. Voley (who I must say looked very dapper in his dinner suit) was suffering with an ear infection and had gone deaf in one ear (yes, he strategically placed himself so that I was talking to his deaf ear) and my voice became more and more non-existent throughout the course of the evening- we made a right pair.
Illness aside, the evening was fairly successful- we raised £4500 for our charity which isn't a bad sum at all and money that we desperately need towards our £200 000 a year running costs. Highlight of the evening?- had to be seeing Voley dancing to Wham!

Cinderella is going to the ball

...after I have scrubbed the hearth and done the hoovering anyway. I have the dress, I have the shoes (I thought glass slippers may be a little dangerous, so I have sparkly sandals with killer heels instead), I have the carriage...just need a Prince Charming now!
It's our Charity Ball tomorrow evening at the Britannia Stadium, home of Stoke City FC. Stoke will be playing at home (so I am told) so I'm hoping they win or we may have one or two bears with sore heads. On the other hand, if they lose, sorrows may be drowned in copious amounts of alcohol and from past experience, drunken ball-goers equals more money raised.
Here's hoping it will be a good night. I am being accompanied by Voley- I'm looking forward to seeing him in his DJ! Just hope I can get rid of this awful cough.

Bah Humbug

How's your Christmas shopping going? Mine's going really badly. I'm slightly concerned at my lack of sense of urgency- I only have a couple of days free before Christmas to get practically all my presents bought, it's not good. I think some internet shopping may be in order...how ever did we all manage in the pre-technological era?
In fairness, I was intending to go out and buy most of my gifts at the beginning of this week as I have had a couple of days off work, but my dog has been rather poorly so I have been somewhat housebound. He's on the mend now though so perhaps a trip out tomorrow may be called for. I did manage to get out to buy my Christmas tree this afternoon so a spot of decorating will be on the cards- maybe that will get me into the festive spirit.

Christmas starts here...

...well, I suppose it actually started at our Variety Show considering the number of Christmas songs that were performed, but my first Christmas 'do' was on Saturday. We went out for our staff Christmas meal, and what a civilised affair that was. All I can say is that it was a good job we had the whole upstairs of the restaurant to ourselves. Much alcohol was consumed (more by some than others- I must say I was just nicely tipsy, thus avoiding the inevitable hangover the next day) and presents were exchanged. The highlight of the evening is always our Secret Santa competition. Usually, Secret Santa is about the present that you give, but not with us- we compete to see who can come up with the best wrapping, and we have had some fantastic creations over the years. It does get exceedingly competitive though and when it comes to judging the winner it has been known for waiters to be bribed and flirted with! I didn't win this year, must try harder next year.

Another of those strange weeks

Last week was hectic. I am just drawing breath now. The first part of the week was spent setting up for our annual fundraising Variety Show, so amidst my usual day-to-day duties of managing a charity, I was putting together staging and scenery and even turned my hand to setting up the sound system. I want a T-shirt that says 'Stage Crew' on the back.
We then had two evenings of the show. I must say it all went very smoothly, not a single hitch this year (last year we had to do the second night minus a guitarist in the house band after he very inconsiderately slipped on ice on his way to work and dislocated his shoulder), and the audience was packed. The stars of the show were, as always, our children and young people- I wish I had half the confidence to get up on stage as they do, they were absolutely fantastic. We raised just over £1200 so it was a success all round.
The day after the second night's performance I was in work, bright and breezy, to conduct interviews for new staff members. OK, so I wasn't exactly bright and breezy...I felt more like I had a hangover but without the pleasure of getting drunk first. I can't cope with late nights at work followed by early mornings. Fortunately, the standard of our interview candidates was exceptionally high, which somewhat lifted my spirits- I think if we had had a bad round of interviews I was probably in danger of falling asleep through half of them.
An enjoyable week in general, but by the end of Friday I was certainly ready for the weekend.

Would you.....

....apply for a job by email if your email address was (name)_is_sex@....? I never fail to be astounded. We are currently recruiting new staff and this was the email address of someone requesting an application pack. Wouldn't you just ring up instead if you had that email address?
I will be short-listing for interviews on Tuesday. Should be fun.

A little nostalgia

Plashing Vole's Friday conundrum was about what sort of leaves are the best for piling up and running through. I used to love doing this as a child and I still cannot resist the urge to kick a pile of crisp leaves, especially if someone else has tidily swept them up! I loved autumn... helping my dad collect up all the leaves in the garden and barrowing them to the compost heap (though the year I put the garden fork through my foot was not the best!), conker collecting followed by the conker fights, bonfire night. Now, just the smell of a crisp autumn morning can bring back all the childhood memories.
When I think back to all the things I enjoyed doing when I was young, it was invariably the things that cost no money that created the most pleasure for me- making perfume out of rose petals (smelled nice the day you made it but fairly rank once it had been in the jar a day or two!), making dens, recreating the Olympics in the back garden, playing 40-40 (a cross between hide-and-seek and tic with a base), putting on shows in each others houses, making things out of junk, ball games and skipping rope games, dressing up and role play games.
I loved bike riding and roller skating. Sunday mornings when I was about 10 were eagerly awaited as my Dad used to take me and my brother to the local roller-disco whilst mum was preparing the Sunday lunch...what could be better than skating round a sports hall in circles for an hour to the likes of Aha and Wham! In the winter (when winter really was winter) we made huge snowmen and igloos and we had a fab sledging field just down the lane- I used to get the same mix of feelings of excitement and anxiety the first time down the hill that in later years I got from going on a rollercoaster.
If you were to ask me what were my favourite things to do as a child, these are the sorts of things I would tell you about. What are your memories of childhood and the games you used to play?

Would I cheat?....

Good afternoon. Had a good weekend? I spent an enjoyable couple of days in the company of my good friend Aidan and it was also all the better for having an extra day off work. We went for a mooch round Dagfields’ antiques centre yesterday after a hearty lunch at an excellent pub in Madeley, near Crewe, called the Offley Arms (it is run by my brother so I am not in the least biased!)- you should try it if you are ever in that neck of the woods, I can highly recommend the steak-in-ale pie.
A visit to the second-hand book shop at Dagfields was necessary to give Aidan his daily fix of book-buying. It wasn’t the best bookshop I have been in, being highly disorganised and cramped, but I managed to pick up a couple of copies of texts that I studied for my Latin A Level- the poetry of Catullus, in translation, and Virgil’s Aeneid Book IV, in Latin.
It’s strange that I used to enjoy Latin verse so much because I’ve never been a huge fan of poetry. When I was at school they used to make us write poems, which I found really difficult- the mere mention of poetry homework was enough to make me break out in a cold sweat! I remember once being so stressed about having to write a poem and not being able to do it that my dad wrote it for me. Great!....Not. To my horror the teacher decided it was good enough to enter into the school poetry competition…I have never hoped so much not to win something and, I hasten to add, I have never cheated at anything since.

Dog on wheels part 2

Sorry, no exciting or ludicrously silly ending to the dead dog story. I was hoping for a funny follow-up, but all I can tell you is that the girl had to come clean to the owners on their return from holiday and that they were devastated at the loss of their 14 year old pet. No laughs there then.

I'm in a contemplative mood.....

Did you enjoy the extra hour in bed this morning? I was very good and didn’t turn my clocks back until after I got up, so I’ve had an extra hour during the day instead. For one who is quite attached to weekend lie-ins, I am quite impressed with myself.
Despite the extra hour, I’ve had a fairly uneventful day. I have however been working on my brother’s petty cash books, preparing them for his quarterly VAT return, and it got me thinking about what job I would do if I could go back and start my career over again. I do enjoy working with figures, but I think following in the footsteps of my dad and becoming an accountant would drive me nuts.
I must admit that I love my job but I guess in a way I just fell into it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school so at university I did a subject that interested me; I have always found anything to do with the brain and human behaviour fascinating (I am a bit of a people watcher wherever I go), hence the psychology degree. I never really wanted to pursue psychology as a career though, so when I finished university I still didn’t have any sound plan as to what I wanted to do next. I was fortunate that, after a couple of short-term jobs, I was employed by the organisation at which I had volunteered from the age of fifteen, working with disabled children and young people. I have never looked back and now manage the charity. As I say, I love my job and I wouldn’t change it now for anything. However, I think if I was to go back to being 18 again and got to make my choices for a second time, I would probably go into medicine or nursing.
If you were to start your career again, would you choose a different path or do you have the job you always wanted?

Dog on wheels

This really happened.

A friend of the son of one of my work colleagues was house and dogsitting for a family in London whilst they were on holiday abroad. A few days into her stay, the dog died. Not wanting to phone the owners whilst they were on holiday, she phoned the vet and asked what she should do. The vet said that they could perform a post-mortem on the dog so that they could say it had died of natural causes (it was quite old) and then at least she would know she had done nothing wrong. The girl asked if they could collect the dog for her as she had no access to a car- the vet said that unfortunately they couldn't, she would have to find a way of getting the dog to them.

.....I know this is already sounding like a tall story, but it did really happen, and it gets even more incredulous.....

Realising she would have to travel on the tube to get to the vet, the girl had to work out how she was going to carry the dog, not particularly wanting to be seen lugging a dead animal around. So, what did she do? She found a suitcase on wheels, put the dog inside and wheeled it to the tube station! When she reached the station she started to struggle down the stairs to the platform, at which point a kindly gentleman offered his assistance. Having carried the case down the stairs, he asked the girl what she had in her case to make it so heavy- "You got a dead body in there or something?"!! Again not really wanting people to know she was carrying around a dead dog, she told him that her boyfriend was a DJ and she was taking some of his equipment to a gig for him....

.....wait for it, it gets better.....

..........at which point the man legged it with the case! She ended up having to report it to the police. I've no idea how she planned to explain that one to the owners.

This story actually made me cry laughing. I know it sounds far-fetched but I can guarantee it is genuine. I must find out what happened next!

Zorbing

I'm not usually one for anything approaching extreme sports but yesterday I went zorbing. For those of you not familiar with this, it is rolling down a hill inside a huge inflatable ball at a speed of approaching 30mph! My motivation for doing something this mad was to raise money for work and I went along with five equally unhinged people. My only concern was the possibility of being horrendously sick at the end of the roll, or worse still whilst actually inside the zorbing ball; I don't seem to have the stomach for spinning these days and feel fairly queasy at the smallest amount of rotation....but it was all for a good cause! Fortunately, I managed to escape feeling sick at all and actually really enjoyed the experience, I couldn't stop giggling! However, being harnessed inside the ball wasn't exactly what I would call comfortable- being shackled by the ankles and having to hold straps above my head made me feel like I was in some kind of torture chamber! Getting into the ball wasn't terribly dignified either- you had to launch yourself through this rather small 'tunnel' which I likened to a baby's journey down the birthing canal! I, of course, got stuck with my legs waving about mid-air; any credibility as a manager I had remaining is now gone...all gone. Worse still is that we have video footage which I am sure is going to cause great amusement at work. On a positive note though, we have hopefully raised around £1000 which isn't a bad effort at all.

If I can work out how to do it, I may post the video footage at a later date. For now, a couple of photos (not of me I hasten to add):

...and a few more....

View from top of Parc Guell

Above the public square of Parc Guell

Looking down to the saurian

Gaudi's gingerbread houses

The undulating bench

Hypostyle Hall

Ceramic decoration on ceiling of Hypostyle Hall

View from entrance of Parc Guell

Church of Sant Bartolomeu i Santa Tecla, Sitges

Museu Marciel, Sitges

Promenade at Sitges

..a few more pictures...

La Sagrada Familia - the original eastern, Nacimiento facade

The western, Pasion facade

View across the city from eastern facade

View of eastern towers from western facade

I thought this was a cool shop frontage!

Barcelona

I have just returned from my trip with friends to Barcelona. Despite the fact that we got caught in a torrential thunderstorm within a couple of hours of arriving and managed to lose two of our group on the five minute walk between the metro and the hotel, the rest of the holiday was fairly successful! I can't believe how much walking we did though. It is easy to get caught up in the maze of streets in the old part of the city- each way you turn there is something different to see and some of the architecture is fantastic.

We spent a lot of time walking up and down La Rambla which in itself is a beautiful area. The street is lined with a variety of stalls, street sellers, musicians and performers, some quite bizarre. I had been warned before going that La Rambla is a haven for pickpockets, drug pushers and prostitutes but none of this was particularly evident, even at night. In contrast to the streets back home at night, it was actually very calm and civilised and I can't remember seeing anyone being drunken and loutish; perhaps this was due to the physical presence of police on the streets? There were one or two of the quieter, darker streets which at night I felt a little less happy to be down, but on the whole I felt perfectly safe.

La Placa Reial, which was just off La Rambla, was bursting with life both during the day and at night. The large square is home to a fountain, palm trees and wrought-iron lamp-posts designed by Gaudi, and by day there are green parrots flying around. We ate here one night at one of the restaurants that surround the square. As far as eating is concerned in Barcelona there is certainly no shortage of eating establishments and, wherever you go at night, staff from the restaurants are outside trying to draw you in. We ate fairly well all week (and only nearly fell out once whilst trying to agree on where to eat!) and between the seven of us only had one or two less enjoyable meals. Just be careful when ordering fish- one of our friends had a dish one lunchtime which turned out to be raw cod!

We spent a morning at La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished life work. For many years the temple remained as it was when Gaudi died but in the 1950s work began again, based on the very few plans left behind by Gaudi. The building of the western facade and towers has caused controversy- some believe the temple should have been left unfinished and the new build is not to everyone's taste. I personally am in agreement; I much prefer the original facade and towers, though the whole building is nothing less than spectacular. We queued for around an hour and a half for the lift to ascend the temple which was a little frustrating but well worth the wait as the views across Barcelona from the top were stunning (despite the fact that my legs turned to jelly and I couldn't quite muster the courage to go too near the edge!). Then came the long descent from the tower down spiral staircases. These at first were fully enclosed but then came the staircase which, although stunning to look down to see the shell-like effect (not that I was too keen to look down), was completley open on one side- I did not like it one bit! I went down the first part on my bottom, but then, when the queues of people waiting to get down behind me started to get a little less patient, I went down the rest of the staircase sideways gripping onto the handrail for dear life- I am not good with heights! My legs were a little wobbly for about an hour afterwards.

Gaudi's works are spread out across the city. We didn't see them all but La Pedrera and Casa Batllo were fantastic works of architecture and Casa Batllo was stunning when lit up at night. Thursday afternoon was spent at Parc Guell, an unfinished garden city and another Gaudi project. Again, there were amazing views from the top of the park across the city (we had to ascend the hill to the park on around half a dozen escalators!). The park itself reminded me of North Wales' Portmeirion- it was filled with an array of bizarre but stunning works of art, most notably two gingerbread pavillions, Hypostyle Hall (a forest of columns) with its unique ceramic ceiling, an undulating bench covered by a ceramic collage and, of course, the multi-coloured ceramic saurian.

We escaped the hustle and bustle of the city on Wednesday to visit the coast. A forty minute train journey took us to Sitges and we spent the day ambling around the town, walked along the promenade and had a paddle in the sea! It was in Sitges that I had my most scary encounter of the holiday. Walking down one of the streets we passed a small art shop- I looked through the door and commented to one of my friends that I quite liked one of the pictures. We continued down the street when suddenly this Spanish woman appeared at my side ranting at me in Spanish (my Spanish is not great and I hadn't a clue what she was saying)- I thought at first that she was trying to sell me something but she was getting increasingly aggressive. We just kept on walking (fast!) and in the end she got called back by a man from the shop at which point her departing words were "bitch, arsehole"! Perhaps if she had demonstrated her english language skills a little sooner I would have understood what she was angry about! Between us though we managed to piece together that she thought that I had been taking photos of her artwork, and I suddenly realised that when I had pointed to the picture I had quite liked, I had my camera in my hand. I didn't make that mistake again! Apart from that encounter, it was a nice, relaxing day and the sun shone for the first time in three days of being in Spain.
One thing that did impress me about Barcelona was the public transport system. It was clean, efficient, cheap and made getting around the city very easy. For just £7 we got a ticket that entitled us to ten journeys on the train or metro, which included a thirty minute train journey from the airport. It puts our transport system to shame. Another thing I noticed was how clean the streets were- there was practically no litter and the street cleaners were out every night sweeping the streets. Quite bizarrely,any graffiti, seemed only to be on shutters and boarding, with none evident on any buildings.
So, what was my overall opinion of Barcelona and my first holiday abroad in 17 years? I had a fantastic time. The aeroplane journey was nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be and spending the week with my friends was fab. Barcelona is a beautiful city but I felt there just wasn't enough time to see everything. Perhaps a return trip in the future will be on the cards.

La Placa Reial

La Rambla de Catalunya

Street musicians

Trouble

I've been rooting around in boxes in the loft today and came across the following newspaper cutting from around February 1977.

What it fails to say is that I actually locked my mum out of the house when she was 8 months pregnant with my brother and wouldn't unlock the door to let her back in. I think it was quite clever of me at the age of 22 months, I guess my mum probably didn't agree. I was trouble even at that age!

Sponsored walk

I've been on an eight mile sponsored walk today. We went on a circular route starting at Milford Common which took us over Cannock Chase, through the Sherbrook Valley, along the Trent and Mersey Canal, through the Shugborough Estate and then back to Milford. The views across the Chase were magnificent, but unfortunately we spotted no deer. I don't do enough walking- when I do go I love it, but I just never seem to get round to it. Perhaps today will give me the motivation to do more.


Trent & Mersey Canal


I wouldn't argue with him!


View from the top of the Chase


Essex Bridge-the longest packhorse
bridge in England


Moi!

School days

My old school newsletter arrived in the post this morning. I always have a scan through it for names I recognise but the majority are pupils from the 1940s and 1950s which is somewhat before my time. However, there are always pieces written either by or about teachers that were at the school whilst I was there. Of course, this has now sent me on a nostalgia trip and I have been remembering some of the bizarre characters that taught me over my seven years there.

Mr Harris the maths teacher was a bit of an oddball- good teacher, fairly approachable and friendly, but was scary when he was angry (scary in a rather unhinged way). I remember on one occasion he had told us to stop talking whilst he was teaching about three or four times, getting more cross on each occasion (he had this freaky habit of rolling his eyeballs unhealthily high in their sockets); when we then persisted in talking, he just stopped mid-sentence, walked out of the classroom and stood outside in the corridor looking out of the window. It worked because we stopped talking. We thought we were going to get really shouted at when he returned, but he just walked back in after about five minutes and continued teaching where he had left off without saying anything else to us. The same thing happened on another occasion, but he just walked off and never returned!

Then there was Mr Coupe the physics teacher. All I can say is I am glad I didn’t have him for A Level as I don’t think I would ever have passed. He was lovely, but things just went wrong all the time in his lessons. We once had to evacuate the lab because his demonstration of the diffusion of gases went slightly wrong and we were engulfed in clouds of bromine gas. He also took pride in telling us about the time he fell asleep whilst driving on the motorway and woke up to find his car perched half-way up a tree….and they trusted him to teach us?!

We had quite a few old-school twin-set and pearls type teachers. Miss Bowdler the cookery teacher could be the sweetest person, but she was so strict. There were always rumours around school about her throwing knives and forks at unruly pupils, but I fortunately never experienced this. However, she taught me the best way to chop an onion and this has stuck with me ever since.

Mr Swift was a funny man; he was one of those unfortunate people who refused to go bald gracefully. He had a massive combover which looked daft at the best of times, but one of the funniest things I saw whilst at school was when, on a rather windy day, he walked past the library windows and his combover was flying horizontally out from the side of his head. It’s just wrong!

I had some excellent teachers though. Mr Collis, my A Level chemistry teacher was one of my favourites. He looked like Penfold out of ‘Dangermouse’ (don’t get me started on children’s TV programs!) and was one of the nicest people you could meet. We felt so guilty when, having had a water fight in the lab with the distilled water bottles when he was off one lesson, he found out what we had done and didn’t tell us off, but was just VERY disappointed. I used to love his lessons, as I did Mr Edwards’ A Level Latin lessons. He was the deputy head on the boys’ site and was feared by many of the boys, but again he was one of the kindest people and he had a cracking sense of humour. Miss Smart, also my Latin teacher, was fantastic too. She was another twin set and pearls type, but she was a teacher that really cared and she was passionate about her subject; in fact, we always maintained that the reason she never married was because she never met a man that matched Tacitus!

It all seems a long time ago now, but I have a lot of fond memories of my time at Newcastle-under-Lyme School. The strange thing is that within my current job I now work alongside teachers from the school to recruit volunteers to work within our organisation. It’s funny how life can go full circle.

Scaredy cat

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted. What can I say, I’ve been busy.
It’s been another of those varied weeks for me- I seem to have done a bit of everything. A couple of days ago I organised a visit for our children from the ‘Animal Man’, a rather eccentric man with the curliest moustache you have ever seen, and it got me thinking about phobias. The appearance of snakes and oversized spiders never seems to bother the children at all, in fact they usually can’t wait to hold them, but most of our teenage volunteers recoil in either fear or disgust. At what point do we gain these fears? I’m not in the least bit bothered by snakes, spiders, creepy crawlies (though I’m not keen on wasps), but put me in a room with a cat and I’m fairly anxious; I wouldn’t say I’m phobic, but I’m not comfortable. I don’t think I have any real phobias- there are things that I would rather avoid (great heights, maggots, large knives, public speaking, horses) but they are all things that I can do/ come into contact with if I have to. Where do the really irrational fears people have come from though? I had a work colleague who was phobic of milk and milk products- she couldn’t make someone a cup of tea with milk in it, couldn’t sit next to anyone eating yoghurt and would run out of the room if someone spilled milk; she was unable to give any reason for this phobia. I've also come across people with phobias of buttons and polystyrene!

Favourite childhood books

Sorting through all my books over the weekend got me thinking about my favourite books from when I was a child (and that is quite some time ago!). I seem to have grown up on way too much Enid Blyton- I still have the complete set of the Famous Five series and of Malory Towers, along with others such as The Magic Faraway Tree and The Enchanted Wood. The Brer Rabbit stories also stick in my mind though I think if I were to re-read them now I would probably be quite shocked, I am sure 'Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby' was blatant racism. Must read some of them again for an adult take on the stories.
My very first favourite book would have been Beatrix Potter's 'Mrs Tittlemouse' which my Dad likes to think I was able to read at 3 years of age! Yes, I knew it word for word, knew when to turn the pages and would shout at my parents if they got a word wrong when reading it to me, but I'm not entirely sure that this necessarily constitutes being able to read!
What is my favourite childhood book? It has to be Eric Carle's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'- I loved that book (and still do) but, leading a deprived childhood as I did (hmm), I never owned a copy until I was about 23. I loved going to the local library and that would be the book I would always hunt out to read.
What would I be likely to read now if I were a child again? It would probably be Philip Pullman books, which I think are fantastic- if you haven't read the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, you must do, they make for compelling reading. I think Harry Potter would probably be in there too.

Order order

I am the very excited owner of a new bookcase. Plashing Vole asked in his post a week or so ago how people like to organise their book collections. I have to admit I agree with his alphabetical method, with the overspill of unread books being in a totally unordered pile on the floor. However, I am in a quandary. Now that I have more book space, I am able to shelve all my children's books, which until now have been stored away in boxes...but how should I include them in my collection?- separate section (still in alphabetical order of course!) or integrated with the rest of my books?

More retail therapy

Have had a whole day off work today- heaven. Went for some retail therapy with my mum (she is the only one who will put up with my incessant whinings of "does my bum look big in this") and spent too much money. Oh well.
Had to boost our energy by stopping off for a drink and slab of cake in Marks & Spencer. When the lady served my cake she pulled out of it what looked suspiciously like a long hair, dropped it on the floor and then proceeded to put the plate on our tray! I don't think she realised I was watching. When I asked her if she had just removed a hair from the piece of cake she just said "I think it might have been, or it could have been a fibre from the strawberry jam"- since when has strawberry jam contained four inch long fibres? Not impressed.

Worst ever chat-up lines

I went to put petrol in my car yesterday on my way home from work- not a time or place I would expect to be chatted up. I must have looked like I had been drawn through a hedge backwards and was wearing my not so attractive work clothes, yet the guy behind the till still felt I was worthy of his rather poor chat-up lines.
Him: "Hello, how are you?"
Me: "Fine thank you, and yourself?"
Him: "Very well. Very well now that I have seen you. Yes, very well now that I have seen you."
At this point he leans forward to read the logo on my T-shirt and I start inwardly cringing. He makes another couple of random comments and I am willing my card transaction to speed up. Then, "Are you married?". WHAT?! Fortunately he was just in the process of handing back my card, so I just looked at him rather stunned, said thank you and walked out, leaving him starting to say something else- I just dread to think what!

Busy busy busy

It's been a hectic few days. I would say I am glad it's the end of the week, but I am at work all weekend yet. Interviews are over and went fairly well...apart from the two that cancelled that is...and the one that didn't turn up....and the one who was slightly late having had to buy a new pair of shoes on her way because she got caught in a torrential downpour and didn't want to squelch into her interview....and the one whose belt burst off just as she was leaving the interview room! Surprisingly, despite all that, we have found two (hopefully) very good new staff members. I do enjoy interviewing, I have met some really colourful characters over the years.

It rained...

....a lot! Other than that it was a successful day (no children lost or gained), if somewhat exhausting. Interviews tomorrow- should be interesting.

Variety is the spice of life

I've a bizarrely varied week at work ahead of me. Tomorrow I am taking a group of disabled children and teenagers to Drayton Manor Park, Wednesday I am at a training session all day, Thursday I will be interviewing for new staff and Friday I will be delivering training to 25 new volunteers. Somewhere along the line I will need to fit some paperwork in too, though I am not sure quite where at the moment. I think I must have the most varied job in existence...and definitely the best job!
Wish me luck for tomorrow- success will be gauged by us returning with the same number of people we left with (hopefully these will be the same individuals as well). Hope it doesn't rain.

A good weekend

I've spent a very pleasant weekend in the company of Mr Vole. We went to see the new Harry Potter film on Saturday- very good. It had the odd shaky moment and a lot of the detail from the book was passed over, but on the whole it was excellent. I couldn't believe the queues of people waiting to get in, I'm guessing it will definitely be a box office success.
Yesterday was spent mooching- isn't that what Sundays are for? Had a bite of lunch out and then pottered (sorry, no pun intended) around Waterstones, just to feed the Vole's book buying obsession. I did think at one point he was going to go into a frenzied rage around the store on spotting a sign above a case of books about cycling that said "Peddle Power". Appalling. A quiet word was had with the shop assistant who said that the sign had been produced by the Arndale store- not sure which was worse, the fact that they had made such a dreadful mistake in producing it, or that someone else had then put it up without spotting the error. Grrr.

Ooh, parcels!

I like coming home to find parcels waiting for me. Today I had a lovely big box delivered and what should I find in it but a Radley handbag! I don't know where that came from. Perhaps it was from when I accidently found myself on the Radley website and accidentally clicked on a rather nice bag (I think I may also have accidentally given them my address and card details- careless of me)! I must stop this unhealthy obsession with Radley- I now own five handbags, one wallet, two purses, a passport holder, a key ring and an umbrella. What shall I buy next?

It's good to be back...not

Well, it's been back to work for me today after my annual leave. I can't believe the amount of paperwork that was covering my desk this morning- ridiculous. I think I've done the equivalent of a week's work in one day- I need a holiday!
I've been shortlisting job applicants this afternoon. It was SO depressing. I know that people are desperate to find jobs at the moment, but it is really frustrating when three quarters of your applicants don't even meet the minimum requirements for the post. I was amused by the applicant whose job history included being Santa on more than one occasion- he stated the reason for leaving this job as 'seasonal work'! Well, I never would have guessed. As much as it would very useful for us to have our own professional Santa, I am afraid to say he won't be gaining an interview. Finally managed to shortlist eight for interview, so have that excitement to look forward to next week- I love interviewing!

Mmmm, chocolate

I've been feeling a little sorry for myself this week- my cold seems to have developed into mild flu-like symptoms, though I am feeling a little better today. Being ill gives me the excuse to eat chocolate though. I am a bit of a chocoholic- I don't buy it for myself that often but if it is put in front of me I cannot resist! I'm afraid that yesterday the chocolate bars at the till in the supermarket kept shouting at me (damn those retail psychologists) and in the end I gave in and bought a Cadbury's Double Decker. They must be one of my favourite chocolate bars, though as with many things in life, they aren't as good as they used to be. On that note I ask, what things in life do you feel just aren't as good as they used to be?

Big Brother is watching....

Well, I'm pretty confident I passed my passport identity interview. It's scary how much information they have on you- I began to wonder at one point if they knew more about me than I knew about myself! They asked me for all addresses I have lived at and with whom I lived, the date my parents got married, my grandparents' names, who my brother lives with, any loans or mortgages taken out in my name, any store cards I own...the list goes on. I did offer them the name of my teddy bear but they didn't need that information. It shows though just how much information the Government holds on us as individuals and how very little privacy we have in our lives.

Identify me

I have to go for my passport identity interview tomorrow. I have managed so far to go my whole adult life without venturing out of the country, but am due to visit Barcelona with my friends in September. I thought that having my passport photos taken was traumatic enough, but now I have to undergo a half hour grilling to prove I am who I say I am. The bizarre thing is that I don't have to take anything with me- no driving licence, no utility bills etc- so I am slightly unsure how they are planning to prove my identity. We shall see tomorrow.

Feeling sorry for myself

Why is it that as soon as you get some time off work, your body decides to pack up on you? I've got a stinking cold and am feeling miserable- not so much because I feel rotten, but more so because it's made me waste a day of my annual leave doing absolutely nothing. Grrrr, I am not impressed. Did eat some chocolate which cheered me up somewhat but now I feel sick too. I am determined to feel better tomorrow, I WILL NOT BE ILL....and, no, it is not swine flu.

Coincidence?...

We have our first case of swine flu in Stoke-on-Trent. Funny how it has broken out just after my new car arrived from Mexico....

Fancy making a mint?

I don't suppose you usually look too closely at the coins in your pocket. It may well be worth your while to do so. The Royal Mint have manufactured 200 000 new 20p coins without the date stamp on them and are now recalling them all, offering £50 for each one returned! Get checking your pockets!

It's way too hot....

I'm not a lover of high temperatures. Having spent an uncomfortably warm weekend at work, you would think I would be keen to keep cool on my day off. No. Instead I have spent all afternoon baking in a kitchen that has now reached temperatures equating those of a sauna. What's more, I won't even have the pleasure of eating my wonderful cakes as they are for our summer fair at the weekend. I did get to lick round one or two mixing bowls though and now feel a little sick! I think I would make someone a good wife. Any takers?

By the way....

....did I mention, I've had a new car!

Death of the cassette tape

I have collected my new car today. I successfully managed to contain my excitement over the last week but now I am like a big kid at Christmas! I think I may just leave it on the drive to look at and commute using public transport so as to avoid dirt, scratches and dastardly children trying to climb over it (I am sure that is how my old car got a dent on its bonnet). Or maybe not.
I have also finally entered the technological world by having an integral iPod dock; no longer will I be playing compilation cassettes on my car stereo. I love my iPod but I will miss playing some of my old indie classics that were copied from 7" singles (yes, I am afraid I am a vinyl junkie). Must search around for some of them on iTunes, though I fear some may just be too obscure.
I'll leave you with a couple of photos of my Beetle.

Bug alert...

After expecting a wait of six months for my new car, my Beetle is ready and waiting for me!!! I am sooooo excited. Can't quite work out why it has arrived four months earlier than estimated- hope they haven't forgotten to put the engine in!

At the car wash..

...or not. Got up this morning, earlier than I would have liked, to go to a car wash that had been organised to raise money for the Playground. Arrived at my destination after a horrible journey along the A50 (I hate that road) in the pouring rain to find out it had been cancelled. So now I am fluctuating between being cross that I missed out on a Sunday morning lie-in and relieved that I haven't had to spend four hours cleaning cars!

More training

I seem to have done more than my fair share of training recently, some of it good (the day's training and half-day seminar I attended on autism were both excellent), some of it not so good and some just plain boring. Yesterday's course fell into the latter category. Health and Safety must be the most tedious topic in existence- the most interesting part of the day was the test at the end (or exam as the trainer liked to call it) and that only took ten minutes. I was also slightly unnerved by the somewhat extreme sweatiness and laboured breathing of the trainer, I was concerned at one point that we may have to put our First Aid skills into practice! His face was absolutely pouring with perspiration and I found myself willing him not to drip all over me as he was handing out paperwork- not pleasant.

Something for the weekend

I'm glad it's finally the weekend. It's been a long and hectic couple of weeks at work and I am in need of a couple of lie-ins! Just wish I didn't have to spend half of my first day off doing housework.
The postman brought me presents this morning. My Sarah Waters novel has arrived along with the Fleet Foxes album which I have been meaning to buy for a while. I also had a nice parcel of new clothes arrive- knowing me though, most of those will probably end up being returned!
No plan for the rest of the afternoon, but am out tonight with friends.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I've been on an equality and diversity training course today. It wasn't bad but I can't say I learned an awful lot, except for how annoying and narrow-minded some people are (but then that isn't much of a surprise either). I won't bore you with all the details, but my favourite moment of the day was when one women said "I don't understand why you can't call someone a Paki- isn't it the same as calling someone Scottish?". Need I say any more?.....

I'm back...

I appear to have failed to post anything new for the last week- being busy at work and not having anything particulary noteworthy to write about (with a bit of laziness thrown in for good measure) are my excuses. I am still busy at work and still have nothing of note to post but am feeling a little less lazy so I thought I would take the opportunity to have a bit of a waffle!
Having worked all weekend (not nice in all this heat, yuk) I had a day off yesterday- yes, a WHOLE day! So what did I do with myself? I thought I'd pay a visit to that hole of a town called Hanley. Not the most pleasant of locations, but it does have book shops. I managed to buy four books and only spend 95p which I thought was a success- three novels by Kazuo Ishiguro (they were on offer!) and a David Lodge novel. Thank you Adam for the book tokens! I also have the latest Sarah Waters novel on its way to me in the post so, all in all, a good book week.
My real purpose for going out was actually to get my passport photos done. Well, that was fun, especially for someone who hates having their photo taken. At least I can send off for my passport now, and hope that it arrives by September!

Car troubles

I've had a new lamda probe fitted...or, at least, my car has! What, you may ask, is a lamda probe? Well, for those of you who don't know, it is attached to your exhaust and monitors fuel emissions. I learned something new there! More importantly, it cost me £235 to have it replaced- I think I've been had. At least my car got a complimentary valet...perhaps the real reason for the expense was that my car was so dirty!

Bank Holiday frolics

We went on our customary bank holiday jaunt to Manchester yesterday. I wouldn't like to say that we are at all predictable in our choice of destination, but this has been at least the sixth year running that we have whiled away our time in this fashion. Not that I am complaining, I had a great time. We just need to hone our decision-making skills over eating establishments before we spend five days away together in Barcelona later this year or we may well come back not speaking!

Summer's here!

I've been sitting out in the garden reading my book. I am not a lover of the sun, but it is beautiful today- about time. We're having a barbecue later, which is usually a sure fire way of ensuring it rains!

I'm reading Haruki Murakami's 'Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'- it's very good, if a little bizarre, but then his books are often a little surreal. I've been a fan since reading 'Norwegian Wood'.

Thought I'd add a couple of photos of the garden!

They're back!

Our foxes at work are back again this year! They are nowhere near as tame as they used to be so we hardly ever see them but they are definitely about. Here are some photos from our previous fox families.

The good old Staffordshire oatcake

Are they not one of the best foods available? Lunch is calling me and I think oatcakes with cheese it will be...and not the small biscuit type of oatcake, the proper Staffordshire kind. Mmmm.

Agony Aren't

More troubles to sort last night, this time teenage relationship problems...and they think I have the necessary skills and experience to offer them advice?! They went away happy though so perhaps that re-training isn't out of the question after all.

Well, this is going well....

It would seem that my capacity for waffling isn't as endless as I thought! Having said that, my day has been fairly mind-numbing, the highlight being buying a new vacuum cleaner for work- yes, it's been that tedious. We bought the female version of a Henry (who did us proud at university- or was that George?), a Hetty, purely out of devilment as it is pink with eyelashes and we thought it would be amusing to watch our male staff members using it. I said it had been a boring day.
Aside from purchasing vacuum cleaners, I seem to have attracted yet another stream of troubled people who wish to use me as an alternative to ringing the Samaritans. What is it about me that says, "Please ring me and tell me all your problems"?- perhaps I should retrain as a counsellor. Or not.

Here goes...

Well, I've finally got round to starting a blog. Not sure yet what form my blog will take, we'll just go with the flow. For one who has an endless capacity for waffling, I find putting things down on paper quite difficult, so it may take me a while to get into this. Time will tell.