Brittish summer...well, it's rained. Rained and rained some more!
Even the slugs seem a bit waterlogged and are creeping their slime filled way into the house.
Trails of glistening slug gloop accross the floor, over discarded jumpers, trainers and socks.
Cabbage gorged they seek shelter from the persistant rain.
They could have had it worse, were they an Indian slug....washed away in monsoon rains....or New Orlean slugs exhorted to leave their homes for higher dryer lands.
Strange that slugs, so universally slimey can be treated so differently.
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Back to school soon as in imminently
Hooray!
The school holls are so very nearly over.
Shirts, blouses, trousers, socks, jumpers, skirt, trainers, shoes....for 6 children.
Mega pounds.
Rucksacks, pencils, pens, calculators......don't need one of them to know there's no money left for lunch.
Listen kids it's going to cost £75.00 per week for you lot to have lunch in school....so guess what you are going to have packed lunch.
Much cheaper but one hell of a lot of work. I've worked out that if i get up half an hour earlier i can provide the kids with a balanced meal for half the price.
The kids are crestfallen....salad,fruite,rice, bread, yoghurt and the occasional chocci biscuit or even a packet of crisps.
YUKK!! YucK!
The 6th formers, and Beth, oh how nice they had planned to be to Beth, who would always go to the shop accross the road and get them crisps, fizzy pop and SWEETS.
Will we have money for drinks said little D?
What's wrong with corporation pop? I said.
Water from the tap?.....eh nothing! They said a little feebly.
We might not pay tuition fees but the state system of education in Britain seems to cost more and more each year.
Computers, printers and the more expensive ink, memory sticks, musical instruments and hockey sticks, bats, balls, trainers, shorts and special socks and shirts to tell which school you belong to.
You want to do geography GCSE?
Can you afford to send yor child on a course, that's a necessary part of the examination?
£93.00
It was a struggle for us and we are quite well off. How can a working class or especially a child from a non working family do geography?
Cover your books with film to keep them safe from being kicked around and getting wet, pens, pencils, rubbers, rulers, calculators.
We say education is for all..equal opportunity so long as you can afford to cover your books.
The school holls are so very nearly over.
Shirts, blouses, trousers, socks, jumpers, skirt, trainers, shoes....for 6 children.
Mega pounds.
Rucksacks, pencils, pens, calculators......don't need one of them to know there's no money left for lunch.
Listen kids it's going to cost £75.00 per week for you lot to have lunch in school....so guess what you are going to have packed lunch.
Much cheaper but one hell of a lot of work. I've worked out that if i get up half an hour earlier i can provide the kids with a balanced meal for half the price.
The kids are crestfallen....salad,fruite,rice, bread, yoghurt and the occasional chocci biscuit or even a packet of crisps.
YUKK!! YucK!
The 6th formers, and Beth, oh how nice they had planned to be to Beth, who would always go to the shop accross the road and get them crisps, fizzy pop and SWEETS.
Will we have money for drinks said little D?
What's wrong with corporation pop? I said.
Water from the tap?.....eh nothing! They said a little feebly.
We might not pay tuition fees but the state system of education in Britain seems to cost more and more each year.
Computers, printers and the more expensive ink, memory sticks, musical instruments and hockey sticks, bats, balls, trainers, shorts and special socks and shirts to tell which school you belong to.
You want to do geography GCSE?
Can you afford to send yor child on a course, that's a necessary part of the examination?
£93.00
It was a struggle for us and we are quite well off. How can a working class or especially a child from a non working family do geography?
Cover your books with film to keep them safe from being kicked around and getting wet, pens, pencils, rubbers, rulers, calculators.
We say education is for all..equal opportunity so long as you can afford to cover your books.
Friday, 22 August 2008
A Different Perspective
I love Brittany and our little house, the Intermarche, Le Scorff where you can get a 4 course lunch with wine for €10.50, sneaking off to a cabin that the kids don't know about with mr. H on the ferry for a bit of us time.
I love lots of things, even home in Wales, very wet Wales.
Several kids down and we think we are in for a quiet,ease yourself into the usual life time.....Funny how fate thinks differently.
Mam has had a really big stroke, she is out of hospital and back home. My eldest sister has moved in with her, which has involved getting a skip and junking a lot of mams stuff.
No 2 sis phones and says I should visit soon, as in now, mam is very funny and is a lot of fun at the moment.
I hear the anguish that she thinks is buried...mam has needed oxygen several times in the night, her 97 yr old heart is struggling to pump.
I steel myself and phone home.
"Ello luv...'s Glooooria. Yur muthers under the dryer...D'y'uh wan me te give er a message?"
Now, do I want to be all Barry or shall I be posh?
I decide that my parents have shelled out on elocution lessons and it would be disrespectful not to put them to good use.
"Yes please Gloria. Could you inform mam that i will visit on Thursday afternoon"
"Rightyo, luv. Yer mams gonna luv tha"
Typical I thought, she can't possibly die with a bad hair do!
Mams fine, well she ate a whole plate of sausage and chips followed by Auntie Bettys' fruit cake. Of course she had said she couldn't eat a thing....but that's part of the game isn't it?
It's my nephew's wedding next Friday...I've bet Mr. H a tenner that's when she'll snuff it. She can't abide anyone else being the centre of attention....and why should she?
97 is a good old age and she is old labour so she won't be waiting for a telegram from the queen.....?
Had yet another visit from big D's social worker....my, is she keen.
Big D seeing mam and dad at last. The previous visit had been cancelled because they didn't have the bus fair.
His mam was very upset as her dog had died, the windows had been smashed in and the television arial cut.
The social worker ooohed..... and i thought, dad has pissed off the neighbours again then. Wonder where they will move to next?
The phone has tintinabulated quite alot since we've been home...and i have let it sing.
Sadly others have been more curious and answered it's pervasive call.
The estate agent called....thought they were a thing of the past.
Viewing on Sunday morning...people from Hampshire (lots of dosh) their house has sold and they are looking for our sort of propeerty (semi derelict)
Actually less of the semi as we are definately detached!
Bugger! Bugger, Bugger!
Last viewing back in April....which means the house has not had a proper, thorough tidy through since then....and it's rained a lot and we've been away for a month so the grass outside is up to my neck!
Why oh why didn't I learn from my mother and follow everyone else in their desire for housework?
Why have we not employed a gardener?
...Oooops I know the answer to that one...because we'd rather spend the money indulging ourselves in France!
Ok. Plan 1....Do the job properly.
Plan 2....Panic.
Plan 3....Strim the hay...put junk in the trailer and bag up everything else in the house and shove it in the van, hoover and dust (if I can remember how)
We opt for plan 4....go to the Indian for a meal, get bladdered and go to bed!
I love lots of things, even home in Wales, very wet Wales.
Several kids down and we think we are in for a quiet,ease yourself into the usual life time.....Funny how fate thinks differently.
Mam has had a really big stroke, she is out of hospital and back home. My eldest sister has moved in with her, which has involved getting a skip and junking a lot of mams stuff.
No 2 sis phones and says I should visit soon, as in now, mam is very funny and is a lot of fun at the moment.
I hear the anguish that she thinks is buried...mam has needed oxygen several times in the night, her 97 yr old heart is struggling to pump.
I steel myself and phone home.
"Ello luv...'s Glooooria. Yur muthers under the dryer...D'y'uh wan me te give er a message?"
Now, do I want to be all Barry or shall I be posh?
I decide that my parents have shelled out on elocution lessons and it would be disrespectful not to put them to good use.
"Yes please Gloria. Could you inform mam that i will visit on Thursday afternoon"
"Rightyo, luv. Yer mams gonna luv tha"
Typical I thought, she can't possibly die with a bad hair do!
Mams fine, well she ate a whole plate of sausage and chips followed by Auntie Bettys' fruit cake. Of course she had said she couldn't eat a thing....but that's part of the game isn't it?
It's my nephew's wedding next Friday...I've bet Mr. H a tenner that's when she'll snuff it. She can't abide anyone else being the centre of attention....and why should she?
97 is a good old age and she is old labour so she won't be waiting for a telegram from the queen.....?
Had yet another visit from big D's social worker....my, is she keen.
Big D seeing mam and dad at last. The previous visit had been cancelled because they didn't have the bus fair.
His mam was very upset as her dog had died, the windows had been smashed in and the television arial cut.
The social worker ooohed..... and i thought, dad has pissed off the neighbours again then. Wonder where they will move to next?
The phone has tintinabulated quite alot since we've been home...and i have let it sing.
Sadly others have been more curious and answered it's pervasive call.
The estate agent called....thought they were a thing of the past.
Viewing on Sunday morning...people from Hampshire (lots of dosh) their house has sold and they are looking for our sort of propeerty (semi derelict)
Actually less of the semi as we are definately detached!
Bugger! Bugger, Bugger!
Last viewing back in April....which means the house has not had a proper, thorough tidy through since then....and it's rained a lot and we've been away for a month so the grass outside is up to my neck!
Why oh why didn't I learn from my mother and follow everyone else in their desire for housework?
Why have we not employed a gardener?
...Oooops I know the answer to that one...because we'd rather spend the money indulging ourselves in France!
Ok. Plan 1....Do the job properly.
Plan 2....Panic.
Plan 3....Strim the hay...put junk in the trailer and bag up everything else in the house and shove it in the van, hoover and dust (if I can remember how)
We opt for plan 4....go to the Indian for a meal, get bladdered and go to bed!
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