It was strange coming home to an empty house today. My beloved had gone to the funeral of an old colleague in Tunbridge Wells and wouldn't be back until about 7pm-ish.
I watched Wimbledon alone and saw my Roger beaten in 5 sets by Jo-Wilfried. J-W Tsonga is a fantastic player when he's on the boil and it took him 2 sets to warm up and then it was bham-bham - Roger tried but ... I also wanted Tomic to win against Djokovic - we saw him live last week and he's young and new but it wasn't to be. Then Lopez v Murray. It's assumed that because he and I are both British that I will automatically support him in tennis, but Murray hasn't commanded that yet. He's too whiney - I'm tired, my leg hurts and on and on. Grow up and stop whingeing. I got all three wrong, just as well I didn't put any money on them. I didn't see the Nadal quarter final but that was predictable - how could someone with a name like Mardy Fish do well? It just sounds like an insult.
I got a call from my beloved to pick him up from the station. The funeral had gone well: it was a non-religious civil ceremony with a professional celebrant who had conducted the proceedings with dignity and empathy. It was a good farewell.
He wasn't very hungry so around 8pm-ish we just had beans on toast with a fried egg - comfort food.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Monday 27 June
A huge intake today of 90. Our biggest room can only take 40 at a squeeze so new students were scattered around school being tested and inducted. Temperatures soared but I managed to grab a fan which I kept on me for the whole morning - some of the students were barely dressed in extra short shorts and strappy tops so they looked pretty cool, but I'm 'properly' attired so need all the help I can get. The timetable has changed (again) and I have lessons Monday afternoons now too. These are the students I need to write reports on (due today but late, oh dear) but they're generally a pretty good group and remarks like 'needs to maintain his/her steady progress' are true - unfortunately it's so much easier to write reports on obviously 'bad' students.
Saturday's The Independent has an article on camping in people's back gardens. The journalist walked around the so-called 'Capital Ring' around London, passing very close to us and then camped overnight in a back garden in Crystal Palace. He wrote about the people he stayed with, the food he ate and the route but unfortunately didn't say anything about the equipment he carried. How much did it weigh? What sort of tent? Airbed? etc.
I had a look at the website campinmygarden.com and they still only have a few people signed up around the country. They give general advice to would-be landlords including
Saturday's The Independent has an article on camping in people's back gardens. The journalist walked around the so-called 'Capital Ring' around London, passing very close to us and then camped overnight in a back garden in Crystal Palace. He wrote about the people he stayed with, the food he ate and the route but unfortunately didn't say anything about the equipment he carried. How much did it weigh? What sort of tent? Airbed? etc.
I had a look at the website campinmygarden.com and they still only have a few people signed up around the country. They give general advice to would-be landlords including
"Contacting your council is usually unwise: Council's are not generally interested, except when being paid, yet they will exclude liability for anything said even if in error and will in fact be looking to find fault and enforce against anything it might find on site, which may have no connection with the matter of your query e.g. argue some other feature is unlawful like an extension, outbuilding, decking or boundary feature."I wonder how long it'll be before a local council takes exception to this? The website's advertising for more back gardens for the the 2012 Olympics. If we were stay in London next year ... actually we probably won't do that!
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Saturday 25 June
The to-do list on the back of the envelope in the kitchen is as long as my arm. A combination of a late night followed by a bit of a lie-in and then watching tennis meant that somehow I managed to ignore it. Report writing, cleaning and studying will have to wait until tomorrow.
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Friday 24 June
Two of the boys are still undecided about the topic of their presentation. One of them giggled and told me that the subject they wanted would be too controversial: Bin Laden. I reassured them that if that was what they wanted, then it would be an excellent idea. BUT, they needed to be sure what the focus was. We don't want a description, just regurgitating wikipedia, it needs to be an analysis and use a variety of sources.
We talked about body language and then each of them had to stand at the front and give an introduction with peer feedback. Giving an opinion is difficult for most of them as their cultures don't encourage young'uns saying what they like. I also gave the class a vocabulary test. It was all vocab that's come up over the last 2 weeks but they didn't do too well so we ended up with them looking up the words on online dictionaries and comparing the definitions. Online dictionaries are very useful as you can hear pronunciation as well.
Tonight was the quarterly reunion with old colleagues. It's a good way to keep in touch and even before retirement we used to make sure we attended, particularly when we were on homeleave. It's not unusual to meet up with someone you haven't seen for 20-30 years and people had flown in from all over the world. It was particularly poignant as one of the regulars died last week and there were a number of eulogies before we toasted 'absent friends'. A good evening.
We talked about body language and then each of them had to stand at the front and give an introduction with peer feedback. Giving an opinion is difficult for most of them as their cultures don't encourage young'uns saying what they like. I also gave the class a vocabulary test. It was all vocab that's come up over the last 2 weeks but they didn't do too well so we ended up with them looking up the words on online dictionaries and comparing the definitions. Online dictionaries are very useful as you can hear pronunciation as well.
Tonight was the quarterly reunion with old colleagues. It's a good way to keep in touch and even before retirement we used to make sure we attended, particularly when we were on homeleave. It's not unusual to meet up with someone you haven't seen for 20-30 years and people had flown in from all over the world. It was particularly poignant as one of the regulars died last week and there were a number of eulogies before we toasted 'absent friends'. A good evening.
Friday, 24 June 2011
Thursday 23 June
I have to admit that I don't like U2 and this blog in the Guardian today made me howl with laughter. Apparently Bono's peahen has been causing a nuisance and is described as "a living, breathing Bono metaphor – squawking, preening, strutting around like it owns the place, and an irksome drain on civic resources funded by taxpayers other than itself". I may see some of their performance at Glastonbury tomorrow (if the BBC are showing it) but probably only to confirm to myself that I find them boring, pompous, etc.
Something that didn't make me howl with laughter was the parking ticket given for being 6 minutes over time. I'd gone to check out a new gym that's just opened and expected to only be a few minutes while my beloved went to see if the kitchen shop had a replacement jug for our cafetiere. Of course, the spiel in the gym went on and on, so I took much longer than expected and my beloved was waiting for me so, by this point, we went over the limit. Damn and blast, there goes £60 or £30 if we pay quick.
Something that didn't make me howl with laughter was the parking ticket given for being 6 minutes over time. I'd gone to check out a new gym that's just opened and expected to only be a few minutes while my beloved went to see if the kitchen shop had a replacement jug for our cafetiere. Of course, the spiel in the gym went on and on, so I took much longer than expected and my beloved was waiting for me so, by this point, we went over the limit. Damn and blast, there goes £60 or £30 if we pay quick.
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Wednesday 22 June
Could barely drag myself out of bed this morning. After two long days, I was feeling decidedly shattered. Summer school has started, so the buildings are teeming with students. Our long-termers need to be looked after very carefully now or they could end up feeling pushed around.
We're preparing for presentations but there were a few arguments about their topics. I've put them in pairs and mixed up nationalities, so they have to speak English together, and also mixed them up so they're not working with friends. They need to focus carefully and give a 10 minute academic presentation. Their initial ideas sound good, so the presentations should be interesting. I distributed the letters to them from the earlier group giving advice which was appreciated.
Dinner tonight was different. When I was a child, my mother used to make macaroni cheese but my beloved has always vehemently objected to the dish so I have never, ever made it and don't think I've eaten it for 30-odd years. Anyway, there was one of these 'easy, make it in 10 minutes' recipes so I decided to try it. The recipe called for grated courgette but I only used half the quantity as the thought made my beloved grimace but I did add gruyere and cheddar. Mmm. Well, we ate it but I don't think I'll bother again.
We're preparing for presentations but there were a few arguments about their topics. I've put them in pairs and mixed up nationalities, so they have to speak English together, and also mixed them up so they're not working with friends. They need to focus carefully and give a 10 minute academic presentation. Their initial ideas sound good, so the presentations should be interesting. I distributed the letters to them from the earlier group giving advice which was appreciated.
Dinner tonight was different. When I was a child, my mother used to make macaroni cheese but my beloved has always vehemently objected to the dish so I have never, ever made it and don't think I've eaten it for 30-odd years. Anyway, there was one of these 'easy, make it in 10 minutes' recipes so I decided to try it. The recipe called for grated courgette but I only used half the quantity as the thought made my beloved grimace but I did add gruyere and cheddar. Mmm. Well, we ate it but I don't think I'll bother again.
Tuesday 21 June
Another early morning. Mary arrived at 6.15 and wonderful dearly beloved drove us to the tram stop for our journey to Wimbledon. I was optimistic and wore a short-sleeve cotton shirt with a cardigan (umbrella in bag) but she was wearing a fleece, padded jacket and woolly socks and boots! The tram service is excellent, much faster than buses and way smoother than trains.
At Wimbledon we joined the queue, where they gave us a booklet on queuing (only in England!) and a queue ticket. Security was very strict, just like catching a plane, with x-ray machines and security arches, and thorough bag search. After 4 hours in the queue, we finally got our tickets into the ground and almost wished we hadn't. We tried to get onto any of the outside courts but the crush of people stopped us. We're both reasonably tall, with sharp elbows but after 2 hours ended up on Henman Hill with a glass of pimms, watching the big screen, and thinking that we could have stayed at home to see it on TV. Feeling revived, we set off again and managed to get seats for 4 matches (Haase v Riba, Lu v Robredo, Tomic v Davydenko, Czink v Stosur). This was the reason we were there: to see LIVE tennis.
The only time I've been to Wimbledon before was during the 80s and there were definitely fewer people then, which made the outer courts more accessible. We ended up enjoying ourselves today but vowing to buy seats in the show courts next time.
At Wimbledon we joined the queue, where they gave us a booklet on queuing (only in England!) and a queue ticket. Security was very strict, just like catching a plane, with x-ray machines and security arches, and thorough bag search. After 4 hours in the queue, we finally got our tickets into the ground and almost wished we hadn't. We tried to get onto any of the outside courts but the crush of people stopped us. We're both reasonably tall, with sharp elbows but after 2 hours ended up on Henman Hill with a glass of pimms, watching the big screen, and thinking that we could have stayed at home to see it on TV. Feeling revived, we set off again and managed to get seats for 4 matches (Haase v Riba, Lu v Robredo, Tomic v Davydenko, Czink v Stosur). This was the reason we were there: to see LIVE tennis.
The only time I've been to Wimbledon before was during the 80s and there were definitely fewer people then, which made the outer courts more accessible. We ended up enjoying ourselves today but vowing to buy seats in the show courts next time.
Monday 20 June
I was at the station by 7.30am - my beloved drove me there, saving about 10 minutes - then I pushed through the marching morons at Victoria Station to catch the 8.20 bus to Oxford. All the tutors spent the whole day in our subject groups and thrashed through the assessments and syllabus. From what was said, it sounded as though we've had the most serious pastoral problems and this is something that really needs to be addressed. Overall, it was worthwhile and only marred by the 'lunch' they gave us. There was a tray of all white bread sandwiches, with dodgy fillings like sweetcorn and tuna, no salad in them, and some pale tasteless quiches. My nightmare of a meal. There was a moment of hope when they brought out a glass bottle of water which I mistook for gin, but that was wishful thinking. Thankfully they had good coffee.
The wifi didn't work on board the bus on the return journey. Shame, my laptop suddenly felt very heavy now that I couldn't use it.
The wifi didn't work on board the bus on the return journey. Shame, my laptop suddenly felt very heavy now that I couldn't use it.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Sunday 19 June
I slightly shocked by beloved by announcing that I wanted to go shopping today. I've never particularly enjoyed window shopping and when I feel I need something new I prefer to go, look, buy, leave and not be sidetracked, ie if I want shoes, I don't want to be looking at coats. I also narrow it down further by only shopping for 2 hours - this is the amount of time you can get free at Sainsbury's by spending at least £5. This has the added attraction that Sainsbury's is the only place you can buy licorice tea and is also the only place that we buy doughnuts. I announced that I wanted new tops for school - cotton, short sleeve.
Anyway, all that went out the window when I bought a new sleeping bag. There's a camping shop that opened in the High Street about 4 months ago but they were having a closing down sale. This year I've been particularly cold when camping so I now have a 3 season bag, good down to -10C, at 45% discount. I also bought a top and a pair of sandals.
At home, I finally forced myself to finish off the exam marking. All of them did better than in the mock, in fact one of them was 21% higher. He failed the mock so it was obviously the kick he needed. My beloved checked my adding up and I'm so glad he did: I'd given one student an extra 10%.
Early to bed as I'm off to Oxford tomorrow morning. Tutors from the 3 schools are getting together - we don't have an agenda so I'm not sure if it's just reflections or something more substantial. Maybe they'll give us all a bonus, as my beloved suggested on Friday? Fat chance.
Anyway, all that went out the window when I bought a new sleeping bag. There's a camping shop that opened in the High Street about 4 months ago but they were having a closing down sale. This year I've been particularly cold when camping so I now have a 3 season bag, good down to -10C, at 45% discount. I also bought a top and a pair of sandals.
At home, I finally forced myself to finish off the exam marking. All of them did better than in the mock, in fact one of them was 21% higher. He failed the mock so it was obviously the kick he needed. My beloved checked my adding up and I'm so glad he did: I'd given one student an extra 10%.
Early to bed as I'm off to Oxford tomorrow morning. Tutors from the 3 schools are getting together - we don't have an agenda so I'm not sure if it's just reflections or something more substantial. Maybe they'll give us all a bonus, as my beloved suggested on Friday? Fat chance.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Saturday 18 June
A friend from 20 years ago has tracked me down on Facebook. We were good friends in Nigeria and spent lots of time together so it's good to catch up after losing touch for so long. I know a number of people who are adamant that Facebook is evil and will steal your soul, but as far as I can tell, the person posting is in control of what they publish, so the advice has to be: 'don't post anything that could come back and haunt you'. Personally, I like being contacted by old friends.It's Father's Day tomorrow and people are posting photos of their fathers. My Dad died in 1978 so none of my photos are digital. I wonder if I can manage to scan one?
A reply has come from the Advertising Standards Agency re Asia Pulp and Paper's advert calling large parts of Indonesia 'wasteland'. This is a company that's been called 'one of the most destructive companies on the planet'' but unfortunately, they won't take any action against APP.
"While I appreciate your point, we have to consider how consumers in general are likely to interpret an ad. In this case, while we note that there have been recent investigations into the business practices of APP, we consider that viewers are likely to interpret this ad as highlighting APP’s hopes and aspirations for their business rather than any direct claims relating to any culpability, or lack thereof, in creating these ‘wastelands’. On this basis, we consider that the ad is unlikely to mislead consumers to their detriment, in breach of our Code, and will not be taking any further action on this occasion."
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Friday 17 June
Need to mark exam, say goodbye to 2 groups and attend 'hello summer school' party. The exam went well and all students seem to have done better than in the mock. We had a lunch at Prezzo to say goodbye, which had one of the students in tears. We gave her a certificate and Amazon book token for her 100% attendance, which is an amazing feat for 9 months of school. She came in during the terrible snow, also when she had bad colds and generally felt homesick, so it was well-deserved.
For this evening's event we had to take a dish and a bottle, so my beloved made a peperonata salad - various sweet peppers, roasted with a dressing of olive oil, mustard and garlic with sultanas (yum). The idea was to have a barbecue at school for all staff, including partners and children. There's a really nice garden so the kids could run around but of course the weather's gone wintry with lashings of rain, so it was indoors and no grilled meats! The turnout was not particularly good which was a shame, but at least the principal turned up and I heard my beloved telling him that I deserved a bonus.
I'm getting interested in keeping bees. No planning permission is required and they need to face either south-east, south or south-west on level ground. We have a space under a tree at the end of the garden which could be ideal. According to various websites the best thing to do is 'join your local beekeepers club' so that should be my first stop. Also, I suppose we should check with the neighbours just in case they're allergic.
For this evening's event we had to take a dish and a bottle, so my beloved made a peperonata salad - various sweet peppers, roasted with a dressing of olive oil, mustard and garlic with sultanas (yum). The idea was to have a barbecue at school for all staff, including partners and children. There's a really nice garden so the kids could run around but of course the weather's gone wintry with lashings of rain, so it was indoors and no grilled meats! The turnout was not particularly good which was a shame, but at least the principal turned up and I heard my beloved telling him that I deserved a bonus.
I'm getting interested in keeping bees. No planning permission is required and they need to face either south-east, south or south-west on level ground. We have a space under a tree at the end of the garden which could be ideal. According to various websites the best thing to do is 'join your local beekeepers club' so that should be my first stop. Also, I suppose we should check with the neighbours just in case they're allergic.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Tuesday 14 June
Phew, it was hot on the tennis court this morning. Mary and I managed 2 sets - she beat me, but not before she'd whacked a ball at my head while I was bending over and then banged me on the shin with another shot! She was already winning too! This was on top of bruising my knuckles when rummaging through my sock drawer. I looked like I'd been in a fight. It was good though to run around a bit, although by the end of the second set we'd both had enough and were more than ready for lunch at the pub. Last week we sat in a different section without waitress service but today we took it easy and had them running around after us.
We made our plans for going to Wimbledon next week. It'll be an early start and tickets only for outside courts. If we wanted centre court, we'd need to camp overnight and we're not up for that. They have lots of rules: no credit or debit cards, cash only; only 1 bag per person which cannot have hard sides or be larger than a certain size, etc. I suspect some people in the past have been totally unreasonable and now they have to penalise everyone. Or maybe they're just awkward dinosaurs?
We made our plans for going to Wimbledon next week. It'll be an early start and tickets only for outside courts. If we wanted centre court, we'd need to camp overnight and we're not up for that. They have lots of rules: no credit or debit cards, cash only; only 1 bag per person which cannot have hard sides or be larger than a certain size, etc. I suspect some people in the past have been totally unreasonable and now they have to penalise everyone. Or maybe they're just awkward dinosaurs?
Monday, 13 June 2011
Monday 13 June
What a weekend! Friday night my beloved and I were on cooking duty so 11 of us had spag bog and garlic bread. This made a change from curry, which was beginning to be our signature dish, but I think that next time we'll be back to some sort of spicy dish.
It's a lovely setting at Teston by the river with a beautiful medieval bridge and on Saturday the weather wasn't too bad with reasonably strong winds, so lots of kites came out, although a few got caught up in trees and Great Ormond Street Hospital received donations. At dinner time we had a downpour but quite quickly the sun came out and there was a little rainbow.
I went to bed reasonably early as, for some reason, I felt tired (maybe it was the wine the night before?) and missed the unfortunate incident in the mess tent. A visitor, who was himself uninvited but appeared along with his friend who was related to one of our group, helped himself to our drinks and then disgraced himself by urinating inside our big tent. He was firmly thrown out but the next morning seemed to be smirking and, although he apologised to one or two people, certainly gave the impression that he was actually quite proud of himself. We were all very angry and hope never to see him again.
He quite spoiled Sunday - one of the most pleasurable things about camping with our friends is that everyone is easygoing and always ready with kind humour, but yesterday morning no-one seemed particularly easygoing and to add to the gloom, it wouldn't stop raining. Those who'd planned to stay on till Monday decided to pack up and leave rather than stay another day in the wet.
This morning my beloved put up one of the tents in the garage to dry it off and I was back at school for another intake. Only 8 today, with ages ranging from 17 to 47 and all eager to learn. I got home about 2pm and my beloved had set up the other other tent in the garden. The weather was really sunny - such a shame it wasn't like this yesterday.
It's a lovely setting at Teston by the river with a beautiful medieval bridge and on Saturday the weather wasn't too bad with reasonably strong winds, so lots of kites came out, although a few got caught up in trees and Great Ormond Street Hospital received donations. At dinner time we had a downpour but quite quickly the sun came out and there was a little rainbow.
I went to bed reasonably early as, for some reason, I felt tired (maybe it was the wine the night before?) and missed the unfortunate incident in the mess tent. A visitor, who was himself uninvited but appeared along with his friend who was related to one of our group, helped himself to our drinks and then disgraced himself by urinating inside our big tent. He was firmly thrown out but the next morning seemed to be smirking and, although he apologised to one or two people, certainly gave the impression that he was actually quite proud of himself. We were all very angry and hope never to see him again.
He quite spoiled Sunday - one of the most pleasurable things about camping with our friends is that everyone is easygoing and always ready with kind humour, but yesterday morning no-one seemed particularly easygoing and to add to the gloom, it wouldn't stop raining. Those who'd planned to stay on till Monday decided to pack up and leave rather than stay another day in the wet.
This morning my beloved put up one of the tents in the garage to dry it off and I was back at school for another intake. Only 8 today, with ages ranging from 17 to 47 and all eager to learn. I got home about 2pm and my beloved had set up the other other tent in the garden. The weather was really sunny - such a shame it wasn't like this yesterday.
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Thursday 9 June
I've just emailed a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency. I've been shouting at the TV in the mornings when an advert by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) has come on. They say that large areas of Indonesia are wasteland and so they, APP, are doing a good thing by planting trees. What they have neglected to mention is that these large areas of previously primary forest have been laid to waste by forest fires that can be traced back to their company. It's a type of propaganda but is so dishonest that it made my blood boil. I've seen first hand those areas in Kalimantan and it's heartbreaking. I wonder what will come of my complaint? Will they just fob me off with a standard reply or will they need further information?
I gave feedback on the mock exam. Some did very well but others - well, sometimes I just shake my head. One student finished in half the time yesterday and today was amazed that she'd not got a higher mark. What happened to CHECK YOUR WORK! Full of silly mistakes.
My beloved and I discussed our catering duties for tomorrow evening. I think we're all set and now he's done the shopping - good man. The forecast for the weekend is alternately dry and wet and nobody agrees with anyone else. Dry during the day would be good but we always have 'plan B'.
I gave feedback on the mock exam. Some did very well but others - well, sometimes I just shake my head. One student finished in half the time yesterday and today was amazed that she'd not got a higher mark. What happened to CHECK YOUR WORK! Full of silly mistakes.
My beloved and I discussed our catering duties for tomorrow evening. I think we're all set and now he's done the shopping - good man. The forecast for the weekend is alternately dry and wet and nobody agrees with anyone else. Dry during the day would be good but we always have 'plan B'.
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Wednesday 8 June
I read an article online today that made me laugh out loud with comments about weeing in buckets and asking the senior male of the family "Is it wise to go up that ladder holding that chainsaw whilst wearing only shorts and flipflops?"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/08/english-country-garden-compost-norfolk
My dearly beloved has produced some fabulous compost and even our neighbour who wears full makeup (including extra cupid lips) and marigolds when gardening, has complimented him on its crumbly quality. Wonder what she would think if she knew about his secret 'extra' ingredient?
A busy time this last month with an extra class but that finishes this week. Thankfully today one group went off to University of Kent to be shown around the campus so I didn't have 8 lessons on the trot. Amazing how much more energy I have. Still bashing the books but have slipped to 1 week behind my timetable for a September finish. Hope I can make that up during August when I should have more time.
I also saw in the news that Tom Daley's father had died at the age of 40 from cancer of the brain. Tom is still only 17 and he's the oldest of 3 brothers. So sad to lose a parent at such a young age. His father was also extremely supportive of him and had hoped to see the Olympics next year - Tom should get at least 1 gold - so it's likely to be an emotional time for the family. I was never much good at diving but used to be a bit of a swimmer when I was younger. There's something about the sound of a pool and watching swimming/diving on TV always brings it back. Last year we took advantage of British Gas's offer of 3 free swims and did laps at the local pool. It should cost £4.90 each a go, so we haven't bothered to keep going. In fact, exercise hasn't figured much in our lives recently - I'm sure the medical profession wouldn't be pleased.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/08/english-country-garden-compost-norfolk
My dearly beloved has produced some fabulous compost and even our neighbour who wears full makeup (including extra cupid lips) and marigolds when gardening, has complimented him on its crumbly quality. Wonder what she would think if she knew about his secret 'extra' ingredient?
A busy time this last month with an extra class but that finishes this week. Thankfully today one group went off to University of Kent to be shown around the campus so I didn't have 8 lessons on the trot. Amazing how much more energy I have. Still bashing the books but have slipped to 1 week behind my timetable for a September finish. Hope I can make that up during August when I should have more time.
I also saw in the news that Tom Daley's father had died at the age of 40 from cancer of the brain. Tom is still only 17 and he's the oldest of 3 brothers. So sad to lose a parent at such a young age. His father was also extremely supportive of him and had hoped to see the Olympics next year - Tom should get at least 1 gold - so it's likely to be an emotional time for the family. I was never much good at diving but used to be a bit of a swimmer when I was younger. There's something about the sound of a pool and watching swimming/diving on TV always brings it back. Last year we took advantage of British Gas's offer of 3 free swims and did laps at the local pool. It should cost £4.90 each a go, so we haven't bothered to keep going. In fact, exercise hasn't figured much in our lives recently - I'm sure the medical profession wouldn't be pleased.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)