World Fair Trade Day

Buying Fair Trade is much easier these days after the major supermarkets are on board, so here is a little selection from last week's shopping. Yes, I really do like bananas like that!

Yes, I really do like bananas like that!

Motivation

So, what keeps me going? I work hard because I do a job I love. Teaching has many challenges, more and more red tape these days, but if you teach a subject you are passionate about, as I do, you can balance that. I do get bogged down this time of year with 500+ reports to write and hoping I have prepared sufficiently the children for their exams, but I get to sing and play the piano every day, share my love and enthusiasm for music, hear children perform their own compositions, and am still recognised in the street and warmly greeted my past pupils (and, scarily, teach their daughters too) so I must be doing something right!

Our International Evening

I play hard, too. I love being in an orchestra or choir, with my own little bit of the jigsaw. I enjoy the challenge of learning new music and rehearsing, and the thrill of performing in a beautiful church for the concert.

All Saints church, Putney Common, with its wonderful Pre-Raphaelite windows by Burne-Jones, where we have many of our orchestral concerts.

Our little house in the West country is our most recent motivation. There is such a long way to go, and we face the prospect of planning applications, jumping through building regulations' hoops, dust, rubble and noise, but the prospect of a perfect getaway makes it all worthwhile.

And, ultimately, a long and happy retirement!

As ever, I say to myself every morning, "Don't worry, be happy!"

Local History Month - talk about your local area

Hounslow is near to Heathrow, and although close, we are circled by planes rather than have them directly overhead. We have Hounslow Heath on our doorstep, once frequented by the dastardly Dick Turpin, and now 200 acres of Nature Reserve. The Great West Road was the main route out to Bath, along Roman roads and Ley-lines.

We also have a barracks, now for the Welsh Guards, established in the 1790s when the threat of a French invasion was imminent.

We also have a fine hexagaonal Art Deco tube station, built in 1931, designed by the architects Stanley Heaps and Charles Holden, with a wooden panelled ticket office by Basil Ionides. It still has all the original tiling as well. It was the end of Piccadilly Line until the early 1970s, when the line was extended out to the airport.

Gadgets - What are you must haves? Dream gadgets? Or what makes your life easier?

I must confess to being a bit of a Luddite with regard to 'modern technology'! Having said that, I love my iPad, and wouldn't be without it, as I use it every day. Hello Kitty keeps it dust-free.

I don't have an iPod or MP3 player; as a life-long musician I have one hard-wired in my head, and can recall any music where and when I like. I am a very recent convert to the iPhone, having inherited Sean's when he upgraded. Before that I was perfectly happy with my ancient pink Sony Ericsson flip phone. This takes better pictures, though, and it is handy to be able to check email etc. on the go. Don't you love the cover?!

In the kitchen, I rely on my trusty soup maker, a wedding present from Glinda, whose life was transformed by hers. It's like using a kettle, really. Fill her up with chopped vegetables and stock, decide on smooth or chunky texture and switch her on. 30 minutes later, tasty and healthy soup for dinner!

And for my daily smoothie, a glass jug blender. My third one in about 4 years, though, perhaps I need an industrial one!

Passion Projects

In a parallel universe where I have won the lottery or come into a large inheritance, I would have a little tea shop to serve tea and cake and preserves, and sell little sewn, beaded and knitted treats, all made by my fair hand.

A girl can dream,  can't she?!

What would you do in an ideal world? 

Weekend Morning Routine

My weekend morning routine depends on where we are. If we're at home in London on a Saturday, it's the daily smoothie first thing, then a leisurely breakfast watching James Martin's Saturday Kitchen. Then plan for the day, a quick visit to the charity shop treasurehunting, a rehearsal for a concert that evening, into town for a museum, gallery, mooch about.

Sunday, smoothie, then church, then a late breakfast. Enjoy the Grand Prix if it's a race day, hoping that the McLarens do well, or a little blogging, knitting, stitching or card making. I try not to do any school work at the weekend, but at exam or report time I sometimes have to break this rule.

If we are in our little house in the West Country, as we were this weekend it's up early to attack the garden! We are clearing the undergrowth of brambles as much as we can, so we can see what we have. Apple trees, berries, many trees, rhododendrons, camelias, honeysuckle, primroses, bluebells........ 200 metres of it! And the last section is woodland where deer roam! It feels like a fairytale place.

About a third of the way down .......

Still a long way to go, but we feel we have made a god start; at least we don't have to fight our way through the thorns.

Five Favourite Posts

Apologies for the delay posting and glut of posts over the next couple of days. We were in Wiltshire for the long weekend without television, internet or technology, which was blissful, but put paid to my blogging every day in May.

For this post, we are asked to pick out five favourite posts from our blog, I'll choose one from each year. Tough choice, but here goes:

An early one, from November 2010:

Teddy Axtell goes to school

It was "Bring your teddy to school day" last Friday, so Teddy Axtell came to school with me, and was by far the most mature student.  He was kept busy in my classroom entertaining the children with his musical skills. We raised about £500 for Children in Need, which was a great effort.

Bravo, Teddy! Your musical skills were much appreciated!

A creative one, from August 2011:

Cool Britannia

I've been collecting red. white and blue fabrics from various sources, mostly given to me, or liberated from its fate as landfill.

So today this:

    

became this!

In celebration of my favourite colour, from April 2012:

In the Pink

Of course, I adore pink, and the wonderful  Radio Days on Lower Marsh, on the way to Waterloo Station, (wherein I only trust myself to window-shop, for obvious reasons!) has the most gorgeous dolly pink window display! Check out the bath skirt and the pink telephone! The ultimate in glamorous pampering!

This one of something I love doing to preserve the summer for the colder weather from August 2013:

Hope you like jamming too!

Making the most of a glut of soft fruits in the greengrocers, I had a good jam session!

Strawberry 

 

Nectarine and blueberry
 

Some as gifts, some for us when the weather is chilly, for a memory of this hot summer.

I am off for an Antipodean adventure to visit my sister and family - see you in a couple of weeks!

And a 'lucky finds' one from this January:

More lucky finds

Back at school a week now, so I am a bit behind on the blogging front, both active and passive, but time to catch up this evening. I took my Urban Scholars to a Study Day at Brunel University on Saturday and whilst they were hard at work on a Forensic Science Murder Mystery Challenge I snuck into Uxbridge to have a look at what treats the charity shops had to offer. I wasn't disappointed!

This rather lovely sugar bowl with gilding will complement some other gold trimmed cups, saucers and plates I already have. Bargain at £1.50!

And this great old-school satchel! I have been looking for one for ages without the £50+ price tag! £9.99!

 

Thankyou, Oxfam!

I hope you enjoyed my selection!