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It has been a beautiful breezy and sunny day made all the more special by a visit from Vytas . He was on his way to his annual karate club camp which takes place only a few miles from here. He takes his karate seriously and it does help to keep all 6ft something of him fit. He doesn't have any plans to pop over for the rest of the week because it is supposed to be like a retreat where they can immerse themselves in karate including meditation. ( I said he takes it seriously.) But he and his new girlfriend will be down to visit in a few weeks. That's something to look forward to. He got to meet Speedy who enjoys a little tussle though he is not encouraged to use his teeth on us for while being cute in a kitten it is not so cute when an adult cat still tries to sink its fangs into you. (Am I referring to Sherlock?) Speedy had another group of visitors earlier in the day when Jack came round with a coterie of 4 girls to see the new kitty. He also brought the news that the hound...

Once again we had to cancel Sports Day due to a wet field and a very wet afternoon. It rained on and off all day with as usual the heaviest rain just as we were sending the children home. This was the view coming down the drive at 6.00 this evening with the distant valleys shrouded in rain. Romantic but damp. It's a bit depressing to think that tomorrow is the longest day and after that the nights will be drawing in. So instead let's cheer ourselves up with some photos from Romas and Vicky's recent trip to Jamaica. I think any depression would lift immediately I set foot on such a beach, or indeed lay back and watched that lovely sky. They went out and about visiting Vicky's friends as Vicky has spent quite a lot of time in Jamaica over the years. And one of Romas' favourite pastimes, enjoying good food.  Romas also got his diving qualification, lucky lad.

I was having a fairly good day, despite Windows 2007 blocking my attempts to get on with school work and also being unable to add comments to other blogs (5 attempts to log in before I gave up) but then Linas rang. Our middle son is not having a rosy life at the moment. 2 years after graduating with a good IT degree he has only had 3 months of internship work and for the rest of the time has been living hand to mouth on state benefits (and bank of mum). Today he phoned to say that his motorbike has been stolen and then there was a second phone call to say that he only had third party insurance and not for theft. Peter is absolutely furious as he advised him to make sure he had insurance for theft and now he has lost everything. I just feel so sad that someone who is penniless has now lost his only method of transport, how will he get to work if he ever finds a job? Peter is adamant that we won't bail him out again but it breaks my heart to think of how Linas is feeling.

After a chilly morning the sun shone brightly for the rest of the day. The conditions were perfect for the children to investigate shadows in the playground. Armed with chalk they drew round their own shadow creations and any other shadows they could find. This was a welcome relief after an intense morning (for half the class) of sitting their maths SATs test. I've already marked their papers and they have done better than I expected. All the extra maths we have been doing must have done some good. Let's hope the children who take the Level 2 test do as well. Tomorrow we are off to the local tennis centre for a schools' tennis activity morning. I rushed home early from work today because Vicky and Romas were on their way down to stay with us. For once I cooked a meal (Peter is the cook these days), and we enjoyed a roast chicken with new potatoes and broccoli. Vicky made me some low calorie muffins with banana and yogurt and I'll have one with my bedtime hot drink...

It's Vytas ' birthday, he's 25 today and hopefully celebrating with friends up in Leicester. (My family only seem to ring when they want something ) Facebook is a great way for me to at least hear what my boys ( Vytas & Romas ) are up to and I'm also a photo stealer. If they get tagged in someone else's album I copy the photo to a folder on my pc . I get some interesting photos that way. Vytas usually appears in SK events as he is still a keen member of River's Regt . Here he is casually marching along with a pike on his shoulder and his morion at a rakish angle for some reason. Currently he is still working on his PhD though I'm not sure how long the funding will last. With so many cutbacks due to the economic climate I can only hope that he will be able to complete his PhD .

All is quiet at home, very, very quiet. For me this is the sad part of the holiday knowing that it will be months before I see my boys again. Indeed last year it was Easter until I saw Romas and August before Vytas returned home. Linas is that much closer and does come back for the occasional week-end. But today the house is almost silent, even Peter has gone into town to get some things from the DIY store. I started taking down the cards yesterday (recycled into shopping list cards or next year's gift tags) and this morning I took down all the decorations. Before the boys left the tree was cut into burnable pieces and if I'm lucky the decorations will be soon packed away and back up in the loft. (Last year's tree decorations spent the whole year in a bag under a side table in the living room.) Yesterday's lack of post (when I was going to detail my New Year's resolutions), was due to a major pc disaster. I've had the parts for a pc upgrade sitting here fo...

Half of our visitors left today. Sam and Kate were driving Alex back down to PLymouth before heading home to Teweksbury and had gamely volunteered to take Linas down to Plymouth as well. I think that was before they realised just how much luggage Linas had with him. He had managed to carry an awful lot of luggage up on the train, after all you can't separate a man and his PC. It was an exercise in spatial logistics to get all the luggage in but with some bags sitting on the youngsters' laps and Milo the dog scheduled to be perched on Sam's lap it was all sorted. L-R, Linas , Vytas , Romas , me and Peter. After a chilly photo session, (a family tradition), we waved goodbye to the travellers and wished them a safe journey home. As usual our boys like to pose some action shots to show their true characters. The rest of the dismally gloomy afternoon is being spent with Vytas and Romas finishing off a wargame in the conservatory while I motivate myself for yet more ...

A quick stroll around the garden revealed the first flowers on the winter flowering jasmine that grows by the kitchen window. Soon the bare green stems will be covered with small yellow flowers that will brighten up the grey wall. The countryside was back to being damp and green as I headed off to the dentist in the morning. He's put a temporary filling over the broken one but the whole filling will have to be taken out and replaced, I fear for the little tooth that is left. No signs of the mysterious bump in my mouth now but I moaned on about the various aches that I still have after he 'dealt' with them 6 months ago so he took some x-rays. Being only the poor people's NHS dentist you don't get the results of the x-rays straight away. Instead they phone you if you need treatment or as in my case let you know at your next appointment. Naturally they don't do week-end appointments so the first appointment they could find to fit in with my work is in 2 weeks...

A sleepy wet day today. Outside it has rained and/or dripped the whole day long. No signs of normal water service returning. If it is simply due to ice in the pipes then it should soon be back to normal but if it is the pump that needs replacing then that will be another hefty bill. It seems strange to see the countryside in shades of green and brown after the pristine white of the last few weeks. However at least we have free access to the outside world which for me means a trip to the dentist tomorrow. A chipped filing needs repairing and a small bump in my mouth makes me think I've got another root infection. I'm taking immediate action because the last time this happened I ended up losing the tooth, and my patience with lying National health dentists. Finally today I've knuckled down to sorting out my school planning. I've printed off pages of plans sent to me by my colleagues and then sat there looking glumly at the overall week's plan wondering how I can fi...

We are now officially trapped in our valley. Well not really trapped as Peter is still able to get to the big wide world ( ie work) in his 4x4 but the boys and I failed to make our escape. It was much mistier today as we climbed up our hill. My little path along our part of the road is still clear and makes walking a lot easier but Paul obviously doesn't want any customers this week and has left the main part of the drive untouched. I was a little dubious when we got to the car but with the boys pushing from behind and offering advice on gears and revs ? I slowly inched my way out to the road. This was the drive that I had just made my way along, ...and this was the state of the back road. No way was I going to risk life and limb driving over that just for some shopping so I parked on the verge and we made our way back down again. Peter has access to shops on his way home and can pick up some things which he can then leave in my car for the boys to carry down tomorrow. The w...

This morning there was much checking of train delays and many emails & phone calls. First I checked the train delays, fine according to the information on the web. The Peter phoned to say he was at work and the word was out that the Tarka Line ( Exeter to Barnstaple ) was closed. I managed to get hold of Romas and advised him to delay until tomorrow. More phone calls to Linas and by mid-morning they were running one train every 2 1/2 hours so the boys decided to return to plan A. Latest update puts Linas at Exeter waiting for Romas as the trains from Stoke have been delayed. Have spoken to Peter who is waiting for an update on their arrival in Barnstaple . The weather has been the big news today with airports closed and many roads affected by snow and ice. The police have been advising people in the South-West not to drive unless absolutely necessary so I heeded their advice and had a day in our valley. After doing some hand washing of socks etc I walked over to our neigh...

No photos today as the only ones I took were of my class doing their stomp dance moves and I can't put their faces on my blog. They're really enjoying the stomp dancing. It's only my attempts to copy moves from the video but after learning a few steps and shapes I let them freestyle to some very heavy rock/stomp/Indian music. One of the most satisfying things for me is the way most of them put all their energy into the dances and are completely puffing and panting by the end. I like the way that stomp with its high energy actions and optional heavy music appeals to most of the children while giving them the opportunity to makes shapes at different levels, compose routines with linking movements and do partner or group work. All the objectives that might come from more traditional styles of modern dance. Let's face it , it's fun. After school was not fun as we (the teachers) all headed off to another local school for a 2 hour training session on the On-line Pupil Tr...

I am feeling quite flat this evening having come home to find an email from my cousin telling me that her dad had passed away. Even though this is something that will happen to us all it is always sad to loose a member of your family. I have no family members at all in this country (apart from Peter & the boys) but I have always kept in touch with my Canadian cousins and we still have fond memories of our visit to Canada nearly 30 years ago when we met most of my family members for the first time. Indeed one of the reasons for this blog is to keep far flung members of our family informed about the lives of the British branch. It seems almost trite to rattle on about my day at work so here is only a brief post. We went swimming and for once I remembered to take my camera so I can show what a (typically) grey day it has been. This was looking west from the New Bridge towards the sea. In the other direction can be seen the River Taw and the incredibly ugly council offices building...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROMAS . My baby is 21 today so I suppose I can't call him that any more. This year I've decided not to embarrass him with more cute baby pictures. But I still think he's cute anyway. He's grown up to be a sensible young man who enjoys his life as a student. He's studying a subject he enjoys, not quite sure what his future plans are (apart from successful musician) but he knows how to budget and is an adventurous cook so I don't have any worries about him looking after himself.. He's now in his 2 nd year studying music at Keele University (up north) and is the drummer in a band, The Dead Radio Society. They play electric/rock/folk, (I think) and play gigs most weekends. He's a very outdoors type of person and is here showing me around the vast woodlands that surround the campus. His other half is the lovely Vicky (also a student and musician) and he has even persuaded her to come along to Sealed Knot musters. Romas and his brother ar...

At last, the week-end. It's been remarkably warm today but mainly wet. During one of the brief sunny interludes I did some gardening! It was only dead heading the hanging baskets but at least I was outside. They're looking a bit straggly but still provide a cheery splash of colour. I've managed to get all my school planning done leaving tomorrow clear for .... housework, gardening, going for a walk ? I did spend some time emptying my mind doing more of my jigsaw puzzle. It's out in the conservatory which was nice and warm. Every now and then I had to stop to take out another butterfly which had come inside in the last few days and was now fluttering against the windows. Linas made a brief appearance today to collect a few more of his belongings and to see a friend. He had to buy a new motorbike in the week (yes, bank of mum again), as his scooter had come grinding to a halt , the crankshaft had gone and would have cost too much to fix. He's now the proud owner of...

and unfortunately a couple of pounds heavier, from last week that is. Although I tried really hard to watch what I ate last week eating salads or small portions the daily cake baking and large quantities of food to hand led to a lack of self control. I've decided that expecting someone to diet while preparing family meals is the equivalent of saying to an alcoholic "Well done for wanting to stop drinking and going to AA meetings but you still have to work behind the bar. After all you can just have soft drinks." I have eaten quite a bit of chocolate today which wasn't the best thing to do but a birthday comes but once a year. In lieu of the (yet again) non- existent birthday cake (the clue is in the name!) I also tucked into some of the blackcurrant crumble I made the other day. However on a positive note, this was us last year, and here we are a year later. Tomorrow I'll be back on the diet to lose those final few pounds. The boys had clubbed together and bou...

Typically the sun shone for the last day of the family visit. However there is a weather warning out for severe rain and winds for the next few days. I always take a group picture of the youngsters at the end of each visit. L to R. Vicky & Romas , Vytas & Kate B, Linas , Rachel & Alex. There was much hilarity with a plastic spider at the lunch table. (Neither Rachel or Alex like spiders so I have to get rid of as many of the house spiders as possible before they visit.) Vytas & Kate and the Eedles left after lunch but everyone will be meeting up next week-end for a SK muster. The family visits are a bittersweet time for me. I miss my family and look forward to their visits but when they do come ( we only saw Vytas 3 times last year) I feel I become an invisible person whose role is to live in the kitchen. This is especially disappointing because I thought I had brought up my boys to see everyone as equal but I suppose that they feel that this is their holiday. It m...