Al's life

I have decided that my life is boring compared to Al's.

I want to be 10 again, they have far more fun at school than I ever did!

As reported before, the week before last was on the moors. Photos above to give you a taste of the chaos.

Last week it was sports day, it was lovely to see a none PC sports day. Parents and grandparents took their cameras and camcorders along, we had proper races in which one kid or team won, one came second and one came third. The rest were not placed but congratulated for their efforts.

We actually had one race in which one little girl was dramatically outclassed by the others. Did she stop, did she hell. She ran on doing the last lap by herself. She was shattered but was not about to give up. She crossed the line to an almighty cheer from everyone. Even the weather was good to us. A cracking day. Photo's above.

Last Friday Al's class went down to the sea and spent an afternoon on a research vessel. They got to handle all sorts of creatures and had the crew giving them info. Al reckons she held a shark in her hands, we reckon a catfish/dogfish some sort of member of the shark family a couple of feet long. But you never know I suppose it could have been a friendly shark!

The school is presenting a production of "Wind in the Willows", this will be held in the Globe Theatre. A Victorian theatre, probably one of the best kept in the country. Not bad for a small primary school really is it? All the kids take part in some way or other and I assume that, as usual, it will be packed. Tickets are already restricted to two per child per show (two shows).

My memories of primary school was getting thrashed with a rubber dagger by Sister Kevin!!!

Now after a bit of a time away it is the red man himself - over to HR

"Hi all and sorry I have been quiet.

Thanks for the space on the blog and yup I am mad as a hatter.That makes me fit in beautifully with most people I meet ! The degree of madness is all that varies ! Then of course we have people like Mugabe to look up to as an alternative !?! I think I would rather be me.

Her at home the decorating and tiling have continued in a state of not going any further yet ! I will sort my finances and then ask somebody who is skilled and fast in these things to sort it out!

All this stuff with the guns may seem weird but it is worth remembering that it is giving me a chance to do several things: one is to pursue a hobby I have longed to do since I was a child. The other is to rekindle my love for engineering. Lets face it -that is what I love to do-make things, solve problems.

This hobby is giving me the chance to test myself and to learn. It gives me the opportunity to meet people with lots of experience. I am happy !

At work things are ticking over and I would like to move on. I am surrounded by VMs ! (Vehicle Mechanics).

I will close cos the PC is being a Rs !"

I heard from Sissy Clare and she will be home in Blighty for a few weeks come August, be nice to see her again and catch up face to face!

Time to go as Val has nearly been soaped out and we can continue with the Auf Wiedersehen Pet DVD's. A nice way to round off the day.

Blue Skies - where are you??? Your fan base is crying out!

PS. Val cooked a couple of cakes over the weekend - lovely. It's only been 40 years 5 months in the waiting!

Al returned from her camping on the moors adventure week (well three night and four days actually). I am attempting to put a video in here so you cane see the return. A very tired bunch of 10 and 11 year olds I can assure you.

It appears that a fantastic time was had by all, and Al reckons it is the best time she has had since she started school. That about says it all.

The photos are down for processing and will be posted once done. That is the current plan, but you know how well plans turn out in this house!!!

After a bit of abseiling (is that how to spell it?) and yomping across the moors they are all better off for their adventures. I have asked her would she want to go next year, if they can find a teacher who is able to cope for a second year running, and the answer was a resounding yes.

This is a quick and short posting as, as usual, there isn't enough time in the weekend to do everything I want.

Trying to sort out our new camcorder and the recently purchased video software pack, it is coming along though. Slowly but surely.

Ah well. About five hours later it hasn't downloaded (the video) so I am giving up. Rather like Italy did at the start of the Euro quarter finals this evening!!!

Hi all - Alice on trip next week.

Just in case you thought I had forgotten about this wonderful blog!

Been trying to upload a video over the last week or so and, as you can see, I have failed miserably. It was fairly funny, I will have another go in a week or so. Got this new bit of software you see, to go with the camcorder - no, I shall say no more. You will have to wait until I figure it out before you get the results!!!

Footie, Euro Championships, this last week has also fairly dramatically eaten into my spare time. But that's my fault really. Don't need to watch do I???

Argyle's fixture list tomorrow. Just thought I would throw that into the blender. Not sure if we will have a team this season. Things are not looking good. We haven't even kicked a ball yet! The two kids killed in the RTA with our goalie puts it all into perspective though.

Al is off on her adventure week tomorrow. Photo's of her packing above. Val is a bit protective but she agreed the snipers rifle wasn't a good idea for a bunch of 10/11 year olds - but she was only just persuaded!

Seriously though, that nutter known to all who frequent this blog as the "red writing bit" is at it again. He now has the piece of kit shown above. No stopping the lad, I reckon the swan mentioned a few postings ago should be a bit careful. Ah well, over to HR for his take on it all.

"Hi all, the project is finished and all I have to do now is test-fire her and hope she neither explodes nor falls to pieces ! The job was a real test and a challenge so I learnt and re learnt a lot (it had its mishaps) but the end product is fine. I just need to tidy up the solder that runs out from under the mounts and she should look lovely."

Mad as a hatter, but don't tell him because he really doesn't know and I would not want to hurt his feelings!!

Blue Skies is noticeable by his absence. He was a busy bee so we won't blame him. Equally Leon has been earning his crust with little downtime. Hope all is well with you both.

I think Microsoft have been tidying up vista recently. My screen saver now works, one of the many updates I assume. Also my mouse works with this blog now. I reckon they have put in a fix for the wireless mouse. It's nice to have some of the stuff back that I took for granted with XP. Now how about giving us "Works" instead of the crap version on Vista, of course I could go out and purchase the software for £80 or so!! Yet again I had that with XP. In fact with ME I also had PowerPoint that appears to have disappeared as well! More expense less value, still I suppose that is what we get when we put all our PC eggs in one large Microsoft basket. I suppose they need the cash after all they are really unsuccessful aren't they.

Ah well, stop moaning and get down to watch the footie.

Al out on Dartmoor from tomorrow, so watch the weather forecast folks.