We had a couple of teachers visit us at work on Thursday who came in to do a Risk Assessment so they could bring a group of children in to play. We'd already sent them our own Risk Assessments but the rules stated that they had to come in and have a look around for themselves. How much it cost the school in terms of coming out to us and their time, I have no idea!
It made me think of when I was at school and I went on a trip to Wales with the rest of my class. We stayed in a Youth Hostel near the small village of Llanbedr and had a fantastic time. One day we were split into two groups to do different activities. One group went off to play on the beach while we went off to climb a mountain. We parked the mini bus a far distance from the mountain itself and as we walked along the country roads, a thick fog descended. It soon became clear that our teacher (who was the only one with us - unthinkable today!) had no compass or any essential equipment of any kind! We blundered up the mountain and he put a very tall girl called Andrea right at the back of the straggling group as she was wearing a bright orange anorak! We kept on climbing when really we should have headed back to the Youth Hostel and at one point nearly wandered over a steep black cliff. With the fog and the absence of any landmarks, it was a foolhardy excursion, but I have so many fond memories of that afternoon!
The camaraderie amongst us was brilliant and the teacher ceased to be the person in charge and became "one of us". Of course, we all got back down safely and had a great time telling the others about our experience, feeling very smug that we'd braved dangers while they'd been merely playing games on the beach! These days I don't think we'd ever have been allowed to climb the mountain without a local guide, masses of equipment and helicopters at the ready in case the worst happened. The rules of Health and Safety are taking away the fun that children can have and while I'm not advocating schools go off and ignore the risks, it seems such a shame that they don't seem to have as much fun any more, as teachers are terrified if something should go wrong.
That trip will always stay in my memory and I just wonder if my teacher is still working and what he would think of all the new rules now!
Friday, 14 October 2011
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Balloon spotting!
As tonight was the first night this week we didn't have anything on, Sophie and I went for a walk over the fields when I got in from work. I didn't take my camera with me as the sky was dull and grey, but I soon wished I'd had when we saw a huge hot air balloon in the distance. By the time we'd reached the village it was right over our heads and not very high so I could have taken some great pictures! Typical!
We stopped to have a good look and Sophie saw the little Burmese cat that is often over the fields, so she was delighted as we haven't seen him for a while. As we were talking to him, the balloon floated slowly over us and back the way we'd come so instead of walking through the busy village we returned home over the fields.
By now the clouds had cleared and the sun had come out, bathing all the fields and the balloon in a beautiful warm golden light. The bright red (Virgin) balloon dominated the horizon, its huge shadow falling across the green fields and I could have kicked myself for not bringing my camera! Oh well! I'll just have to hope that we see it again!
As we ambled home I had hopes of it coming down near to us, but it rose higher in the air and then gradually disappeared. Lucky people having such a gorgeous evening for their flight.
Back home Keith and I relaxed in the conservatory and admired the pinky sunset...what a lovely end to a dull, grey day!
We stopped to have a good look and Sophie saw the little Burmese cat that is often over the fields, so she was delighted as we haven't seen him for a while. As we were talking to him, the balloon floated slowly over us and back the way we'd come so instead of walking through the busy village we returned home over the fields.
By now the clouds had cleared and the sun had come out, bathing all the fields and the balloon in a beautiful warm golden light. The bright red (Virgin) balloon dominated the horizon, its huge shadow falling across the green fields and I could have kicked myself for not bringing my camera! Oh well! I'll just have to hope that we see it again!
As we ambled home I had hopes of it coming down near to us, but it rose higher in the air and then gradually disappeared. Lucky people having such a gorgeous evening for their flight.
Back home Keith and I relaxed in the conservatory and admired the pinky sunset...what a lovely end to a dull, grey day!
Wednesday 12 October
Well, Keith and I managed to get a lot done today at work, which was great. He gave the grass its final cut before winter descends and then we went off to one of the wholesalers we use and bought some stuff that was needed at work. As Christmas is looming ever nearer, the place was full of people doing their seasonal shopping and it was chaos! Having said that I did buy some Christmas stickers for our party room windows as I couldn't resist them!
I had another busy evening ferrying the family around and getting my hair cut - it badly needed it as I hadn't been near the hairdresser's since June!
I had another busy evening ferrying the family around and getting my hair cut - it badly needed it as I hadn't been near the hairdresser's since June!
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Tuesday 11 October - Decisions, decisions!
I'm not sure if it's getting older, but I'm finding it very hard just lately to make a decision. I've never seen myself as a dithery sort of person but just lately I've been telling myself to "just make a decision, woman!" and get on with it!
Sometimes, you can certainly think too much about a situation and I think this clouds my judgement. The best thing, I find, is to stop thinking about the problem (or whatever it is) and think about something else. When you eventually turn your mind back to making a decision, the thought process should be clearer! Well, hopefully anyway!
At work we really need to replace one of our inflatables so I spent the morning studying a brochure from one of the big bouncy castle suppliers and I saw two that looked promising. One was another Gladiator game (what we have at the moment) and the other was an inflatable version of the game "Twister" where people get tangled up! The Twister looked very appealing as it was a low flat-bed type of inflatable and looked low-risk. However, when we all thought about it, we weren't sure whether the children (and adults) would "get" the idea without having the game to hand.
We dismissed the idea of another Gladiator and then I saw something else that looked very promising - an inflatable activity centre for children up to the age of 5 with lots of things for them to do. A few months ago we'd approached one of our suppliers to design a new tots area and he'd come up with a price of £10,000 which was a bit shocking so this new inflatable, at a much lower price, would do a great job of enhancing the area without the huge price tag.
Of course, we spoke to Polly about our ideas and she came up with another set of problems so now we're more confused than ever! Decisions, decisions...we're going to have make some soon!
Sometimes, you can certainly think too much about a situation and I think this clouds my judgement. The best thing, I find, is to stop thinking about the problem (or whatever it is) and think about something else. When you eventually turn your mind back to making a decision, the thought process should be clearer! Well, hopefully anyway!
At work we really need to replace one of our inflatables so I spent the morning studying a brochure from one of the big bouncy castle suppliers and I saw two that looked promising. One was another Gladiator game (what we have at the moment) and the other was an inflatable version of the game "Twister" where people get tangled up! The Twister looked very appealing as it was a low flat-bed type of inflatable and looked low-risk. However, when we all thought about it, we weren't sure whether the children (and adults) would "get" the idea without having the game to hand.
We dismissed the idea of another Gladiator and then I saw something else that looked very promising - an inflatable activity centre for children up to the age of 5 with lots of things for them to do. A few months ago we'd approached one of our suppliers to design a new tots area and he'd come up with a price of £10,000 which was a bit shocking so this new inflatable, at a much lower price, would do a great job of enhancing the area without the huge price tag.
Of course, we spoke to Polly about our ideas and she came up with another set of problems so now we're more confused than ever! Decisions, decisions...we're going to have make some soon!
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Monday 10 October
It's been another day of painting and cleaning at work but it was great to see everything looking so much better when we left for home.
Sue came around for a glass of wine in the evening and we had a good gossip as usual. The evenings are really getting dark now and it was very cosy sitting in the conservatory with a glass of Vouvray, some nibbles and hearing the wind blowing outside. It's turned mild again but the forecast is for very cold temperatures on the way. Hmmm!
Sue came around for a glass of wine in the evening and we had a good gossip as usual. The evenings are really getting dark now and it was very cosy sitting in the conservatory with a glass of Vouvray, some nibbles and hearing the wind blowing outside. It's turned mild again but the forecast is for very cold temperatures on the way. Hmmm!
Sunday 9 October
After another lazy morning, Sophie and I went off to the Wood Green Animal Shelter in the afternoon with mum and dad as they wanted to look for a cat to replace dear old Jake. It took about half an hour to drive over to Godmanchester (whoever thought up that name?!) and when we arrived we went straight to the "Cat Village".
As the name suggests, there were lots of cabins with little cat runs in them with a notice beside each one with a description of the cat inside. The kittens were all reserved but mum and dad were looking for a male cat of about 2-3 years old and they didn't see any that made them stop and want to give the animal a new home. This was further reinforced when they say the prices for giving a cat a new home - £70! We all thought this was a bit on the steep side - is it there to deter owners who aren't really that committed?
We couldn't leave without going to see the dogs which was a bit risky for us as I've yearned for a dog for ages. Again, the cute ones were all reserved but there were a lot of Staffordshire Bull terriers looking for a new home, and despite all the signs saying how loving, faithful and friendly they are, I'm just not sure. Most of them definitely couldn't be re-homed with cats or children under about 10 years so that tells you something, in my opinion.
Back in Northamptonshire we had a cup of tea and cake at mum's house and then it was home to watch Groundhog Day (again!) followed by a delicious roast!
As the name suggests, there were lots of cabins with little cat runs in them with a notice beside each one with a description of the cat inside. The kittens were all reserved but mum and dad were looking for a male cat of about 2-3 years old and they didn't see any that made them stop and want to give the animal a new home. This was further reinforced when they say the prices for giving a cat a new home - £70! We all thought this was a bit on the steep side - is it there to deter owners who aren't really that committed?
We couldn't leave without going to see the dogs which was a bit risky for us as I've yearned for a dog for ages. Again, the cute ones were all reserved but there were a lot of Staffordshire Bull terriers looking for a new home, and despite all the signs saying how loving, faithful and friendly they are, I'm just not sure. Most of them definitely couldn't be re-homed with cats or children under about 10 years so that tells you something, in my opinion.
Back in Northamptonshire we had a cup of tea and cake at mum's house and then it was home to watch Groundhog Day (again!) followed by a delicious roast!
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Self-indulgence!
Today has been a totally lazy day even though I was up early at 6.30am. I sat and watched some programmes I'd recorded with a large cup of coffee and eased myself slowly into a grey and very Autumnal day.
As England were playing France in the rugby, I volunteered to go and get the newspaper and make breakfast and then spent the rest of the day doing very little. Keith watched sport all day so I surfed the net and caught up with my DVD of Victorian Farm. There's been a lot of very good history programmes on and I find it amazing that so many things from centuries ago are relevant still today. I've learnt the following over the last few days:
When people say "Sleep tight" when tucking children in, it's because in Tudor times there used to be a network of strings under the mattress. They had to be tightened to make for a comfortable night's sleep otherwise the mattress would sag!
The word "Gossip" comes from the women who attended a mother as she was giving birth. They were close friends and family and were originally called "God's Siblings" or "God sibs".
When someone "Gets the wrong end of the stick" it relates to printing and the stick used for loading the blocks of letters before printing.
I'm sure I'll remember more but I have to admit I find it all fascinating!
As England were playing France in the rugby, I volunteered to go and get the newspaper and make breakfast and then spent the rest of the day doing very little. Keith watched sport all day so I surfed the net and caught up with my DVD of Victorian Farm. There's been a lot of very good history programmes on and I find it amazing that so many things from centuries ago are relevant still today. I've learnt the following over the last few days:
When people say "Sleep tight" when tucking children in, it's because in Tudor times there used to be a network of strings under the mattress. They had to be tightened to make for a comfortable night's sleep otherwise the mattress would sag!
The word "Gossip" comes from the women who attended a mother as she was giving birth. They were close friends and family and were originally called "God's Siblings" or "God sibs".
When someone "Gets the wrong end of the stick" it relates to printing and the stick used for loading the blocks of letters before printing.
I'm sure I'll remember more but I have to admit I find it all fascinating!
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