Skip to main content

The age of austerity

Mostly I do not like to watch the news, it really is just too depressing for me. I am sensitive to the plight and pain of the rest of the world; the images haunt me and events that change people' lives for ever can't ever be expressed in words.

It does upset me that I hear this time in our lives as being the age of austerity, as it is just not true. People will loose their jobs, many will cut back on luxuries, people will have to spend money in this country on holiday instead of flying abroad, but few people who talk of this age of austerity will never know the hardship that it originally described. Between 1945 - 1951 many people had to try and rebuild lives that had been irreversibly destroyed.

Each day I struggle with my own demons, tragedies that have altered my smile and the very core of my soul, but I am luckier than most. I have more than a huge proportion of the world could ever dream of and I have the ability to recognise my good fortune. I can express myself through words, art, dance, my actions and my enthusiasm to share with those who don't have.

Every year people do remarkable things for Comic Relief and I watch in awe with admiration for the sacrifices that they make. How I should love to be able to swim the channel, climb Kilimanjaro or trek across the desert!

My students, who have kindly agreed that I can call them misfits, however do not see the series of unfortunate events that have prevented them from achieving the qualifications as limiting and are so enthusiastic about doing something for Red Nose Day that I felt I really must set a good example and try to do something inspiring.

The first thing I've done is have a bit of a better go at knitting and not only have I managed to knit an item from a pattern, but it is even of a standard to wear. It's a very beautiful and highly stylish Red Nose Corsage by Juliet Bernard.

This is the one I knitted, not Juliet's!

As if that wasn't ambitious enough ( I had to start again several times and continually count stitches), I thought I might do something even more challenging. When life has been harsh to you, it can really wear on your looks and the camera never lies. Some mornings, I don't even want to look in the mirror and see the shadow of the person I once was; my eyes have that permanent sadness of a mother who has lost her son but I really can change people's lives by raising money for Comic Relief. I have faced my fears and been filmed reading a story. I am hoping to read six books altogether, just as I have challenged my students to read six books as part of the Six Book Challenge. I am going to read six books in a week and read them in different places in different formats.

http://my.rednoseday.com/susieliteracy

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Pink Ladies

As we sat in our classroom inspired horseshoe, designed to encourage conversation, there was a slightly uneasy silence. Those of us who knew each other, stole furtive glances, others returned our smiles politely although they were not privy to the planning and discussion that had occurred in preparation for the evening. The time had slowed, 8pm seemed an age away. The silence was intermittently interspersed with brief attemps at small talk and the rants of a drunk outside on the city streets. The commanding presence of our WI advisor Dorothy, had the air of an experienced headmistress or well respected senior relative which in the event of such formalities made me feel foolish in my .....excitement. Some of us stifled giggles as advice was provided on the process, as we had already made the majority of our formal decisions but it was with noticeable nerves, that I raised my hand to the question of who wished to be President.   So that's it, another new chapter has open

Ridgeway Cottage Anyhow - How to add social media buttons to your blog

I know not everyone is excited by learning code and techie stuff but in my quest for website geekiness, this post is just one step closer. For all my lovely friends and family who do not care one hoot about what goes on behind the scenes of Ridgeway Cottage, here are some lovely photos of October life. (Those who do want to know about the buttons, social media and coding, please read on.) Social Media Buttons Anyhow You will need. Your blog open in layout  The URL of your social media places you want to link to Some lovely pictures of social media icons that you would like to use as your buttons A photobucket account which you can easily open here A small understanding of how the coding works  A rather large smattering of patience unless you are super clever at all techie stuff   What social media icons are you going to use? You can find some very lovely ones by searching on the internet or there are some here, here ,  or here . I liked these one because I do r

Granny square Christmas

When I was younger I fell in love with the granny square blanket my Nan had made. It was in her tiny little Welsh cottage near the mountains and was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. So many colours and combinations of colours, it was just truly amazing. I'm not sure if it's the happy childhood memories or my ever increasing passion for crocheting, but granny squares (and doilies) are something I could fill me life with. Even more delightful are the variations on granny squares. Star burst blanket, which used to be my favourite, but I have recently had a go at African flowers. They are quick and easy to make and so very pretty. Thanks to the brilliant free pattern that I found here , I have managed to make a little crochet Christmas stocking made out of 16 1/2 motifs. I am happy with the how the little Christmas stocking turned out and am now rather fond of African flowers, star burst and granny squares, well actually, all