Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

Have you ever wondered what happens to the words that are no longer used? They become classed as obsolete, confined to only the largest of dictionaries by lexicographers (those guys whose job it is to compile dictionaries.) As new words are created to fit with our new fangled lifestyle, old words are inevitably pushed out and lost. You can't really be a literacy teacher without spending a large amount of your time thinking about words but it wasn't until last week at Ally Pally when I saw a collection of endangered knitted specimens that I started to worry about their fate. Some might say do we actually care but I'm with Safia Shah and I'll happily join the campaign to bring words back to life especially if it involves knitting them.   Who better to involve in such a virtuous adventure than my own child, along with a friend, especially as they were off school today due to teachers striking. The girls embraced the idea of saving these dejected words and with very ...

Today I asked Charlie what he learnt at school. He replied "We didn't really learn anything thing today. It was science day so we just did science." I do love how clearly he seperates learning from doing. For my little six year, if you haven't learnt some facts about a subject then it doesn't really count. The facts can be as random or specific as you like. For example did you know that more people are killed each year by dogs and pigs than sharks? No? Neither did I until Charlie told me. I'm in the business of education. Yes that's right, the business. I am employed by a corporation, our college is branded and everything in my working life is driven by targets. However from deep within my paperwork based uniform almost extinguished by performance related statistics, you will catch a small glimmer: a spark to light the fire of possible of cognition in my students. Ask anyone who their favourite teacher was and why and I doubt very much that they...

Once a year, I get to go back to London to my beloved Alexandra Palace for the Knitting and Stitching Show. It's the mecca for all stitchy ladies (very few boys I'm afraid), like a giant magnet pulling us in by the knitting needles, armed with shopping bags and packed lunches. There is so much to see, I feel like a child in a sweet shop, dizzy with excitement and slightly battered by the hardened elbows of veteran bargain hunters. Despite manners being slightly amiss amongst the crowded aisles of the great halls of the palace, I challenge even the shyest of people not to make a friend when they sit down for a drink and the stall holders and exhibitors are the loveliest people in the world. Habu Textiles  is an old favourite now and it's my first port of call. I love the colours, the texture of the yarn and the exquisitely delicate garments created using their products. Mostly I like the linen and the paper threads and this year discovered a new stall,  Namolio ,...

Today has been such a glorious day, it feels like the warm weather will never end and it's easy to forgot that those chilly days are on their way. It was perfect weather for a stroll along the seafront at Broadstairs and it as packed as on any summers day. The chalk cliffs of the East Kent coast are always spectacular in bright sunshine and their crumbling nature allows for transient graffiti artists to adorn the concrete esplanades without reprimand from their parents. And mini explores can hang precariously from the rock face without safety harness or fear   I have huge admiration for the plants who appear to be oblivious to the eminent hostility of their location. Nestled in crevices Holding fast to walls With tiny seed heads capable of surviving the harshest conditions. Posted with Blogsy

I am not a naturally tidy person. That isn't to say that I don't like stuff organised. In fact living with children has left me craving neatness. It is quite astonishing how a small person can destroy a house that has taken all day to tidy in a matter of minutes. But seriously do we actually have time to fritter away our precious life on housework. Last week I went to Josie's assembly and the headmaster told us that we'd blink and it would be their leavers' assembly. I don't want to blink and her last year in primary school to have vanished. I often worry whilst hanging out the laundry that time is slipping away, second by second, sock by sock. And there's the dilemma, how can I keep and tidy home and not waste my opportunities to make life memorable instead of dust-free. I'd like to say that the photo above is a representation of how I normally layout my new projects but it isn't. I usually get so excited about my ideas that I just dive head f...