Boxes 'r Us

Boxes 'r Us
Keith's not the only one who can have collections of boxes - but mine are more upmarket, being coloured and plastic. This is the result of my day's work sorting out my stuff from school into that which can be safely binned and that which it would be advisable to keep for future supply work, bearing in mind our limited storage space.

Sat. nav. local version

Last night, Keith had a wonderful brainwave. He does get them occasionally - wine inspired often. You will recall that he recently aquired a PDA with satellite navigation software? Read all about it here Well, he has now decided it would be a good marketing strategy to provide the commentary in a range of dialects. Brilliant or wot!! So, instead of the cultured German accent we hear at present, customers from Merseyside would hear, "Eh, giiiirl, come'head, yez are on the wrong road! Yer doin' me 'ead in!"
In Yorkshire, the instructions would go as follows: "Eh up lad, tha's on t' wrong road, tha knows!"
In Bristol, it would be, "Yur, what you think you'm doin' over yur, then?"
The Irish would hear, "I wouldn't make the next right turn if I were you or ye'll be comin' back on yeself afore ye get there."
The creme de la creme would be the Welsh version:
"Back her wants to go, come the bugger went." (Instructions on reversing).
(With apologies for any readers from any of these regions before I start getting poison pen letters! :)

Honourable mention

Found a great blog today through Gemmak. It's called Maggiezfarm
Check it out and enjoy!
While I am mentioning people, a friend of mine keeps reminding me that I haven't yet mentioned him in this blog, so here goes....
I have known Tony for several years and even longer by repute (enough said about that but suffice it to say that his fame went before him!). He took early retirement from his deputy headship (catching, isn't it!) and then began to do supply teaching at my school. He has a great sense of humour and was good company in the staff room when the rest of us were suffering the effects of the daily grind.
Anyway, he paticularly wanted me to mention that we went for lunch during the last week of term, but I don't know why as I did the inviting! What he did do, though, was send me a lovely bouquet of flowers to mark my leaving school, which was very much appreciated. :)

Magic Memories!

Now this is really exciting! Look here! The Magic Roundabout has been brought up to date and what a difference! I speak as a committed fan of the original Magic Roundabout on telly at 5.55pm Remember? In fact I used to know the people who published the French version of the books in France, but that's another story. When I went to college, I had a soft toy version of Dougal on my bed. (Yes, students were much more naive in those days - more of a sheltered upbringing!)
Anyway, click on the link, watch the trailer and sit back and enjoy a couple of moments of nostalgia. And if you are too young to remember it first time round, hard lines - you missed a treat!! :)
P.S. Anyone remember a black and white cartoon in the early sixties called Mr FooFoo?
Or am I the only person in the world who remembers it?
P.P.S. And then there was the original series of Popeye. Used to dash home from school specially to see that................enough already!!!

Update on the sheep

Regular readers will remember the story about the commando sheep from yesterday. Well, I have just been wandering about the internet and come across a very graphic explanation of how they did it! Look here. It was on this website .
When I got home today, I found that Keith had mown the lawn after all, the little treasure! AND everywhere was tidy! :) What a gem!

Garbage disposal

I'm doing well today - the news is full of interesting articles! Here's another little gem! While I am all for recycling as much as possible (Keith and I recycle all our wine bottles very conscientiously!), why do these 'systems' have to be imposed on unsuspecting council tax payers without any consultation or flexibility simply because there are 'targets to be met'! We in education have had targets up to here!!
In South Gloucestershire, where I am this week, each household now has a black wheelie bin, a green wheelie bin and a green box. Tough luck for anyone who has a small garden! And tough also for anyone trying to push a pram or wheelchair up the road on collection days when they are all in the middle of the pavements! (Doesn't this interfere with minority rights???).
Sefton (near Liverpool)have vowed never to have anything to do with the dreaded wheelie bin so up there, bin bags are left out on the pavement for collection and as a target for all the cats and dogs in the neighbourhood - very pleasant on a hot summer's day! They do supply a green box - without a lid.
Liverpool have introduced wheelie bins but insist, almost on pain of death, that they are a revolting shade of violent purple - corporation colours, see!
Wrexham have black wheelie bins but, in our area at least, have no other arrangements for recycling unless householders are willing to cart recyclable items to the nearest 'bank'. Wrexham garbage disposal operatives also have selective blindness. Any bin not on the edge of the pavement is simply not seen and, consequently, not emptied.
Is it beyond the wit of the powers that be to devise a user-friendly, non-intrusive system which will keep (almost) everybody happy??

Specially Able Sheep

Being a lady of leisure this week, I've got more time to browse the news and, this morning, this is what I found to raise a smile. Have a glance here! I do understand that the problem is annoying for the residents of Marsden, but isn't it just a perfect example of how resourceful sheep are? (I did wonder about sheep-sense a few years ago when I saw a ewe shepherding her lamb across the Formby by-pass during rush hour, but there lies another story.)
Keith is always laughing at me for taking photos of sheep whenever we are out in the countryside of Wales (yes, all 4 of them!) but,  how many animals could you think of that would manage to overcome a problem of access in such an imaginative way? Not only that, but they obviously learn from each other. You can almost hear the conversation:
Eh up lads, (sorry - lasses) there's a cattle grid here. Now what are we going to do?
Leave it to Flossie there. She'll think of something.
By gum, so she has! How's that for an idea? She's only gone and rolled across it - just like them there commandos.
Come on, you lot. Get moving! Lie down and roll across t'grid. You'll be having a reight good nosh up in no time.
(With apologies to our Yorkshire friends - but, not a bad Yorkshire accent eh?)  :)