funny old day, funny old night

Well, its been a funny couple of days.

Its always rather strange when timetabled teaching ends (so early in the year too) and I'm mostly working at home. Especially as I'm not invigilating because of the pay dispute [which the media have finally noticed, but they're giving us quite a hard time, and quoting figures which certainly don't fit either with union information or with my personal experience of 16 years in higher education] {16 years, blimey}. I went in to start an exam yesterday, but after checking the exam paper was ok, left the invigilating to other people - that was strange. I'm fervently hoping that the whole thing is resolved in the next couple of weeks, it will be extremely hard to hold the line if it does come to the point where students' graduation is at stake.

A day of strike action has been mentioned for next Tuesday. My first (and only) PhD student has her viva on that day, so I certainly wouldn't want to strike then and might have to cross a picket line. Scab is such an ugly word!!

After my exam-check I went for a hair cut. As always, I came out thinking it is too short (yes, too short even for me) but in a day or two I'll be used to it, and it needed the trim. Gordon (who is still not a moron)(not at all) gave me further advice on LG's hair - if we peroxide just the very ends of her hair, and dye again (possibly blue?) for the last day of term, we can get a really bright colour. hee hee

I then went to weaving for some extra catch-up time in a different class, to finish threading up my loom for the tea cosy I'm making (too much at the last minute really) (details in my other blog). I felt sort of naughty weaving (as I'm going again today) when I should/could have been marking.

I'll be weaving today in my usual class, but having a sore throat, and a good weekend coming up to NOT BE SICK for, I might be on the Sharon-you-slag-bus again today.

My bike is back though, I'm very happy. Except that I'm having trouble with the gears already - usually halfway up the hill in Greenwich Park. So I'll have to take it back in.....

I got a phone call in the afternoon whilst weaving. I've won a new canon digital camera !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never won anything. Well thats not true, strictly speaking. But I never win this kind of thing. I did a very quick on-line competition which was in the Observer a few months ago, it was just a give-your-details first-out-of-the-bag competition. And I won !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I told Mike - of course - as soon as he got home. And guess what ???????????????????????????????????????????

He's bought me a new digital camera for my birthday next week.

Oh No !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't remember the specs. or anything for the canon camera, and we couldn't find anything on the Observer archive/web to tell us. So we don't know which camera will be "better", and which we'll need to flog on eBay.

Mike had been obviously rather pleased with himself having such a good idea (because i'm taking so many more photos now I'm blogging) and with spending too much money on me.

Oh No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sod's bloody Law, or what?

Finally, I had a lot of strange dreams last night. In particular, this: we were in some unfamiliar town (a bit like Ottery St. Mary, near my parents old house in Devon). M was around, but mostly somewhere else. LG went missing. I didn't notice her go because I had some kind of funny turn, or possibly even dozed off. We couldn't find her. It was a nightmare. Literally.

However - we knew that she was okay, even though she was missing overnight (!!) - because she had been seen by someone. She'd clearly taken herself off for some reason, making some kind of point - so we knew she was safe and all right and nearby. She'd been seen all "made-up", so I was going to check Boots and the Body Shop to see if she was there trying on make up.

The significance of this is clearly related to the fact that LG is off on school journey, in Swanage all week.

And how strange. I am not consciously worried at all by her going. I know she's fine and that she'll have a fantastic time. LG herself was very excited and eager to go, except for a bit of a wobbler on Sunday night when she woke in a night-fear-panic - but Monday morning she was back to normal, couldn't wait to go, left in fine spirits. I'm missing her and will be absolutely delighted to see her on Friday and hear all about it, but actually its quite nice sitting here peacefully blogging, instead of trying to get her out of bed and making her packed lunch. I wouldn't have said I was anxious in the slightest really.

So this was a nightmare which came entirely from my sub-conscious - snuck out and bit me painfully in the arse.


To overcome its memory, here are pics. of my gorgeous baby wisteria, flowering wonderfully and fragrantly even though its only a few years old


























and this is one of my favourite trees, I wait for its flowering (in Greenwich Park) every Spring. Its a cornus of some kind and its spectacular.