Tag Archives: dsso

Arsenal win after extra time by Suffolk poets

Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,
Dot settles down to a bit of navigation in Frejus.
Dot settles down to a bit of navigation in Frejus.

 

Here we are in a new month, and my shoulders are feeling a bit sensitive. I don’t know why, but no doubt a forthcoming visit to Scarborough will put them right. Or not.

Not quite such a busy weekend, though we spent the afternoon on Saturday at the Suffolk Poetry Festival in Stowmarket. We decided to take the train, which proved a sound idea. The weather was quite reasonable, and dry.

We were part of a group representing the Seagull and organised by Kaaren Whitney, wearing a Massachusetts T-shirt. Dot and I did some tanka and I read a couple of other poems. Other readers were Sue and Elizabeth, and I think we held our own quite well. James Knox Whittet was also there, as president of the society, but he was not reading. As always the quality varied enormously, but overall it was enjoyable until a trio from Woodbridge went way over their allotted time. We had intended to stay a little longer, but we were so irritated that we left early and so were able to catch the Cup Final on TV. Arsenal beat Aston Villa impressively, 4-0. Dot left her jacket behind, but Sue rushed out with it as I was returning for it.

On the Sunday I was preaching again (shortage of alternatives), and after lunch Dot and I went to see Jessie, dodging the showers. She seemed quite well, and the cake was ginger. Before that, of course, we visited the cemetery, where again we managed to avoid getting wet, except underfoot.

Earlier in the week we had our hair cut (Wednesday), and on Thursday Dot helped to interview Paul Henderson for the role of DSSO. She also gave him a lift to Diocesan House and I went to pick him up, because she had to stay on and do more interviewing. I had tea with him, and when Maryta returned from a bout of horse-riding, I was shown the garden and its vegetables. I got home just before Dot.

On Friday the Eagles came for supper and stayed till about 1am, by which time I had been asleep for a short while. I’m finding it hard to stay awake if it’s late, because the conversation was certainly not boring, and we are much on the same wavelength. We played them some music and showed them some pictures, and Sue and Dot completed the minutes of a meeting earlier in the week which – sadly – wound up the Norfolk Association for Primary Headteachers (NAFPHT). All good things…

Apparently we are involved in a 5-2 diet, which involves not eating much on two days out of seven. I have lost a bit of weight, as well as impetus.

5 February 2009

Uncategorized, , ,

This is Barbara and Dot as they set off for their head teachers’ conference on Tuesday. The snow had miraculously melted overnight, and there was no problem in reaching the venue – either for Dot and Barbara or anyone else. It was all a big success, with universally excellent feedback. The only problem came afterwards when an exhausted Dot sent out the invoices for the packs all addressed to the wrong school. This turned out to be a technology problem, which I helped her sort out yesterday. Lots of people indicated that they would be booking them to do in-school sessions. I greeted them with champagne on their return home and did all the cooking and preparation for the Tuesday Group, which makes a change. I usually sit around and let Dot do it. The only thing I’m worried about now is that Dot is practically working full-time at the moment. She visited two schools yesterday with her DSSO hat on and has more in the pipeline. She is also down for two inspections next month – following one next week. Today she has spent all day on her PIB (don’t ask) for that. Meanwhile the man came to change our electricity meter, which he did remarkably quickly.

This morning we woke up to more snow, but during the day it melted. Meanwhile in Caddington it is still thick, and the children and Vicky were all at home because of the treacherous roads. Here a meeting at Diocesan House was cancelled, though probably not for any good reason. Helped Dot, though.

Yesterday, while Dot was out at Hapton and Tasburgh, I picked up the Paston book from the library. The librarian kindly protected it with cardboard for me, and I just had to carry it down to the car. It is now in the guest bedroom, which is a little bit worrying as it’s worth over £1000. Of course, the average burglar wouldn’t know that and would be unable to sell it anyway. Lucy has sent me loads of stuff for her upcoming guidebook in the hope that I will be able to knock it into shape. I now have to work out which shape to knock it into.