The Thames Barrier

Back to a more normal post today. Still in the  local area though, just this time a pleasant aspect of it. The Thames Barrier, keeping London safe from floods for a while yet.  We went there yesterday as a little break from just staying at home for the bank holiday. I have been doing reports and tracking since Saturday. I didn't work much yesterday but worked all day Saturday, Sunday and today. I have done the tracking and two thirds of the reports. I have twelve left. Each individual report is not unpleasant to write, it is just that there are so many of them! I will not do much tomorrow as I have a hair appointment and then I am going out with a friend in the afternoon. 

 It was a lovely sunny breezy day yesterday and lots of people were enjoying the weather by the river.

 A big ship was loading or unloading at the Tate and Lyle factory.

 The river was very full and very choppy. We watched loads of yachts passing by but using their engines rather than their sails.

 We had lunch at the café. A very dry toasted cheese sandwich, and a serving of anti-salad. Look at those leaves. How long have they been waiting to be put on a plate, only to be not eaten? The cup of tea was nice though.

 We walked around the back of the barrier buildings and found all sorts of interesting things. 

 The Art Hub studios which I did not know about. They are in a huge old warehouse building and it looks great.

 The marvellously named 'Noted Stout House' which is now the Barrier Animal Care Clinic.

 A striking sign for the Chinese Performing Arts Centre. 

 Finally we came to the main road again. It was impossible to get back down to the river from where we were, but I was pleased to have the chance to have a closer look at this derelict pub which I often look at from the car on the way home, but cannot photograph as the road is busy and there is nowhere to park.

 I wonder how long it will stay there. It is in a pretty bad state of repair. I really like (want!) the stone eagle sign. I bet it will just be thrown in a skip broken, unless any architectural antiques people happen to have a say.

 In fact I want this tiled panel too! Nowhere to put it obviously but when did that ever stop me?

 Inside the pub. Pigeon droppings, a chair on a table and some old mattresses.

 This is the sign. I love the way the gold sets off the stark black and white lettering and tiles. Lovely.

It is not as if we are not used to the signs of trouble. Helicopters hovering are a common sight and violence on the streets seems common too. When the helicopter started to hover some while before home time on Wednesday it hardly registered, but then, as it stayed there we started to wonder what was going on. As one parent turned up and was looking at her phone, I was outside clearing up while the children had their snacks indoors. I asked if she knew what was going on and she said she thought there had been a stabbing. Awful but not shocking.(Shocking that it is not shocking) Another parent had been held up in the traffic building up, and she thought someone had been killed in the job centre and was lying there on the floor. I worried about my colleague being able to get home, and waited for her to text that she had got her train OK before setting off and driving round all the back streets to avoid the traffic. I didn't think to look what had happened until I got home. I first read a report on the local newspaper website which had graphic descriptions of events, and the one that caught my eye the most was local rapper Boya Dee's on Twitter. I turned on the computer and looked at everything many times, including the video of one of the men talking about what he had done and why. Not possible to make this seem real. It was so film like and, well, surreal. Why is the big thing of course because there is no answer to that. He had his answer, governments have theirs and I have been thinking of nothing else since. If I was the family of Lee Rigby I can't imagine recovering from that. Not ever. If I was the family of a child or anyone else killed by a bomb in foreign country where I am lucky enough not to live, I can't imagine recovering from that either. None of it is right. The tweet that the rapper put later on is the thing I keep coming back to-'I hope that one day we can all learn to purely co-exist.' I also keep thinking of the words of my school hymn, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. I am not religious and am, I suppose, an agnostic at best but the words of this hymn which we sung every week have always stayed with me, as they are so beautiful and sensible. It is the first and the last two verses that I like the most.

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways
Re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with thee
The silence of eternity,
Interpreted by love

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm

Nanci Griffith also comes to mind. 

'If wishes were changes
We'd all live in roses
And there wouldn't be children
Who cried in their sleep'

That would be good wouldn't it?

Come Away From the Water Shirley

We are joining in with a whole school focus over the next half term. We will be using the book 'Come Away From the Water Shirley' by John Burningham, and the painting The Bathers at Asnieres by Seurat. I have been doing some planning this afternoon during my PPA time and, as part of the way we are going to use the book, we need to look at Shirley's part and the parent's part. As I was separating my photos into two folders to make it easier, I flicked between two of them quickly, and it struck me that the set of parent pictures make a good little animation. I love John Burningham's books, both for their illustrations and for the deceptively simple stories. There is so much going on in this book, that can be explored by all age groups, which is what makes it a good one for a whole school project. Whilst looking for information about the author I have just discovered this book about him which looks very tempting. I did an adult education course about book illustration about twelve years ago and lots of it has stuck with me. One of the things the tutor talked about was the rhythm created by the illustrations in a book, using devices such as colour and monochrome, contrasting viewpoints, the use of the white of the page, and other things that I can't remember! This book has a full colour painting for each of Shirley's pages, illustrating her rich imaginative day of pirate play, while the parent pages are simple lightly coloured sketches of them, against a washed out white sky and beach, not moving from their deck chairs, having cups of tea, a pipe (the Dad), reading the paper, (the Dad again) and knitting (not the Dad!) They so brilliantly convey the boringness and small mindedness of some adults, and the boundless imagination of children. Can't wait to get started. We are leading into the work with the pirate kidnapping of one of our soft toys. There will then be a message in a bottle sent to the class and a series of clues which will lead us to the toy. The toy has actually had a great time reading pirate stories, and is going to share his favourite one with us. We are going to look at the illustrations of Shirley's day first, and make up our own stories using these, and will move on to the rest of the book.

Saturday

We went down to Lenham yesterday to celebrate my Dad's birthday. Originally just Andy and I were going, but then my aunt and uncle turned up, and my brother, his girlfriend and my Mum came along too. We had a tasty meal in one of the pubs on the village square, then went to look at an exhibition of work by local artists and crafts people. It is held in an amazing old Tithe Barn which is huge. Looking at it I would say it is longer than my little section of street in London which is made up of seven terraced houses. 

Mossy walls held tiny flowers.

Inside the beams are as interesting as the art, some of which I liked a lot. There was a lovely set of watercolours of street scenes which were sunny and warm, and another artist had lots of watercolours of London which were in beautiful muted colours.

This was my favourite painting in the exhibition. I love the moody sky and the way the crows are almost flying out of the picture at you.

There was a little coffee stall so we sat out the back of the barn for a while. This lovely dog was hanging around in case anyone could possibly give him any cake. He made do with a fuss from us though! He looks very sad here but I think that he was actually very content!

This old Citroen was parked nearby and we all had a good look at it. It is basically a carriage with an engine. It has a current tax disc so the owners must potter around the country lanes in it.

I liked its enamel name plate.

This little building is on stilts-the stone ones that look like large mushrooms, though you can't really see because of the mass of cow parsley.

There are so many pretty cottages.

Back in the square. I like the rocking horse suspended outside the second floor of this Tudor house. Down below is an antique shop. My uncle and I were looking at the large travelling trunks outside-he has some to get rid of but is not having much luck doing so. The shop owner rushed out, probably in hope of a sale. One of the trunks was basically a large tin bath with a lid that attached and had a belt around it to keep it on, so that it can double up as a travelling trunk. Apparently from the Boer war.

I am feeling even more back to normal today. I am grateful for this as it was no fun the last two weeks. I have done some work today so feel good about that. Thanks for all the helpful and sympathetic comments, I really appreciate them.

Hidden Corners and Fading Flowers

Whilst looking for plumbing supplies for school-drain pipes and guttering to use for water play and other investigative play, I saw this great sign. I suppose it should say 'How to plumb' but that sounds wrong even though I think it is right. I particularly like the use of the u-bend pipe for the tail of the 'g'.

 The other hidden corners are in Greenwich and were taken on Sunday when we walked down a few different streets to our normal routes. There are some really lovely streets in Greenwich, and, like seaside towns, it is fun to explore away from the main crowds and popular attractions. This little community garden looked really lovely, and had a resident cat which made me like it even more. I suppose they might do open days-I will look into it.

 I wonder when this very posh house was last a tea warehouse? 

 This little silver tabby was very friendly. Her face looks like the pansies she is sitting next to.

 Another amazing Greenwich wisteria with an impressive horse chestnut just behind. 

I would love to see into the garden of this house. 

 The tulips from last week have made interesting shapes with their dying petals. I am very bad at removing dead flowers but sometimes it is worth leaving them for a while to see how they fade.

These pale yellow and papery thin flowers are ranunculus from ages ago. They have held together quite well. I love how this photo came out-the different greys and yellows and the effect of the water splatters on the window.
This week has been another hard one. Still tired all the time and not feeling quite right, but I am hoping that the weekend will be another restful one. We are off to see my Dad on Saturday for his birthday but Sunday I am going to sleep then write a few reports and not much else. On the making side I have been doing little patchwork quilts for the two dolls beds I impulsively bought on ebay. I am imagining another craft fair one day where these become props so am making a variety of pretty bedding. I want to get some of that lovely French ticking to make two mattresses but it is very expensive so I will look for a cheaper alternative-stripey shirts from Andy or the charity shop maybe. Hope your week has been a good one!

Ship and Flowers

A contrast in subject matter linked by being seen at the weekend. I saw on the news that HMS Illustrious was going to be moored at Greenwich this weekend, and wanted to go and have a look. It is Britain's only aircraft carrier and is going to be decommissioned next year. Andy and I met there on Friday evening. We then went for a meal-Mexican-and ate far too much, including a very rich banana waffle dessert in which the most tasty thing was the banana. It was fun and not planned so that is a good thing too. Thanks for the kind comments on my last post. I am feeling slightly better today. I have had PPA this afternoon, and, instead of working, I tidied the house, sorted out the washing and now feel ready to get on with my reports, once the new format I am trying this year has been approved tomorrow after school. I really can't concentrate on work when the mess level gets too much. Clutter doesn't bother me but when it starts encroaching into the middle of the floor, and the table is unusable, then I get visions of myself as one of those poor hoarders which make such popular television nowadays. I love those programmes, mainly because they make me feel not so bad about all my stuff as I am not as bad as them. I do feel sorry for the people though. Apparently there is something different about hoarder's brains that means they feel differently about getting rid of stuff than other people. It is going to be re-classified as a specific mental disorder in the DSM-5, rather than continuing to be seen as part of OCD. Ironically, as a semi hoarder myself, I have just bought a book (another book) on the subject in the hope I can either cure myself, or tick things off that will convince me I am not one. 

 The ship was open to visitors but we didn't get back there. We did pop to Greenwich on Sunday and it was even more busy than normal, so maybe that was why.

 I had no goals over the weekend, other than to get lots of sleep which I did. I made two little patchwork quilts and a small crochet blanket for a doll I am going to send to someone on freecycle who sounded as if they needed one.

 In the sunny week we had last week the garden started to come alive. Daisies and forget-me-nots are two of my favourites. I only had a little clump of these daisies last year and they have self-seeded in a few places this year.

 I can never remember the name of this plant which is another really good self-seeder-my favourite type of plant! I love the deep purple colour and the way the colour continues onto the first few leaves.

 My lovely geraniums. In a car metaphor they went from 0-60 in a minute last week. One day none, the next day lots!

 I spotted this Wisteria on the way back from the vets on Friday afternoon. It is amazing isn't it? It doesn't look as good in a photo but you can take my word for it!

Not a ship or a flower, but one happy little cat. Not so happy to be taken for her boosters. She just looked so miserable! She wouldn't even get back in the basket which the other two can't wait to do once the indignities are over! 

Aimless

I think I know myself quite well. I know my shortcomings and failures and I know my strengths. I try not to dwell on the former as one of them is a bury my head in the sand attitude that has served me well in meaning that I actively try not to worry about what may happen as it scares me. So maybe it is a useful failing. Another is to tend towards procrastination so to combat this I have developed a method of always having a goal, at all times, without fail, that I must complete so I can move onto the next one. This is not the big stuff such as career, moving house, travelling etc, just things such as getting my planning for school done by such and such a time, finishing those crocheted socks by tonight, emptying the washing bag or getting 30 pages of my book read. You can imagine that I am constantly put into a position of failing as I don't get these things done. It strikes me  that I never give myself a break. I am not saying this in a proud 'aren't I hard working and clever way', more in a 'I have only just realised that I am doing this to myself kind of way, and what can I do to stop it?'
In answer to that I don't know but I have made a start just now with only a vague plan. Today I went to Deptford and Greenwich markets with my friend who has the vintage shop, and had a lovely time looking around, and buying silly things, as well as having a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast and tasty coffee. When we got back I pottered around tidying the house and preparing for her and her family coming round to eat tonight. In my teacher way I prepared various play spots for her two and a half year old daughter around the flat. We had a great evening, and, when they took their little girl up to bed, ( in the upstairs flat)  we had a quick tidy up then went up to have drinks with them. We had a lovely time chatting and laughing and talking about children, then came back down here around midnight. I am still up having a coffee and Andy is snoring away in bed. Our plan was to go to Dungeness tomorrow. I am tired and Dungeness is far away. I have a t-shirt I want to sew up and we want some time at home tomorrow, so we have decided to go to Sheppey instead and then to have the rest of the day to potter around. I am even thinking that we may get up in the morning and decide to go nowhere, and that will be ok.
In the end we went to Herne Bay. It was a beautiful day and we had a delicious fish and chip lunch in The Ship, a wander along the beach and an icecream in the pavillion where a fairly bad oompah type band was playing. Then we sat on a bench for some time watching people walking past and staring out at a deserted (because it is fenced off) beach with dandelions growing on it and a sign warning about the soft mud. When we got back I was exhausted and have felt like that for the rest of this week. It has been a struggle getting up and leaving for school and I have been arriving at about 8.15 which is too late. Today I had the annual chat with the head teacher about this year and next and got in my main request which is to have one week a month where I only work for two or possibly three days. He said he would think about it and hopefully he will say yes. Teaching is great but it is wearing me down. Next year I am going to be working with four new staff, who all sound great but there is going to be a lot of change which, although not a bad thing can be exhausting. I am hoping that they all come in with great and fresh new ideas as there is nothing to say that we have to do anything the same next year. We shall see.
This is my first post for over a week which is a long gap for me but, like everything else at the moment, blogging has seemed just too much effort. Hopefully I will start to feel more energetic soon!

 This lady reading on her balcony just looks as if she is floating over the sea.

 Someone with a tiny house, but they bought the horse anyway!

 The clock tower and flowers on the promenade.

 Pebbles caught in a breakwater.

Beautiful window.