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Christmas at Chatsworth
Chatsworth House is open for Christmas from 3rd November to 23rd December with the rooms decorated for Christmas, a Christmas market and a great Christmas lunch in the restaurant. I was particularly...
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More Mitford stuff
There was a Channel 4 documentary about Unity Mitford on TV last night. It was part of the High Society season. I hadn't seen any trailers on the TV but spotted a posting on Facebook. I'm a member of a...
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Freecycle
I had my first freecycle experience today. I've been meaning to investigate how freecycle works and use it to get rid of a surplus bed for ages but simply haven't had the time. It turned out that it...
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Quito
After 27 hours of travelling we arrived at the Hotel Patio Andaluz at 10am this morning. The hotel is in the old city of Quito and is one block from the Presidents Palace and the central square. The...
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Mumsnet - not just for new mums
I was reading an article in The Times today 'Mumsnet parenting advice expands to books' about the "addictive world of Mumsnet". Although I'd read about Mumsnet before I had always imagine it was for...
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Science and Madagascan conservation
Chris and colleagues had a paper published in today's issue of Science plus a front cover photo of a lined day gecko from Madagascar.The paper 'Aligning Conservation Priorities Across Taxa in...
View ArticleNess Gardens - Happy memories
When I got home from work this evening the postman had delivered a copy of Insight, the University of Liverpool alumni magazine. Being 'in the business' I like to look through this and CAM the alumni...
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How much does an Aga cost to run?
According to Valley Girl, Jane Wheatley in The Times on Saturday Magazine the average consumption of an oil fired Aga is 60 litres a weekJane writes"All over the country people are facing up to the...
View ArticleAnother book of Mitford Letters
I've been an avid reader of the books and letters of the Mitford sisters for years so I was very pleased to see the article about another book of letters in the Times Magazine today. There are still...
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Governors' Award Evening, Selby Abbey
Jack gained his much deserved Governors' award for 100% attendance this evening. The service was in Selby Abbey. He managed to get through last year without missing a day of school. Quite an...
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Coldest Week in Blackpool Ever
I was unbelievably cold. I should have taken some hot water bottles!Despite the cold we had a great week in Blackpool. We stayed at the Haven Holidays caravan park in Fleetwood, Cala Gran. It was the...
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Haddon Hall at Christmas
After last years very successful trip to Chatsworth at Christmas we made a return visit to Derbyshire and visited Haddon Hall.Haddon Hall is both older and smaller than Chatsworth, dating from 11th...
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Christmas Round Robin Letter 2008
I finally got around to writing my Christmas cards today. I love getting Round Robin Christmas letters. Here is mine for this year.2008 got off to a great start; Chris and I left the children at home...
View ArticleOfsted Inspection
Selby High School had its Ofsted inspection yesterday and today. I spent a few hours at the weekend, and last night 'swotting-up before my interview with the HMI. I found some good advice via google...
View ArticleMothers Day, Jade Goody and smear tests
I had a vague plan to spend today being selfish and just doing what I wanted to do but being a mother doesn't allow you to cut off entirely from the responsibilities of the role.I woke this morning to...
View ArticleUniversity of Hull Open Day
It doesn't seem very long ago that I was pushing a pushchair around Bracknell but time has marched on and we have started looking at Universities because Alice and Rose will be filling out their UCAS...
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Relatives who fought and died in World War One
Lucy is going on a Selby High School trip to the Battlefields of WWI in May and so I spent yesterday afternoon trying to track down the burial places of her great, great uncles. My father showed me how...
View ArticleMarilyn French: the author whose novel did change lives
How sad to read in the Guardian today that Marilyn French had died [obituary]. I looked out my battered copy of the 'The Women's Room'. It was easy to find between a copy of a novel by Micheal Frayn...
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University of Warwick Open day
We had a lovely day at Warwick University yesterday. I had been to the campus before for an Association of University Administrators Annual Conference (2005) and will be going again next year. The...
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Christmas letter 2009
Rose and Alice’s move from learner drivers to fully fledged car owners (shared Fiat Punto) was one of the major features of this year. Chris did most of the driving practice. I wasn’t deemed to be calm...
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