Hillyard Blog

2009-01-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

Sheena and Steve left us house and cat sitting while they went up north, as do many Aussies for Xmas.
Tom took us to Watson´s Bay but no ferry. Walked along the wonderful cliffs at the GAP. Took bus to Circular Quay. Stopped at City Extra resto for Christmas Dinner………fish and chips!!!! Spotted OPERA HOUSE! Sydney Harbour Bridge Lookout Point and photees!Wonderful! Pub Crawl around The Rocks……Bus/boat & ferry tickets for the week. Ferry to Manly Beach. Spent Xmas Day on the beach with all the other Aussies! Bus back……got lost…..nobody to ask. Found Coles supermarket and we were saved from spending the night on the streets!

24th December 2008: The party at 14 Mitchell Rd, Rose Bay

2009-01-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

23rd December 2008: Sheena Frenkel met me at Sydney Airport, Australia

2009-01-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

After Marg and David Dunckley had invited us to Surabaya for the new year we decided to combine a trip to Singapore........then we discovered how relatively cheap it is if you keep going in the same direction! So.......we start off in Australia visiting Sheena and Steve Frenkel, friends from 30 years ago in Coventry. We met at Coundon Court Comprehensive School in 1972 as Sheena and I were both teaching in Secondary.

It was wonderful to meet the whole family after 30 years: Lucy, Tom and Steve.

Mick arrived directly from Argentina and we had a wonderful Christmas Eve Turkey Dinner with lots of their friends

December 20th 2008: Hong Kong

2008-12-30T23:01:00.000-08:00

This is on the PEAK. We went up on the Tram ( funicular) which is an event in itself and stopped off for a drink on the terrace. I call it my wine wasting day as the waiter managed to drop the tray down my back with the open bottle of wine on it soaking me to the skin through my cardie and my top. The PEAK loos must be the only ones in the whole of HK NOT to have those horrible hand driers so I could not dry myself off. However they took my clothes to a tumble drier somewhere and I ended up all dry and snug despite the raging winds up there.

Look at that view!

December 13th- 22nd 2008: Hong Kong

2008-12-30T22:44:00.000-08:00

I had bid for a writing job with the British Council in Hong Kong for one course in their summer School 2009. As it turned out they gave me three courses to write and offered me a scoping visit to Hong Kong to observe classes, get to know the history, meet the TDU ( Teacher Development Unit) and familiarise myself with the latest developments in the EDB ( the Education Development bureau) which is including electives in the state secondary schools like English through Drama/Song/poetry/Short story/Social issues........... Just up my street.

Had a busy week packed with meetings, met Barbara Webb, the other consultant and had 2 days extra to look around and enjoy Hong Kong on my first visit ever.

December 10th-12th 2008: Paysandu

2008-12-30T22:43:00.000-08:00

December 6th 2008: Opening of Caucasia!

2008-12-30T22:42:00.000-08:00

December 29th 2008. TSP Shirley extracts

2008-12-30T22:41:00.000-08:00

November 29th 2008: Rolo Disappeared

2008-12-30T22:35:00.000-08:00

October 28th 2008: Sue's b.day at Kilkenny and Party at home,plus children leaving home

2008-12-30T22:33:00.000-08:00

October 19th 2008 Mother's Day at Lai Lai, Bs As

2008-12-30T22:32:00.000-08:00

October- December 2008 House Improvements

2008-12-30T22:31:00.000-08:00

September 27th 2008: Jamie´s Wedding

2008-12-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

September 25th 2008: Jamie and Mel Registry Office

2008-12-30T15:25:00.000-08:00

August 17th-19th 2008: FAAPI Santiago del Estero

2008-12-30T15:24:00.000-08:00

September 13th 2008: Big Ben with Charlie lopez

2008-12-30T15:22:00.000-08:00

August 31st 2008: Jamie´s Birthday

2008-12-30T15:21:00.002-08:00

July 2008 John and Dorothy

2008-12-30T15:21:00.001-08:00

July 2008 Charlie Labone

2008-12-30T15:20:00.002-08:00

July 2008 Auntie Marg

2008-12-30T15:20:00.001-08:00

July 2008 Trish and Don

2008-12-30T15:19:00.000-08:00

July 2008 Barbie and Ken

2008-12-30T15:18:00.000-08:00

July 2008 Florence

2008-12-30T15:17:00.000-08:00

July 2008 Naples

2008-12-30T15:16:00.000-08:00

July 2008 Capri

2008-12-30T15:13:00.002-08:00

July 2008 Sorrento

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July 2008 Rome

2008-12-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

June 13th 2008: Set off for NILE 2008

2008-12-29T14:43:00.001-08:00

June 12th 2008 early Anniversary Party in Lai Lai Bs As

2008-12-29T14:42:00.001-08:00

June 7th 2008: Trinity in Cordoba

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May 31st 2008: Trinity in Bs As

2008-12-29T14:40:00.000-08:00

May 17th 2008: Trinity in Rosario

2008-12-29T14:38:00.000-08:00

May 8th-10th 2008: Workshop in Concepcion, AR

2008-12-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

May 5th-6th 2008 Porto, Portugal

2008-12-29T14:36:00.000-08:00

April 29th-May 6th 2008: APPI Conference Aveiro, Portugal

2008-12-29T14:34:00.000-08:00

April 26th 2008: Trinity in Tandil

2008-12-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

April 10th-12th 2008: CATESOL Conference, Sacramento, USA

2008-12-29T14:31:00.000-08:00

Aplril 1st 2008: Hols in Sausalito with Are Al

2008-12-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

March 28th 2008: Trinity in Tucuman

2008-12-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

March 18 2008: Let´s Live Liverpool at the UWC

2008-12-29T14:25:00.001-08:00

March 14th 2008: Conference Call Nº 2, Pearson New York

2008-12-29T14:24:00.000-08:00

March 2nd 2008: CRADLE Project Quito, Ecuador

2008-12-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

29th February 2008: Conference Call, Pearson, New York

2008-12-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

February 26th 2008: Sarah's 23rd BD at Lai Lai, Bs As

2008-12-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

February 21st- 23rd Trinity at ABS, Buenos Aires

2008-12-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

February 16th 2008: ALL, Maria Marta Suarez, Write ON!

2008-12-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

January 26th 2008 Ixtapa, Mexico with Pearson

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January 26th 2008 Ixtapa, Mexico with Pearson

2008-12-29T14:15:00.000-08:00

January 25th 2008: Korean Dinner party for David Hill and BBJ

2008-12-29T14:13:00.000-08:00

January 21st 2008 English in the World, NSNY

2008-12-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

January 19th Hornby School, San Nicholas, AR

2008-12-29T14:10:00.001-08:00

Jan 2008 Hols in South Africa with Gavin Hillyard

2008-12-29T14:06:00.000-08:00

Dec 31st 2007 New Years Eve Party in Bs As

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Dec 31st 2007 MATESOL NSNY Sent Manu

2008-12-29T13:55:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day 2007.......Return of the Prodigal Son

2008-12-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

ORT: English Prize for Best Students....December 2007

2008-12-28T16:58:00.000-08:00

Bad News from Home.......November 22nd 2007

2008-12-28T16:57:00.000-08:00

Chile: Three City Tour........November 2007

2008-12-28T16:56:00.000-08:00

Colombia, Pearson...............November 2007

2008-12-28T16:55:00.000-08:00

San Luis, Argentina.......October 2007

2008-12-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

Trinity College, Pilar, Buenos Aires........October 2007

2008-12-28T16:52:00.000-08:00

The British School, Punta Arenas, Chile......October 2007

2008-12-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

Poplars School, Rio Gallegos, Argentina.....October 2007

2008-12-28T16:47:00.000-08:00

British Council, Mexico September 2007

2008-12-28T16:29:00.000-08:00

Speaking Your Mind at FAAPI, Jujuy, Argentina .......September 2007

2008-12-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

Marcela Pawlack and the GIRLS on the organising committee for the Conference on "Intercultural Awareness in EFL" where I spoke on "Speaking your Mind" the importance of discussion skills in encouraging cultural awareness and diversity in EFL. I was in the main auditorium and managed to keep about 500 participants thinking in silence for 10 minutes!

NILE, Norwich, UK July to September 2007

2008-12-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

Once again I went off to train hundreds of European teachers at NILE in Norwich, either at the University of East Anglia or at Hales Court in town. Had exceptional groups from La Communidad de Madrid, doing primary methodology for CLIL, another huge group of French Secondary for the Speaking Skills, the wonderful APPI Brit Lit group and the APPI Dream Team for a Train the Potential Trainers course which proved perhaps my best course to date.

Enjoyed staying at the trainers`s house in Constable Terrace with the usual crew from all over the world and running round the lake every day before class. See pic of David Hill doing his Romeo to Claudia Ferradas´Juliet.

Claudia Rey arrived for July so it was great fun to have a best friend with me and to see how she coped with the vagaries of adapting to training at NILE!

The admin staff were wonderful as always and the social programme was great fun.

Mick came over from Argentina for a fortnight and we stayed at the Black Horse Pub in Norwich and toured around a bit.

I visited Mum in Leicester every weekend and tried to make her as comfortable as possible with all the help from the social services one gets in the UK. She was thrilled to have us there and especially loved having her only son (see pic) to herself while I was training at NILE.

Another workshop in Marcos Juarez........ 2nd June

2007-06-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

So they proved to be gluttons for punishment and once again I was back in Marcos Juarez. I arrived late as we'd had to face two lots of pickets near Rosario, burning tyres in a line across the main roads the flames burning bright in the night sky. But all the GIRLS were there waiting for me and we went straight off for dinner.

The hotel was lovely and friendly just as it had been last year and they make the best pot of tea in the whole of South America. The workshop was full and we did lots of active work on Stand and Deliver.

Oh for Oracy! in the City of the One Eyed Deer

2007-05-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

In Spanish, the name is Venado Tuerto and it's a good 6 hour trip from Buenos Aires. Ana and her colleague, Federico of Irish origin, met me at the bus station and promptly took me for a wonderful, much needed beer, followed by big lumps of juicy steak and malbec wine. Hotel fine and up early for breaky to get to the venue early in case of tech probs. But e.thing fine. Lovely old Sarmiento School, now the Teacher Training College. Somehow there were 75 ppts and they ranged from TT Tutors ro trainees, not yet qualified. They all wanted to participate so we had a busy, fruitful 6 hours, working on the oral skills and finding lots of games to promote speaking exercises in the classroom, for all the different age groups and levels.Nellie, from Bookie, who was the main instigator ( and a Man Utd fan, unfortunately! ) was her usual lively self and a good time was enjoyed by all. I think we all learned something too!

In Talca, Chile

2007-05-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

The IATEFL conference, the first in the provinces of Chile was a truly lovely affair.Andrew had pushed for a good while and finally he got his way.Over 150 teachers attended the 1st Regional Conference,in Talca, Chile,2007. I was honoured to present the plenary on Strategic Interaction with all 150 who joined in and worked very hard. Then I jumped in and out of all the workshops and did the closing, followed by the raffles and wine in the patio.
Thanks to IATEFL, Chile and the British Council, Chile, for inviting me.

MY sort of surprise visit to Sausalito to see Alan

2007-05-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

As my usual January visit had been put off due to the Hornby School job in Brazil, I did not go to Sausalito to run the trails with my brother, a tradition we had sort of established over the years since we met on 4th May 1995 after 22 years WITHOUT CONTACT! So.......I had decided I'd go in Feb.....then I went to UK for the funeral. So we are already almost in March so we didn't really know what to do.

Alan was ill, maybe with an uncured Lyme disease. I was frantic and not sleeping due to too much catching up and NO BREAK from work since Jan 2006 so we said" Go for it"

I realized I could make a space to be there for his 63rd birthday and that would be the first time I'd spent a b.day with him for 40 years! So he sent the ticket, I jumped on the plane and there I was for 3 weeks of running in the Springtime in gorgeous Sausalito!

Starting the Academic Year in South America

2007-05-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

Returning to a Buenos Aires summer after snow in the UK was really weird. I always say I love the sun and the heat but the snow had been so much fun and that snuggling down in front of the telly and the fire is such a pleasure in the UK.

It was super to get back to big slabs of tender meat and full-blooded Malbec wine but we all missed the Indian curries which are such a feature of Leicester and considered, now, to be the national dish of England! At least Chicken Masala has become the most favoured dish in the UK, way, way beyond fish and chips!

So much for learning about English culture and imagining it might be stable!

So work cranked in..... thousands of unanswered emails, lots of arrangements to be made for conferences, on line courses, consultancies, writing for various publishers, BBJ concerts, footy matches and all those things we do which have to be scheduled outside the usual routines.

So.....me back to freelance work; Mick back to school and BBJ; Sarah back to college, school and BBJ and Jamie back to selling full time, translating, inserting subtitles in English for DVDs and winning all his matches in the new footy league.

A new hobby for James

2007-05-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

James had become interested in photography over the years and decided to buy a pro camera. This is one of his first photos against the beautiful backdrop of the first snow of 2007 in Leicester.

Jamie's first experience of falling snow

2007-05-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Imagine arriving at Heathrow, London , in mid-winter from Buenos Aires, Argentina, in mid- summer.

100ª F to 40ªF in 24 hours.

They said it would snow.....so Jamie put his alarm clock on 4 times in the night to check. I awoke at 5.30 am to the sound of silence, with the snowdrops falling and the roofs covered in white. What an amazing experience, and one even more appreciated after years in th East, Middle east and the Mediterranean.
Pic of J and I having our first snowball fight !
Me at 56 and him at 27 !!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Home and ready to start 2007!

2007-05-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

What a strange beginning to the year! Exhilarating in Brazil on the Hornby School, then sad and miserable but hopeful in the UK at Dad's funeral and then three weeks in Sausalito with a sick brother.

I'll start with the funeral and Leicester in the Winter:

Well the funeral was " lovely" with Mick's Mum celebrating a lived life and refusing to mourn death. We had always called her " Captain Marjorie" and this was the epitome of her captainness. She is almost blind, and walks unsteadily with a caliper and her trolley bag but she could hardly push that thing behind the coffin into the church............. So we supported her, one of us on either side, and she walked with a smile, nodding in her dignifierd manner to the "full to the brim" church. It was all so comforting to her and she sang the hymns as we all tried to do so without our voices breaking through the tears.

It was the first funeral of a close relative our own children had attended and they had many Qs about protocol which we tried our best to answer.

People came from near and far and it was a really warm feeling with the Vicar, David, and his assistant, Lorna, performing a gentle, personal and real ceremony, summing up Dad's life in a
humorously sweet speech at the pulpit.

The cremation was equally dignified and the buffet party with sweet and dry sherry was full of love and admiration for Mum and a recognition of how she had looked after Dad for about 50 years during his various illnesses. Her determination for him to pass away in his own home was realised despite the long battle and Mum felt rewarded for her efforts.

She was so determined to be " cheerful" that she passed this on to us all and we all rejoiced in life rather than death.

Getting to England

2007-02-09T06:41:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally got here. At least the three of us. Sarah will follow on later directly from Sao Paolo as she is on holiday there ( In Paraty) with Guillermo.
We left Buenos Aires on Tues 6th after days of frustration, trying to get flights and trying to finish work, in Temps around 94+ and arrived at London HR,7th Feb in temps of -5 with a promise of snow on the following day.

We arrived in Leics to find the house well prepared with a new sofa in place of Dad's huge hospital bed, the fires on full and the place all cosy with vases of flowers everywhere and cards of sympathy from all over th world. Dad was certainly a loved man.

Mum was upset on seeing us, but soon became the Captain Marjorie we know and love so well, putting on a brave front and making it clear that " John would not have wanted us to be sad. Just let's celebrate a life lived to the full. I'm not going to let everything go". And she certainly is living up to her promise so far.

We are reminiscing, remembering all the good times, working out the funeral service and the music to be played and seeing the solicitors this afternoon.

It's snowing again but that's a story for tomorrow.

Bad news from Home......

2007-02-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Today we received the news that Mick's father had died. We had been expecting this but, somehow you can never be prepared for the shock that it actually happened. We felt we were so far away and wished, of course, that we had spent more time in England.

He had been bedridden for seven months and Mum had insisted on having him at home and keeping him as comfortable as possible. She did a great job and soldiered on despite her 85 years and her own infirmities. We are full of admiration for her determination and wanted to get flights home as soon as possible to help her with all the arrangements. Unfortunately, it being high season, we could not find any seats with any company for the next few days. We are a bit desperate and trying to do our best to get there and to stay as long as Mum needs us.

Trying to catch up.......

2007-02-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

Still processing the folder, the ELT community site, the technology, all the notes and photos from the Hornby School 2007, I have not had time to do anything. Plus The Performers is developing at such a rate that I am getting more and more work from them. Great! They are in Mexico just now and will be off to Spain next month. The new plays are super and the posters beautifully designed plus a bigger and better workbook for each level. Take a look on the website in the links on the right. If you want to become a representative for us in your country, do let me know.

The Free-lance Fast Track moves into 2007

2007-01-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

Deaspite my idea to rest at some time at end 2006 or early 2007 I was urged by my pollito, Sergio Mobilia, to apply to be a tutor on the Brazil, Regional Summer School 2007, directed by Rod Bolitho.
Initially, I refused as I "always" go to run with my brother in Sausalito/Mendocino.
However I was persuaded to put off my trip to the States and was appointed Tutor at the HSS 2007.
It was a fabulous experience.
To see all the details go to the link on the right.

I'm back now and trying to get my head around all the work, the contacts, the relationships, the projects, the action plans but most of all the regional friendships we made through our passion for teaching. Everybody left with a determination to maintain links and I believe that it will truly happen.

New Year's Eve 2006

2007-01-22T11:37:00.000-08:00

As many of our friends these days are Argentines, most of them went off to their family gatherings while we just invited a few of James' friends and a couple of ours. We had a delicious Argentine-style BBQ on our roof terrace made by ASADOR PAR EXCELENCE, Mr Fat Mick plus lots of exotic salads conjured up in the kitchen by yours truly and MASTER CHEF Jamie.

The fireworks were a big hit with the "children" and the grown ups too but we saved a few for Sarah and her boyfriend, Guillermo, for when they arrived just after we'd eaten our twelve grapes (Spanish style) and sung Auld Lang Syne in a circle with crossed hands, English style.

We continued to enjoy the city scapes lit up by hundreds of fireworks from families still celebrating well into the wee hours.

It was a quiet New Year for us but very peaceful and enjoyable.
Happy New Year to you all!

New Year

2007-01-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

All the best for 2007!

Boxing Day in Argentina

2007-01-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

Boxing Day in Argentina is not a public holiday. Everybody works so I had my private student for his last lesson and decided to make scones with him in English! He'd never cooked anything in his life but he was very happy to read the recipe, identify the ingredients, the equipment and follow the instructions and even happier to take a dozen scones to his Mum! Mick then convinced me that as we are really English we should take the rest of the day off so we went out for lunch on the riverside and generally lazed around.

Christmas Day In Argentina.

2006-12-29T06:13:00.000-08:00

Chritmas day was HOT but not as hot as it has been on some occasions in the past and it did not rain! That meant we had the trad Brit Turkey and Trimmings up on the roof terrace where we did have a lot of sun but also a little respite from a sweet little breeze. The turkey weighed in at 9.5 kilos so it fed the party of twelve and the Argentines in the group were quite adventurous trying the two types of stuffing, the bacon rolls, the bread sauce and the GRAVY.......Desserts were definitely non-trad with fresh home-made mango sorbet, plums in red wine from Mendoza and caramalised apple pie. Plenty of cream and ice cream to counter the rich, hot food! Jamie provided real ale and everybody brought wine and champagne. It was quite laid back but we enjoyed having the young crowd back at home. Reminded me of Liverpool in my youth ( except for the weather). Two guests were rather special, the daughter and friend of an old school mate of mine from Quarry Bank who are studying at the University of Buenos Aires. Lynne had found me on Friends Reunited and told me about her daughter being here in Argentina. The wonder of technology!

Christmas Eve 2006

2006-12-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve fell on Sunday this year and Sunday is sacrosanct in Argentina. Most husbands go out to buy the big lumps of meat and prepare the parrilla, the outdoor BBQ pit which is usually built into the wall of every ordinary house either in the yard, the garden or on the terrace. Most use charcoal but some use fragrant wood. This year it was different as the neighbourhood was like a ghost town with most of the women already preparing the cold cuts, turkeys, suckling pigs, salads, sauces (chimichurri), and turrons, (nougat), for the evening family party before the traditional opening of the presents at midnight and the setting off of fireworks all over the city.
We stick to British tradition and celebrate on the 25th.
I decided to visit my little Peruvian greengrocer to see if he had the aji panca, aji amarillo and aji rocoto ( searing hot chillies) and cilantro which I need for practising my Peruvian cooking from my beautiful cookbook which Longman gave me at the end of my Presentation last year in Lima.
So I cooked a great Peruvian lunch for the family and then went out to buy the last minute stocking pressies , the fresh veggies and the ordered turkey, with chipolatas, bacon and chicken livers.
Then we went off to a friends' place to join them in their Noche Buena party, eat great food, drink super wine and then exchange presents. It was lovely.
We left earlyish as I had to be up at 7am. to stuff the 10 kilo turkey and get it in the oven for lunch on the 25th.

Happy Holidays from Snowy Argentina!

2006-12-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

Wishing all of you a fabulous fiesta with friends and family.

Much love from all of us at the Hillyard Home in Buenos Aires Argentina.

Family Update for December 2006

2006-12-23T07:49:00.000-08:00

Sue
It's been a strange year with me away for much of it doing teacher training and conferences and workshops in four different countries. The highlights have been my " Let's Live Liverpool" course which I did twice this year. The first time was in the hills of Cordoba, in a holiday resort with beautiful cabins and a pool and superb views to the mountains at the back and the lake in the valley below. The second time was in Pico Truncado, Patagonia, at the newly refurbished municipal theatre. We had three wonderful days of Liverpool history, literature, language, culture and song all through drama. It was a lovely experience to get to know each other so well and the final reviews were wonderfully original and creative.

The other highlight was the teacher training experience at NILE in Norwich, where I stayed in conference accomodation with 28 other trainers from all over the world training teachers from all over Europe.There was the woods outside my front door at Constable Terrace in the University of East Anglia and I ran through the woods and round the lake every day before class. Mick came to stay for 3 weeks so I went to Leicester to see him and his parents who are both old and ailing now. In all I've done about 50 talks in 30 events.

Mick
Mick is fine, still at Nightingale as the rocking Headmaster and the band is doing better this year........so well, that when I am at home, they are playing most weekends! They've been upgraded to the downtown branch of the Irish Pub John John where they play once a week and they've had lots of important private parties and weddings too. Mick gave up smoking last year in October and has put on about 8 kilos. He looks great although he thinks he's too fat! I hope he doesn't go anorexic on me! He looks much better and is much happier in general. Still loves his food, especially his Argentine steak, his music, his films and his beer. We've found a few pubs that sell REAL ALE now and we've had a few outings with friends trying to convince them that Real Ale is what it says it is!

Jamie
Jamie is still working with his friend selling inflatable adverts ( those huge inflatable bottles and brand packets etc). He's doing a bit of teaching, translating subtitles for films and is thinking of going camping in Europe for a while next year. He's done quite a bit of private catering and I'm very proud of his "touch". He's just as good at Chinese as he is at Indian or Thai. We often cook together and invite a mixed bunch of oldies and youngies over for dinner parties. He's just got it. He is still with his lovely Armenian girlfriend and seems very happy.

Sarah
Sarah is thrilled she made the decision to choose a career as a bilingual kindergarten teacher. She loves the course although grammar and phonetics were difficult for her. She goes to the Teach Training college in the morning ( leaves home at 7 am) and then dashes off to teach in kindergarten all afternoon in a very important school in Recoleta. She has developed her singing skills with the band as you can see below and now gets some considerably important solos. She has wonderful stage presence and gets on very well with the boys in the band.

So we're all still together for yet another Xmas and New year do. The house is coming on although still lots to fix so we're looking forward to another busy year here in Argentina.

Sunday night we will all go to our respective friends' places for the traditional Argentine Noche Buena and then on Monday we will invite friends over here for the Traditional British Turkey and Trimmings lunch up on the roof terrace in the scorching sun!

Merry Christmas to you all and a happy new year.

Just missed out most of the year 2006!

2006-12-22T16:46:00.000-08:00

I've jumped but I suppose that's OK too. My intention is to cover my first freelance year with the most memorable moments .....which is just about all so my next job is to go back and look at all the stuff I did this year and dig for photos!

2006-12-22T16:35:00.000-08:00

Bluesberry Jam in Buenos Aires

2006-12-22T16:11:00.000-08:00

Today is Mick's birthday, but in true Argentine fashion, we celebrated last night by going to the Bangalore Pub in Palermo, a trendy area of boutiques, resto bars, traditional AR food like grills ( fab steak and chicken in all its forms, with lots of exotic innards and sweetmeats....nothing is wasted here!) and copycat English pubs , Irish pubs and American bars plus a sprinkling of Sushi restaurants and Asian eateries.

Mick chose the Bangalore as it has a pub atmosphere, real beer, Stones, and goodish ( if a short menu) Indian food which is hard to find in AR

We had a great time and came home to wish Mick happy birthday and give him his presents which revolved around accoutrements for our home bar and music books.

Today he slept late and then we went for lunch in a lovely old rustic restaurant called La Escondida ( The Hidden One) and we're now getting ready to go downtown to John John, an Irish bar where they will perform from midnight to about 3am when we might( or not) come home and go to bed like all good people!
The pic is the latest ad designed by Sarah that we send out by mail when they play.

Bluesberry Jam

2006-12-17T19:06:00.000-08:00

Mick has been with BBJ for about 10 years now and they have had some great gigs like Hard Rock Cafe, Bs As, Zilos in Puerto Madero, Sahara in Recoleta and Kilkenny, opposite the Sheraton downtown. They've also played on St Patrick's Day to crowds of 10,000.

Sarah became the official backing singer 2 years ago and is now getting a number of solos due to her incredible stage presence and her powerful voice. Some people heard it wrong that she is Mick's daughter and asked if she is his sister and even one thought she was his girlfriend!

Decisions.....Decisions

2006-12-15T06:36:00.000-08:00

Having decided to go freelance I then had to hold one of my famous family conferences to check my family was in agreement for me to take the chance of perhaps not earning a salary in the way I always had before. It was quite a momentous decision especially as I'd always been a working wife and mother believing it was not just up to the man of the house to be the sole breadwinner.

Here's a pic of my grown up children, James and Sarah and one of my husband Mick, who is also a teacher, a headmaster and an artist. He's a singer and harmonica player and the front man for Bluesberry Jam, a rock 'n' roll band based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
So, I got the support of everybody and gingerly stepped forward in my new, dangerous role.

My brother and me

2006-12-15T06:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a pic of me with my brother. We were always very close as children. In fact my brother brought me up as I went everywhere with him and his gang. They were all older than me so I grew up as a tomboy, being able to do all sorts of daring things that sweet little girls aren't supposed to do, like jump off bridges and air-raid shelters, shinny up the entry walls of our semi detached house in Liverpool, run across tree trunks over rivers and take the position of goalie at the never ending footy matches on the local recreation park where we often had to run away from the parkie........ I also learned a lot of interesting facts of life and language eavesdropping on conversations between teenage boys.

When he left home in 1967 I was distraught and when he did not come back I was often found sleep walking searching for him. Once I was discovered wandering around the main road at the bottom of outr street having left the front door open in the middle of the night.

For strange reasons we lost touch for 22 years but when we got back together again we vowed never to lose each other again and to make up for lost time.

Mendocino Runs

2006-12-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

Mendocino is an old timber producing town and has gorgeous houses, hotels and restaurants......all very pretty and with olde worlde lacey curtains and well kept gardens. The runs are great especially along the cliffs where you get fabulous views, the sound of the sea pounding the rocks and plenty of wind to make the running even more exhilarating.

Spooky kissing Suzie!

2006-12-14T17:50:00.000-08:00

Loving the Llamas!

2006-12-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here are three of the five (maybe more by now) llamas at the llama cottage in Mendocino. They are really friendly and love eating carrots and always come padding over to give visitors a breathy kiss. They are being saved and cared for by Mel and Sue of Little River Inn fame. I really love this spot and recommend it to any runners who want to have great views, great food and pretty good weather.

Llama Cottage, Mendocino

2006-12-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

2006-12-13T05:21:00.000-08:00

January in Sausalito

2006-12-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

As has become a tradition, after losing my big brother for 22 years and then finding him one day in Anaheim, I go running with him every year in Sausalito. This is me having run forth and back over the Golden Gate Bridge which is one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring man made monuments in the world. We have a whole set of wonderful runs which we do every year and Al's always adding new ones and exploring the wonderful areas around Sausalito. Some of the most gorgeous views can be seen from the MPR, the Tennessee Valley, Fort Baker, the gauge run and the reservoirs on Mount Tamalpais, and simply the deck and prom through Sausalito itself. We also drive up north to Mendocino where we usually run the cliffs, the Pygmy Forest, the Jug Handle Reserve, the Van Damme Forest and the Montgomery Woods. We stay at the Llama Cottage and feed the llamas carrots. As Al is a vegetarian of sorts I usually give up my big red meat eating habits, which I learnt in Argentina, and buy all our food from the Real Food shop: fabulous fresh veggies, fruit and fish or chicken from Molly Stones. One big treat is take the ferry over to San Francisco (the CITY)to go to a show and have supper in the old downtown Tommy's Joint. I have a wonderful time every year and come home fit and ready to start the year.

Life in the Fast Freelance Lane

2006-12-13T04:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I'd hoped to calm down at this end of the year after working non-stop since Feb.This year was my first freelance year and it was an experiment. I said I'd give myself a year and if it worked out I would not dedicate myself to one particular school again where I had begun to feel cooped up, restricted, even claustrophobic.I wanted to dedicate the rest of my teaching career to working with teachers and adolescents without having to deal with owners who want to run their place in a way which goes against my educational ideals. I also got fed up with putting out other people's fires and negative attitudes towards teenagers.
So here I am at the end of my first year and I'm going to use this space to write about my experiences as a novice freelancer.

13 th December 2006

2006-12-13T04:29:00.000-08:00

As it's the end of the year in Argentina, I've decided to CHANGE HORSES and to start writing about " Life in the Fast Lane" which is how my life seems to have sorted itself out in Argentina, a country known to be laid back and easy going!

Nov 23rd 2006

2006-11-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

My recommendation: Mandela's history