Starting the Academic Year in South America

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

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

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!

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

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......

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.......

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.